Self-drive: From Kenya to Cape Town

Monday - Swakopmund

Every street corner in Swakopmund has either a bakery selling Apfelstrudel or a Lutheran church with services conducted in German. As the fog cleared and the sun came out, we spent a relaxing morning exploring the town and doing our errands.

In the afternoon we piled into the car and went to see the flamingos near Walvis Bay. Along the coast we could see people driving beach buggies and quad bikes around the small dunes. The flamingos looked like they'd been bleached, as they were a creamy colour with pale pink legs. Since diet is responsible for turning their feathers pink, we admonished them for not eating enough E numbers.

Next was our first glimpse of the sand dunes of the world's oldest desert, the Namib. Climbing the slipface of Dune 7 was 20 minutes of hard work, but the view from the top was breathtaking. All around, honey-coloured dunes stretched out to the edge of the horizon, and to the west we could just make out the misty sea. When it was time to go back, Seth rolled down head first, while the rest of us ran down in five minutes.

Tuesday - Swakopmund to Solitaire

As soon as we were up we headed to a petrol station to fill up. Gary spotted a pickpocket grabbing a wallet from another car while the driver was distracted by an accomplice. Gary tore down the street after the thief, tackled him to the ground and restored the wallet to its grateful owner. "Our hero!" the Opera Twins chorused as Gary returned triumphant.

Shortly after leaving Swakopmund we turned onto a scenic road, Welwitschia Drive. The gravel road was lined with gold, green and red lichens and ink bushes. We looked at the rusty remains of a 1915 tank left by the South African army, and oxcart tracks from early settlers.

Travelling on we came to a plain filled with welwitschias, amazing dwarf trees which continue growing for thousands of years and are found only in the Namib Desert. We photographed a 1500-year-old specimen. Its two leaves had been shredded by the wind and it looked like a large piece of dried seaweed.

Further on, we admired the spectacular moonscape - a canyon filled with folded mounds of rock, like dusty red pillows.

Lunchtime brought us to Carp Cliff, overlooking the spectacular, rocky Kuisib Canyon. Here two German geologists lived for two years to avoid involvement in World War Two. We saw the overhang where they slept and in the distance we could see the fossilised lake they discovered.

We drove through the scenic Kuisib Pass and further on to Solitaire, where we camped on a game farm. A couple of hours after the sunset, we were snugly tucked up in our sleeping bags, dreaming of adventures in the desert.

Wednesday - Solitaire to Sesriem

Our alarm went off at 3.45am - ouch! We were soon driving to our rendezvous at Sesriem, for our dawn balloon ride over the desert.

As we ascended the first rays of the sun broke over the mountains in the east. After the chill of the early morning, being right next to the burners was hot and noisy. Within a few minutes we were at 500m, with an eagle-eye view of Sesriem. Far below, our Land Rovers were the size of tiny toy cars. We saw patches of grass and shrubs between the red and orange dunes. The wind blew gently down the valley alongside the desert, instead of over the dunes as we'd hoped. To the south was Sesriem Canyon with its rocky mountains reaching up towards us.

After 45 minutes we floated downwards, landing perfectly on the flatbed of the pilot's pick-up truck. We clambered out to enjoy our champagne breakfast.

Tim and I drove the 65km to Sossusvlei, at the heart of the dune field, while the others had a snooze. The road goes through a valley covered in sun-bleached grass, past springbok, ostriches and oryx grazing in front of the towering red dunes. These are among the world's highest sand dunes, rising up to 240m above the valley floor. They are made red by the iron-rich sand rusting in the coastal mists.

Sossusvlei consists of a salt pan surrounded by high dunes. To our surprise the pan was flooded, a testament to the good rains Namibia received earlier this year. We climbed a dune to gaze down on the reflections in the water and to watch the birds drinking and bathing. Behind us, we could see hundreds of burnt orange dunes stretching as far as the horizon.

Before the light began to fade we headed back to Sesriem, where we camped under a camelthorn tree, home to some rowdy Pied crows and enormous bush crickets.

Thursday - Sesriem to Duwisib Castle

We were woken at dawn by the dustman's lorry, which seemed incongruous with our desert setting. Tim and I drove to Elim Dune, while our fellow travellers spent a relaxing morning by the pool. We watched the sunrise paint the dune gold, while beetles and lizards scuttled for cover. At its foot, bright yellow desert orchids were set amidst the tawny grass.

Next stop was the 35m-deep Sesriem Canyon, made of layer upon layer of gravel sediments. Swallows swooping through the arches of the canyon were reflected in the pools of water at the bottom.

Back at our campsite we had a brunch of bacon and eggs. We drove on dusty roads south to Duwisib Castle, past canyons and dunes spotted with tufts of dusty golden grass.

Duwisib is a brown stone edifice, built in 1908 by the eccentric Baron von Wolff. Statues of fierce eagles guard the gate. The castle is U-shaped around a courtyard containing a fountain and palm trees. Each room is decorated with family portraits, swords and other military paraphernalia.

At the tea shop we sipped cold drinks and watched a chameleon, camouflaged with the exact brown stone markings of the building.

Friday - Duwisib Castle to Hobas, Fish River Canyon

A dusty morning drive through gentle hills covered in thorn scrub and cactus took us to our next campsite at Hobas, near Fish River Canyon.

The canyon is half a kilometre deep, 160km long and 22km wide. A bushman legend says that it was gouged out by a snake called Koutin Koora, whilst trying to escape a hunter. He twisted and turned so much in his attempt that the canyon doubles back on itself countless times. The walls are fold upon fold of rock, stratified with sandy gold, red and dusky brown sediments. As the sun dipped over the horizon, the colours seeped out of the landscape, like dyes running in the wash.

As night fell it became very cold. "Pearl Harbour", said Seth. "There's a nip in the air".

Saturday - Hobas to Bitterfontein, South Africa

We had breakfast by the edge of the canyon so we could see the sunrise light up the canyon walls. An eagle flew along the rim. Down in the bottom we could see the Fish River, a mere trickle of its former self.

After we'd finished our mugs of tea we drove to Ais-Ais, a hot springs resort at the Southern end of the Canyon. The gravel road led us through beautiful rocky mountain passes with glimpses of dizzying canyons, stratified rocks and the occasional quiver tree.

Ais-Ais had been closed due to flooding and there was a big clean up in process. Some walls and buildings had been washed away. Ironically the campsite now had no running water. Sadly we missed the turn off to the view point, as the road signs had also been lost to the flood.

The last few kilometres towards the border were on tarred roads - bliss, as the wind was whipping up dust storms all round. We went through the lush Orange River valley, with vineyards and orchards, and crossed the border into South Africa. Twenty-four hours later, we had arrived in Cape Town, and were preparing to go out for a celebratory meal and a few bottles of the finest Cape wine.

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Published in Travel Africa Edition Fourteen: Winter 2000/2001 Text is subject to Worldwide Copyright (c).