Today was another long day in the car, but the exquisite desert landscape and the interesting and unusual sights it offered made it an enjoyable drive.
We stopped off at Mesosaurus Camp where Oom Giel Fosiel (really) entertained us with fascinating facts about the mesosaurus fossils found on his farm. This little amphibious creature became extinct some 250 million years ago. As I applied yet more lip ice to my chapped lips, it was hard to imagine this parched landscape being tropical at one point in its geological
Cast in stone 250 MYA, and in plastic in the last decade.
In order to prevent power outages caused by sociable weavers’ nests built on power lines, separate poles have been provided for this purpose. Got me thinking: could we not entice Eskom officials to feather their nests elsewhere? Poles-moor, maybe?
I’ve seen plenty of biltong shops, maar wragtig, ‘n hele plaas?
These horses (below) may look like your average farm horses, but this was actually a serendipitous sighting of the seldom-seen feral horses of the Namib. There are various theories about their origin, but colonists, from various countries, brought them here- and abandoned them.
Our last stop was Shark Island where we spent the night. It is a beautiful, if windy, place to camp – with spectacular views of the Atlantic Ocean.
Travel Info:
1. The drive from Kalahari Game Lodge to Shark Island, Luderitz was 600km and took us 8 hours – including a two hour stop at Keetmanshoop for supplies and brunch.
2.Keetmanshoop:
1. For SIM cards, go to the “China” shop (in the same street as the information centre.
2. The Illy coffee shop has great coffee. It’s next door to the info centre.
3. There is a Pick n Pay and a Shoprite for supplies. There is a TOPS liquor store too. The butchery isn’t great.
4. BE VIGILANT. We learnt this the hard way when our spare cell phone was nicked out of our car while we packed a few groceries into the boot.
Southern Safari 2 