Day 4 - Namibia/Botswana Safari 2015. Namib Desert Lodge to Damara Mopani Khorixas.

19th May 2015

We got an early start and saw a fair amount of game in the early morning, but it was the ever changing vistas that are the focus point especially in the early morning light.

The road is very dusty and whilst in 2011 the rivers were in full flow this year they are bone dry and there has, we are told, been no rain to talk about for the last 3 years so water is a premium concern for all who live here man and beast alike.

We go through plains, mountains, river beds and down to the sea at Walvis Bay where the sea mist limits vision to a couple of hundred metres and in 40kms the temperature has dropped from 32 degrees to 15 degrees and this stays with us through Swakopmond and then in a matter of 30 minutes temperatures are back in the 30’s as we move inland to Khorixas in Damaraland.

The amount of housing and apparent development along the Namibian coastline is incredible when we think back 4 short years since our last visit.

We arrive at our favourite stopover in Namibia the Damara Mopane Lodge where you have your own little house surrounded by vegetable patches, beer goes down like water, but it has been a hard days driving and we are early to bed.

In this area one can see Bushman paintings, petrified trees, Burnt Mountain, Vingerklip rock formation and a couple of craters and organ pipes another formation of dolomite rock that cooled to give this impression of organ pipes.

Tomorrow we join our group to do the Desert River tour in the North West of Namibia, the start point is at Khamajab and out itinerary is as follows:-

Fuel

Fuel is readily available as far as Kamanjab. We all fill up in Kamanjab. From day one - we will explain the fuelling procedures as soon as we meet and adjust these as we ascertain your fuel consumption.

Petrol vehicles will need at least 180 ltr of fuel and diesel vehicles 160 ltr (this is inclusive of what is in your on-board fuel tanks)

Kaokoland Desert Rivers Estimated Distances

Estimated Distance to be covered every day:

You will see that I have given you the totals in Km between each place where we can get Fuel.

Day	Start	End/Camp	Km
1	Windhoek	Kamanjab
2	Kamanjab	Khowarib Schlucht	142
3,4	Khowarib Schlucht	Epupa Falls	354
Total	Kamanjab	Epuwo ( 170km before Epupa Falls )	326 Re Fuel
5	Epupa Falls	Van Zyls Pass Camp	150
6,7	Van Zyls Pass Camp	Marienfluss	90
8	Marienfluss	Khumib River camp	150
9,10	Khumib river Camp	Puros	100
11	Puros	Warmquelle	140
Total	Epuwo ( 170Km before Epupa Falls )	Warmquelle	800 Re fuel
Total	Kamanjab	Warmquelle	1126

We could well be unable to connect through the internet for the next 11 days, but we will keep up our notes and photos and up date you when we are at Etosha, connectivity allowing, the latter has been a problem and even more so than East Africa and down loading photos takes forever.

The ancient fossilised sand dunes we looked out on from our room at Namiba Desert Lodge.

One of many shipwrecks to run foul of the Skeleton Coast this one as late as 2008

The Himba ladies selling their hand made adornments, for a small bracelet the price started at R100 and when we left it was down to R10, we bartered oranges for a couple of photos 

Denise with her little Himba baby who was totally fascinated with her necklace