WARNING - DODGY PIC QUALITY AHEAD! (All pics taken with my iPhone) (No, it was not to annoy JT!)
After a particularly tough couple of weeks, I decided late on Friday afternoon to take a two day break. By 19:00 I was tailing a steady stream of mini buses heading north on the B1 leaving Windhoek and all its craziness behind in the gathering darkness. At Okahandja they continued north while I headed west and towards Omaruru.
I had no real plan other than going to Damaraland and by mid morning on Saturday, I was in Uis refuelling.I was again struck by how smooth the ride of the FJ was and how solid it felt. This is the first IFS off- roader I drove with the intent to take it off-road in a
Cruiser way! I can confess that if I had any doubts that the IFS cannot handle dips and deep holes in the road, I was suitably impress. I have gone through some real bad sections and never felt the front end coming close to hitting the stops or being getting unsettled by the nasty terrain. Unfortunately I must again state that it is (very) unstable to a point of unsafe on severe corrugations!
In my reference this is the gate into Damaraland...The Ugab near Sorris-Sorris
Just north of the river
After Uis I took the Brandberg turn-off and headed for the Ugab and through it towards the Goantagab river. This is one of my favourite ‘rivers’ in Namibia. Years ago I slept in this river and woke up with a herd of elephant grazing on the other side no more than 200m away from our camp. One other time a hyena woke me up early morning when I slept there. Then once on a tour with other LCCSA mates, it was flowing and we struggled to get through. This time it yielded yet another very special surprise! Coming out of the river and around a bend, there no further than 30-50m was a rhino dozing off under a tree! Wow, what a sight. I have seen rhino on a few occasions in Damaraland but never came up this close. It was great.
Rhino toilet
The FJ handled the only near real obstacle there by so-called Land Cruiser hill on T4A with so little easy it surprised me. I deliberately took the worse possible line through and over this rocks and it just breezed over. Did not take any pics…sorry! Also the sand stretch up the red dunes in that area posed not thread to its forward motion..!
As this was sommer an unplanned Saturday-Sunday outing, I did not pack anything other than a coolerbox with a few drinks and lots of water. So, the pictures were all taken with my (iPhone) cell phone as did not even take my Canon with. I just felt like riding and stuff-all else!
Ellie prints near the water
Springbokke in die HuabNot wanting to camp, I decided to sleep at the new(ish) Dora Nawas lodge near Twyfelfontein. This proved to be a very good decision as it was a perfect nitestop. Reasonably priced for a fairly exclusive place and well situated in the area of the Huab, I will definitely go back there all the time! Twyfelfontein is crappy in my opinion and Monwani rather expensive…
After a late start on Sunday and some indecision, I decided to head north still and ended up in Palmwag for a lovely rock shandy.
Another call to rather go west instead of the sensible south, I ended up at Springbokwasser and entered the Skeleton Coast Park.
This road towards Torra Bay is one of the most incredible stretches for me. The total desolation is just beyond me and I love it. I will be riding that road soon with my Adventure as well. Of that I am sure! Not far from Springbokwasser I drove into a real sandstorm like I have never seen before. Obviously the pictures does not tell the whole story but the demolished windscreen and headlamps does! I drove into this incredible strong blowing west wind as slow as I could for about an hour. I knew damaged will done and luckily upon a quick inspection I cannot see paint damage. Just the windscreen and lamps are shot. It was nonetheless a great experience. I sure hope Santam shares my enthusiasm.
By three o’clock yesterday I was on the beach in the Skeleton Coast and still 700kms away from home! It was time to start drifting home to join the madness we call normal. Obviously I needed to play on the beach just a little bit before I finally get on the way home…!
Toscanini
Ugabmond
Skeleton Coast gateA few observations on this trip were that I again discovered that I live in one of the most amazing countries I have ever been too. For instance, a very friendly but totally pissed policeman opened the Rooilyn gate at Palmwag for me and I struggled to convince him that I was driving in a Cruiser. He would not budge on his belief that it is a grey Nissan! He was celebrating his 48th birthday hence the intoxication. I concluded he had enough wine by midday so I bought him 4lt of Coke from the local bottle store instead as contribution to his wellbeing for the next 48 years!
Sunday shoppingThe landscapes and colours never cease to amaze me when I drive through this area. Tourists luckily mostly stick to the maps and main roads. Most of them are also clueless to the beauty of the environment they find them in and a Lonely Planet next to the swimming pool while working on their tans suffice as an Namibian experience. That rental Nissan NP300s and Hiluxes, all million of them equipped similarly, is a curse to me and a ticket to the said tourist for the Namibian experience. And I can go on but will not. Suffice to say I am irritated that there are so many people about not knowing what they are seeing. I long for the days when I started travelling into these sacred places without another soul about for weeks on end….
Last but not least. The FJ is a worthy companion when u go to Damaraland. It is a ‘real’ Land Cruiser in terms of off-road capability and comfort even if it not a match in terms of practicality as a camper like the 60/80/105 series. Never at any stage did I get the feeling the IFS is not up to the job. On the contrary. I got an average fuel consumption of 13,76l/100 over the 1500km for the two days and that include some sand, some twee spoor track but mostly fast (around to 160) gravel and tar road. The only annoying thing apart from loosing the windscreen and lamp was the trip in the Huab river. Damn, I got to RTFM to figure out the many buttons on central console. I hate it when the car makes that crunching sound and all the lights flash in the command post! Reminds me of my Discovery days way back…!
