Easter trip to Damaraland

[David van Breda]

Right after the Faces of the Namib trip, the kids and I set off on an off the beaten track trip into Damaraland.  With the FJ's prowess as a excellent dunes machine, albeit for a soloist, now firmly established it was time to see how it fair as a family overlander!  Hardly a surprise that it fails woefully when it tries to gulp down the same kit which disappeared into the 105 with spare space for the kitchen sink!
The solution was obvious.  Find a kind friend with an adventurous spirit and a big car to join you!
Rico with his LR130 filled that role without missing a beat.  On top of that he is a great cook and handyman as well.
For some reason I did not bother to take any pictures of the packing since our big tent, 60l Engel, toilet, mattresses and chairs all went into the Landy.
So on a bright and early Friday morning we set off towards the western horizon with six glorious days ahead of us.


Turning off the C28 towards Swakopmund, follow the D1953 to Otjimbingwe.
Lovely scenery and no traffic.  Not for small cars though.


Just after the turn-off


Just follow the map


Stopping at the spot where I fell my arse off with the bike last year!  


Swakopriver at Otjimbingwe


Spitzkoppe in the distant


Lunch in a riverbed near the Spitzkoppe


Twee spoor pad vir die volgende paar dae van hier af!


Some water left in the rocks from the rains a few weeks ago


Boompie-alleen with the Brandberg looming on the horizon


This German was close to tears when we rocked up!  Tyres @ 3 and a bit + a totally overweight and severely underpowered rig + no experience + bags full of ignorance = Perfect disaster!


We covered some really rough terrain on the way to the Messum crater.
We took a shortcut over this higher than expected kopje and saved many kms for the day.
Please do not beat me up for cutting new tracks...we did not touch a lot of ground on this one.
The FJ proved to be a real rock-crawler as well!


The Landy's LWB took the rocks in it's stride!


So eventually after a long day we pitched camp under the full moon with the Messum crater to watch over us!

[Theo Marx]

Very nice ! 

[Jonathan Tee]

Very nice David  for sharing

[Jonathan Tee]

So there were 3 of you in the vehicle, what was in the back and what was in the Thule on the roof?

[David van Breda]

JT
We were always 4 in the car. In the back I had 6 ammo boxes strapped to the floor with a ground sheet (large), three soft bags with clothes, one mattress and 25l of water.  In the Thule we had 4 sleepingbags and two mattrasses!


Leaving Messum the next day going directly north on a rather rough track


Mountains (Mikberg) south of the Huab valley in a distance.  We sleep north of them tonite.


Brandberg Wes mine T-junction. I drove this road from Uis last year and it must have been one of the worst roads in Namibia currently!


Smoke break coming out of the Ugab


Nice ride coming out of the Ugab


One of my favourite stopping spots


Have not tracked down this fellow's name yet....


Posing near the Burnt mountain


Not quite an Efi but still likes this stuff! Fuelling at Twyfelfontein


Second night's spot.  We missed the favourite one by half an hour!
But it was still great


Camp is set!

[Jonathan Tee]

Magic I really should start looking for a job in Whk

[Keith Richardson]

Wow - David you are really putting the FJ to use
Nice one - I love Damaraland

[Mark Seele]

 
I want to go NOW!!!
looks awesome as always