Orange River to Helmeringhausen (Namibia) - June 15th

June 15th, 2008

Short: Up early!, head to Grünau for lunch, drive to Fish River Canyon, Beers and sunset drive to Helmeringhausen

Long: We managed to wake up early this morning! (7:15am). We heated up some water for tea (Niki) and hot chocolate (Moyer), had a quick shower, and then went searching for someone to pay for the campground. We found Armand, the camp manager (owner? – Not sure), working in his workshop fixing boats and he brought us into reception to pay. After a look at the map, we both decided that we would drive to Fish River canyon with a stop at Grünau along the way for breakfast. The drive from River camp to Grünau was mostly paved and uneventful. In Grünau we lucked out and found a small lodge where we had omelets and then refueled at the service station 1 km away. At the petrol station Niki used the ATM. I tried the ATM and my card was not accepted (Most likely issue - Oops – I forgot to inform my bank I’m in Africa). The road from Grünau to Fish River canyon is unpaved, but well maintained. So far the terrain has been complete arid and therefore extremely dry. With no rain, the roads are fairly smooth, but also very dusty. After about a one hour drive we arrived at the Fish River canyon park station, paid, and then headed for the first viewing location.

We have been told that Fish River canyon is the second largest canyon in the world, the first being the Grand Canyon. Hmmm…I’m not sure we are convinced. In any case the canyon is pretty amazing. You drive up to the first viewing location and realized that the ground just drops out in front of you with the canyon snaking its way into the distance. After visiting the first viewing location we moved onto the next about a 1km drive on a terribly bumpy road away. WHAT DID NIKI LOSE TODAY? After pulling into the parking lot Niki realizes he left his camera and video camera at the previous viewpoint. He quickly hurried back and picked them up. After a few photos we drove to another viewpoint along the canyon and then back to the station, only seeing two other cars the entire time. What we did see a lot of was dust. Dust seems to flow into the Land Rover from the engine compartment and by the time we left the park everything was caked in a film of dust.

Once leaving the park we hopped back on the road north towards Bethanie and Helmeringhausen. This was an awesome drive. While the road is unpaved, it is in excellent condition and we made good time, although we did manage to add another cm or two of dust to everything in the car. Once north of Bethanie and on the way to Helmeringhausen we traveled a road in which we saw only one other vehicle (for about 100km) and that was a park ranger’s truck. I sent a few text messages to mom and dad and also made a quick phone call for father’s day. After this we both drove north, with a beer in hand, listening to piano man on the radio, watching the sunset. We arrived into Helmeringhausen just after dark and found that the town was not really a town, but a café and ranch. The entire ranch is quite nice, with twenty odd rooms, and a little restaurant. We only met one employee the entire night who told us where to camp and also setup a three course meal. We found it odd that he wouldn’t tell us what was being served for dinner since it was a surprise, but he did insist we would enjoy it. We definitely had our first real African meal. First course was Springbok (a local deer-like animal) soup (it was great and tasted just like beef stew). The second course was donkey steak and sweet pumpkin. The donkey was not as good as the Springbok, but still not all that bad. I ate less of it than Nikolai. The third course was an excellent chocolate desert.

While we were having dinner the manager went out a lit a wood fire underneath the water tank at the showers and we were then able to take warm showers. This was welcomed as both of us were caked with dust from the drive. It was quick to bed after this.