South Africa and Namibia: September 2018: Day 5: Road trip

South Africa and Namibia: September 2018

Day 5: Road trip

Even major secondary highways here are dirt. At least they're smooth, well-maintained dirt.

Meekrats!

Massive socialable weaver nest.

Excellent example of a community nest.

Do you see the bird in this photo?

They're tiny birds-- about 1oz and ~5.5 inches long.

Random rock formation.

Mountains near Bullsport.

Meat pie at McGregor's in Solitaire.

And their famous apple pie.

Bakery, gas station, restaurant...

McGregor's Bakery.

Old trucks litter the entrance.

And cactui line the borders.

Oryx on the side of the road.

Actually it's a whole herd of them!

Butterflies at Weltevrede Guest Farm.

Desert sunset.

Feels kind of like the surface of Mars.

Sun rays illuminating the dust in the air. Felt almost otherworldly.

Wild guineafowl enjoying the farm.

Sunset in the Namib desert.

Time for dinner.

Sliced oryx.

Had a halfway decent breakfast at the Roof of Africa Hotel before starting the tour. Our guide from Mabaruli African Safaris arrived just as we finished packing, so we hopped into the truck, filled out some forms, and promptly set off on the 300km (186 mile) drive from Windhoek to Solitaire.

Passed through Rehoboth, then found that outside of the biggest ("B" motorways), roads in Namibia are mostly dirt. Relative smooth dirt on "C" motorways at least, but still completely dirt. Klein Aub and Rietoog are both villages, barely towns, as is Bullsport. At least the little bakery/gas station/restaurant in Solitaire has a pretty good meat pie and an even better apple pie? And we sighted a horde of oryx right off the road-- very cool!

Welterverde Lodge is a bit rustic, very friendly staff, and comfortable enough by Intrepid standards (err, PEAK, err, Mabaruli, talk about subcontracting hell). Not too much to do in the area, and a surprising lack of upsell from our guide, contrary to how Intrepid often is. Dinner in the common area was oryx (yum!) and while the rest was reasonable simple, they did an excellent job.