Sunday 7 September 2008

Finally - on we go from Windhoek

Well its has been a while since the last update on our blog and we are sure you are all anxious to hear something new from us. For us it is simply nice to be in a place where it is possible to check the internet once again.

Since our last post the bigger half of the Flojgaard clan has returned to Denmark and we have had plenty of time to see new things and meet (let's call 'em) interesting people along the way. After saying our goodbye we returned to Windhoek to have our car serviced, which turned out to be a longer episode - meaning we had to get one of the rear sideshaft changed as well as one of the bearings in the left steering and having new brakes fitted. Ohh - I guess I forgot mentioning the rear muffler needed to welded as-well.

After several days delay in Windhoek we took off to Spitzkoppe where we hooked up with a very nice group of young english people. Together we had a couple of nice days at Spitzkoppe at the very isolated campsites. At Spitzkoppe we saw the Bushmen paintings and various rock formations. On the last evening it would have been quite suitable to have had a bath after our long walk and messing about with a soccerball, but the truck that was promised to return with water never came. So we returned slightly dirty back to our campsite.


On the day we were meant to leave Spitzkoppe and head north towards the Caprivi it turned out that our Water tank (which we had already gotten fixed once) was still leaking. Hence we decided to make another visit to the nice people at KEA in Windhoek to leave the container with them. This also gave us the wonderful opportunity to visit Nando's once more. The same day we tried to make it as far north as possible and got to Grootfontein where we stayed at the De Kraal Steakhouse and Camping. At first glance it seemed like an alright place, it was clean and the owner who was German also spoke quite good Danish. The dinner we ate together with the owner and his wife. The meal was lovely but as we got further and further into the hours of the night this (ex) SS-Officer revealed his true views on life in Africa. If the evening wasn't a nightmare then he certainly gave us some by showing us his pistol whilst we were settling the bill. Maybe we should have had thought twice when we saw we were the only ones at the campsite...

The following morning we got up early in a rush to get out of there and on to Khaudom Game Reserve. On the way into the park we made a stop by a Bushmen village to get some insight into how they used to live and make fire and so on. By the time we bunked down for the night we probably had one of the most exhilarating days so far; we got stuck outside the Bushmen village, and got out of it, our tyre punctured, we experienced some of the first heavier sand driving after we left CT, and we camped for the first time without fences.


We spent the following day driving through Khaudom and on the way we saw plenty of elephants, giraffes, and roan antelopes. Here it was different than in Etosha - the animals weren't used to cars and people so the experience of the different behavior in itself was much wilder. The whole day we spent driving in deep sand and it was fun but tiring. Finally when we got out on the tar road north of the park we headed towards Rundu to make sure to have a new spare tyre for the next leg of the trip. This was a fortunate decision as once we had travelled a km on the road the cars' instruments slowly started dying on us. After we had pulled over the car would not run again. To our luck a nice group of Germans came along that were also heading into Rundu so they towed us to their campsite.

The following morning with the help of some of the Germans (mainly Fritz) and our trusted Multimeter (sponsored by SDU) we found the problem was that the alternator was busted and the engine had just been draining the battery of all juice. To our 'luck' this was a public holiday so we spent an extra night in Rundu before getting the car to the shop. eventually we got the car in shape again with a new alternator and two new tyres and we were off to Ngepi Camp on the Okavango river. At the very relaxing campsite we used 5 days for playing Settlers, relaxing, and swimming in the Croc & Hippo cage. One afternoon we went on a Mokoro (traditional canoe) trip up the river to drink some beers and watch the hippos. Awesome animals, by the way. At this camp we experienced some of the most interesting toilet facilities yet.

From Ngepi we went over the border into Botswana an on towards Tsodilo Hills to see more Bushmen paintings of animals and the 'Dancing Penises'. And our next real stop was in Maun to reserve our campsites for the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. On the way though we had to get out several times due to Checkpoints for Foot and Mouth Disease. Fortunately instead of making us throw out the meat we had bought in the previous town they allowed us to cook it at the fire at the checkpoint before proceeding.

The last 4 nights we spent taking turns being sick in Maun, but we hope to get on the way soon.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Hej, dejligt at høre fra jer! Det lyder til at det har været en hård tur efter vi forlod jer. Er I stadig glade for Hiluxen? Vi så ellers lige et top gear afsnit hvor de kørte til nordpolen i en hilux. Så må den simplethen også kunne klare et par måneder mere i Afrika:-) Kh fra Camilla og Hans.

muttimarie said...

Just a Test

Mads said...

Hej igen til jer her fra lille Danmark.
Igen må jeg lige indskyde, at det virkelig er skønt, at i får skrevet nogle gode lange beskrivelser her på blokken, så vi kan følge med.
Det var sgu da lidt "sjovt" med ham tyskeren egentligt. Man kan jo ikke lade være med at tænke på, hvor mange af de rigtig slemme fyre, der mon har boet/bor diverse øde steder dernede efter krigen :)
Surt med diverse bil og mave problemer, men det ville vel også nærmest være et mirakel, hvis i kom igennem hele turen uden at opleve begge.
Herhjemme går alt sin vante gang uden så meget nyt at berette om. Rockerne og indvanderbanderne skyder lidt efter hinanden (desværre uden at kunne ramme), og Lene Espersen har overtaget formandsskabet af K.
Det er vist det vildeste vi kan byde på :) så det blir jo godt, når i kommer tilbage og holder foredrag om jeres tur. Jeg forventer det helt store dias-show.
Kan i ha' det rigtig godt.
Mads

Marius said...

Wow!!

Looks like you guys are having a wonderfull time! Our hearts are with you on this trip. I guess you are glad for the experience driving up that sandy hill at "Ou Trek Pad" in Cape Town. Have fun and keep the reports coming!


Regards
Marius(4wd)
(Guy with leather hat on your photo. Sat with you at table while we ate ..still borowed your foil for my potatoes!!)

Anonymous said...

Oh man do I remember the Spitskoppe ....
We went up with a bottle of Cane spirits, which we duly downed between 2 of us - neat I might add.
Was the most beautiful sunset I'd ever seen.
P.S. I have no idea how we got down the rock formation again alive and in one piece. :-)