Sunday, February 14th - Orange River, Namibia to Lambert's Bay, South Africa

Today for some reason I was awake well before 6:00 so I decided I might as well get up.  I was having dreams about people walking through our chalet as if it were a show home and couldn't seem to get them to understand that it was just a chalet and we were staying in it.  Very hard to get through your shower comfortably with people passing through.  Finally I was awake enough to know I should just get up and get ready to face our longest drive of the tour.

Breakfast and bags were out by 7:00 and we were on our way by 8:00.  By 9:00 we made our first stop just before the border crossing.  None of us really needed anything but it was our last chance to get rid of Namibian dollars that are not accepted in South Africa.  I had $30 or about $3 Canadian and bought a chocolate bar and some smarties.  I probably should have just left the money as a tip for driver who is from Namibia.  That would have been better for my waistline.  I think it was here that we filled up with gas and it was 2,380 rand or $238 US for the 230 litres so just over a dollar a litre.

The border crossing was very quick and easy.  Exiting Namibia we had to fill out a form and hand them our passport, which they looked at for all of 30 seconds, stamped and handed back.  In South Africa we just handed them our passport and they did a few things, stamped it and handed it back maybe after 60 seconds.  Once we were through there we were back in the country where we started this amazing 30-day journey and had only about one day with the whole group before people started leaving.

The landscape around the Orange River was beautiful.  Even as we got up this morning we were all taking pictures of the hills of South Africa changing colour in the sunrise.  The river was perfectly calm and, although the mountains were too far away, there were other reflections in the water.  It was a beautiful place to have breakfast and watch the river flow slowly by.  There were also some very colourful birds out but the resident cat kept scaring them away so we never really got any bird pictures.

Just outside the resort as we headed south east we had beautiful green vineyards on the one side of the road and dry sandy desert areas on the other side.  It was an amazing contrast to see.  That didn't last to long though and soon it was pretty barren looking, but beautiful on both sides..  In one section the road was truly like a roller coaster.  It was up and down hills just like any good ride so a number of people threw their hands in the air and were making the oohs and aahs that would be required on such a ride.  It didn't last too long so even I thought it was fun while it lasted.

Just after the border crossing we went through an interesting area where the river had cut a totally new path and the road runs through the canyon of the old river.  It was a windy path and pretty narrow as it followed the route of the old meandering river.  You could see where the water still runs in small streams along both sides of the highway before emptying into the current river flow.  In one of the flat dry areas of the canyon there was a cemetery with the graves covered with stones.  The ground is so rocky there is no where else to dig the graves.  Above the canyon floor all along the rock face of the canyon walls the rock looked very loose but obviously they were pretty solid to have survived for so many centuries already.

After that we were in another very barren area with nothing but sand for as far as you could see before some hills filled the background.  It was very beautiful but very desolate looking.  Shortly thereafter we had the same landscape but with some small plants - shrubs and grasses - in the sandy area.   At some point we had some wonderful hills beside the road but I don't remember exactly where except that I think it was right around the border.  They reminded me of the foothills of the Rockies and also of Table Mountain as they had flat tops.

The land was so flat that the road seemed to go on forever - just a line disappearing into the horizons.  Luckily, now that we're back in South Africa, we are back on paved roads.  They aren't always perfectly smooth but they are paved and definitely not as rough as the Namibian dirt roads.   The rivers actually have water in them now too so that's nice to see.  There are even irrigation ditches from the rivers and/or wells to the fields and vineyards.  There were some low passes that offered views of the valleys below and they were spectacular.

To farm in these areas they have to farm in strips so you had patches where grain had been harvested and then a row of shrubs, then more space for grain and another row of shrubs.  This is the only way to prevent soil erosion as the soil is so sandy and light and can just be blown away.   Somewhere around here they also grew a special tea but I don't remember which one.  I think it started with an "r" and was something like rose hip but I don't think that was it.

We arrived in Lambert's Bay and split into two groups to stay at two different guest houses, both of which were lovely.  My room was on the second floor of the house and was large and bright and very clean.  Everyone else seemed to be down on the main floor and I had a big sitting room, kitchen area and big verandah overlooking the town and the sea shore, maybe six blocks away, all to myself.  It was lovely but then we didn't get much time to enjoy it as we arrived late and we're heading out early for a group dinner on the seaside.

Dinner was in an open-air setting which was rather cool since the wind was blowing in off the water.   Our guide described the restaurant as rustic and I guess it was as we sat on wooden planks and ate off wooden tables and used paper plates.  However, the food was fantastic.  It was a fish BBQ and the fish just kept on coming.  There must have been a dozen different fish and they were all delicious.  It was sort of a progressive dinner in that the meal kept changing with each new offering.  We also had sweet potatoes, potatoes, Greek salad, beans, rice and other dishes to go along with the fish.  When dessert time arrived they had donuts (really sweet!) and sirloin steak.  I'm not sure how the steak became dessert but it was absolutely delicious and set off the meal perfectly - much better than a donut!

Norm and Pat, who had won the lottery re how many times the police would stop us in Zimbabwe, had purchased little carved animals for everyone and they held the "Roberts" awards after dinner.  Robert of course refers to Mugabe but they didn't want to make it that obvious.  Norm has a great sense of humour and he had a line or two about each award and the winner.  It was hilarious as he went through everyone's award and they definitely brought back a lot of good trip memories.  I got a rhino for taking the most pictures with someone else's camera.  That was on one of the safaris and all the animals happened to be on my side so Mike kept passing his camera to me to take his pictures.  Other awards were for spotting a leopard in a tree or for finding a bird that really wasn't a bird at all.  it was great fun.

After that we sat around and Arthur and his friend, Arnoud, who had brought a guitar with them, sang us many different songs - not necessarily South African but good fun none the less.   Eventually it was time to go back to our guesthouses and go to sleep.  The restaurant was not very busy so I'm thinking they probably thought we should have gone home even earlier!  However, it was a fun night and a good way to end the trip - well, almost end it.  We technically still have two more days but the driver leaves us tomorrow and most people start leaving shortly after that so this was the last time we would all be together.