Day 3 - On the road again. And again. And again...

16:30
I wake at 07:00, having slept well. I’m picked up at 08:30 to go to the truck depot to meet my chariot. I’m given a VERY thorough lesson in how everything works - from the 4x4 system, to the tent, to the frankly pretty scary jack mechanism for getting the car out if it’s stuck in soft sand. It’s an incredible vehicle, with tons of clever features and designs.

I’m on the road by 10:30, and headed to Grove Mall, a giant shopping complex on the outskirts of Windhoek. I’ve a fairly substantial shopping list to grab - mainly food, but some household items as well. There’ll be opportunities to top up along the route, but big supermarkets will be few and far between. I’m a little surprised by the cost of some items. Meat and veg are well priced, but store cupboard staples like salt and pepper, olive oil and rice are pretty punchy.

Leaving the mall, I stop at a Shell service station to fill the tanks. The truck as 2 diesel tanks, each holding 80 litres. It’s pretty much empty when I top up, and the total cost of fuel is $4,000 - around £180. Not quite the vertiginous £2.00 I’ve seen recently in the UK, but still a chunk of change. Still - should be enough for 1,500 kilometres.

Leaving Windhoek behind, I’m struck by just how quickly I feel like I’m in the middle of nowhere. Windhoek’s hardly a sprawling metropolis, but as few as 3-4km from Grove Mall, I’m surrounded by scrub and farmland. I settle into a cruise at 110km/h. The roads are long and straight, with a heat haze shimmer at the horizon.The surrounding scenery is achingly pretty. Rocky outcrops, olive green mountains in the distance. After an hour or so, I arrive into Rehoboth, the last town of any meaningful size between Windhoek and Naukluft, my destination this evening. A couple of clicks past Rehoboth, I turn off the paved road onto my first gravel road of the trip. I’m still familiarising myself with the vehicle, so take it pretty easy. I can feel the wheels shifting around on the loose gravel. It’s initially a little disconcerting, but soon becomes comfortable. I’ve got about 160km to go on this road - a good couple of hours realistically.

There’s incredibly little traffic on the road, and I wile away the time gazing into the vast scenery around me. Around 15:30, I notice that something’s amiss. The brakes feel soft, and there’s a lot of travel in the pedal. I slow down to see if I can hear anything obvious. I cannot. There are no warning lights on the dashboard. I come to a complete halt, and have a quick look around the vehicle. Disaster. There’s a pool of liquid gathering between the two rear wheels. I haven’t noticed loud bumps or thumps, so have no idea how it’s happened. I call the truck rental agency, and over the course of about an hour, we agree that the truck is not drivable, and that they need to send me a mobile mechanic - which may take some time….

TIA.

22:00
Well, this has turned into quite the first day of my road trip. After further phone calls, the Bushlore guys reckon it’s safest to send me out a new vehicle, which needs to be driven down from Windhoek. The driver leaves at 17:00, and it’ll take close to 3 hours before I see him. I settle in to read my book. A car or truck passes perhaps every 20-30 minutes. Several slow down to check I’m ok. One of the farmers nearby asks if I’d like to come and wait at his house, which is incredibly sweet. I’ve got plenty of snacks, some Savanna (and also soft drinks, obvs) and if the very worst comes to the very worst, I’ve a tent on top of the truck, and plenty of braai supplies.

Otujo arrives just before 20:00. The sun sets quickly in this part of the world, and it’s full dark by the time he reaches me. He checks out my current truck briefly. I explain about the brake fluid, and the pedal going long. He jumps in and tries it out, before exclaiming, “Oh! Is very big broken sir!” So - that’s reassuring.

We do some paperwork, transfer my belongings to the new truck, and I scamper away. I hope Otujo manages to repair the truck so it’s roadworthy, and can get him home to Windhoek.

Now, the darkness combined with a slightly unsettling feeling from experiencing complete brake failure earlier makes me super vigilant. I’m back on the road around 20:30 and I’ve got another 45-50 minutes to go before I reach Naukluft campsite. In a fit of pique, while waiting for Otujo, I booked one of their log chalets for the night in place of my existing campsite booking. I’m looking forward to the truck camping experience, but I don’t particularly fancy my first experience of setting everything up to be in the pitch black.

I arrive at the entrance to Naukluft National Park, within which my accommodation is located. There’s a closed gate at the entrance, and my heart drops. This is in line with other African parks I’ve visited, where there is no entry after sunset, and vehicles are prohibited from driving around the park at night as well. There’s no guard at the gate though, and a quick inspection shows no lock on it either. I quickly open the gate and drive through. If there’s a kerfuffle, I’ll claim ignorant tourist. The road in the park is properly bumpy. I’m trying to balance caution with the need to, you know - actually get somewhere. Finally, FINALLY - I pull into Naukluft campsite at 21:30.

I approach the reception building, and it transpires the reception team are literally packing up to go home. I’ve got incredibly lucky, otherwise I suspect I’d have had to camp in the car park. My chalet is lovely - but features neither electricity nor WiFi. Not a problem when I originally booked a campsite, but a little trickier now, as I also have no cell reception, and no way to tell poor Vicki back home that all is well, and I’m in a good place. Hopefully (!) my phone will pick up a random signal before too long, and my messages will get through…

I’m properly tuckered after a much more challenging day than intended. Decent kip tonight, early start tomorrow, and onwards - to Sesriem!Read more