Day 8 - Shaking Something Loose

12:30
I wake up not entirely sure how or when I went to bed. According to my fitness tracker ring, I was asleep at 22:20, and slept through till 07:15. When I arrived at my camp last night, I had a bottle of red wine, and about 4-5 Savanna in the fridge. Had a Savanna on arrival, and then some wine with my food. When I went back to the fridge, I discovered that a Savanna bottle had smashed. Not while I was stationary, obvs, but while I was on the super bumpy road up to the camp. My serpentine mind reasoned that ANY glass bottles left in the fridge would surely break, and that I must finish them to be on the safe side. So....

I have vague recollections of a rave around the fire. I had the campsite all to myself, so hooked up a Bluetooth speaker and banged it out. I don’t always love that I’m a digital DJ these days, but it does have its advantages.

My head this morning is a little fuzzy as a result of the late night activity. I decide that coffee and more coffee will be my breakfast. I’m packed up and on the road by 09:30. I *think* the journey today will be around 5 hours, but am anything but certain. What follows is two hours of the bumpiest and most brutal driving yet. The surface is treacherous - pockmarked and loose. I’m gradually learning though what my truck is capable of. One of the loud bangs as I drive over a barely visible rut convinces me that I must have blown a tyre, but no - all present and correct. I don’t want to tempt fate, but this surely must be the worst of the driving conditions…

Around halfway through the journey, I arrive into Uis (pronounced yoo-is), and a paved road! I suspect the tarmac will only last a few clicks either side of the town, but it’s a very welcome hiatus. Stopping into a café, I realise my coffee only breakfast has caught up with me. I’m ravenous. A cheese and tomato toastie, and a Savanna to smooth over the rough edges - that’ll do for me.

18:45
The drive from Uis up to Mowani is a good couple of hours, maybe more. It’s a fairly straightforward proposition. There are some slightly wobbly bits of road, but there are also long stretches that are much smoother. It’s perhaps due to my state of slight overhang, but I’m barely conscious of some of the lumps and bumps. A couple of times, the truck starts to slide, and I don’t tense up, or try to correct it. The scenery is beautiful, and I spend most of my time gazing out into it.

It is HOT today. Weather app reckons 36C, and the truck agrees. I’m cocooned in an A/C bubble, but every time I get out of the truck, I’m cooking. Arriving into Mowani at 15:30, it feels particularly brutal. Happily, the campsite has a small pool. I get checked in, have a quick explore of my pitch, and head straight back for some pool.

I’m always fascinated to understand who my co-tourists are. In Namibia, I would guess that 70-80% of them are German - not entirely surprising given Germany’s colonial occupation of Namibia for many years. The average age is also, ooh - I dunno, mid 30s? There are a couple of families, but most of the folks I’ve met are young, professional couples. The only Brits I’ve met were in my ballon basket. 6 of them travelling to celebrate one of their 40th birthdays. They were all terribly well spoken (and I should know), and when I asked where they met, was informed, “Eton.”

A couple of Savanna by the pool, and I’m verging on hungry. Other than my cheese and tomato toastie, I’ve only had some Mrs Ball’s Simba chips today, and I need feeding. I grabbed a braai pack from the bar earlier. Lamb apparently - a combo of a lamb steak, some lamb sosaties (not a million miles away from a kofta), and a lamb sausage. Time to get the fire lit.

21:30
Dinner was a treat! I suspect the ‘lamb’ is actually goat, but it’s very tasty. The lamb Boerewors type thing is the highlight, but the lamb belly strips and kebab are both great as well. The temperature has fallen dramatically since this afternoon. I suspect it may even feel a bit chilly overnight.

I’m clearly getting used to my camping set-up. From start to finish, it takes me about 4 minutes to have everything where I need it to be. Post dinner, I’m torn between reading and viewing. I end up opting for TV, and watch a couple of episodes of Platonic, on Apple TV. I belly laugh a few times. Given I’m only 50m away from the next camping pitch, I reason this might not be the coolest thing, so switch to something much more macabre - Castle Rock (Prime). It’s based around Stephen King’s fictional town of the same name, where several of his novels take place, and in the same universe as Shawshank Prison. Spooky and twisted stuff. Weird dreams ahoy!Read more