Thursday 27 May 2010

Overnight on an island

12/05/10
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Guma Lagoon is a tranquil resort that sits on the edge of a permanent lake in the delta. With swimming pool, horse riding, and a huge wooden dining deck to the water’s edge, it was one of the posher places we’ve camped. We even got to eat at a table for a change. We stayed there for one night before being taken in tub like speed boats 10km further into the delta where we would meet the mokoros. Mokoros are traditional canoes made from hollowed out tree trunks. These are then ‘driven’ by a skilled poler who stands at the back and punts with an 8 ft pole. 

 
 We were taken, kitchen and all, in the mokoros three hours deeper into the delta. We went through narrow channels cut into the tall elegant papyrus grass, lily pad gardens and spiky plants that covered us in bugs. It’s a really peaceful and relaxing way to travel, but at the back of your mind you’re always aware that you’re surrounded by hippos, elephants and crocs in a boat that sits only 10 centimetres out of the water. On the way to the camp we stopped at an island with elephants. We were warned not to talk, to tread lightly, and to stay in a close group behind the guide. The guide and mokoro men were clearly very nervous. It was a little daunting standing 30 metres away from such large animals. You have no chance of making it into and away on wobbly mokoros if they charge.


Arriving at the chosen island to camp on we found it was actually an elephant’s toilet. The size of the deposits means it doesn’t take many elephants to make a whole heap of mess, literally. This didn’t seem to bother those in charge and we tried to set up tents between the mounds. Nick then spotted 3 bull elephants about 20m away from us in the bush. Having watched the mokoro men around the elephants earlier we expected to be told that we’d need to move islands, but we were just told not to wander. With camp set up and lunch finished we found that unlike usual we had some time to kill. The long driving days take their toll and we all were happy with the chance to rest. It soon became clear that nobody was going to get to snooze due to the extreme racket coming from the Botswanan or ‘Swanan’ side of the camp. It is considered rude in Botswana to speak quietly when in a group as it means that you are speaking badly of someone. As a result we had 15 men sitting in a circle shouting at each other. This detracted somewhat from the relaxation qualities of being out in the bush and away from civilization. To make it worse, they all seemed to have so much to say to each other, they hadn’t stopped talking all day.

Going out in the mokoros for sunset was about the only time that the men stopped talking. Instead they looked around nervously and were reduced to hissing, clicking, whistling and pointing fearfully into bushes. They seemed scared of their own shadows and constantly looked over their shoulders. Their fear convinced us of death by hippo at any minute. We kept hearing them grunt but we never saw them. There were quite a few elephants feeding and wading between islands, and one bull elephant mock charged us when we startled him. A mock charge involves head shaking, ear flapping, and a bit of noise. This doesn’t sound that scary, but when you’re confined to a tiny hand powered wooden boat it’s reasonably terrifying. All the elephants were good to see, but it would have been nice to catch a glimpse of a hippo or croc, after all in the nature programs the delta’s full of them, our expectations had been high. Later that night there was a hippo heard grunting behind the tents, but that really wasn’t the encounter any of us were wanting.

Left Guma this morning and made it back to the truck to find it had been fixed. So fixed in fact that John had managed to get a speeding ticket. We now rattle along at a far more respectable 75 km an hour. That was of course after we eventually managed to get going having freed ourselves from yet again getting stuck in the sand.

Also… seem to have survived the brush with the dodgy hot dog.

Wednesday 26 May 2010

Sticky days

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11/05/10

Have been away from the bus for 3 days on the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana. Nice to have time away but was grateful to return to comfy seats. Also relief to be back to tarmac roads, until the next sand patch that is. We have had days of getting stuck. First we got stuck driving into the campsite after a 14 hour day. Got a tree between the wheels that our driver John had to saw out. John looks a little like Clint Eastwood and has a slow, strong accented way of speaking. His knowledge about people, places, history and geology so far have been amazing. He has seen everything so many times but doesn’t seem to get bored with it. He is completely unfazed by anything. Even after a tough 14 hour day, and then having to hack a tree out from under the bus, he calmly climbed on the bus and proceeded to tell us all about the scenery we missed while driving in the dark. He is never too stressed or busy to give us advice and he never stops fixing the bus. In fact, as I type, he is under the stationary bus now, trying to wedge the compressor, that has sheared off its bolts, back onto the engine with a stick. Apparently this is our best hope to get us the 100 km to our next destination. John is never happier than getting some quiet time and finding some space to go off alone with his binoculars and bird book.

The following morning in our trials of getting stuck, we packed up to leave camp early so we could get a head start and proceeded to get stuck when trying to turn the bus around in sand. Would have been relatively simple to solve if the sand tracks hadn’t got caught on the underside of the truck and bent like a sheet of aluminium when the bus drove over them. We got out the sand, demolishing the rock border of the path on the way, but then had to spend a long time getting the heavy tracks flat enough to attach back on the bus. We then drove all day, bus seeming to get slower and slower, motoring at 55km per hour, into Botswana and down the side of the Okavango Delta. We stopped in a small village and transferred luggage, tents, kitchen and food for three days from our truck to an even more tank like one. The 45 minute drive on to Guma Lagoon Resort needed to be done in 4x4, but one that has wheels 4 ft tall. We left John with our bus with the aim of getting the engine fixed, while we rattled and bumped off, gears grinding and with diesel fumes pumping into the open sided truck.


As we followed the sand track through the village it quickly became clear why we need a 4x4, and one so big. We were to spend most of the 45 minute journey driving through water. Our confidence in the vehicle was shaky from the off, and when we entered the first big stretch of water we ground to a halt and the back left wheel sunk 3 ft into the sticky mud. It took them a surprisingly quick 20 minutes to free it (the slightly inadvisable African technique of winching it up on a jack and then driving off the jack), before we waded out and got back on it. We set of with great trepidation. Not quite sure how, as the water sometimes made it 4 ft up the truck, but we made it to the resort without further incident.


Tuesday 25 May 2010

Angry elephants and chilled rhinos

07/05/10

This morning we left Etosha and are now driving to our last camp stop in Namibia, 500 km on in the Caprivi Strip. We then have another long drive after that to take us to the Okavango Delta.
Yesterday’s drive within the park between the camps was not as exciting as promised. We had been told to expect lots of cools stuff later in the day as we got further in the park. Instead it actually felt like we were leaving the animals behind, that is apart from springbok which are even more prevalent than zebra, yet certain members of our group still insist on shouting stop for, and must have near on 500 photos of them. There were a few birds on the drive, but it’s hard to get excited about a bird when you’re expecting a rhino. Out of desperation I think, our driver suggested we go back out after setting up camp to recheck the local waterholes. We were all really hot, tired and burnt, and most would like nothing more to start drinking by the pool, but I think we all felt that if we didn’t go something good would be spotted. It’s like those dive trips, you really can’t be bothered to get back in the water for a fourth time that day, but you know if you don’t a hammerhead will show up.




We drove around the waterholes and they were all empty. This is the end of the rainy season and the seasonal lakes and rivers have filled, so animals normally dependant on the waterholes can go elsewhere. Our last stop was a beautiful natural pond. We arrived and found about 11 giraffes milling around. One posed nicely for a reflection shot in the water, while two others even started to mate. Our driver told us later that they were actually 2 boys. Didn’t know giraffes were amongst the mammals that were that way inclined. You learn something new every day. There were also lots of springbok, impala, and elands. Elands are the largest antelope, and are more like cattle than all their other more graceful relatives. While we were distracted with them a bull elephant snuck up on us from behind. He was quite small and was obviously suffering an adolescent day, flapping his ears, shaking his head and stamping his feet. He stomped directly for us before conceding to our bigger mass and veering away, all the while eyeballing us. He then went to take out his anger on everything else smaller and skirted the waterhole stomping towards all the other animals until they ran away. He left without even having a drink, and continued to stomp off towards the forest, backside showing, tail flicking angrily. If he had had a door, he would have slammed it.
While all this was happening, a very calm and confident black rhino sauntered (as much as something built like a tank can saunter) over towards the water and then calmly posed, very obligingly on the opposite bank to drink water. The shots of him and his mirror like reflection in the water had all the cameras going. We stayed at the waterhole with the sun going down behind us until we realized the time and had to rattle, bang and hiss off as fast as we could to get back before we got locked out. A dull day turned into one of the best days we’ve had.

















……
Now nearing the end of the longest day on the bus so far, have been travelling for just over 12 hours with 2 more to go. Perhaps the tired brain accounts for the potentially huge error in judgment just made. Stopped at a dingy petrol station and maybe it was the news of another 2 hours driving that prompted us to buy a soggy looking, cling-film wrapped hot dog. Ate it, enjoyed it, then heart sank at realization of potential and highly likely food poisoning to come…

Monday 24 May 2010

Game parking...

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06/05/10
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Driving through our first game park where we have been based for at the last 2 nights. We have been staying at a campsite 18 km in and have done morning and afternoon drives from there. Now driving through the park to a different campsite 75km further in. We seem to have left all the animals behind. No more herds of springbok or zebra.
When we first entered the park gates, within minutes we had seen zebra, wildebeest, warthogs, springbok and oryx. This all supported my idea that once in the park we’d have hoards of animals wandering around us and obligingly posing for shots that’d instantly male me look like a pro wildlife photographer. Everyone’s seen the pictures of cheetahs climbing onto the bonnets of cars, and elephants walking right up to vehicles. Entering the park through the big gates and fence actually felt disappointingly like we were entering nothing more than a big zoo. I had had it in my head that being in a game park would give me a chance to see the Africa of old, that which is undamaged and unchanged by peoples poaching and encroaching habitation, but the fences took an element of wildness away.

On the first game drive it quickly became apparent that Etosha is no zoo, and there would be no animals posing patiently by the side of the truck. Etosha is about 200 km wide. Seeing animals is a lot more hit and miss than I thought. Apart from zebra, which appear to be everywhere, you have to search hard for animals, and you also have to be lucky. On the first day everything seemed to be on the horizon, or at least a lot further than my eyes are able for. Also a lot further than our 250mm zoom lens was able to capture. Definitely no wildlife photographer of the year award for me. Thankfully the posh campsite we were staying in had its own waterhole. You got to kick back and relax with a bottle of wine while watching bull elephants, zebra, giraffes, jackals and even 6 black rhinos. We slept in the tents with the territorial calls of lions about 100m away. Going to the toilet in the middle of the night was a test of character.

The second day’s drive was far more successful, with us catching more things closer to the road. We even got to watch a lioness stalk and chase a herd of zebra. The height of our truck gives us a great advantage over other cars and game trucks. We can see further and spot things easier amongst the long grass. It does however rattle, bang and hiss with open roof hatches and hydraulics as we go over rough roads. It kind of puts an end to any sneaking up on animals.


























Being on a game drive is surprisingly tiring. Sitting trying to be patient and squinting into the sun for hours, trying to see stuff that’s got the distinct advantage of years of evolutionary practice to perfect the art of camouflage, can be tense and give you a headache. Watching a zebra herd pick its way round the bush where the lion was hiding, they could all smell was wrong, they just couldn’t see why. A 2 month old foal stopped just feet away from where the lioness was. We were all desperate to see action, but really didn’t want to see the baby get it. A wildebeest fine, a cute baby zebra no. The lioness watched the herd from her hiding place for about 30 minutes before giving chase. She missed, but then walked right by us so we could get the pics we’d been waiting for.



















Our body clocks have changed. Breakfast at 6 am many days, in bed before 9. We are in teams to do duties, rotating between cooking, washing up, cleaning the bus and a rest day. We are now getting to know the group well enough to begin to feel frustrated with those who regularly don’t pull their weight. One lady in our team watched us wash up the other day while she took photos of flowers. Her only acknowledgement to this fact was to say “oh, are we washing up?” and she went back to her flowers. This is the same woman who wandered around a 500 metre area of bush the other day taking pics, lost her phone and then expected everyone to help her find it. It was found and she got back on the bus without a thank you. Very gracious indeed.
On the way to Etosha we stayed overnight at a cheetah farm. This is a big conservation area where they rescue and breed cheetahs. They have three ‘tame’ cheetahs that live in their garden and play with them and their dogs. They also have around thirty more wild cheetahs in the larger conservation area. Tourists get to walk around with and stroke the tame ones, then take a ride in the back of a pickup truck through the conservation area and watch the wild ones being fed. They have to feed them once a day as it’s impossible to introduce and control any prey that is introduced to the area. Cheetahs hunt both for food and for fun, so they would kill everything within weeks. Seeing the 'wild' ones is completly different from seeing the tame one. Thier eyes look like those of a different animal.














Stroking a cheetah is like stroking a sports motorbike. They are highly strung, built for speed, and vibrate with a loud bass like purr. They were tame but we were warned that one gets stroppy when it’s had enough petting, and another was young so it was likely to take a fancy to things and chew them. It set to work on Mark’s boots at one point. Seeing cheetahs in this setting is slightly false, but like the tigers in Chiang Mai, it’s an interaction and viewing opportunity that you’ll get no other way.


One observation made so far of the animals we’ve seen, is that zebras and giraffes behave just like the characters in Madagascar. Zebras all seem to mirror not just in looks but in behavior and expression. Giraffes are completely ungainly and terrified of their own shadow. It took 3 of them over 3 hours to pluck up the courage to make their way down to the camp waterhole yesterday.
 

Monday 17 May 2010

Swimming monkeys


03/05/10
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Stinky flamingos
Back on the bus and surrounded by trees. Well, they’re more like bushes that reach 6-7 ft, but they are definitely the first tree like things we have seen in about a week. That is apart from the camel thorn acacia that would probably survive on the moon if someone thought to introduce it.
Have had a relaxing few days. We had our 2 nights in Swakupmond where we got to sleep in a bed for a change. While it was nice to be in civilization for a bit Swakupmond is a large ugly dust whipped town at the southern end of the Skeleton Coast, and it stinks. Smells like rotten eggs. It permeates everything. You wake up in the morning smelling it, and any washing you do ends up smelling of it. It’s better than the last town we drove through before here, they were cultivating cormorant guano beds and it was so ripe it made your eyes water. Combine that with a beach that was green with flamingo poo that sucked off your flip flops and slowed all but the most determined camera clickers in pursuit of the flamingos. All in all it’s a really stinky place.
Driving north from Swakupmond we were back to nothing. 150 km of flat sand planes and empty coastline. The only interruptions on the skyline are small white ablution blocks every 200m along the shore. These are used in December when people from inland flock to the coast to try and escape the insane heat. The only slight signs of human activity is the small makeshift tables every 10m at the side of the road. These have white chunks of salt crystals laid out for sale. As usual, not a sole to be seen, instead you are expected to take one and leave the correct money in a small tin. This trusting approach to business contradicts many common beliefs about the honesty of African people. Can’t imagine this concept fitting in anywhere in western culture which is usually deemed the more civilized.


We stopped on the coast to visit a site that has become a huge breeding ground for sea lions. It’s estimated that about 300,000 sea lions live there. The flat expanse of sand has easy access to the water, waves to play in, few predators, and best of all no humans. That is apart from those willing to drive 150km to see them. You can see the seals playing in the ocean before rounding the corner to find a beach that is black with a writhing mass of blubber. Animals that are only sleek and graceful once submerged, are fat and cumbersome on land. They role, stretch, scratch, and then pass out with the effort of moving to bake in the sun. There is constant noise with braying; mums calling out to their fat black runny eyed pups, and females standing on each other and bickering over the perfect sunning rock. A bull male made his way onto the beach and all hell broke out until he settled into his current harem. As well as all the noise, and in keeping with all the other coastal stops so far in Namibia, it stinks. You have to quickly perfect the art of only breathing through the mouth.












Stinky swimming monkeys

The Skeleton Coast is named after all the shipwrecks that have left the shore littered with the remains of boats and their crew. The hot air of the desert mixing with the cold air of the ocean creates a thick and heavy fog that covers the coast and its hazards. Large numbers of ships have hit rocks or simply run aground by getting confused in the fog. The land is so inhospitable that few people survive. We only went along the very southern edge of this coastline, but we still saw the wreck of a cargo ship wrecked not too long ago.
We have been quite lucky with wildlife so far. As well as the seals and flamingos we have seen ostriches, springbok, wild mountain zebra, a rare African wildcat, and even cheetahs when driving along the main road. In a place where it is often at least 200km between small one shop towns these animals really have the freedom to roam. We have also seem hemsbok or oryx as it is often known, which most of the group have since tried in steak form after being told it is the best meat in the world. It lives to about 25 years and can survive without ever drinking water, only getting liquid from plants. To conserve energy it moves as little as possible. It is tender and fat free.
The Brandberg Mountains







Last night we stopped by Brandberg Mountain (fire mountain), that lights up the sky at sunrise and sunset. We stayed at the beautiful White Lady camp where all afternoon activities got cancelled in favour of the chance to go in the pool and have sundowners in cold water. There was a tame meercat running around the garden called Timone. That night we ate dinner in silence with just the light of the milky Way to see by. The lack of light pollution and low moon meant the stars were the clearest I’ve ever seen them.
Timone
Kids who came with their families to sing tradtional songs around the fire.



Sunday 16 May 2010

Dreamscapes


01/05/10

Now in Swakupmond, and the days plans have radically changed. Today was meant to be the day I throw myself out of a really small but perfectly good airplane. Have been dreading it for months and was all supposed to be over by now. Wasn’t accounting for the rain, clouds and sandstorm though. It’s the second time I’ve geared myself up to it and it’s been cancelled due to bad conditions. Maybe I should take it as an omen and just not do it.
Been a busy few days, with lots of amazing scenery. Namibia has to be one of the most dramatic places I’ve ever been. From the huge brown scree piles just past the border to the giant slab faced escarpments towering over the Orange River and its black sand dunes, on to the brown rubble and 300m deep ravines and gulleys of Fish River Canyon. Yesterday was the best of all. We were taken deep into the Namib Desert and towards the coast, where there are 300 kms of towering red sand dunes that rise above the hard baked desert floor. We went to Dune 45, the only dune out of 60 that you are really allowed to climb. Not sure how this restriction is enforced 300 kms of sand. Dune 45 is 150m high, and unsurprisingly it’s not an easy climb. Trudging uphill in soft deep sand, especially for Nick who’s still suffering from his vertigo thingy.
We climbed with the moon still high and the sky lightening to the east. The top of the dune was quite busy so we picked a spot further down next to our tour leader and resident photography expert Gareth. From our perch we got to watch the desert floor and surrounding dunes light up. As the light pours down the dunes and highlights and shadows pick out the curves, all you can hear is the crazy clicking of cameras. Some people have 2 or 3 cameras with them on this trip so they can get every angle with every lens. The sunrise was nice, but it was seeing the red and black shapes made by the ridge of the dunes that everyone was there to see.
The dunes of Sossusvlei.






From Dune 45 we drove further into Sossusvlei which is the valley that runs between the dunes. Here we met a bushman called Bussman who took us on a hike around the dunes explaining how plants, animals, and the old bushman people of Southern Africa survived in a place that gets about 3 inches of rain once every twenty years. His stories of the bushman people were amazing. Sadly few live in the desert any more. The western world declared it was wrong of the bushman children to be denied access to education and took them all away from their homes. They were taught how to read and write up until the age of 11. This left them with an education inadequate of helping them survive in the modern world, but also stopping them from learning the skills they needed to return to the bush and to families. The first thing a child was taught in the bush was how to recognize their mother’s footprints in the sand so they could follow them home. Up until the 1920’s it was legal to hunt and kill bushmen. Some people even used to keep the children and raise them as pets.



On the walk we learnt that ‘vlei’ means ‘place where water comes to rest and plants live’. We were taken to visit Deadvlei, which is now an area cut off from any further flood flows as the dunes have enclosed the area. When reaching the brow of the dune that has enclosed Dead Vlei you encounter an unearthly hard white flat floor surrounded by towering red dunes. Team that with the blackened dead trunks of trees sticking up into the deep blue sky and it is photographic heaven. Walking across the sun baked limestone floor with the wind blocking out all other sounds is magical. It has to be one of the most unique places I have and probably ever will visit. 
Spectacular Deadvlei



























We spent 5 hours baking in the desert that morning before packing up camp and getting in the bus to do another long hot and dusty drive. Driving further north we went through flat planes of short yellow pampas grass, then to flat planes with nothing for about 100 km. Next we went through deeply undulating canyons up and down about 20 metre rises and falls, then onto sharp granite canyons that looked distinctly like something out of a sci-fi movie. Each of these different terrains going on for 50 km or more without a person or building to be seen. Namibia has to be one of the most empty and extreme places on earth.
Our driver, John enjoying the miles of peace and quiet.

Sunday 2 May 2010

Fish River Canyon


28/04/10
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Trunk of a quver tree at the canyon.
Another quiet bus day. Early start at 4.30. Put the tents down in the dark, breakfast at 5.00, on the road by 5.30. Namibians only put their clocks back once they get a few hundred km into the country, so near the border we’d not had to bother, but now we’ve lost an hour. Or gained an hour, should be able to work it out, but can’t.
Stayed in Herbos last night. Definite downgrade from the night before, no soft grass to put the tent on, just hard packed dirt with baboon prints in it. We were told to watch out for aggressive baboons. Didn’t see any but one of the girls did have a flip flop go missing. She managed to locate its chewed remains, Gareth and John our guide and driver reckoned it was jackals, they were heard screeching in the night. Would have like to have seen them. Did get to see a genet though, a large blue eyed lemur marked cat. The reason we went so far into the middle of nowhere was so we could visit Fish River Canyon for sunset. This is Africa’s equivalent of the Grand Canyon. It was incredible. I’ve never been anywhere like it. The best word I could come out with when I saw it was “Wow”. Been watching to many bad American films I think. Fish River Canyon was first caused by a tectonic rift. It was deepened further by flood then years of river and wind wear. There are plateaus and valleys with the colossal channel of the river winding U-bends through it all. What made this so special was that we had the place more of less to our selves. That is apart from a group of teenagers who appeared from nowhere to play football on the dirt road as the sun went down. There was one small shack there and the construction site of a future tourist stop, surely they didn’t all come out of the shack.
Fish River Canyon
A truck parked on the edge of the canyon.












Now we are back to miles and miles of nothing on the bus. Have 500 km to travel today, at 60 km per hour at best. Read in a book my mum gave me that Namibia is bigger than most of Europe, but has less than 2 million people. There are 10 million people living in Bangkok, and about the same living in the relatively tiny area that makes up London. 2 million people would have to work really hard to create a visible impact upon such a vast landscape. Saying that, we stopped in one tiny blip on the map town, and their bottle shop had a more varied wine selection than many Bangkok supermarkets.
Quiver tree.
Sunset over the canyon.

Saturday 1 May 2010

Empty space

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27/04/10
Namibia. Miles and miles of nothing and hot as hell. No chance of getting car sick today, haven’t turned a corner since we turned onto this road 3 hours ago. We stopped for a bush toilet stop a while ago and there was a distinct lack of ‘bush’. Not even a mound to duck behind. That is apart from the Mordor like mountains that darken the horizon but never get closer. Boys were told to use the front of the bus, girls behind the bus. Strangely I was the only one who was willing to bare their bum. I don’t care if it’s undignified, I’m not bumping along on dirt roads for 3 hours with a full bladder.
Every so often we pass a mountain sized mound of brown dirt and there’ll be words 6ft tall written in English in white stones on the side of it. Strange when we’ve not seen a sole in hours, even stranger when you realize there isn’t a white rock to be seen. Who puts them there, and for whom to read? Another odd thing is the fences. There have been fences on either side of the road the entire journey so far. To keep what in or out I don’t know. Not seen anything out there move, let alone pose a threat to the barren land on the other side of the fence. It’s how I would imagine the surface of the moon to look, only hotter. And with fences.


This morning we had a lie in. 7.00 breakfast before climbing onto a bus that looked like an old fashioned train and driving 12 km up river. We had had a good night’s sleep at the beautiful Felix Unite campsite by the Orange River, and were taken to kayak down it. I was slightly concerned as canoe and rapids had been mentioned. Now rapids perturb me, but not as much as canoes. From experience I have found that getting any form of forward propulsion out of a canoe is beyond me. Kayaks I’m better with, them being better at straight lines and not having the tendency of trying to turn you on your head. I sat in what I was told was the ‘engine’ seat and Nick went behind in the ‘captains’ seat. This seemed to work well. Power I can do, steering I can not. Mostly it was nothing more than a sedate paddle/float down stream. We only encountered two rapids which were less scary that anticipated. The start of the journey was most dramatic though, the wide and smooth river mirroring the blue sky and the 300 high escarpment that the river had cut its way round. This passed and we were left with walls of green vegetation on either side that go back from the river bed until the reach of the water stops and all you’re left with is brown dust stretching to huge black dunes. We stopped for a startlingly refreshing swim halfway on a sand bank in the middle of the river. Seems a world away now we’re baking away in a cloud of dust in our huge great green tin can of a bus.



Ended up in the absolute middle of nowhere. Not a sole for 4 hours. Gone so far into nowhere that the fence has gone. Even the fist sized black rocks that were used in replacement of a fence are gone. Not sure how rocks work as a fence, but at least it’s some sign of civilization. Now there is just brown. Brown rocks everywhere. Any undulation or feature is made by piles of small brown rocks as far as the eye can see. Even the road is made of brown rocks, doesn’t make for comfy riding, just bone shaking.