On Saturday, September 14, 2024, we got up at 7:30 am. The sun had already risen behind the peaks of the Rostock mountains and warmed us during breakfast. At 8.45 am we started the journey that would take us almost four hundred kilometres via Sossusvlei and along the Tiras Mountains to the south of the country.

The sky once again bright and blue. And the temperature is such that you still like to wear a sweater in the morning. Spring in Namibia is something like ours: still refreshingly cool in the morning, but pleasantly warm during the day. Then we each take off our sweaters and put on our sunglasses.

The gravel road presented itself from the good and then again from the bad side. We drove the corrugated road at 80 km/h so that shook not only Mahangu but also us. Later followed stretches over soft and sandy ground. Better if you hold the steering wheel firmly in both hands, as the vehicle tends to start to lurch.

Every now and then a grader would come towards us. A driver sits in the non-air-conditioned cabin and covers his mouth with a cloth so as not to inhale more sand and dust than necessary. (The graders have the task of scraping the corrugated road and make it easier to drive on.) No wonder the grader drivers are greeted with joy and a honk of horns by all drivers when they meet them.

Later in the afternoon we came across the turnoff to the Namtib Biosphere Reserve. Twelve kilometers later we reached the farm. Soon we were sitting behind a refreshing Rock Shandy. We then drove Mahangu under a large tree. You don’t look for shade so much right now; but where there are trees there are also birds. And they will thank us for the food we spread with a morning concert. We’re looking forward to that!