After our visit to the grape farm, our journey continued east on March 7, 2025. Thick clouds gathered in the sky, growing darker as the day progressed. It looked like a severe thunderstorm was brewing.

As we decided to camp on a plateau for the night, we hoped the storm clouds would clear and empty elsewhere. But they kept coming, getting darker and darker. As more and more lightning flashed from the sky and the thunder rumbled frighteningly. We decided to pack up and looked for a less exposed spot in the valley. Luckily, because that evening we experienced one of the most violent thunderstorms of our travels.

On Saturday morning, March 8, 2025, the air was clear and the sky was blue. After a few kilometres, we came across the sign for the Desert Fruit Company. Shortly afterward, we were standing at the entrance gate and driving along an avenue lined with date palms. Twelve kilometres later, we met Luke McCall at the headquarter. I had booked a tour with him. Luke, a Brit who, as Troubleshooter for various companies, has seen almost as many countries as we have, greeted us with a firm handshake.

After a cup of tea (we like it better than instant Jacobs coffee) and some small talk, Luke led us for the next three hours through the grounds of the huge date farm. We walked past date palms of different varieties and in various stages of growth. The date harvest is currently still in progress. We were able to watch how dates are sorted and prepared for export. We never would have thought it would take so much work before you can bite into a sweet date!

We said goodbye to Luke in the early afternoon. We weren’t hungry anymore, as each of us had probably tasted half a kilo of dates. And in case we got a hunger pang, Luke gave us four boxes of deliciously sweet dates to take with us. Thank you very much!

PS: If you want to know more about DESERT FRUIT and Namibian dates, read here.