Staying at Fiume Lodge, 30 odd km from Grootfontein
Distance 133 + 10566 = 10699
Average 18.6
Time 7 h 10 m
Total from Amsterdam 16099
Location S19.354217, E18.290073
Lots of people walking past the fenced clinic at 02h30 returning home from their night out at the shebeen, one group threw stones onto the tin roof of the small house behind the clinic and the name Owen mentioned often. There was a fence between them and Peter and I in the tent. We had also left panniers on the bikes .. too tired to take them off.
Roosters started crowing and a donkey braying at 04h00 making sure we were awake for the new day. Who knows what adventures will come our way today. Packed up and on the road by 07h35. Peter felt a lot better but was very vocal from a certain two body orifices so the bug is still in his system? I gave him a crystal of ‘granny clamp it’ … potassium permanganate, that Kevin and Elaine from Mazwikadei Dam had given us when we stayed with Roy and Diana. These tiny crystals kill the ‘runny tummy bacteria’ in one’s system. Diluted, it can also be used to rinse veggies and the remedy dates back to Kevin’s grandma who believed in giving the crystals to anything that breathes, hence the name ‘Granny Clamp It’.
Having gone through the village of Mururani we were faced with a new kind of road block … a veterinarian control check point. No raw meat is allowed to pass this road block. From previous experience we quickly stopped and transferred some vacuum packed mince from my pannier to Peter’s hide away compartment and once through we transferred it back to my pannier. Bought a few fizzer glycose sweets, probably all sugar but great for when energy levels are low.
We carried on pedaling away until 80 km when a Namibian bakkie stopped to chat. Turns out it was Arne and Christine who were on their way to camping at a new spot on the Caprivi for three days. We are staying at their lodge tonight … their son in law, Rob, has business dealings with Peter. Next unexpected stop was when we saw two young cyclists approaching us and it turned out to be Blanca and Oscar from Barcelona who are riding Cape Town to Cairo.
Had a magic tail wind for 80 odd km’s then some head wind and the last bit no wind. We finally arrived at our destination at 5 pm and the beer mug of ice cold water was bliss. I mentioned yesterday that I left my piddle bakkie at Ngandu Safari Lodge so contacted Herbert Schubert early this morning to ask his staff to look for it in the ablutions. I was thrilled to hear from Herbert this afternoon that my bakkie was found and that he would courier it to Swakopmund. Am looking forward to being reunited with my bakkie that I bought in Khartoum, Sudan on 10 January ’18 which has seen me through many a night while camping … the thought of putting clothes on at 3 am to walk to the ablutions or out into the desert for a piddle is a ‘no brainer’. Showered, did some washing, had a magic supper of Wildebeest steak and a dinky of white wine and we are both fading fast and about to hit the hay. Switched off the lights at 21h30 and were also literally ‘lights out’. Tomorrow we go to the Bush Camp about 50 km from the lodge for a night. Good night all!
PS: We’re certain there won’t be WiFi at the bush camp so will catch up in a few days time
– Locals queuing up for water as early as 06h30 in the morning
– Camping at the clinic
– Have grown to love these gentle animals
– Arne and Christine Gressmann of Fiume Lodge
– We saw many palm trees the last 20 km before reaching the lodge
– Wonder what make vehicle this was
