Son and Father trip to Richtersveld Being a busy time of year this was a great trip, with only two vehicles and four people participating. The planning was easy and Errol our master chef suggested that he purchase all the food and meat and as we all eat anything and everything we did not have to worry. My only requirement was that the steaks had to be at least an inch thick and Errol managed to get us some monsters. Errol left at lunch time on the 9th and worked his way through to a friends house in the Northern Cape whereafter he traveled to a waypoint where we were going to meet that evening. I was attending a work function and only managed to get away at 4 pm and so after a quick stop in Van Rynsdorp we travelled up in the dark. My best..I think I must have been a bat in my previous life as I love the night. We approached the turnoff and followed a gravel track. I called on the VHF and Pim answered. They were at a point slightly North of the waypoint. The big IPF’s with their 130 watt bulbs turned the track to daytime and as we approached the water tank I saw Pim signaling us from the right with his torch. Errol and Pim had the fire ready and we started to braai just before midnight. The night was quiet, no wind and the stars were sprinkled all over the sky. The evenings were hot and every night we slept in the open on our stretchers. It was full moon and the shadows jumped across the plains. One would wake at night and after the initial disorientation the area was almost in a twighlight zone, like the midnight sun. We woke with the sunrise, at just after 5am. I climbed a small hill to get some photos and the orange due to dawn was on everything. My companions started to evacuate their sleeping bags and soon the smell of coffee hung in the air. After breakfast we packed up and went to explore the first abandoned mine. This my my 82nd trip to the area since 1998 and every visit reveals new opportunities. Most of the mines had been abandoned many years ago and this time we visited an old granite mine. The blocks of granite standing there abandoned, waiting for trucks that will never come. On a sad note, the local community have stripped everything of use from the mine and in the three weeks since my previous visit the buildings were reduced to shells and stand forlorn. We followed some dry riverbeds hoping to get to find the track to Eksteensfontein. The local herders had mentioned a road that would follow the contours. We followed the track and this track definitely did not get us to Eksteensfontein. We diverted to an old cave that I had stayed in before and spent the night in the cave. The cave was like Australia, flies, flies and more flies. As the sun set the flies disappeared and the evening became enjoyable. We slept outdoors again and watched the stars migrate across the sky. The days were warm at about thirty nine degrees and we worked our way through Eksteensfontein [stopped for ice cream] and then traversed Helskloof to the Orange River. A few weeks prior to our visit a sudden rainstorm had created a wave almost two meters high and the roads are washed away and so we had to travel a lot more carefully. On reaching the Orange River we found a great spot on the banks and spent the rest of the day braaiing and swimming. As sunset crept closer we packed up and moved to an old campsite of mine which is much more secluded and nearer to the N7. We camped in the shadow of a rockface and the stillness is deafening. Errol volunteers to make an Indian curry (with no "ring sting") and we crash at about 11pm. The next morning we backtrack and wend our way back to Springbok. A Wimpy breakfast with a Mega Coffee and we were ready to face the trip back to Cape Town. The trip was amazing and Errol cooked up a storm. Greg