Kaokoland - July/August 2009 By Frans O'Kennedy Group members: Dylan Evans & Hestelle Mare, George & Susan Warren, Eric Smit, Deon Kotze & Johan van den Berg, Abbott & Carol Erasmus, Frans & Lyn O'Kennedy. With thanks to Deon, Hestelle and George for their photos. We were a group of 5 vehicles travelling to Windhoek via Grunau on our way to Kaokoland. Grunau has affordable accommodation at Grunau Country House at R 100.00 per head. They also have a butchery where one can stock up with excellent steaks and boerewors. In Windhoek we camped at Arrebusch Lodge campsite. A bit expensive at R120.00 per head. There is no other campsite in Windhoek. There are other campsites out of town eg. Elisenheim farm about 11 km north of Windhoek, which is probably a better bet. Both these campsites are on the internet. When visiting Windhoek, a recommended stop is Joe's Beer House for supper. Our group spent a great evening there. Next stop Kamanjab Rest Camp about 5km north of Kamanjab on the C35. Very good campsite with good ablutions. Wood was rather expensive at R25.00 per bundle. Milking tourists is becoming a favourite pastime all over Southern Africa! The last Fuel stop before entering the "bush" was at Opuwo. Opuwo is a sizeable town and the OK supermarket has just about anything you need to top up with. Even fresh vegetables and fruit - at a price. R15.00 for a lettuce. We went on to Kunene River Lodge for one night. The facilities here are good but a tin of Coke is R11.00 We pushed through to Epupa via the Kunene River and made a bush camp half way as this "road" is slow. Don't try to do it in one day! At Epupa we camped at Omarunga Camp. This is a good campsite but the community campsite right next to it is a better bet as it is just as scenic and the accommodation is cheaper. The community campsite has a raised deck over the Kunene which is a good place for sundowners. Beers at Omarunga camp cost R25.00 each and R11.00 at the community camp. E-mail Koos for bookings at the community campsite koos.cunene@iway.na The road from Epupa via Etanga and Ovivero dam to the start of Van Zyl's Pass becomes very bad near Van Zyl's. Eventually it becomes a single track in a rocky riverbed and requires slow and careful driving. Our tyres were deflated to 1.3 bar which made travelling much easier over the rocks and prevented punctures. This is not a road one should travel alone. The Van Zyl's Pass campsite, situated just before the start of the pass is excellent. This is also a community campsite at R60.00 per head. We met our German guests from Berlin, Prof Armin Fricke and his wife Jasmin with Aaron (9) and Juno (12) at this campsite. Thy were bogged down in the riverbed up to the chassis. Driving on 3-bar tyres is not very clever in this sandy area. They arrived from Opuwo on a good road and were intending to travel up the bad track to Epupa on their own. Being a single vehicle and people unaquainted with conditions, we talked them out of it and invited them to join our group. They gladly accepted. We looked after them, fixed small punctures, taught them how to bake bread in the bush, let the kids make "stokbrood", had a Kudu drol spitting competition, made fire with a flintstone and showed them parts of Namibia that they would never have seen, had they been on their own. They felt safe and were an asset to our group and for seven days we had loads of fun. There were a few bad places in Van Zyl's Pass but with Johan's expert guiding of the vehicles through the worst spots, we made it without mishap and after adding our stones to the cairn at the bottom of the pass, made our way up the Marienfluss towards Camp Syncro on the Kunene. Camp Syncro is the community campsite at the top of the Marienfluss on the Kunene River. You can book there by e-mailng Koos at koos.cunene@iway.na The campsite has a lovely setting and the ablutions were fine but the dishwashing facilities are non-existent. The second day there, we braved a strong wind from Angola which flattened tents and broke large dead branches off the Ana tree under which we camped. The road down the Marienfluss is rather corrugated but not too bad if compared to the corrugations one finds in the Kalaghadi Transfrontier Park so if you travel at a fair speed it is a quite pleasant drive. At Rooidrom, Deon installed a new phone - so you can call home whenever you pass through there! Everyone was low on beer so we just about emptied the shop at Orupembe. That night we made a bush camp in the Khumib river. Saw lots of game in this (and every other) river bed. We crossed over from the Khumib to the Hoarusib Rivers on our way to Purros. This is a very scenic road and to be recommended. Saw Zebra and antelope ostriches etc. The Purros community campsite is a worthwhile stay. There was still a bit of water in the river and trip down the river to the famous "poort" was a worthwhile experience. From Purros we drove down to Amspoort in the riverbed and up towards Sesfontein where we finally got fuel again. Saw desert elephant and lots of other game along the way. There is a community campsite at the start of the Kowarib Schlucht (close to Sesfontein) which is worth a visit. Our final few days were uneventful. We visited Twyfelfontein for the Bushman engravings which was quite interesting and camped at White Lady Lodge. A huge campsite with good ablutions. From there we drove via Uis and Henties bay to Swakopmund where we booked a municipal bungalow for two days. Camping at Swakopmund is a bit dicey as it can become quite wet with the sea mist. Our "organised" tour ended with a splendid evening at the Brauhaus and the following day some of us travelled down the Naukluft Park via Sossusvlei and camped at Duwisib Castle. Duwisib Castle is in a state of not quite disrepair, but it needs attention. From Duwisib it is still a long way to Springbok where we booked into a B&B to get home the following day.