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Richtersveld - April 2010
By Angela Buck
When my brother Terry asked me if I wanted to accompany him and his son on a trip to the
Richtersveld, I jumped at the opportunity. Time away from the rush of work and madness of family
life sounded awesome. But what I experienced was so much more than expected!!
We all met at the garage outside Alexander Bay at 12 pm on the Saturday.
Here we all refuelled and let down our tyres. We then made our way to the mouth of the
Orange River. Wow, the flamingos were amazing.......Hundreds of them. We also saw a pair
of pelicans, which took flight and landed on the river so gracefully. When we stood at the
mouth of the river, we were standing at the west most point of South Africa and were able
to wave to the fisherman across the river, who were in Namibia. Driving back to the tar road
Terry told me that all the sticks which were washed down the river and strewn across our path
were "death to ones tyres". About five minutes latter, no jokes, we had lost a tyre!
Unable to repair the 3 inch gash in the side wall, we had to replace the tyre. This truly troubled me
as we were yet to depart on the 4x4 part of the trip. We had no spare tyre. Terry assured me that
with Johan around and 8 other vehicles, we would make a plan if anything happened.
In our set order, and Russell in the lead we headed off to the Richtersveld, driving alongside
the Orange River: incredible scenery, with greenery and river on the one side and dry desolate on
the other. We turned off the tar road and a got a taste of what was to come with 4x4 adventure.
The track wasn't too difficult and we soon found ourselves at "Wondergat".
This is a DEEP sinkhole. Quite impressive. After a few photos we were on our way to Kuboes.
Kuboes is a small town inhabited by the Nama people. We stayed at The Plantation campsite,
where there were four Mountain Valley Guest Houses. The one had a woman staying there for the
past year working with the locals. The other three were made available for us to use the
toilets and showers. Yeah, no need to dig and squat! Something I have never done before, and was
not looking forward to. That evening three of the men from the Nama tribe came and spoke to
us about the Nama people and origins of Kuboes. This was followed by traditional dancing and
singing performed by a group of young men and woman. They even got me to dance with them. What
an amazing experience.
Next day we were up bright and early, as Russell wanted to leave by 07h00. He was concerned
that we had 100km to travel and it was going to be slow and tough. Little did he know how tough
and slow it was going to be!! After a few false starts we were finally on the right track.
Beautiful scenery all around us with incredible rock formations. Russell stopped us at one
formation where we saw "Whale Rock". Some of us saw the whale but most of us saw what
Nicola referred to as a "guppy". Andy however felt we should rename it "Dooie rob rots". We carried
on and come to our first real obstacle. A steep climb on loose shale type rock. The first two
vehicles made it up fine, but poor Louis lost a tyre. Russell had to walk down and they decided
to plug the tyre, re-inflate it, drive to the top and change it there. Ten plugs later, two bar
pressure and almost an hour, Louis was at the top. Russell then commented that this was the easy part!
We were on our way again, well so we thought. We had to backtrack to the right tracks, and
then we were on our way. This seemed to be a common occurrence. Now we started our descent. But
clearly Viv thought we needed a tea break and stuck his vehicle on top of a rock. But, truly
stuck it there. Russell again in the front had to walk to Viv at the back to organise the rescue!
Two jacks later Viv was free! With tea or by now lunch over we were going again. We had been
driving about five hours but only covered 25km, of which Russell had felt he had walked 20!
On our way again with amazing vegetation to be seen. Incredible how beautiful this stark
area is, with outcrops of rocks and colours that amaze the eye. It was then that we came to an
abrupt halt. Russell was worried, which made me terrified. In front of us was a relatively short
but steep and very rock incline. Russell had been joking about the first incline being the easy part.
He had no idea that this Grade 6 obstacle in my book was ahead. It was here that I saw all the
skill and teamwork that comes with 4x4 adventure. Most vehicles like the land cruisers and short
wheel-based made it up okay, but not us in the Mitsubishi Colt. We never had the ground clearance.
With Russell's expert guidance and much rock packing we finally made it up. But, not
without some damage to the front bumper. Thank the Lord for rock sliders. Viv in true style
finally made it up too, airborne!!
Fantastic landscapes were ahead, when we again found the right route, But this time Doug,
feeling a bit left out, got stuck on a rock. This gave some of us an opportunity to take some
stunning photos of the surrounds, including that of a bull skull. With a bit of forwards and
reversing Doug was free, and off we went. By now we were seriously behind schedule. Russell
asked if we wanted to find camp now and leave early the next morning or push on to beyond
Eksteenfontein and leave at nine. All agreed to keep going. We finally got to Eksteenfontein,
drove though the town and started looking for a place to camp. Vanessa commented that anywhere
flat would suit her just fine, we all agreed. Johan found a good sight and camp was made!
Unfortunately, this site required digging, squatting and burning! One thing I learnt is to check
the type of soil that you are digging in. Without knowing, I managed to find a spot with lots
of rocks, and every time my spade hit the ground sparks would fly. Not fun when you're desperate.
After a fun evening of discussing Karen's crack and Louis' knob we settled down for the night,
grateful for a leisurely start in the morning. Karen had a cracked windscreen, and Louis' door
hit him on his forehead causing a big lump.
Monday saw us entering the Rooiberg Park, and needing to show our permit. We continued to
The halfmens picnic site but there were no halfmens trees to be seen. This was rather disappointing
as these trees are a rarity. Only to be found in the Richtersveld and apparently, still to be
verified, only on that particular line of latitude. Thankfully Johan spotted one further on the
track and we all stopped and walked up to the tree. It truly is spectacular to see. It grows
straight up and the flower head tilts 3 to 5 degrees to north. We continued on and saw stunning
views of rock formations, trees growing out of rocks and a baboon carcass. Then in front of us
THE RIVER!! So surreal. Deserted landscape hot and sandy, and then this wide ribbon of water.
Mirage? Thankfully not.
However getting to its bank was not easy. Sharp jagged black rocks made our route tricky
and slow. Again a vehicle fell prey to nature, getting scratch. But finally, our camp site was
found. We parked literally 10 metres from the river's edge. Everyone was quick in setting
up and into the river. What a relief from the boiling sun and dusty drive. Some of us ladies
decided to wash our hair (using biodegradable shampoo). This is when Russell found his true calling.
Hairdresser!! Well Hair washer! Thanks for the help Russ! The kids had so much fun in the water
and mud. Russ set up his rotisserie and cooked his leg of lamb, divine!! Good end to a fantastic day.
How quickly the last day arrived. We all sadly packed up while trying to find excuses for the
boss why we weren't going to be at work on Wednesday. Then we heard the cry of a fish eagle,
this lifted our spirits. We were on the way to Vooilsdrift when we saw Johan's "heart" on the
mountain, and then a troop of baboons on the ridge. Soon we were at Peace of Paradise - a camp
site which burnt down many years ago. Such a shame they never rebuilt it. Here one can see a
geological fault in the rock face on the Namibian side of the river. Then we were driving through
farm land. Fascinating to see how fertile the land is in the harsh surrounds. All too soon we were
in Vooilsdrift and on tar again. Everyone re-inflated their tyres and said their sad goodbyes and
headed home.
To Terry, thank you so much for the opportunity to see such an amazing part of our country.
You're a great big brother (Andy take note, brother). To Russell, thanks for being a
fantastic guide, your humour was much appreciated. To Johan and Mariette, Louis and Arlene,
Andy, Nicola and kids, Greg and Karen, Aleks and kids, Doug, Vanessa and kids and Viv and Mary,
thanks for an incredible long weekend. Thanks for the great chats and camaraderie.
God bless you all XXX.
Russell's Notes
I went up a day earlier, planning to spend the Friday night in the Alexander Bay Guest House.
What a fiasco this turned out to be. Even after confirming my booking, including supper and
breakfast, the day before - there was nobody at the guesthouse when I arrived. Eventually a
lady arrived to let me in and when I asked what time supper was, she gave me this blank stare!
I phoned the manager of the guesthouse and he said he had forgotten to tell the chef, then he
suggested I get take-aways for supper. After I calmed down a bit, I called him again and said
he must fetch the keys as I would go back to Port Nolloth and stay there. After waiting about
15 minutes, I gave up and left - dropping the keys off at security.
Back in Port Nolloth, I popped into Anita's Tavern and Restaurant and asked the owner to
suggest accomodation. I got an en-suite room in Bedrock Lodge - absolutely fantastic and
cheaper than the hell-hole in Alexander Bay. Unpacked and went back to the restaurant for supper.
Next morning most of the group came through Port Nolloth and a few of us drove to Alex
in convoy. Almost there, and the fun started - the Disco was losing water. In Alex, we spent
an hour and a half trying to sort out the water leak. Johann eventually got a piece of pipe
from the local garage and did a repair, bypassing the heater system (Andy suspected this was
what was leaking). 30km later this popped off, and then Terry discovered he had a piece of pipe
that would fit (Why didn't you find this earlier????) and 20 minutes later we were on the way.
Luckily the Landy made it all the way back to Cape Town.
I had a great time - The kids were all very well behaved, specially the long day on Sunday.
I hope everyone enjoyed the trip as much as I did.
Thanks to Greg and Karen for the company on the way back to Cape Town, and my friend Johann
for waiting at Kardoesie for me.
A special thanks to Johann for all the help on the trip.
A total of 1900km for me - and I won't mention the fuel used!
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