Last Day in Namibia. South Africa Awaits our Final Stretch
May 4, 2008 by davendeb
Filed under AFRICA, SOUTHERN AFRICA
Wow, another country down. Tomorrow we enter South Africa, our final destination. We are relaxing in Felix Camp in Namibia today overlooking The Orange River and South Africa is directly on the other side.
It is a well earned rest day. Yesterday we travelled 178km from Fish River Canyon. The world’s 2nd Largest Canyon after the Grand Canyon. 130 of those kilometres were off road on sand, corrugation, gravel and some tough climbs. When we finally hit the tarmac, we turned directly into a brutal headwind. Yipes, we were on the road for 9 hours yesterday. It didn’t help that it was a non race day, so we decided to take it easy and catch up on some photography. But part way through the morning, we decided that we had better get moving.
fish river canyon
The ride to the Canyon was a beautiful one, started by a stop at 8:30 am at Wimpys where we ate a double cheeseburge, fries and a chocolate shake before starting our 92km off road day. I have to admit, it wasn’t a good idea for me. I felt sick the entire ride. Dave however sped through in 4 hours and said that we should have Wimpys everyday! We spent 3 days off road surrounded by beautiful scenery. Rolling mountains, cliffs and red rocks and desert. Beautiful.
Beautiful scenery in Namibia
While there we had our final time trial. A 30km off road wild ride. Loose sand, gravel, climbs and corrugation, but after all that time in Ethiopia and Sudan I had finally figured out how to ride on that stuff and won the womens race with a time of 1 hr 1 min and 45 seconds. Dave had a fabulous time of 57 minutes averaging over 30km per hour the entire time. Our race day was over by 8 am and were treated to a relaxing rest of the day with a mellow 50km ride to camp. En Route we stopped at Canon Roadhouse for lunch and chilled out in a picturesque setting. The evening was capped off with dinner at the high lookout over looking the canyon. Incredible.
Only 6 more days until we finish and I have to admit, I am ecstatic. Doing the same thing day in day out for 4 months is pretty monotonous and I am ready to move on. I have a pretty short attention span and enjoy mixing it up a bit. Time to think of the next adventure. But for now, I must keep my mind on the finish line. Cape Town, here we come!
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