Right after leaving Swakopmund in the direction of Walvis Bay we notice a row of camels close to the road, probably a tour of the dunes in the area. The road to Walvis Bay is emptier today as it is Saturday and given that it is paved we make good time on it. After turning towards Sesriem the road continues to be paved for a few miles until the airport then it turns into a dirt road which in the beginning is in quite a good shape. There are also impressive dunes on both sides of the road as we continue on, just great to get stuck if you wander offroad.
Almost immediately we find a burned car on the side of the road – wonder what happened but it made us just a bit more careful as we continued on the road. After a few miles of dunes the vegetation reappears and there is even a small bush on the side of the road, a lonely Paintbrush Flower, that we just have to take photos with.
We stop at a rest area, which are plentiful along the Namibian highways, and which is full as it is noon. We walk a bit in the desert and are surprised by the number of quartz crystals and other glittering stones we see all around us. After continuing on our way we also see our first ostrich for the day and they become more plentiful as the day passes.
There is a weird tree along the road that we identify as our first quiver tree and lizards are flickering all around the stones. Quite interesting.
After driving for over 100 kms through the desert we arrive at the mountains. The road becomes much more corrugated and curvy as we first ascend to a pass and then descend down to the Kuiseb wash. The roads here were washed out by the Kuiseb river quite recently during some floods and everyone had to take a much longer detour through Windhoek to make the same drive but we do not see any remnants of this.
As we pass twice through the washes of the Kuiseb we stop to walk a bit and examine the flora and fauna. At one though we hear what sounds like a hyena in the distance which convinces us to move along even though we do not see anything around.
Relatively quickly after exiting from the mountaineous area we arrive at the Tropic of Capricorn. We know that because there is a big sign stating exactly that. There is no one when we arrive so we take a few pictures and take a short hike along the imaginary line. When we return at the car there is almost a traffic jam with multiple cars stopped to take pictures of the sign so we move on south into the temperate region of the globe. Theoretically at least.
After passing the mountains the road remains corrugated but now the vegetation is more savanna like and we see lots of ostriches, zebras and springbok close to the road.
The most impressive sighting is a family of ostrich with almost 12 chicken which is walking and eating near the roadway fence.
After all this excitement we arrive at Solitaire the only settlement along the way. It is actually more like a farm that evolved into a rest area with a fuel station, grocery shop and even a small restaurant that sells supposedly some great apple pies. We stop to take a look at the collection of abandoned cars and to take a look at the souvenirs.
There are lots of birds around making noises and flittering around. We rest for a bit enjoying the activity and then we start again towards Sesriem where we arrive in the afternoon.
