Sand Hopper

Day 12 and 13; Wednesday March 9th and Thursday March 10th

Unbelievable, but we did it! In “rainy” Namibia we found a way trough to Sossusvlei! Now we had to travel back to Maltahöhe and further to Mata Mata and Two Rivers. For Maltahöhe we had the option to take the same plus 80 km detour or to give it a try for taking the direct way. That part of the C19 was very hard to do, even for 4x4’s, only two days before. We decided to call Chris, our friend at the Maltahöhe Hotel. He called us back to give us green light for the direct way. Sometimes there was still water and mud on the road, but we always found a section which was passable for our track hopper. On the way, we’ve got our first flat. Back in Maltahöhe we became so much support from Chris to get new tyres and also to ask for the road conditions to Mata Mata and the booking of a Hotel in Gochas, half way to Mata Mata. Without him, we never came trough to Sesriem and Sossusvlei. Thanks a lot for your support, Chris! After fixing the tyres in Mariental, we had a nice trip on good roads to Gochas.

The next day we had to drive 180 km to Mata Mata. The road was in an excellent condition and we could leave Namibia around noon. Entering South Africa was only possible in Two Rivers, so we had to stay for one day in the nowhere land. At the Campside we met Sonja and Joseph, a swiss couple. They have their own car stored at farm in Windhoek and travel two times a year in southern Africa for about three months. That is absolute the right thing what they do. The funny thing is that they live just a ten minutes drive away from us in Switzerland. What a small world and what for short travel distances we have in Switzerland.

The last part of the road to Two Rivers became a little more bumpy as we were used to. The first 90 km where still good to drive on the far left of the road. The last 30 km were a desaster. But we spottet big herds of Oryx, Springbok and Gnus under the shady trees directly along the roads. They where so close, you almost could touch them. We also meet a lion and a cheetah, also just a few meters away from our car. The cheetah even started a hunt for a Springbok. She didn’t got the Sprinkgok but we’ve got a great experience for lifetime.