Day 13: Camp to Sendelingsdrif

My initial summary of the day can be summed up in one word. Hotanddustyandsweaty. After my refreshing morning swim I was met with the presence of a pack of baboons chilling atop the rock formations above my tent. Bit of wildlife is always interesting to see. So I set off for Sendelingsdrif. The terrain was all gravel with few road signs to help. Luckily the few random people I spoke with pointed me in the right direction. Had a little childish fun taking pics inside an abandoned steam roller I saw early in the morning.  Prolly the most fun I had that day. Then the sun really made its presence known.

Camera shy and beard envious baboons atop the rocks.

Looking back at where the campsite was located.

See. Having steam roller fun.

My general idea of the weather and landscape in this area before I started this trip, was that it was just dry and hot. I wasn’t wrong that for this day or for the next month to be honest. And man did it turn out to be fokken hot! Long stretches of gravel roads with some steep climbs where I had to get off and push my bike. The sun just burning into you the whole time. Not fun to be honest. Just slog. I was met by a passing 4x4 filled with 4 guys who were off to Rosh Pinah in Namibia. They offered me a lift but I declined. They also offered me a drink which I asked if it was non alcoholic but all they had were beers. So I took one. I drank a little while chatting to them but once they were gone I poured the rest out which was most of it. The coolness of the beer was refreshing at first but on such a hot day doing so much physical activity, alcohol is just plain stupid to be consuming, especially for me. Again, each their own. Had they given me a cold soda of some kind I would have swallowed that thing in one go.

The river runs through it.

Take one. I dare ya.

My pleasure.

Miles and miles of red openess. Miles of it. Miles.

What am I doing here?

I was now getting pretty tired from riding in such a hot day in what felt like a desert. I had no real idea how far I was to my target but I would find out soon enough. I reached the entrance to the Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park and was told I still had another 20kms to go till I was at Sendelingsdrif. WTF!!! I couldn’t do another 2meters. Were they serious? Yup. I asked them what the road was like and was happy to find out that it was pretty much downhill all the way. They weren’t wrong. I must have free wheeled somewhat for about 16kms almost with minimal peddling going down that road. I can’t tell you how relieved I was at this. The last 4 kms were now quite doable. I also recall wanting to help a little lamb over an incline to be with its mother but I just watched a bit, letting it do its thing and saw the lamb manage to do it on its own. I’d like to see a human baby do that.

Yup, totally worthy of that title.

Thought I was in the park during all this.

Getting there.

Almost there.

Ha haha hahahahahahah!!!!

I think these were houses for those who worked in the park. I was defintely close.

A single house. Was tempted to ask if I could camp in their garden to try and save some bucks.

So I checked into Sendelingsdrif where I paid my fee to camp for the night. My honest opinion regarding the fee for the actual camp site. Overpriced. The ablution blocks were perfectly fine. I just found that the actual ground where one had to camp was quite lacking. It was exactly that, hard ground. This I found a bit strange, as this whole place was right next to the Orange River which I felt they could have somehow have set up a watering system in place to get some grass growing to make it look a bit more presentable. I couldn’t help but draw conclusions with what I had just paid for with where I had camped the night before for free. Plus the chalets overlooking the rivers had some awesome grass growing around them, so why not in the camp site? But I was here now so no more whining. 

Namibia across the river.

Was told I couldnt swim as it was quite deep.

Shoulda just went for it.

I went for a walk around, swam in the pool, and met a couple who would let me charge my phone for a bit in the chalet they were staying in. We got to talking and I found some things out about the Northern Cape I would be going through a little later. Then it was off to bed, for tomorrow I would be going into Namibia.

Distance: 75kms