Johan and Adri Snyman s Damaraland Trip : August 2011

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1 Johan and Adri Snyman s Damaraland Trip : August 2011 Background I am currently working on my second book this time on the Damaraland region of Namibia, and to do this, we have to drive on every single road and track in the area so as to compile a complete log of them, visit every town, village and place of interest, identify the plants, birds, mammals and reptiles commonly found in the area, and photograph all of it.. We have a fairly comprehensive photographic record of the area and GPS track logs of many of the roads, but there is still some information and photographs I need. As these trips are not for leisure purposes as such, most of them are undertaken on our own as this gives us the freedom of movement needed for this task. The distances we travel per day, as well as the time spent driving is more than is recommended for tourists and it is also not recommended that you venture into this area with a solo vehicle. Preparations As we travel a lot, our vehicles and equipment are always in a state of readiness, and apart from deciding when, and where, we want to go there is not much else to do apart from plotting a few routes on the GPS and packing our food and clothes. Thursday 25 August We left Windhoek after work and drove north on the B1 to Okahandja, west on the B2 to Karibib and then north on the C33 to Omaruru, where we stayed in one of the rooms at the Omaruru rest camp. Even though this was the start of a long weekend, the traffic was surprisingly light and flowed well. 259km for the day (all of it on tar) and our travelling time was 2¾ hours. Friday 26 August We made a fairly early start and travelled west on the C36 until we turned south on the D2306 to the Okombahe village where we intended to enter the Omaruru riverbed and follow it down to the coast. There are a lot of farming activities taking place in the riverbed as well as fence-lines across it and we were only able to enter the riverbed about 1km further downstream. There was still a bit of flowing water and some marshy areas and it was soon evident that this would become a very long day J Snyman 1

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3 179km for the day (6km on tar and 173km on gravel and sand) and our travelling time was 9¼hours. Saturday 27 August After a very quiet night we made an early start. Due to the fact that there was a very marshy area ahead, we took a detour along the northern side of the river and re-entered it 20km further downstream. J Snyman 3

4 Along the way some very interesting rock formations and reptiles were to be seen. We eventually reached the (dry) Omdel dam and from there it was a short distance to the coast. J Snyman 4

5 We made a brief stop in Henties Bay to refuel the Landie before heading north-east on the C35 to Uis, then north on the C35 until we reached the D2359 and from there to the campsites of the White Lady Lodge next to the Ugab River. J Snyman 5

6 318km for the day (all of it on gravel and sand) and our travelling time was 9¾ hours. Sunday 28 August We still had to log a few roads and to identify, and photographs, some plants along the way before we could head home, and headed east on the D2359 and then north on the C35 all the way past Khorixas and Fransfontein, where we encountered a lone elephant next to the road. We retraced our steps until we turned east on the D2344 and later south west on the D3715 until we reached Uis. From here we travelled south on the D1930 until we reached the B2, where we turned east to Okahandja and then south on the B1 to Windhoek, and home. The traffic on the B1 was very heavy, and the permanent roadblock on the B1, about 20km before Windhoek, caused traffic to back up for several km s. J Snyman 6

7 721km for the day (259km on tar and 462km on gravel). Conclusion This was yet another memorable trip with my favourite travelling companion to a spectacular part of Namibia. We were on the road for 4 days, during which time we travelled 1477km (524km on tar and 953km on sand and gravel). Apart from the difficulties experienced in the Omaruru River we had no other problems J Snyman 7