Day 31 - 13 June Fiddlers Rest to Cape Town

Day's trip schedule

Fiddlers Creek -> Richtersveld -> Springbok -> Clanwilliam -> Parklands

Distance & time taken

696 km
12 hrs

Accommodation

Home

 Trip Notes

Last morning at Fiddlers Creek

After chatting about what Johnny had suggested yesterday & consulting the T4A maps, we decided to take a detour though the Richtersveld towards Eksteenfontein.  Again, another cool start today so we were a bit sluggish in getting up - also probably because it is our last day. I checked the Hilux temp gauge when I got up - 6 deg C.

Amanzi Campsite in Namibia

Sleep last night was disrupted by the vehicles travelling on the Namibian side throughout the night as well as Shadow (the owners Staffie) barking from about 04h00. All in, we were looking forward to a good nights rest in our own bed tonight. The showering proved to be quite challenging with the irregular water pressure & the cool external temperatures. We made haste with showering as a result & whilst Ang settled the bill, I made coffee & finished packing the vehicle.  We weren't in a rush as it is only about 600km back home.

We left a little after 08h30 & headed westwards into the Richtersveld. The dirt road follows the river for some distance past farms & more camping options. One needs to travel slowly through this section even though the road surface is good as the dust is a real problem for the farmers. A few of them had even sprayed water onto the road surface before we had driven through.

Entering the Richtersveld

Once we turned away from the river, the sights became spectacular & the road terrain more difficult. Johnny was right, well worth the detour. We travelled along dry river beds as well as over rocky paths that led over the mountains. The sun was still low so we travelled in the shade for quite a while but this accentuated the views of the rocky mountainous terrain. I had to engage low range with diff lock in a few spots which provided more fun to me than Ang. Fortunately, the temperatures were still lowish as we could just imagine how hot this must get during the summer months. There were a number of quiver trees growing in the rocky mountainous areas but other than them, very little vegetation.

Once we turned south just before Eksteenfontein, the road became a lot smoother with a few steep passes to negotiate. Just before the tar road between Port Nolloth & Steinkopf, we came across 2 ladies that had done a good job in digging there bakkie into the soft sand so much so that the belly lay flat on the sand. They had a 4x4 with diff lock but no-one had taken the effort to show them how to use it properly - they were en route to Eksteenfontein & then onto to Alexander Bay. I managed to get them going again within a few minutes but also showed them how to use the gears as well as left the vehicle in high range. They probably would have spent the best part of the day buried as the road is not used by many vehicles - they were the only other vehicle we had seen in 4 hours of driving.

Resetting the road after digging out the stuck vehicle

Shortly after we had helped them, we stopped to have brunch which we made using the Bush Baby - we did it properly this time with the table & tablecloth. This area provides very good sighting & viewing of Ludwigs Bustard. Whilst we were stationery, I managed to count 53 birds in a 100m radius of us but they are skittish & kept their distance. It was a short drive from there to the tar road to Steinkopf - there are some interesting passes on this stretch of tar.  We reached Steinkopf at 12h30 & then turned right on the N7 towards home.

Breakfast on-the-go

Preparing for brunch

Pitstop

The stretch of road between Steinkopf & Garies seemed to take forever with the number of Stop/Go's in operation.  Over a distance of about 180kms, the borders of the road are being tarred for about a further 1 metre on either side - this should prove beneficial in future but the management of the process appears to be lacking for now.  we eventually reached Citrusdal just before sunset & were then treated to a beautiful sunset as we crested Piekenierskloof Pass. From there, it was a reasonably pleasant drive through the Swartland back home - pulling into the driveway around 19h30.

We decided to leave the unpacking of the vehicle until the morning as there was a slight drizzle. We had a brief chat to folks & then spent time with Zach & Izzi until we collapsed for the evening. We were exhausted but the holiday was well worth the drive & time invested. We are very fortunate that we have the ability to take these types of holidays on a regular basis - can't wait for October.

Sunset over Piekenierskloof Pass

Costs for the day

Nil