Day 20: Swakopmund to Mile 72

We got up just after 08:30 with the noise from other backpackers. The camping fee includes breakfast: Self-help counter with toast, jam, cheese, yogurt, muesli, corn flakes and hot drinks.

We packed up and Hugo took the LED bar off. We did some reshuffling again as we needed space for the extra water (and the box wine for the Brudis) that we want to take with for the Kaokoland.

In Swakopmund Hugo went to a coffee shop to get better internet and actually managed to get some work done. Caro joined him a bit later while the Brudis went to a German restaurant and enjoyed beer, gyros and pizza.

After lunch we set-off for Henties Bay, but first had to fill up our water bottles and the Jerry Cans.

In Henties Bay caro remembered we need lemon juice for tonight’s Snoek, so we stopped at the Usave to get some. From Henties Bay we asked Susan (our very Afrikaans GPS) to take us to the Dead Sea swimming hole (an old abandoned tin mine that is filled with water and so much minerals that people float on the water just like at the real Dead Sea.).

The road turns off to the right just before Mile 72. As the road is very corrugated people started driving next to the road, but then that got corrugated so people drove next to that road. The result is an almost 200m wide road with tracks criss-crossing all over as people try to avoid corrugated sections and just end up making it worst.

We arrived ‘safely’ (Mario bumped his head at one section, where Hugo might have gone over a bump a bit to fast) at the small green pool set inside rocky cliffs. Caro was the first one to try it out and only Mario followed. Hugo have been in the real Dead Sea and Sam have been in a similar pool, neither felt the need to feel like a salty crack for the next few days. Luckily we some water on the roof and the two salty cracks could at least rinse off.  Caro and Mario enjoyed the weird floating feeling of the mineral water while Hugo took pictures. Afterwards they took a cold shower from the roof of the MonkeyMobile.

We headed back to the main road and turned into the Mile 72 camping site just a few kilometers further. It looked pretty abandoned, besides the few fishermen who were on their way back to Henties Bay. The Brudis convinced the Monkeys that it would be fine to camp here even though there was no-one at reception. The ‘receptionist’ showed up a while later and informed us that we can pay R60pp the next day.

The Braai Master (Sam) started the fire after trying to surf in the ocean with the broken sand board. We only had hardwood so it took almost an hour for the wood to burn out. Caro made a real South African snoek basting sauce with butter, jam and garlic. The snoek was served with the sweetest sweet potato ever. What a perfect dinner.

We went to bed at 22:00, without playing card games as the wind was blowing and the Monkeys were tired. The Brudis also went to bed early as it was probably too cold to stay up.