Tuesday May 11th, 2010
Kusane River Road Hell!
Look who wears the halo
Today we’re embarking on probably the last ‘impassable’ road of the trip. We’ve decided to try and tackle the road from Ruacana to Epupa Falls which runs along the Kunene River which forms a natural border between Namibia and Angola. The area has been badly flooded in recent weeks and so we have no idea whether it’s passable or not, but we’re going to give it a whirl. This time we don’t have any other cars to help us if we get into trouble and so it’s a bit more risky. In addition to which it’s also extremely remote.
The first 40km is perfectly graded gravel roads and I begin to wonder what all the fuss is about. Then after the last village of Swartboi, the road deteriorates very quickly. The main track is badly flooded in places, ie under water, and so we have to take alternate routes. We manage to just squeeze under a few trees and one in particular requires Jocke to guide me through inch by inch. The road is on quite a steep angle for Bob’s tipping point and I need to keep as low down the embankment as possible without hitting the tree. We scrape through without an inch to spare and literally graze the tree with a peg hanging on the side of our roof-rack.
Squeeeeeze!
There are some muddy spots which cause me a little trouble, but the biggest problem of all is the angle that the road constantly asks us to drive at. This mixed with the boulders which have now materialised in the middle of the steep steep track is a bit of a problem. We drive on until we’re about halfway to our final destination of Epupa Falls. The boulders get bigger and we don’t have the clearance to stop them hitting off the axles and chassis. Joakim looks under the car and spots a new oil leak from our transformer box, (which I now understand has nothing to do with the packaging of toy cars that turn into fighting robots!)
We’re out in the wilderness and the only people who could possibly help us if we broke down, got stuck or even worse tipped Bob over are wearing loin cloths, covered head to foot in red clay and send smoke signals instead of phones. (Which might actually be of some use!)
This, coupled with the fact that I let off some ‘emotional steam’ by shouting shit once too often as Bob is losing traction and slipping back down the track, assists Jocke in making the decision that it’s probably best for all concerned (read his sanity and Bob’s roadworthiness) if we call it a day and turn around and take the alternate (read usual) road. Joakim partly blames my inability to keep a cool head today on low blood sugar. I on the other hand put it down to an ability to realise what the limitations of Bob and I are! After I made the decision to turn back all those months ago when driving the CLOSED Transfăgărăşan Pass in Romania due to snow and dangerous rock falls, I was not going to be the one to call it quits first this time. However, since Jocke doesn’t possess the ‘caution’ gene, perhaps that’s not the smartest move I’ve ever made.
4x4 rules
Angolan Border
Tough work this travelling
New friends in Opuwo
Saturday May 15th, 2010
Skydiving Swakopmund
Stay: Airfield, Swakopmund Sky Diving Club, Swakopmund, Namibia
We arrive in Swakopmund and Jocke is doing a sky dive whilst we’re here and so we take a spin to the Sky Diving Club to find out what the craic is. I’ve decided not to jump since I’m not sure I really want to part with €200 for the privilege of throwing myself out of a plane at 11,000 feet. However, within an hour of arriving, we’re both donning jumpsuits and harnesses and going through a 10 minute ‘safety’ briefing. I’ve chosen to go up first since I’m afraid if I wait around too long I might change my mind. Before I know it, I’m in a plane with Derick who is going to get me safely back to earth (hopefully). I feel surprisingly calm in the plane, too calm and maybe the reality of what I’m about to do has not sunk in. Amazingly, it’s not half as frightening as jumping into the gorge at Vic Falls. I think once you’ve gone above a certain height, you lose perspective on how high up we actually are. It’s hard to believe when we’ve only climbed to 5,000 feet that we have another 5,000 to go.
Then it’s time. The pilot starts to count down the miles left, 3, the cameraman climbs out onto the wing (who is coming along to perfect his camera technique just), 2, Derick does the last safety checks for our harnesses and chute and then 1 miles to go and we’re hanging out the door. Then we gently roll out of the door and we go from 0 to 220km / hour in 1.5 seconds. The freefall lasts for about 30 seconds and there are no words to describe how amazing it feels!
Joakim jumps into the plane and I wonder why he manages to look particularly fetching in his jumpsuit, whilst I look like a cross between a tele-tubbie and Obelisk. It takes a good 20 minutes for the plane to reach 10,000 feet and soon it’s back within our sights. It’s so high, but when they leap out directly over the sky diving club-house, all we can see is a white dot. Naturally, Jocke has already asked Paul, his tandem guy, to do all the twists and turns he can to ‘enhance’ the thrill. WHY?! They drop like stones and then I see the chute open and they start twisting and turning. Lunatic! Their landing is equally as graceful and elegant as mine and we both want to go again! I could easily understand why this could be addictive.
The rest of the day and night is spent drinking Windhoek and Jaegermeister to celebrate and our intentions of returning to the campsite are soon forgotten. It’s probably the one and only time we’ll ever get to camp in the middle of an airfield though! I’ve no idea what time we finished up, but I know there was considerable dancing, some singing and an exchange of t-shirts at some point. Thanks to everyone at Swakopmund Skydiving Club for a great day (and night.) I could have lived without the hangover the following day though!
Pro-skydiver in training
Weeeeeeeee
Less tele-tubbie
Fly-by
5 second lesson in 'How to Look Thin'
Donkey SOS
Hippo-donk
Another Road of Nothing
20 °C
