Swiss Family Pfyffer

To Mariental and Sesreim, Namibia -- September 11-12

We have done a fair bit of driving over the last couple days. The landscape is fantastically dry, with small bushes, hardy but scraggly thorn trees and the occasional water-retaining Quiver tree. Through it all, we’ve had fun spotting groups of distant animals here and there, though no predators yet, unless you count the jackal sneaking around the Sesreim campground tonight.

Quiver tree

When we do spot something interesting, we often stop and even climb on top of the truck for a better view. Ostriches, long horned oryxes, zebras, and the small springbok antelope are most of what we've seen so far.  We’ve also discovered gigantic thatched mounds built into trees, which we’ve finally figured out are nests built by small but apparently incredibly industrious little birds. We've been told there can be scores and scores in a single nest complex.

Giant nest of the Social Weaver bird

Yesterday, we managed to get our first flat tire after stopping to view the Fish River Canyon -- often listed as the second largest canyon in the world after the Grand Canyon. I had just taken over driving from Meg and soon commented that the truck felt very “floaty." Unfortunately, assuming this was due to the intentionally low tire pressure and soft dirt roads, I drove on... bad idea. A couple minutes later the tire noise suddenly changed and we pulled over to find a smoking, and very smelly, rear tire with a gaping, fist-sized hole. Uh oh.

Out came the car manual, and twenty minutes later, with the full sized spare fully installed, we were on our way again. Since the tire repair shop was closed in the next town -- it was Sunday afternoon after all -- we decided to put in as many miles on paved roads as we could before sunset.

Dex and Kylie were getting on each other's nerves (and mine) again, when we inadvertently turned into the wrong campground (one that we hadn't just paid for) motioned in by an attendant who opened the gate. To our good fortune, however, this mistake gave us the opportunity to camp next to a family of five from Switzerland, the Pfyffers also undertaking an around the world tour. Etienne and Anne along with their three kids -- Louis (10) and Arno (8), and Matilde (6) -- are just a month into their one year journey.

For dinner that first evening, they invited us to move our table next to theirs. Etienne generously doling out slices of grilled steak, which Dex and Kylie eagerly accepted. He showed off his super sized Swiss Army knife while their three kids proudly displayed recent safari pictures on their cameras. Their plan is to be in Africa (South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana) for a total of three months before moving on to South East Asia.

We soon learned that for the next two nights, we would be staying at the same campground in Sesreim -- the nearest camp to the huge nearby sand dunes of Souselvei. The next day, we hopscotched passed each other on the dusty dirt roads before settling in to the new camp.

Once there, the kids played happily together for hours clearly enjoying each others company and giving the adults a welcomed chance to relax and share stories over a couple beers. It was fun to compare notes on the trip planning, preparation, home schooling, staying in touch with family etc. Agreeing to meet up for a pre-dawn departure and drive to Dune "45", we called it an early night.