Panther, Panther, Panther!

To Swakopmund, Namibia 

Kylie here.  We started the day off with lots of hugs and goodbyes for our dear new friends the Pfyffers.  With the 350 km ride ahead of us, we packed up camp into our nice Avis camper and were off. 

We had been in the car for about an hour when Dad pulled off the gravel road and decided it was time for a hike.  There was a nearby rocky hill that we thought would be nice place for one.  As we got closer, we noticed that there were rocks around the size of dad’s feet, spread out equally along the ground.  

We trudged up the hill which was plenty of fun, but about 2/3^rds of the way up, the Pfyffer’s car pulled up next to ours way back down on the road.  We started waving our arms and yelling out things like, “We’re over here!  On the mountain!  We’re OK!”  We saw Louis sticking his head out of the car in our direction (identifiable because of his neon green shirt).  When we got to the top of the hill, we had a nice view of the road and dry valley below.  Dex and Mom started to hike down and in just a little bit, Dad and I started down the rocky slope.  

All of the sudden, Dad started shouting, "Panther, Panther, Panther!" About 20 feet away from us, a big golden, spotted cat bounded three times and jumped off into the brush.  Just after that, Dad told me to stay close to him.  It made me feel amazed and incredibly lucky, but also slightly nervous that maybe it was stalking us!  (Mom’s note:  It was due to Dex and I heading down the hill that we scared the cat out of its hiding place. You're welcome!)   We weren’t sure if it was a cheetah or a leopard, but Dad thought it looked like a spotted mountain lion.  We were both hoping that Mom & Dex had seen it.  Unfortunately, when we got to the bottom we found out that Mom had, but not Dex.  That was a big disappointment for him, though Dad told him that we’d get another opportunities to see big cats later.

At the next little town, we unexpectedly saw Arno, Mathilde and Louis playing in some rusted out cars, so we stopped to say hello.  While we kids played tag together by the rusted cars, the parents were talking and Mom found out that this spot had one of the best bakeries around, which specialized in apple pie.  Unfortunately, the Pfyffers had already finished their lunch and had to get back on the road.   We stayed and enjoyed, apple pie, palmiers and jam cookies, plus a piece of pizza.  

There was a scare after lunch, about a mile after we had left the bakery, I noticed that I couldn’t remember where I had put Rocco.  The last time I remembered having him was when I was playing with him on the back of the seat.  I knew I had put him somewhere, but I couldn’t remember.  Maybe he’d slipped out of the car!  We stopped, pulled over, looked around a little bit, then decided it would be worth the trip back to the bakery so we could inspect the parking lot (in case he’d fallen out of the car when we got in).  When we pulled in, I was hoping that I’d see him on the ground somewhere, but we didn’t.  We looked some more inside the car.  Finally, Mom spotted Rocco hanging on the hand grip above my head – THEN I remembered where I'd put him! Whew.

The ride after lunch was a little longer.  We brought out our family reading book (Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness), and Mom read until the scenery started getting prettier.   We saw sharp, flat black rocks, jutting out of the hillside.  We stopped reading and watched the sights.  A sign appeared on the side of the gravel road, along with a few tourist busses.  The sign read “Tropic of Capricorn”.  We exchanged taking pictures with some friendly Spanish tourists, and, because Dad and Dex are born in January, they are Capricorns, so they took their own picture next to the sign. 

The rest of the ride was uneventful, so Mom was able to keep reading.  We arrived in the town of Swakopmund.  We pulled into the first campground we saw and we were greeted with palm trees, high security walls, our own bathroom and shower, a nice lawn, and our own patio and fire place.  This is camping? Oh well, Mom seemed pretty excited anyway.