No Fixed Abode: All of a quiver

Wed 22 Jun 2016 - Travel Day to Sesriem

A glorious morning saw us in good spirits and with a brief internet connection we managed to discover our voting papers for tomorrow's EU referendum hadn’t arrived with Scottie. Let’s hope everyone else uses their vote.

We bobbed and rocked our way for just short of an hour out of the farm for 17km to the main road, stopped by Maltahohe for some more supplies and then got on our way to Sesriem, the gateway to the famous Sossusvlei Sand Dunes.

The gravel road continued endlessly through the savannah until we reached a turn off to join the C19 towards Solitaire, another straight gravel road with little else to view except savannah. Then suddenly the terrain altered to beautiful red mountains with green valleys and we found ourselves climbing up and through a pass of stunning scenery. Gemsbok were roaming freely along the roadside and we saw these creatures at very close quarters to be able to admire their long and straight horns.

We briefly stopped at a picnic spot in the shade of a tree with several birds nests which look a very communal affair and not to dissimilar to small haystacks and we wonder on the hierarchy of such a home.
With only a short 100km drive left we passed several cars in the opposite direction the most we had seen all day and thought we were getting close to the national park and soon there were brown signs on the roadside showing all the lodges that edge the park gate.

Our lodge, Desert Quiver Lodge, is roughly 12km from the park entrance and as we arrived we could see the lodges scattered around the desert landscape. With a very proficient check in and an incredulous staff having to check a couple of times with us we were going to self cater we drove out to our lodge. The lodge was only a couple of years old and nicely appointed and as views surrounding us were amazing we decided to relax here ready for an early start to the dunes tomorrow.

Well prepared with our dinners already cooked, we used the funky outdoor kitchen to reheat our meal and opened another of our Cederberg wines, Chenin Blanc. Who’d have believed it, Glenn enjoying white wine!
For sundown we sat outside in the porch area for dinner and watched the Gemsbok graze nonchalantly past our lodge and the stunning colours of the Namibian sunset lit the desert and mountains around us. As we sipped our wine a cheeky Fennec Fox sauntered up to us, obviously lured by the aromas of our food and it took some shooing before he trotted off into the darkness. We enjoyed the warm evening sitting outside hoping the stars would brighten for us until a breeze picked up, so we retreated to the lodge with a cuppa and hearing in the distance animal calls.