The day barely got light in Swakopmund. The sea mist had returned with unbelievable thickness. We could barely see across the street as we drove away from our apartment. Before heading out of town and back to desert life, we stocked the fridge and food box with enough rations to last a week or more, filled the truck with diesel and checked the tyres. All the petrol stations are littered with workers who literally come out onto the road to guide you into their pump. This time, 6 or 7 blokes descended on us and dutifully set about filling the tank, operating the compressor, cleaning the windows and generally giving the wagon a good buffing up in the hopes of getting a small tip. With the anticipated bank note in their hand they cheerfully waved us on our way!

Next drama on the road was passing a burning lorry! We could see the smoke from a long way off and eventually passed by very close indeed.

In the UK, this would be a major incident, with the route blocked for hours, if not days as the tarmac must have suffered? Here though, as there’s plenty of space (100s of kilometres!) on each the side of the tarmac, the traffic was just calmly pulling off into the desert and skirting around the crisis, creating a series of rough sandy tracks that were (in my opinion!) no way near far enough away from the towering inferno! I wound down the window to take a photo and the heat was so intense I was briefly concerned for the paintwork on our truck. A lone firefighter seemed to have been dared to point a hose at it. 

Finally the big pointy peak of Spitzkoppe came into view! Stunning! The photo of this peak was one of the things that made us come to Namibia, so it was good to finally see it for real. 

The final section was on gravel roads which were in a bad way. Very bumpy! There is a small township here too, and unlike the private farmlands of Erongo, there are huts all long the side of the road with children and adults alike vying for our attention to stop and buy a trinket, rock or bundle of wood.

We also got flagged down  by a driver of a ‘broken down’ vehicle. We drove past though, as we’d been warned not to stop for these as it’s a good ploy for getting tourists to stop so you can rob them. We arrived at the campground gate feeling a little shaken. It’s not quite as organised as all our previous camping experiences, as you’re just told to drive around until you can find a campsite area that’s not taken! Slightly stressful as we wanted to be near a certain climbing area. Luckily, we found a good stop with plenty of shade. First things first, we brewed a coffee to try and settle our neves. Then given the absolutely enormous dome of rock towering above us, had another to try and shay off the intimidating feeling of the cliffs that seemed to be baring down on us! 

What a place though. Incredible rock features everywhere you look and on an enormous scale. 

We spent the late afternoon trying to get our bearings and work out where the routes we wanted to do started and finished. The scale is hard to work out and paths not marked well. 

Even the single pitch bolted climbs feel ominous and off putting as they are mostly on boulders that are 20 – 30 high.

What a place. I think it will take a bit of getting used to. 

We were just having dinner as the sun set and the whole place glowed around us.