Despite a huge desire to immediately try and climb the massive peak of Spitzkoppe, we thought it prudent to first get a feel of the place. After breakfast, we climbed the slabs on the northern side of the Sugar Loaf, which is a few minutes walk away and right opposite our camp.

This huge lump of granite would be considered incredible anywhere else, but it’s dwarfed by the neighbouring peaks, and therefore much less ascended. There are some wild looking climbs on it too, but the ‘well bolted’ ones have a bolt every 10m or so, which feels unnecessarily risky out here! 

The slabs opposite camp are used as a scramble to get to some higher routes. The angle looks so unlikey, but it’s possible to walk up sections of it (in grippy trainers. We didn’t quite get to the Col, behind the peak, but found a superb viewpoint. 

We had banana bread and coffee on arrival back at camp (just before midday), the drove to the nearby Lion Rock. (It’s close enough to walk between crags, but the heat of the sun after midday is punishing – walking in it is as hard as the climbing!). 

We’d seen a good looking trad crack climb, so Clare set off with ease. Knowing that you can just add protection at any point makes for a much nicer experience! 

Unfortunately the second half of the climb was not so good. Out of sight, the crack widened to about 20cm or more, making it unprotectable as well as unpleasant to climb. Clare gave it a good shot, before retreating back to the last piece of gear. Declaring it unjustifiably dangerous, or at least very scary, she lowered off a sling and a wire. 

I was tasked with giving it a go, and set off full of confidence. However, I soon came to the same conclusion – better to leave some gear and return safely to earth. 

Next to the crack was a much harder bolted route which we decided to do instead as we could see it had been generously (aka safely) bolted. It also had a 5 star rating, meaning it was one of the best in the area. It was significantly harder and we were balancing onto tiny quartz crystals for most of the ascent, but it was very satisfying, even with a few rests an bolt clips. 

The bonus was that on the way down I could swing over to the previous crag and rescue the kit we thought we’d had to sacrifice! 

We checked out the parking and trail start for the nearby ‘Pontoks’ and ridge line of granite domes that should act as a good trial run for Spitzkoppe. This involved us driving past the reception area, where they have showers and water. We have plenty of the latter, but took the opportunity to have a quick freshen up which felt good. We also tried to buy some gas, but the nearest place is 65km away! We are hoping that our gas bottle (cooker) will last until we leave here!

We have plenty of food, but are being tactical about not wasting any gas as we’re unsure how much we have left. After another fine feed, we walked up onto the rocks behind our camp and watch another good African sunset.