Our final day of rock climbing in this Spitzkoppe area of Namibia and it’s involved two contrasting ascents. 

Right by our camp is a super three pitch climb called Breakfast Scramble, which we climbed shortly after (you guessed it!), breakfast. 

It’s in the shade all morning, and has all the ingredients of a fine morning outing – bolted belays, a good line (up a dyke), a few bolts to show the way and provide protection, great rock, and some excellent views. All without being too physically or mentally taxing! 

The route is actually four pitches long, with plans to extend it further in the future, but the forth pitch traverses off right a bit, so we opted for the three easy long abseils back to the ground. 

From here, we drove around to check out a few other potential afternoon climbs, but drew blanks at them all. Honeymoon Rock, was in full sunshine, so no good until around 15:30. And at nearby camp 14, the ‘easy’ two pitch climb looked like it involved a fair bit of nerve wracking ‘padding’ between the spaced bolts. 

We returned to camp for lunch in the shade, which involved some inspired husbandry of our rations, when Clare fired up a double egg butty each, using the olive oil from a tin of tuna to prevent the eggs from sticking to the pan. A hearty feed once you got past the unusual, fishy smell! 

The next closest crag to us was called Klipspringer. We’d dismissed it previously as an option as the climbs are a bit harder than what we really fancied, however on closer inspection, it was at least bolted safely. 

We set off, armed with the clipstick, in case it proved too much. 

I managed to free climb the entire route, but clipped the rope up in between bolts to make is safe. It’s all friction for feet and small crystals to balance between. Delicate stuff, but very concerning on lead, as the crystals have a habit of falling out when under load. And to fall off here, would involve a serious cheese grater rash experience that neither of us fancied. 

Slowly but surely I made upward progress, but was almost thwarted two bolts from the top when the clipstick length fell just sort of what was needed. Several attempts were required to hook the bolt which lay tantalisingly just out of reach. 

Clare zoomed up the 30m pitch after me, while I sheltered from the near constant shower of rock fragments!

All this excitement left us just enough time to nip over to Felsenteich Eastern Buttress to watch the sunset. A great finale to our time in this region.

Climbs: 

Breakfast Slab:

• Breakfast Scramble, 12*** (35m, 30m, 45m – abseil descent)

Kipspringer Koppe:

• Move Your Way, 20****