Day 3 The Border

Day 3 Border 

The day broke foggily in Springbok.  But, we were reassured by our guest house owner that it would clear by 11.   And it did. 

100 km to the Border.  I had sweat through countless sleepless nights anticipating some glitch during these formalities.  Just the wrong paper.  Just the out-of-date stamp.  Just the wrong asshole Customs guy who doesn’t like Americans. 

The SAfrican side proved to be quite simple and straightforward and we were through.  Over the Orange River, flowing briskly below the Bridge and we entered into Namibia.  And Namibian Immigration. 

Feel you heart racing just a few beats faster?  Your palms moistening?  Throat gone eerily dry? 

Not to worry.  Much.  A long form for each passport holder.  OK.  But, now, where is Bruce’s stamp exiting Safrica?   I am not seeing it.   Hmmm.  Must be riiiiiight ….I couldn’t find it, either.  Mimi’s attention to detail picked it up weakly stamped among a dozen others.  Whew.  And we were through.

Nothing to it. 

The GPS kept telling us our destination was 9 hrs away, but we knew that couldn’t be right.  100 km into Namibia and our turn appears, the C12.  A gravel road leading into a disappearing horizon.  Hmm.  We have just over a half a tank of gas, and Otto’s words were, “If you see a petrol station, fill up.”  We hadn’t done that at the border, having just filled an hour before.  Shoulda.  Not sure whether we would ever seen loved ones again otherwise, we chose to drive the extra 30 km to Grunau for gas.  Lovely Grunau.  A gas station.  A few shacks.  It made Van Horn Texas look like Houston on Super Bowl Sunday.  But, they had the petrol and we were off, baacktrackingly pleased that we had topped up.  100 km on gravel, a pretty decent road though. 

Got to our stunning Canyon Lodge early enough to chill out poolside (Mimi) and read my book (Bo).  The chalets are built into the boulders and beyond the grounds of the resort,  Nothing.  The lodge is filled with Germans, not surprising as the Germans controlled this part of the world for a good many decades in the 19^th and 20 century.  More of that influence in the days ahead. 

Drone man.  One fellow tourist had a very cool drone that he guided aloft and hovered over the grounds and nearby boulder mounds.  It had a go-pro and he could see on his screen all that it was seeing.  Very cool.  

Lighted boulders.  Hey, if life gives you boulders, make boulder-ade.  Or, the next best thing, make them into lighted nighttime features.    

Buffet.  7-9.  Tough eggplant.