So I mentioned in my last update we were going to Brandberg Wes. I should clarify it’s not a town, not even a place just a campsite with 3 huts for staff and the most stunning location for the Save the Rhino Trust Ugab River Campsite at the end of an endless 4x4 road meandering round the base of rock mountains to what appeared to be nowhere. Deon had stayed at the campsite once before but as he is the funny one decided to pull my leg that around each corner it didn’t look like the place he had been before. The roads are so bad because of the flooding so there are sections that look impassable. As we arrived at camp, a lady walked to the piece of rope that was the gate to let us in and then came down to heat our water barrel for our “under the stars” shower. And who could possibly have imagined that as we drove in to the definition of the middle of nowhere we met up with our Aussie friends, Phil and Kristy, who we had met hiking at Soussvlei as they had parked their red landy next to ours at the dunes so instantly we were friends!
En route to Brandberg Wes, we drove along the stormy coastline of the Skeleton Coast on a typical foggy Swakop day and saw the eerie sight of a shipwreck (aka the skeletons) just off the beach and tons of fishermen out to catch the big one. We made a detour to visit the seals at Cape Cross and were amazed by the volume of the constant bleating that thousands of seals can make – looking for their pups or mums or fighting to protect their stone they are lying on. Lonely Planet warns you of their smell…books just can’t prepare you for that! Jackal paw prints were everywhere and they weren’t shy to roam looking for their next seal pup target. 25% of pups die at the mercy of the evil jackal! We saw lots of the welwitchia plants en route that are estimated to be 2,000+ years. A little bit of everything on the way to the infamous Brandberg Wes.
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