Being in the Southern hemisphere, the seasons are the reverse of what we have back in Europe and September here is early Spring. But it's quite unlike any Spring that I've ever seen. The land we see today is dry and arid. There is vegetation but it's of the dry, rugged, can survive anything that you can throw at it variety. That's not to say that there isn't green vegetation to be seen but it's usually either because it's near some farmland irrigation or has roots deep enough to find underground water reserves.
One of my fellow travellers, Ben, excitedly points out her first spotting of some wild animals. Unfortunately she blushes and looks a bit embarrassed when it becomes apparent that it's just a herd of cows!
We so however spot a few baboons preening themselves by the side of the road and do stop a few times along the way whenever a Springbok or Ostrich strays close enough to the road for us to catch sight of them. It's then a race for us to open the side windows, get our cameras in focus and get a good shot before they get camera shy and bound off.
We stop off along the way to have lunch in the shade of a big tree. Sven and Serena take out the large table and chairs that we are hauling around in a little trailer behind the minibus and prepare a delicious buffet meal for us in no time.
A trend we start to notice as the holiday goes on is that Sven has bought way too much food than we are always able to eat.
We attract a bunch of local children and Sven decides to give them the leftovers. But first they have to sing for us. They have no problem with this arrangement and after a bit of bossing around by the one girl in the group who's wearing shoes (and so, obviously, the one in charge for the day) they get in a line and start singing us church school songs. They are really sweet and we applaud them after each song. They really enjoy singing them too and laugh along with us.
They get their just rewards at the end and ravenously devour our leftover curry and bread.
With smiles on our faces we wave goodbye and carry on to our lodgings for the next two nights in what turns out to be a lodge cum Christian Retreat!
It's relatively close to the dunes that we'll be visiting tomorrow and remote enough from civilisation (no mobile or radio coverage) that we get an amazing view of the stars at night. I miss seeing the milky way and the pure multi-dimensional quality of the sky at night. Back in London we just get to see the brightest stars and a few planets and not much else.
My bed has a net to keep mossies out but one cunningly cheats the system by already being inside the net when I go to bed!
Luckily the room is supplied with some mossie spray and he doesn't last long.
I also switch off all the lights bar one on my bedside cabinet and the last sounds I hear before dozing off to sleep are of the few mossies outside my netting frying themselves by flying into the hot bulb.
Pzzztttt!
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