#1: [21-Sep-07] (incomplete)

07-Dec-2007 -- During December 2007, my younger brother (Hennie) and I travelled from Cape Town to Windhoek, to join up with a Kaokoland and Damaraland overland trip organised by David van Breda (from Windhoek). All trip participants were members of the Landcruiser Club of Southern Africa, and for completeness it should be mentioned that it was a tremendous two-week adventure!

Without digressing any further, I have to report that our passing through Springbok was timeous and successful, in spite of the overwhelming hospitality of resident LCCSA member Carel Oberholzer (which was to join the the Kaokoland trip a few days later). Many innocent clubmembers have had to delay their Namibian trips due to the unscheduled festivities in Springbok, but we were warned and slipped through relatively unscathed...

Onwards, through the border without difficulties we drove, for our first night-stop in Keetmanshoop. Another club member Bryan van der Merwe awaited us there, and apart from arranging our accommodation and pre-lighting our braai fire, providing a ready-made braai pack of note, and spending (most of) the night with us, he also presented the plan to reach 27S 19E the next day.

We woke up early, and set off south on the B1. Dirt roads followed, and slowly the road width decreased and the realisation downed upon us that we may be entering the domain of trespassing! But Bryan had all the answers ready - his meticulous planning revealed all the farm owners and foremen names and mobile numbers, and he even pulled out 1:20,000 scale maps with all the farm boundaries demarcated. We had to cross over to the adjacent farm to converge on the waypoint, and in the process had to say our goodbyes to one very friendly Namibian farmer, only to meet the next one.

Farm tracks took us to within a few hundred meters of the Confluence, and with the owner's blessing, we put the two Landcruisers in low range, first gear, and started crawling up the rocky incline towards it.

Success at last! It took some time to find "X marks the spot", but the Garmin 276C did not waste any time. As seen below, we even got rid of the unwanted decimals!