We left our very pleasant campsite in Augrabies and followed the tar road back to the N14 and then turned right towards Pofadder. Previously we had taken the gravel road to the west via Nous, but we were concerned about the road condition after the rainy weather. We pulled into another roadside stop for morning coffee. This one was shaded by a big camelthorn tree that had some big sociable weaver nests in it. Marianne managed to photograph a very evasive agama. The roadside picnic stop was remarkable clean and we found this at most of our roadside stops in the Northern Cape. We had to start getting used to the dry and empty landscape and it was very clear that the rain had not reached Boesmanland. We then continued to Pofadder where we bought something to drink for the campfire evenings along the Orange River 4x4 route. Marianne could not find any alcohol free beer in Pofadder and had to settle for Castle Lite. It was also a struggle to find brown bread, but she succeeded after some looking. The power was about to go off because of load shedding and we just made it paying with the Visa Card. The turnoff to Pella was good tar. It was quite emotional for Marianne to be in Pella again. She had been here often with tour groups and is very familiar with the place. Some colourful murals had been added to the wall surrounding the church, but nothing else seemed to have changed. Thank goodness this unique cathedral in the desert is well maintained. Getting information about the route in Pella proved to be impossible as the tourist info office was closed. It was also difficult to find the route to Charlie's Pass, but after a few wrong turns and getting local assistance we got onto the road. It was a bit tricky where drifts had washed away, but mostly in fair condition and before long we got to the Orange River again. The landscape became very impressive. After a few kilometers on quite corrugated gravel roads we got onto sand tracks and continued to Klein Pella. This is a major farm (the largest date farm in the southern hemisphere) and we were required to report to the office. Driving into the farm, we drove past a Nissan bakkie that had obviously rolled. We learned later that it had happened just a couple of hours earlier. After reporting to the lady in the office, we had lunch under some beautiful shady camel thorns in what looked like a picnic area. We also had a look at the campsite that looked very good and was fully booked for the night. There were some campers already set up and I thought it a strange place to spend time as it was very hot, probably in the 40s. But the campers were happily sitting in the shade and that would probably be their major activity for the day. We had been told to turn right at the gate, but there was no sign of a turnoff so we ended up going to the main gravel road before turning right. There was a gate here as well, but we didn’t think that it was the one the lady at reception was referring too! Maybe the turnoff was before the security gate. We carried on along the main road to Witbank. It was not a pleasant road at all, very corrugated and sandy in patches. One of those “if you go to fast you can easily roll” type roads. We eventually got to the co-ordinates for the turn off onto a 4x4 track, but there was no sign and it could easily have been a number of tracks. So we carried on to Witbank. This was a sadly uninspiring place. Wide dusty roads, shacks, unimaginative RDP houses, overhead electricity lines and wire fences. And dreadfully hot. On our previous visit in 1997 with the Landrover there were still several traditional houses and the whole village then had a good and friendly feel to it. We had chatted to some locals and remembered the two kids, Richard and Lady Di! We found the track to the east easily and immediately started enjoying the route again. Seeing a couple of cars down at the river we turned off to try to get to the water for an afternoon stop. A biggish tree along the way provided good shade, and we stopped under it, chasing away a donkey and a secretary bird that had been enjoying the shade. When we got out it was like stepping into a furnace. My eyes felt as if they were burning. We left the tree to the donkey, who went straight back into his shade, and continued to the river where there was a double cab driven by a lady from Montagu. After chatting about the heat she and her three passengers from Witbank drove off. The one passenger was sure the Melkboom was about three kilometers further on. It was slightly cooler close to the water and we enjoyed cold Coke. But the Cruiser's aircon called and we drove back past our now happy donkey. Further on we got to an impressive house with a circa 1975 Mazda bakkie under a tree. I had a similar Mazda when we were married. We were now close to the Groot Melkboom campsite, but just before we got there we met our Montagu lady coming the other way. She had driven to the Groot Melkboom to see how far it was and was very apologetic that they had said it was 3 km when it was in fact more like 12 km. She was quite happy driving in the sand in a 2 wd bakkie. Then we carried on to the campsite after deciding that it was now too late to get to Ramansdrift. There were two cars at the tree, a Jimny driven by Marius, accompanied by his dog Lola and a Cruiser driven by Leon. We would see them often in the next two days. The sand along the river was quite heavy and I had to drop tyre pressures to 1.8 bar to avoid getting stuck. Thereafter it was easy. Shade and shelter from the wind were crucial and we managed to find both behind a mesquite tree. Invasive vegetation can be useful. But dense stands of mesquite were all along the river. An early stop meant we had time to explore the river and collect firewood – there was plenty of broken-off mesquite lying around. It was very evident that the previously sandy beach alongside the river was no more and we would find this at all our stops along the river. There were lots of animal tracks and they were not all of goats and sheep. Some tracks possibly belonged to some bat-eared foxes and baboons were also present. We had a super braai and as it cooled down (only a bit) and when the wind dropped it became quite pleasant. And there were fewer insects than we were used too. We got to bed at 22h00 after a very hot and interesting day along the river. One could hear the roar of the mighty Orange as it was still flowing very strongly.

Geschreven door Leartravels