There had been a bit of rain during the night, but there was little sign of it when we awoke. It was a bit overcast and we packed up and got ready for the road by 9h30. The caravan people were also leaving having repaired their fridge slider. They would be going back the easy way. Our route followed the course of the Abiekwa River and was clearly marked “no trailers”. It proved to have some tricky switchbacks, but nothing hectic. Our old friend “Vark” came charging past, followed by a Jimny. We left them to go ahead, but ruined their video as we drove past them as they were setting up and we got videoed instead. It had been raining gently and the track was getting a bit muddy, but it was dry when we stopped for morning coffee. The rain started again as soon as we got going, but was not enough to make driving difficult. We soon got to the “main” road, but continued on the river track towards the other side of the Tatasberg which we had seen from the neck the day before. Looking back it seemed to be raining hard in the De Hoop area. The Springbokvlakte (Springbok Plains) through which we drove were flat and desolate, but a left turn to a viewpoint gave superb views almost into the valley we had explored the day before. Proof of the fact that it had rained were the numerous large pools of water on the rocks. It was a wonderful lunch stop and it gave us a chance to walk around and explore some enormous boulders. Petra even managed to crawl through a tunnel in one of the rocks. We stopped at another viewpoint to look out over the Springbokvlakte to the distant Rosyntjieberge. Then it was short drive past a rocky hill called “Die Toon” (the Toe) to the Kokerboomkloof campsite. Marianne and I were devastated to see how many of the Kokerboom trees were dead. More evidence of the warming climate. Our old site, the most sheltered, was occupied by the only other occupants of the campsite, but we managed to find a site that did offer some shelter from the wind. After parking and levelling the cars we enjoyed a short walk before getting down to building a fireplace and getting a fire going. We braaied again, but the fire was kept going long into the evening as the wind made it bitterly cold. It was easily our coldest night, but we sat around the fire chatting until 21h30 when we dived into bed. We were getting to know the vagaries of Richtersveld weather and wondered if Pieter van Wyk’s prediction of snow on the high peaks might come true.

Geschreven door Leartravels