Today’s destination was to have been Sossusvlei. It seemed easy enough on the map and the roads were reported as being good. ‘Good’ is clearly a relative term for local use.
Almost immediately we started hitting deep drifts of sand in the dongas. Dan was caught out early in a deep drift, reinforcing the fact that traveling alone on a heavily laden bike would be extremely unwise, as it took us both to lift it again. Add 37 degrees C to the mix and energy levels soon began to flag.
The scenery and valleys on the C27 are stunning. The road however, is not. It’s a great pity to be picking your way through alternate deep drifts of sand then deeply rutted gravel where your attention is solely focused on not falling, entirely missing the scenery.
It got hotter. Stamina levels deplete quickly and concentration levels are difficult to maintain under these conditions. Any brief loss of focus here could have severe consequences. Adding to the discomfort were numerous 4×4 drivers, who seem to have total disregard for fellow travelers. Passing us in either direction at lunatic speeds showering fist-sized rocks everywhere and again leaving us in white out conditions – while waving!
Long shadows told the story once again and tiredness was making for some poor judgment calls on the road. Time to stop. Ahead was what looked like a fort; the closer we got the more it looked like small castles. Le Mirage Desert Lodge – how appropriate. Hoping they would let us pitch the tents around the back somewhere, but expecting a short reply this pair of grubby bikers were shown into a cool interior and given iced tea and a cold towel by the porter. We just looked at each other – there were no words.
The manageress came out and said that unfortunately tents were not permitted. Fair enough I thought, but Maryke continued by saying that they had a spare staff cottage at the back which we could make use of. I don’t think either Dan or I made a sound as this sunk in. We were shown to a smaller version of the hotel and were invited for dinner. Again we were struck dumb.
A bit later, and a lot cleaner, we sat in the restaurant at sunset to a fully laid out table complete with candelabra eating a steak and enjoying a beer.
I think we were both waiting for the bubble to pop and find ourselves on the roadside somewhere in the dark munching a power bar and drinking some blood warm water. How could anything top this? Then it did. The staff walked out into the dining room and began to sing for the guests, beautiful in itself, then trooped over to our table and launched into a chorus of happy birthday for Dan. Priceless!
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