Day 11: Spitzkoppe to Brandberg

1 May 2019

We woke up and packed up camp after breakfast, with a curious ostrich looking on. Our next destination was the White Lady Lodge near the Brandberg mountains. This almost circular granite mountain range makes a striking picture from above, and is a significant region for the San tribes. Hikers need a permit and a guide to walk in the mountains, which we unfortunately didn’t have time for.

Somewhere along the road, we developed our second tyre puncture, and made quick work of changing it for the spare in the baking heat. We arrived in the small town of Uis, and spent most of the morning trying to find a new tyre (the punctured one was beyond repair) with the assistance of the staff at the rest camp in town. Eventually a kind lady drove to her house to find an old tyre for us to use as a spare - it needed some patching - and then finally we were on the road again.

White Lady Lodge is an oasis in the middle of the desert, and we were glad to set up camp in the shade of some big trees. Unfortunately we didn’t see any of the desert elephants that frequent the camp at certain times of the year, but we spent the afternoon watching a variety of birds including a very curious and comical Yellow-Billed Hornbill and a small ground squirrel. Our relaxing afternoon ended with a swim and an early dinner.