South America and South Africa

Driving through the Namib Desert was one of the most rewarding experiences of my trip to the South of Africa so far. The openness of the country with its slowly changing scenery was truly amazing. Flat dry yellow grassland that is colliding with a pale blue sky to red sanddunes and a contrasting deep blue sky where the low evening sun models sharp edges on the dunes to hilly or even mountainous areas where crossing a pass opens up new and very different views to deep canyons that are only visible when one is right in front of it. It strongly reminded me of driving through the Southwest of the United States, a trip which I still treasure as one of the greatest trips I ever made.

For hours we didn’t see any other car and when one was approaching it was already visible miles away due to its dust trail on the dirt roads. The drivers were greeting each other as in case of an emergency or breakdown this could be the only help available until the next day. We helped one dutch couple to change the flat tire of their car and received help from two south-african guys who were fixing our flat (then spare-)tire we encountered the next day preventing a detour of approx. 50 miles. While we were driving I was thinking how the road alignment is planned and designed given that there are no curves for 40 miles or so. I guess in the Department of Transport and Infrastructure they bend over their maps drawing a straight line with a ruler.