MickeyT
Race Dog
Day 4
I woke up that morning to a headache - purely all the dust. And I was not the only one. Somewhere after the 10 year old KWV we pitched our tents where I managed to bend all my tent pegs, so I resorted in my bags inside the tent, keeping it stationary.
Kobus and I were on a mission to go and find out how we would be able to get to Sossusvlei, and eventually ended up at the gate where the guard told us they are going to charge us about R800. Bliksem - it is a lot of money, so we went inside the lodge where we found a man and woman behind the desk. They told us that bikes are banned (we obviously knew that, but played dumb and eager to see Sossus) because some bloke went and tried to run a dune with his bike. (may that turd be favoured with lots and lots of flat wheels). On asking them why do they ban all bikes because of one and why not cars, his reply was that they can fine cars... (I'm still chewing on that logic). Eventually we asked them how much it would cost if one of their vehicles took us in. We were met with silence... Then Kobus started asking again, just to be interrupted by the lady: "Sjjjt! He is busy thinking!" - pointing at her colleague. Now at that stage I cringed - not only for that gem of an answer, but I know my buddy (and as all of you could gather from the few posts of KabousGS above) and I know he had some sort of comeback that will end up having us kicked out... But Kobus kept his pose. It was a first for me!
Eventually he told us to come back later - around 15:00, and it will be around R500 a pop. We left confused, so walked to the other lodge. What a difference! Immediately the guy told us that all of his vehicles were out already, but he will try and make a plan. He phoned the lodge were we came from and organised a vehicle, soft drinks and snacks at R500 p/p, and that they will pick us up at the garage at 14:00. He did not make a cent, but went out of his way to assist.
We made our way back to the camp's shop were we met up with Salty and ABie, bought a couple of garage pies and a sixpack of Tafel Lager, and popped our first beer just before 9:00. That was met with a couple of stares from other tourists...
We got back to camp to try and work in a morning-nap, but due to Abe's snoring, lat was give up on before it even started. Abe had a lekker snooze though...
Just before 14:00 we met up with our driver, who took us through to Dooievlei. As we approached dooievlei, the last tourist left, and except for Kobus photobombing my shots, I had the perfect day there - clear skies, no wind and lots of time. I was in my element...
As we left after quite some time, other tourists streamed in - lady luck has handed me 4 Aces for sure.
We went through Sossusvlei, and then I asked the driver to stop at one of the dunes on our way back. I had to work around another tog, but got in my shots and was eventually whistled at by the driver to hurry up. We payed and tipped the man (he was quite the host) and spent the night polishing a Kaptein Skuim aka Captain Morgan.
What a day! Photos to follow in a couple of minutes
I woke up that morning to a headache - purely all the dust. And I was not the only one. Somewhere after the 10 year old KWV we pitched our tents where I managed to bend all my tent pegs, so I resorted in my bags inside the tent, keeping it stationary.
Kobus and I were on a mission to go and find out how we would be able to get to Sossusvlei, and eventually ended up at the gate where the guard told us they are going to charge us about R800. Bliksem - it is a lot of money, so we went inside the lodge where we found a man and woman behind the desk. They told us that bikes are banned (we obviously knew that, but played dumb and eager to see Sossus) because some bloke went and tried to run a dune with his bike. (may that turd be favoured with lots and lots of flat wheels). On asking them why do they ban all bikes because of one and why not cars, his reply was that they can fine cars... (I'm still chewing on that logic). Eventually we asked them how much it would cost if one of their vehicles took us in. We were met with silence... Then Kobus started asking again, just to be interrupted by the lady: "Sjjjt! He is busy thinking!" - pointing at her colleague. Now at that stage I cringed - not only for that gem of an answer, but I know my buddy (and as all of you could gather from the few posts of KabousGS above) and I know he had some sort of comeback that will end up having us kicked out... But Kobus kept his pose. It was a first for me!
Eventually he told us to come back later - around 15:00, and it will be around R500 a pop. We left confused, so walked to the other lodge. What a difference! Immediately the guy told us that all of his vehicles were out already, but he will try and make a plan. He phoned the lodge were we came from and organised a vehicle, soft drinks and snacks at R500 p/p, and that they will pick us up at the garage at 14:00. He did not make a cent, but went out of his way to assist.
We made our way back to the camp's shop were we met up with Salty and ABie, bought a couple of garage pies and a sixpack of Tafel Lager, and popped our first beer just before 9:00. That was met with a couple of stares from other tourists...
We got back to camp to try and work in a morning-nap, but due to Abe's snoring, lat was give up on before it even started. Abe had a lekker snooze though...
Just before 14:00 we met up with our driver, who took us through to Dooievlei. As we approached dooievlei, the last tourist left, and except for Kobus photobombing my shots, I had the perfect day there - clear skies, no wind and lots of time. I was in my element...
As we left after quite some time, other tourists streamed in - lady luck has handed me 4 Aces for sure.
We went through Sossusvlei, and then I asked the driver to stop at one of the dunes on our way back. I had to work around another tog, but got in my shots and was eventually whistled at by the driver to hurry up. We payed and tipped the man (he was quite the host) and spent the night polishing a Kaptein Skuim aka Captain Morgan.
What a day! Photos to follow in a couple of minutes