Thunderbolts & lightning…very…. very… frightening. I grew up in Joburg, lived in Windhoek and travelled a bit, so I have seen my fair share of lightning storms, but Thor the thunder God sure was pissed at us last night!!!!!!! So much so that the tent was not an option until about 11-30pm. I had to take cover in the vehicle. The cruiser was blown from side to side and the rain just bucketed down. Luckily I had a bottle of red wine to calm my nerves 😉 When I did eventually get to the tent and fall asleep I was woken by this lightning bolt that hit a wind turbine next to the camp site. I woke up to this white light and within a second I had pins and needles in my hands and feet. (I thought I was being beamed up for good this time). It poured for the rest of the night but Hagler and Kuiseb are having a blast this morning
I have seen 2 Cape cobras in the last 5 days………..mmmmmmmmmmmmm………. Turns out running comes naturally even after all these years…….
I have been trying to get a little creative with my cooking as the standard meat and canned veg is getting a bit old. The beer bread was great and I have found this awesome cumquat marmalade from Matlehoe. Combine that with farm butter and a cup of coffee & it is like an Angel pissing on your tongue. Every morning the pup’s and I have farm rusks, me with strong coffee and them with the finest underground H2O. However my butternut fritters did not come up to expectations. I have never eaten sheep’s balls before but I would imagine i hit the nail on the head here 😉
How is this for a plain of flowers after the rains………….
So what should we do today brain?????
Same thing we do every day Pinkie
What’s that brain?
Take over the WORLD……………..
Tough morning out here………
Sooo I have officially dropped a size in shirt and shorts. Sleeping well for the first time in years and actually feeling much fitter. Mentally & spiritually i am recovering well. The hills are a piece of old tekkie now. It has taken a month but now starting to see some serious rewards ;-). My sugar has not been above 5.5 in the last month. Thanks to all the exercise. When I stand up my camping chair actually stays behind now, not stuck to my behind….. bwaaaahhhhaa. I am finding this time a lot tougher than last though, perhaps as I am currently walking on a route I have walked before and my subconscious is battling or I am a few years older and i started walking 12 kg’s heavier than I started the last time. Ether way it was never going to be easy but I am enjoying the freedom, solitude & simplicity of this way of life. There is so much to do with sooooooo little time as they say so best I hang in there hey;-). I know this can’t go on indefinitely but every time I think of going home, I think of the next day’s sunrise and I keep going on happily ;-). Having a braai every night and then sitting around a camp fire afterwards with a glass of red does not hurt ether ;-). I sure miss friends and a bit of socialising but I feel closer to my puppies than I have in a long time and can feel myself getting back to normal. Just generally in a much better place. I can recommend a walkabout for sure.
If only there was a subject at school called “how to create a pubbie” I would have got A+
This one is definitely a warning my dog Hagler is around!!!!!!!!!!!!!
At the beginning of this trip I contacted the SPCA and asked them if they wanted to use my walk to raise some funds or in any other way. I said I was doing the walk anyway so would pay everything myself but would be happy to discuss any idea they had. As they are a charity organisation and rely on donations I thought they would be quite keen. Maybe they could get people to pledge/donate N$100 for every 100km I walked………maybe I could carry a tin with me and everyone that stops to ask me what I am doing, I could ask if they wanted to donate ( every single person that has stopped which is now in the hundreds has asked me what cause am I doing this for)………..maybe I could hand out some written media……….or perhaps I could walk around the desert in nothing more than wellington boots, a jockstrap and an umbrella all with the SPCA logo on it , just to raise awareness. …….But no not even an answer to my mail. After contacting a friend who knows someone there did I get a reply this morning saying “we put it to the committee and we won’t be taking you up on your offer this time?????????????? Now maybe I am not the role model they want representing them but they are quite happy to accept the money I collect from them during the year at my business. Not to mention the donations I give them on a personal basis. I have a 3 legged boxer that I got from them and a cross breed that was a stray that are both on their second journey through the Namib Desert! I would have thought we could have been of some help??????? Oh well…………the mind boggles……….
My Joburg friends and anybody that has spent a while there will know of or seen a parktown prawn………well this is it’s Namibian cousin the King cricket. Also the size of a human thumb!
What do you have if you have a cricket ball in your left hand and a cricket ball in your right hand????????????????
A BLOODY BIG CRICKET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The bloody east winds were here again and it really makes walking pretty crap. Not to mention sleeping is almost impossible but thanks to Maans & Marina Louw who let us sleep in 2 of their unused garages on their farm Steinfeld I got a good nights shuteye. Piet the farm manager showed me a short cut across the farm so I saved myself 6km today 😉
Chadmanwalking 