A diamond in the rough: day 1
Posted by Piers Ward at 4:40PM on Friday 11 January, 2008 2 Comments
We had to land in Cape Town this morning because that's where our Land Cruiser was waiting for us. And, to be honest, it's just a question of getting to the border as quickly as possible.
The area around the Cape is great, but we just hit the road north in our bright gold Cruiser. Not sure about the colour, to be frank.
The roads here are seriously straight. You've got about six miles of arrowed road, then a teeny corner, then another six clicks etc.
The only problem with this is that six miles is just about long enough for photographer Steve Perry to nod off in the passenger seat, then the corner wakes him up. He'll be fine.
You can tell this is a more populous country. Apart from anything else, I've seen two Citroen C4s after 360 miles. Given their position in all the reliability surveys, you only assume people out here stop to give a hand during breakdowns.
It's only when you reach the border that you start to get a sense of the 'real Africa'. (You need to say that in an African accent, by the way.)
The border process is quick and the guards are hardly trigger-happy nutters, but there's none of the EU co-operation I'm used to. You need to go to four huts on the South African side, where one person simply stamps a piece of paper without looking at any of your paperwork, then three more on the Namibian side.
But as soon as you get through that, you're aware that Namibia is different. There's no real concrete reason for this, it's just a subtle impression that hits you. Maybe it's the traffic, which immediately drops off. Or the fact that you hit a gravel road not far off the border.
Our first night is spent just over the border at a river camp (Felix Unite's Orange River site, www.felixunite.com) and then it really hits home that you're a long way from Britain.
Twenty-four hours ago I was battling bargain hunters in the pouring rain at Oxford Street; now I've got an amazing view from a hut looking at this river border between South Africa and Namibia.
And it's at Felix Unite that we meet Carlos, our first Toyota fan. He used to own a Hilux that did 291,000 miles before the engine died. (He put river water in pickup's radiator, and it eventually corroded out.) But he still managed to flog it to a mate down the road, who repaired it, and the thing's still running.
This is what the locals love. And Carlos is keen on the Land Cruiser, although thinks it's too posh for him. He needs a workhorse, and the Cruiser's leather interior wouldn't do for that.
Anyway, must dash. That river doesn't have flat dogs (crocs) in it, and I'm too hot to sit here at this computer.
Read the next instalment of Piers' Namibian voyage
Photography: Stephen Perry
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2 Comments for "A diamond in the rough: day 1"
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Flat dogs, what a great call. Nice work, Piers. Here's hoping the Toy Motor does you proud.
Call that a straight road - now THIS is a straight road.... [looks out window at Hwy 1. SA - Perth stretch AUSTRALIA].
Have a champion time and drive safe.