After nearly an hour driving from Marizanne's we reached the SA border and the only thing that took our time there was the tax claim on a dive watch Duncan bought in Sodwana Bay. We finally crossed the bridge to Namibia, cruised through into the border post there simply stopping for passport formalities and to pay a N180.00 road user tax. The Orange River creates much of the border between South Africa and Namibia and I was shocked at the difference in landscape between the south and north sides of the river. It seemed all of a sudden that we were transported to a dark sandy desert moonscape, with the odd volcanic cone rising up on the horizon. To be fair, that sight only lasted for half an hour of driving or so, then the terrain returned to the familiar rubbley hillscape of the road north of Springbok. The road was gravel and plumes of dust rose from the tyres. Our campsite for the night is at the Ais Ais (scalding) Springs at the southern end of and inside the Fish River Canyon.
Over dinner, after relaxing in the heat of the natural hot springs, Duncan mentioned how twinkly the stars were. I was sceptical when I looked up, but he was right! Apparantly something about the heat rising from the desert makes the stars appear to twinkle. Not as magical as the milky way at Praia Mar e Sol, but impressive still.
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