We are up early and after breakfast and packing up the campsite, we head off towards Spitzkoppe just before 7 AM. On our way, we stop off in Uis, a small mining town on the way. It is a one road town in the middle of no where - hot, dry and dusty. They have a relatively large, for this size town, supermarket and we stop to do some shopping. We can also use the loo, which has a sign stating for tourists only.
After the cook does his shopping and we grab a few snacks, we head on our way to Spitzkoppe, arriving just before 1 PM. We set up camp and then have some lunch. Due to the intense heat we also roll out the awning - it provides some welcome relief from the blazing sun.
After lunch, we go and explore around Spitzkoppe. Spitzkoppe, meaning "sharp head", rises out of the pro-Namib plains of southern Damaraland. It is the remnant of an ancient volcano. Also part of the complex are the Pondoks, which is a lower massif. This afternoon, we will go walk along the edge of the Pondoks.
It is amazing how the massif just rises sharply out of the flat plains surrounding it. Our objective is a fixed chain at the end of the massif that will allow us to climb up and onto the massif to a vegetated hollow known as Bushman's paradise. There are some ancient bushman paintings under an overhang.
It takes us about 1½ hours to reach the chain. Along the way we walked along the edge of the massif, once going into a tunnel formed by a massive slab that had broken away. Once at the cable, we walk up the steep side of the massif, using the fixed chain to keep our balance and to help pull ourselves up. The rock face of the massif is quite smooth and slippery.
We get to the top and wander around a bit trying to find the rock paintings - nothing is really marked very well. We then wander around the hollow for a short while and then head back down the steep slope. It is actually harder going down then up. Once we get back to the bottom, we head back towards the campsite.
Just before we get back to the campsite, we climb a huge rock to go and watch the sunset. A number of other people also come up and join us on the rock. Jim is good enough to bring us a beer. It is a glorious sunset - with the sun going down between Spitzkoppe and the Pondoks.
After the sun has set, we scramble down the rock face and go and set up our tent. We had waited until now to set up our tent to make sure that we had gotten a nice quiet spot with a good view. This turns out to be one of the better campsite that we have had. The moon is quite full and we get not only a wonderful view of the star filled sky, but also the moon-lit rocks.
After dinner, we "retire" to the "cigar" lounge for a whiskey and cigar. We lay back on the rocks and watch the sky, talking about nothing and everything. We head off to bed at 9:00 PM.