/Ai/Ais-Richtersveld April 2015

[Flutterby]

Actually saw a lot of this in an episode of Going Nowhere Slowly recently. Pity you missed the Halfmense.

[Pumbaa]

As usual the landscape shots are magnificent especially with the sunlight

[Bushveld Jock]

Hi Pumbaa, Flutterby, nan and Lisbeth,

Thanks for all the lovely comments. Hope you packed enough water and swimwear to cool down in the Orange river.

[Bushveld Jock]

Day 3: Sendelingsdrift to Tatasberg Wilderness Camp Part 2

After Akkedis pass we decent down into a valley and travelled between rocky outcrops towards De Hoop. The idea was to take the direct route to Maer Poort from R4 but somehow got onto the wrong tracks and ended at R5 where we took a sharp right turn to R6 and short cut to R7 following the Abiekwa river. Near Claims Peak the route went north east again with Tatasberg on the right.

We missed out on De Hoop, but just to give you an idea how it looks like I've included some old pics from 2006:





Scenery between Akkedis pass and Tatasberg 30 March 2015:

[Bushveld Jock]

Day 3: Sendelingsdrift to Tatasberg Wilderness Camp Part 3

It was the first trip that we saw wild animals in the park and no goats. These klipspringers were running away when we started descending towards Tatasberg Camp. At some spots it can be quite steep and you need to drive very slow stepping down boulders trying to avoid to scrape the under body of the car. A 4x4 can take you to lots of places but not as mobile as these klipspringers.



After 4 hours we reached the Orange river and a few km further over very sandy sections Tatasberg Wilderness Camp. What a relief it was to reach the camp after quite a bumpy drive rocking around in the car. It was however very hot and a refreshing shower at least made it bearable to sit on the veranda looking out over the Orange river.

The location of the camp is high above the flood plains and not much shade around to cool down the cabins. The heat is one of the facts that you need to take into account when planning a trip and maybe best to go in the winter months. Around 15:00 we went searching for a nice pool to cool down and waited until 18:00 before sunset when the temperature started dropping a bit. Still great to go in March/ April, because nice to swim and water not cold, but be prepared for the heat.









When staying in this camp you don't have to worry about load shedding, because the camp is completely off the grid providing its own electricity by wind turbine and solar panels. No gas geysers of fridge. The fridge is the same one at home running on electricity and kept our meat frozen and drinks cold. The geyser make use of a solar heating panel on the roof. You can charge your camera, play PSP, use iPad / iPod and even watch a video on your Laptop. Back at home I had to deal with load-shedding again and 2 day without power due to a transformer blowing-up. So much better to camp or stay in wilderness camps.

[Lisbeth]

Impressive scenery especially the green ones

[Pumbaa]

WoW

Breathtaking shots all of them

[nan]

wow love the first, the last and the lunar with the road

[puppy]

Looks absolutely great, Bushveld Jock. Love the pic of the vygies

[Toko]

My fav is the Euphorbia with the yellow flower carpet and mountains in the background