Western Coast and Southern Namibia

Please share information about trips you have done
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iandvl
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Western Coast and Southern Namibia

Post by iandvl »

As most know, shortly after getting my truck, my father lusted after a Patrol and he ended up buying the blue and gold 4.5. Since then, we try and fit in a tour or two every year. This year, we opted on the West Coast, as my father has been dying to the Western Coast for quite a bite. But the more wild bits. Our trip was in planning for quite a bit. Unfortunately, life got in the way, and between various serious work and personal issues, I ended up trying to book the camp sites in the Namakwa park a little late. In short: everything was fully booked and nothing from the original plan quite worked out. However, out of experiences like these, are epic trips born. The trip evolved...

So, in short, the original plan was to cruise through to Namakwa park and run the "Caracal Route" from Kamieskroon down to Groenriviermond. In the absence of camp parking, however, we decided we'd take a longer route. Described below.

Day 1: Potch / Brits to Keimoes.
Day 2: Keimoes to Groenriviermond.
Day 3: Groenrivermond to Hondeklipbaai.
Day 4: Hondeklipbaai to Oranjemund.
Day 5: Oranjemund to Hobas.
Day 6: Hobas to Goerapaan.
Day 7: Goerapan to Kuruman via Vanzylrsus
Day 8: Kuruman back to Potch / Brits.

Trip we did (the Brits branch) looks as follows:
route-1.png
route-2.png
I'll type things up in sections, as it will probably take a while, but in the meantime, some overall stats regarding the trip.

Overall Distance: 3646km.
Moving Time: 1 day, 23 hours, 59 minutes and 15 seconds.
Moving Average: 76 km/h.
Top Speed: 126 km/h
Max Elevation: 1642 metres above sea level.
Minimum Elevation: 8 metres below sea level.
Average Consumption: 5.1 km/L
Best Consumption: 5.7 km/L
Worst Consumption: 4.0 km/L

Worst consumption was the bit with very soft sand between Groenriviermond and Hondeklipbaai.

The players:

Hilary, Reinette, Chandre and Danie. Patrol Blue 4.5 GRX
Annalien, Ceira, Daniel and Ian. Patrol Green 4.5 GRX
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Ian de Villiers

Patrol 4.5 GRX
Jurgens XT65 2x0 with Super Select Zero
ORRA: H80
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iandvl
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Re: Western Coast and Southern Namibia

Post by iandvl »

Day 1 : Brits to Kuruman - 2018/12/14

Distance: 524km
DAY01.png
The original plan was to cruise through and RV at Keimoes with my parents and friends on Saturday the 15th of December. However, since the wife and I were both on leave, and since (as I've said previously) I'd had a lot of work and personal issues to sort out, I had had no sleep for a few days. And I was not comfortable with over 8 hours' worth of driving, on the Saturday. So I opted to head through to Red Sands, Kuruman on the Friday and leave for Keimoes for the RV point on Saturday.

Also, since it was the first time camping with the RTT, I reckoned we would camp at Red Sands so that we would have time to sort out any niggles with the camping setup.

Left Brits, refuelled just before Rustenburg at the new "Shell Ultra City" just after the Marikana toll gates and again at Vryburg. Got to Red Sands in the early afternoon. Set up camp and had a few beers before having a braai for the evening.

Just after the braai, we had a fairly heavy onset of weather. Fairly medium storm, actually, which resulted in the awning standing about 90 degrees of where it should have been. The awning survived, but more on that awning later. Red Sands turned to Red Mud.
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Ian de Villiers

Patrol 4.5 GRX
Jurgens XT65 2x0 with Super Select Zero
ORRA: H80
User avatar
iandvl
Patrolman 1000+
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Home Language: English
Has thanked: 446 times
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Re: Western Coast and Southern Namibia

Post by iandvl »

Day 2 : Kuruman to Keimoes - 2018/12/15

Distance: 300km
DAY02.png
The second day saw us head out from Red Sands and head out West. Refuelled at Upington, and did some shopping (a few things we realised we forgot whilst camping at Red Sands - hence the reason for the camping there). Got to Keimoes in the early afternoon, and had a lunch at "Die Werf" - very nice spot on the right of the road just as you head into Keimoes. We were booked in to chalets at "Kokerboom Lodge", about 4km out of Keimoes, but knowing as things stand now, I'd probably just have overnighted at "Die Werf" and forgone on Kokerboom Lodge. Nothing wrong with Kokerboom Lodge - just had an idea it was more individual units. The rooms are in fact part of the main house. You have separate entrances and so on, but it is a little more "personal" than I like from things generally. "Die Werf" has free-standing chalets. I would have preferred that...

Headed out to Kokerboom Lodge at about 13h30, and my parents and travelling folkses arrived there from Potch at about 15h30. Had many beers after they arrived. We strolled down to the mighty Orange river (so much more impressive than the "might Apies") in the afternoon. And we strolled up a nearby koppie to watch the sunset later. And naturally, we braiied the evening...
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Ian de Villiers

Patrol 4.5 GRX
Jurgens XT65 2x0 with Super Select Zero
ORRA: H80
User avatar
iandvl
Patrolman 1000+
Patrolman 1000+
Posts: 1765
Joined: 12 Jan 2015 13:26
Full Name: Ian de Villiers
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Home Town: Garsfontein
Current 4x4: Nissan Patrol 4.5 GRX
Home Language: English
Has thanked: 446 times
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Re: Western Coast and Southern Namibia

Post by iandvl »

Day 3 : Keimoes to Groenriviermond - 2018/12/16

Distance: 551km
DAY03.png
Day 3 saw use head out West from Keimos. Went through Pofadder, although we had a quick "cooldrink break" there. Refuelled in Springbok. and then turned South to Kamieskroon. Exited at Gharies, and headed West to Groenriviermond.

I had booked accommodation at a place about 5km from the beach, but after hearing that it is indeed still possible to camp wild on the beach South of the lighthouse at Groenriviermond, we opted to set up camp on the beach. Collected mussels for dinner (we had fishing licenses) and enjoyed a rustige seafood pot, braai and sleep about 30 metres from the high-tide line. Awesome place to camp.
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Ian de Villiers

Patrol 4.5 GRX
Jurgens XT65 2x0 with Super Select Zero
ORRA: H80
User avatar
iandvl
Patrolman 1000+
Patrolman 1000+
Posts: 1765
Joined: 12 Jan 2015 13:26
Full Name: Ian de Villiers
Nickname: Ian
Home Town: Garsfontein
Current 4x4: Nissan Patrol 4.5 GRX
Home Language: English
Has thanked: 446 times
Been thanked: 670 times

Re: Western Coast and Southern Namibia

Post by iandvl »

Day 4 : Groenriviermond to Hondeklipbaai - 2018/12/17

Distance: 78.1km
DAY04.png
Not a very long route on this day, but we needed to traverse the dunes and stuff in the Namakwa park. With a Patrol, these things are relatively easy. Tyre pressures are obviously key, as well as momentum and not doing stupid stuff. Had a leisurely cruise along the 4x4 route of the park up North. Had a coffee break at one of the board walks and watched seals and dolphin after fish there. Later, we grabbed the left hand fork to the "Spoegberg Grotte" and had a look.

Re-inflated tyres when exiting the park. Spotted to "Speckled Padloper Tortoises" in the road just outside the park on the dirt road towards Hondeklipbaai. One was in the middle of the road. My warnings to the wife about picking it up to carry it to the edge of the road fell on deaf ears.... Think she still sees tortoise urine everywhere... :rolling: :rolling:

Arrived in Hondeklipbaai, and family had lunch at Sams (awesome guy). I had some work to do. Organised some fresh kreef for the evening and checked in at "Campsite Hondeklipbaai". Was not overly impressed. Nice place. Clean and so on. But very small and very impersonal with concrete stands and things.
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Ian de Villiers

Patrol 4.5 GRX
Jurgens XT65 2x0 with Super Select Zero
ORRA: H80
User avatar
iandvl
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Joined: 12 Jan 2015 13:26
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Home Town: Garsfontein
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Home Language: English
Has thanked: 446 times
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Re: Western Coast and Southern Namibia

Post by iandvl »

Day 5 : Hondeklipbaai to Oranjemund - 2018/12/18

Distance: 241km
DAY05.png
We packed up camp, and decided to drive around Hondeklipbaai to see the honde klip as well as the wreck of the Aristea which is slightly South of the bay before taking the road Northwards towards Koiingnaas. The day was cool with a light mist.

Anyways, picked up the dirt roads, drove through Koingnaas and got to Kleinsee about mid-day. Stopped to have a look at the museum, which is cheap and interesting. Explains a lot of the history of the diamond fields in the area. Also, just South of Kleinsee, the diamond versions of the "zama-zamas" were operating. Basically locals mining diamonds illegally. Been a bit of a problem in the area for a while, but apparently there are a lot of problems in getting the situation under control. So the illegal mining operations carry on in plain view from the roads. Interesting to see, as it looks like a small Kimberly many years ago, with people pegging out claims and similar... Did not have time to take a photo of this as I was driving and spotted the stuff too late.

From Kleinzee, on drives the R355 East towards Springbok, and then one turns onto a rather bad sinkplaat gravel road. This is not a particularly bad road, and it's only 40km before one hooks up with the R382 tar road and turns West towards Port Nolloth.

We refuelled in Port Nolloth and did some grocery shopping at the Spar, before hitting the road again towards Alexander Bay. Alexander Bay still requires a permit to enter, which is a little sad as I would have liked to see the place. So we did not enter Alex Bay but proceeded to the border post. One clears customs and immigration on the South African side, after which there is a long, narrow bridge across the Orange. Namibian immigration took a little longer than expected, as apart from my father and myself, nobody else in the group had been to Nam before, and so it took a while to get everyone's biometrics processed. On a side note: the Namibian side was considerably friendlier than the ZA side. Not sure if the customs folk on the ZA side are a little annoyed that the have to work for once...

Once we cleared customs we drove the 14 odd kilos from the border post into Oranjemund. There had been a hiccup with our camping booking, but we had managed to arrange a partially furnished house en-route. So it was awesome to be able to live in relative luxury again. Stocked up on beer and fire wood at the Spar in Oranjemund. We were hoping to find a restaurant that was open so that we could have lunch as well as a few beers, but it seems as if Oranjemund shuts down relatively early. So headed to the house, started a fire and made a late lunch / early dinner there. Accompanied by lots of beer...
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Ian de Villiers

Patrol 4.5 GRX
Jurgens XT65 2x0 with Super Select Zero
ORRA: H80
User avatar
iandvl
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Joined: 12 Jan 2015 13:26
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Home Town: Garsfontein
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Home Language: English
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Re: Western Coast and Southern Namibia

Post by iandvl »

Day 6 : Oranjemund to Hobas - 2018/12/19

Distance: 290km
DAY06.png
After breakfast and packing the trucks, we headed out from Oranjemund towards Rosh Pinah. This was probably the most beautiful drive of the trip, as one goes through some impressive scenery between Oranjemund and Hobas. From dunes near Oranjemund, to red dunes between mountains. To mountains. To a track running against the Orange River. This is followed by the incredible greenery of the grape farms at Aussenkehr, and then the absolute nothingness between Aussenkehr and Ais Ais. Followed by more mountains and the Fish River Canyon.

A side note is that there may be an issue with T4A routing between Oranjemund and Aussenkehr, as my GPS was incredibly confused. Ended up driving into Rosh Pinah, instead of turning off South for Sendelingsdrif about 12 km before the town. Anyways, saw Rosh Pinah, and stopped and consulted the trusty paper maps before spotting the error of our ways. We headed back towards Oranjemund turned off towards Sendelingsdrif. I decided I wanted to see what the pont looked like do drove down to the border post there. The friendly staff at the border post on the Nam side allowed us to drive all the way down to the river. Very scenic route.

After this, we drove back North on the road for about 4 km, where there is a boom gate on the Eastern side of the road manned by nature reserver staff. We turned onto the C13 and headed towards Aussenkehr. This is a very scenic drive which hugs the Orange River for a very long time. Shortly after crossing the Fish River, the road leaves the course of the Orange River for a bit and winds through mountains before joining up with the river again a few kilos out of Aussenkhehr. Although not necessary, as the turn off for the C37 towards Ais-Ais is a few kilos out of Aussenkehr, we decided to drive into town to get some cold-drinks for the kids and to see the town.

Thereafter, we headed back to where the C37 turns up North. And after going through a short mountainous stretch, reached the place where the barrenness stretched off into the horizon everywhere except the left. Very, very impressive...

Continued along the C37 all the way to Hobas, checked into the camp sites, and then drove off to the viewpoints along the Fish River Canyon. First time I've seen the Canyon, and I am very suitably impressed. Whilst there, two German guys arrived on vintage motorcycles along with their support vehicle. They had driven up from Cape Town and were apparently touring through Namibia to Zambia, Vic Falls and back to Kruger via Zimbabwe.
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Ian de Villiers

Patrol 4.5 GRX
Jurgens XT65 2x0 with Super Select Zero
ORRA: H80
User avatar
iandvl
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Joined: 12 Jan 2015 13:26
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Re: Western Coast and Southern Namibia

Post by iandvl »

Day 7 : Hobas to Goerapan - 2018/12/20

Distance: 510km
DAY07.png
The Rietfontein border post closes at 16h00, I seem to recall, and we had a long slog ahead of us. We'd also underestimate fuel consumption in terms of things, and it was questionable on whether we'd reach Keetmanshoop, so we refuelled both Patrols from the jerry cans, packed camp and hit the road. Followed the gravel C37 North-East, and turned North on the gravel C12 until it reached the tar B4 road where we drove to Keetmanshoop. Refuelled in Keetmanshoop, did some shopping at the local stores. We decided that since we had made good time we would head out to see the Kokerboom Forest and the Giants' Playground a little North of Keetmans. Interesting place.

Thereafter, we followed the C16 all the way to the border at Rietfontein. Cleared customs and immigration and headed towards Ashkam. Refuelled in Ashkam again for our trip to Kuruman the following day, and then headed South on the R360 to Goerapan. Decided we had had enough with camping and opted to rather spoil ourselves with a stay in the Chalets there.
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Ian de Villiers

Patrol 4.5 GRX
Jurgens XT65 2x0 with Super Select Zero
ORRA: H80
User avatar
iandvl
Patrolman 1000+
Patrolman 1000+
Posts: 1765
Joined: 12 Jan 2015 13:26
Full Name: Ian de Villiers
Nickname: Ian
Home Town: Garsfontein
Current 4x4: Nissan Patrol 4.5 GRX
Home Language: English
Has thanked: 446 times
Been thanked: 670 times

Re: Western Coast and Southern Namibia

Post by iandvl »

Day 8 : Goerpan to Kuruman via Van Zylsrust - 2018/12/21

Distance: 386km
DAY08.png
Headed out early from Goerapan towards Ashkam again and had breakfast and coffee at the coffee shop in Ashkam, after which we turned on to the dirt road towards Van Zylsrust. Nothing had really prepared me for how rough that road was. It's seriously bad at the moment. 150km of serious sinkplaat interspersed with holes full of soft sand where the road surface has broken through. Was also a rough trip. Shortly after hitting the sinkplaat, my temperature sensor dropped to zero under my watchful eyes as I was monitoring gauges. This had happened before (thread is here: http://patrol4x4.co.za/viewtopic.php?f= ... 92&p=91576 ) so I stopped, popped the hood and removed the engine cover to discover that the bad corrugations had broken the sender wire off the lug. Luckily, I was comprehensively packed in terms of spares and tools, so quickly crimped a new lug onto the cable, put everything back together again and we were on our way again in about 15 minutes. Sadly, this day was not my day. 20km from Van Zylsrust, I noticed the floatiness at the back as well as the loss of power on the dirt. Stopped, got out and was greeted by that horrible sound of the back left wheel deflating... No idea what had caused the puncture (will up date about this once I have it repaired - I have two spares - so not really worried about getting that done yet... :rolling:). However, jacking up a loaded Patrol and changing a 33" wheel in 44 degree temperatures is not fun... Were on our way again soon. We drove into Van Zylsrust shortly thereafter. Decided to refuel in Van Zylsrust for the joke of it, as this would mean we would be fine for many kilos on the next day. And then we headed South to Hotazel and Kuruman. Shortly South of Van Zylsrust, we were greeted by the sight of a tar surface - they seem to be tarring the road!!!

Got to Kuruman, checked in to our chalets at Red Sands and had a few gazillion beers along with our dinner at the restaurant.
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Ian de Villiers

Patrol 4.5 GRX
Jurgens XT65 2x0 with Super Select Zero
ORRA: H80
User avatar
iandvl
Patrolman 1000+
Patrolman 1000+
Posts: 1765
Joined: 12 Jan 2015 13:26
Full Name: Ian de Villiers
Nickname: Ian
Home Town: Garsfontein
Current 4x4: Nissan Patrol 4.5 GRX
Home Language: English
Has thanked: 446 times
Been thanked: 670 times

Re: Western Coast and Southern Namibia

Post by iandvl »

Day 9 : Kuruman to Brits - 2018/12/22

Distance: 525km
DAY09.png
We headed out early. Refuelled for the last time in Vryburg, before we said goodbye to the folks. They were heading back to Potch via Schweizer-Reneke, and we were heading back to Brits via Lichtenberg and Koster.

Final thoughts about this trip:

I love Namibia. It has probably become my favourite touring destination. And I'm going to have to go back there many, many times. I love the nothingness and wide-open spaces there. On the other hand, I think I should try and do shorter distances with longer stop overs the next time. To break camp, move a few hundred kilos and still need to make camp and dinner each day is exhausting. But fun.
Ian de Villiers

Patrol 4.5 GRX
Jurgens XT65 2x0 with Super Select Zero
ORRA: H80
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