Thursday 4th April 2013

I am spending the night of my birthday parked in a cave. Literally. We have arrived at Bakkranse Caves after a hectic day. Well, it’s been hectic for Lesley as she has not been well since early this morning.

Our neighbours decided to leave at 04H00 after getting up at 03H30 to hitch their caravan. Not very nice of them. This woke us up and Lesley started her trips to the bathroom. I eventually got up and we packed, leaving at about 09H00. We saw a gemsbok, some springbok and a couple of Kori Bustards on the way to the border. At Noordoewer we managed to find a supermarket at which we were able to get almost everything we needed. The best was two freshly baked loaves of bread. Then it was a quick stop at the farm stall for some fire wood and a fill-up of diesel at yesterday’s prices.

Once over the border we stopped to update the blog with the last three days. Thank you to everyone who sent me birthday wishes on my 25^th birthday. L:  Ha ha, lately, he seems to get everything backwards…..

We then started on the second part of the Namaqua Eco trail. It continued along the Orange River and then turned south for a while as we went into the mountains. We passed some huge rocks, called petroglyphs, with some old engraved patterns on as well as some modern graffiti. Pity how some people spoil things like this.

We bypassed the loop part of the trail (Kristalberg) due to time constraints and continued on to the cairn area. Somebody, sometime, built a pile of stones and now it seems that everyone stops and adds their own version. We were no exception.

We passed through the town of Eksteenfontein which used to be called Stinkfontein. The original name came from when the Bushmen murdered the Nama people and left the bodies to rot in the spring. In 1945 Reverend Eksteen changed the name but the mountain range which forms the backbone of the Richtersveld still carries the old name.

We spotted a duck in some water that seemed to originate from a spring. It looks like a South African Shelduck though the head does not show the usual white/grey markings of the female.

Then it was a pretty bumpy ride until we got to our current campsite. There are two huge caves with a few smaller ones scattered around. The biggest is big enough to drive into, which is what we did. We are the only ones here so hopefully we will not be disturbed tonight.

Michelle, this one is for you. Oops Dug is missing .....