Flamingo Lodge – Coast Desert Wild Camp (Day 35)
- Desiré
- Jun 19, 2019
- 4 min read
19 June 2019
Distance: 150km Distance to date: 7706km
Road Conditions: (out of 10)
Flamingo Lodge – Tar Road: 5 (sand/dirt, corrugated iron and loose sand in some places)
Turn off after filling station – Camp: Sand tracks, some areas very loose sand
Coffee, Tea, Rusks
Snacks, Leftovers
Burritos with pork, salsa and cheese
Mom and I started packing up camp while Dad went back to speak to Emile about driving the Death Acre towards the Kunene River Mouth. Everyone we have spoken to have advised that we are not to try and drive it alone – so Dad has been asking around to see if anyone is heading that way.
Once packed, we went back to the restaurant to pay our bill. We found the cook there, who mentioned that Emile had gone to town. We paid our bill with him, although he didn’t really know anything about anything that was going on, so instead of getting change we just grabbed some beers and water and left.
We drove out to the canyon viewpoint before heading back to the main road. This was a really beautiful spot and we took some photos here before driving back to the lodge and then from there to the tar road.
It took us around an hour to reach the tar road once again and here we turned right towards Tombua. After a couple of kilometres we turned left once again onto the sand road towards Arco Lake. The road led us across a flat area and then at one point we started driving down into what looked like dongas. Then, all of a sudden the oasis appeared before us – all green surrounded by many kilometres of brown sand.
We walked around here, taking in the locals that were farming on the nutrient rich soil and the water in the lake in the middle of the desert. There is one part where you can walk underneath some of the rock formations and look out at another part of the lake. It was excessively hot and we were all panting and sweating by the time we got back to the bakkie. Here Dad gave a little bit of cash to one of the locals that have been maintaining the area.
Off we went again, back towards the tar road and towards Tombua. Dad was still keeping a lookout for some of the people that were coming back from the Kunene River Mouth so that we could gather some information from them as well.
Just before the filling station, we spotted some and flagged them down. They were very friendly and we spent some time speaking to them. Once again, they mentioned that we shouldn’t drive alone.
After thanking them and saying goodbye, we stopped at the filling station for fuel, drove out, and immediately turned left towards the desert and the coast.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much nothing. There’s just a whole lot of sand and some vehicle tracks. We reached the Iona Park Office where we had to pay a fee to enter and were quickly on our way again.
The GPS heading was set on a shipwreck called Alfa. The shipwreck was a little disappointing though because we could only see two rusty pieces of masts sticking out of the water.
Here Dad tried his hand at fishing once again, Mom also had a couple of casts. Dad wanted to try for the big fish, and so he first had to catch a smaller fish to use as live bait, which we could then fly and drop with the drone in some deeper water.
Mom caught a Black Spot and Dad and I got busy getting everything ready. Unfortunately, something went wrong with the drone and it wouldn’t release the line. So the poor fish was suspended above the water, 15 metres in the air, swinging like a pendulum. The remote control also didn’t want to show the view from the drone’s camera, and with the wind blowing quite strong it was a few nerve wrecking minutes trying to get the drone safely back to land before the line possibly snagged in the propellers. Luckily Dad managed to pilot the drone back to its landing spot, but by this time the fish was dead and the bait was finished.
I kept myself busy in the meantime trying to catch some of the crabs and managed to snag a few. Dad relented and tried to use one of them as bait, and it wasn’t even five minutes and he had had a strike. He said it felt like a relatively big fish and he reeled it in right up to the foam, where the fish unfortunately slipped off the hook and got away before we could see what it was.
Dad tried a few more of the crabs as bait, with no luck and we set off to look for a
spot to stay for the night.
We reached two poles and Dad remembered something that Emile had said about them – either it was a marker for the Death Acre to start soon or it was a good fishing spot.
We drove a little further, and then around and behind a dune to get shelter from the wind. We had some coffee and tea and set up camp, and then made some dinner.
There was a moment before sunset where I walked up the dune and just stood looking out at everything. It was awe inspiring to be so completely isolated – at least 50 kilometres in each direction away from the nearest human being. The clouds were rolling by, the moon was coming up in the East and for one moment it was so beautiful it seemed a little surreal.
After dinner, Dad got his fishing gear ready once again and headed over the dune down to the beach. Dad managed to catch a Shad, which he tried to use as live bait, but the fish died and Dad used some of the fillet.
Mom and I got ready for bed; bathing out of a little bucket and trying (rather unsuccessfully) to not get more sand on our feet or bodies.
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