Handpump Wild Camp – Abandoned Pump Station (Day 37)
- Desiré
- Jun 21, 2019
- 3 min read
21 June 2019
Distance: 190km Distance to date: 8086km
Road Conditions: (out of 10)
General: 4 (mostly sand, although nowhere we had to use 4x4, except right on the beach)
Coffee, Tea, Rusks
Snacks
Tomato Soup and Homemade Beer Bread
We were awoken early this morning by first two bakkies clattering by and then a little later a police/army truck also stopped at the pump and then carried on. We got to work packing up so that we could go through into the park.
Dad paid the park fees and we were on our way. The drive in the park is exceptionally beautiful – there are so many different plants and rock formations than we’re used to. It still looks a little like God’s Rock Gardens that He’s planted.
The road through the park ranges from fairly okay dirt road to tricky two-spoor tracks that run over hills and rocky places. Dad didn’t have to use the 4x4 in any of the places, so that was good.
We arrived at the second park offices at Espenhierra at around 12h00 and Dad filled in a book and spoke a bit to the officers about the road ahead. We had around 95kms left to go and they said it would take us around three hours to reach the mouth.
On the way, the road changed once again from mostly rocky, to sandy and rocky and then closer to the beach it was mostly sand again. There was also an abandoned car that must have been there for some time. Dad said he thinks it might have been left there during the war, when the Portuguese were fleeing.
We spotted some animals on the way, which can be hard to believe because the region is so dry. We saw gemsbok, zebras and ostriches among some others.
We stopped by the Police Station close to the mouth between 16h00 and 17h00, only for Dad to find out that he is technically not allowed to fish in the area without a permit. The officer mentioned though that it would be okay if Dad caught something and brought it to the officer for lunch. He also told us that most of the people passing by stay in the nearby abandoned pump station building.
We thanked the officer and then drove all along the river, towards the mouth. There’s a wide variety of bird life in the area and we quickly spotted some pelicans and some ducks among many others.
Closer to the beach the wind picked up, making it very unpleasant and cold. We were surprised to find another vehicle on the beach, one that had come through the Death Acre in the morning. Dad chatted with them, somehow having a full conversation while he spoke English and they spoke Portuguese.
Dad tried a couple of throws, but had no luck, and by the sound of the conversation, they had had no luck either.
Eventually it started getting dark, and we turned back toward the Police Station to set up camp (with one heart stopping moment when Dad tried to turn and we got stuck – but we just deflated the tyres some more and had no further troubles). We deliberated for a while how to go about everything, whether we should only put my tent up in the building or have Dad pull the bakkie in as well. Dad measured the bakkie and found that it would just fit and so decided to drive it inside, so that the tent wouldn’t be wet in the morning from the dew.
While setting up, we received three visitors – dogs that were living in the area came to settle right outside our door, obviously hoping for some scraps. They seemed to be in good condition, although my heart just wanted to pack them up and take them home so that I could give them love and affection.
It was definitely a little more pleasant out of the cold wind, but the building is in a poor state and has obviously been used as a garbage dump for some of the previous visitors. We warmed up some cans of soup for an easy and comforting meal, along with the bread that Mom had baked the evening before.
Dad and Mom sat outside after the meal, admiring the stars. I had taken refuge in my tent from the cold, although the wind had subsided a little. We settled in for the night, and Mom and Dad got a bit of a fright a little later on when the wind picked up and was flapping my tent around with quite a bit of force.
Dad helped me to move my tent away from the window where the wind was coming in, and eventually we all fell sound asleep.
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