Day 5: Cape Town to Namaqualand, Moinday, Sept 1

Day 5: Cape Town to Namaqualand, Monday, Sept 1

QOTD:

Well I hate it when the blood starts flowin',

But I'm glad to see resistance growin'.

Weather: cool at 7am, then Hot! We’re in the desert now, hot and dry

Up early, packed and ready to eat at 6:30, same-same for breakfast, and then a pick up of the four of us by Alex at 7am. 

One more stop to pick the other 6, and we’re on the road...well, we’re stuck in Cape Town rush hour traffic until we can clear it and head north. 

Alex is in his 70s and very opinionated: the government has and is screwing up, there needs to be more nuclear instead of wind power, they didn’t maintain and develop the railroad infrastructure, etc., and he almost left someone behind at our first bathroom break, we’ve got to stay on time, no dallying.

Sign in "comfort" stop restroom,,,THB has no clue

There are three couples and 4 single women of a certain age who have been on the flower tour multiple times (and THB thinks may all be widows, DB finds out that at least one is still married with a disabled husband). One is an aggressive type, another a bit dotty (repetitive and funny, calls Alex “Peter” and he doesn’t correct her; half of the rest of the group calls him “Alec”). THB will report more as he gains deeper knowledge and insight. Or just make it up.

From the second pickup it is 9-10 hours to the stop for the night, Kamieskroon Hotel, in the heart of Namaqualand. On the way we run into a steady stream of road construction, slowing our progress through the first half of the 300 mile journey. After that, it is a bit easier: no traffic and 60-70mph.

In morning, a stop for “tea” at Kochelmanders for a hybrid muffin: it is large and actually a scahn (scohne to THB) served with jam, grated cheese (your choice, savory or sweet or both) and whipped cream, along with tea or coffee, included. 

I share a table with two of the widows, they have no hesitation on using all three toppings, and one has clearly taken her personality straight out of a GBS play: dogmatic and sharp. She makes an admirable foe to Alex! Neither seems to hear the other, ever, though not because of poor hearing.

Most of the morning drive is through a series of valleys, green with crops like canola and vineyards, surrounded by steep mountains, sporadic sheep, cows, and even two ostriches doing the dirty right there in full view of traffic (all THB can see is a feather dance, no necks; sorry no pics!).

Lunch at Muis Huis (Mouse House?) of either hake (overdone) or bobotie (Malay curry, actually ground meat in a combo frittata / lasagne style), with beet salad or a sweet green bean salad; with ice tea, included. THB also picks up some biltong (jerky) for later tasting.

Our tour group at lunch, outdoors on patio

Biscotti = Rusks

Jerky sold all over SA in various flavors and meats

Dessert

Inside the outdoor loo, and yes, it glows green inside with door closed

Lodge or Logde? and Namaqualand is spelled many different ways

Here it is spelled differently, the signs are next to each other

After lunch, the terrain changes dramatically into something more like the deserts past Mojave or east of Flagstaff: first, orange orchards segueing to dry scrubland with buttes in the distance and some purplish pink flowers in profusion as well as something orange.

One more short stop for tea 

and then our first exposure to wildflowers. Alex pulls off the main road (two lanes at this point) onto a dirt road where he has trouble turning the van with trailer around. Out we pop and there, in about 10 square meters, is an amazing diversity of desert flowers, many of them in bloom. Quite the show, and quite the shock for THB who thought that this area was covered in flowerless shrubs, small white rocks, red dirt and dust.

Here are two of the varieties, THB is going to put the rest at the end of the post, there are a lot of them!

As we near Kamieskroon, we see a number of cars lining the road. At first, THB thinks this is because there is some outbreak of rare wildflowers; instead it is very large overturned flatbed truck with bundles strewn around the truck. Some tragedy has occurred and people are gathering to see the aftermath (we did not see any injured or ambulances, just a few policeman directing traffic).

Hmmmmm....

Around 5:30 we reach the Kamieskroon Hotel, a combo hotel, cottages, and campground. We’re in a small one bedroom + bath, where we starrt out by washing a round of dirty clothes. THB considers a dip in the small pool: brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. The group reconvenes at 6:30 for a drink (vodka and rose’s for DB, a light pilsner for THB, not included) and distribution of reading material, plus what is on for tomorrow: a local expert is taking us on a chase for the best wildflowers.

Dinner of butternut soup (okay), combo of rolled lamb (not bad) and bobotie (sweet), and a very sweet cake (called pudding) and vanilla ice cream. The other dessert: pudding (called cheese cake) and ice cream, included.

A long interesting day’s drive, and now lots of stars (THB does not recognize a single constellation and can’t find the southern cross either) and a bright moon, THB is a longgggggggggg way from the big city lights.

Here are pics of different plants/flowers in just a few square meters in the middle of nowhere