Wiping all the dirt off (literal and metaphorical) that we felt like we’d picked up in Kolmanskop, we were back in the cars. We took back to the B4 and headed east, retracing the path we’d taken last night, back toward the town of Aus. From Aus, we’d say goodbye to paved roads and start heading north.

Day 4

Day 4 was, thankfully, considerably less driving than we’d done the first two driving days. But, as I mentioned above, it was going to be all on dirt roads. Looking at the map, we had a few days coming now where we really wouldn’t see paved roads, so it was time to get used to it.

Day 4 looked something like this:

• The ghost town of Kolmanskop
• Wild horses outside Aus
• Head north from Aus to Duwisib Castle, where we’d be camping for the night

Why the Long Face?

Kolmanskop was behind us, and our next stop was an area just west of Aus where wild horses can be viewed. There is a watering hole there, and the horses come to drink and to bathe themselves. Sure enough, there were horses waiting for us as we drove up!

They’ve actually built a little shelter where you can go to watch the horses from. It has a gate, I guess to keep the horses out, but it’s otherwise open-air, so the horses can still stick their heads inside.

I had no idea just how loud a horse’s whinny was until a horse whinnied just a few feet from my face.

One thing we noticed is that a lot of food had been put out for the horses. Hang on a second, I thought they were wild horses? Well, according to a sign posted outside, apparently the drought had been particularly bad, and the horses were struggling for food more than usual. So some organization was helping them out.

Return to Aus

Aus was so exciting, we just had to come back for a second round. No, it was just at our turn-off. But, we used it to re-fuel again, knowing it’d be a while before we saw a gas station. And, we’d had enough of peanut butter, crackers, and yogurt for lunches, so we decided to have lunch there too. What else for lunch in a former German colony, but bratwurst!

An Interminable Drive in Search of a Castle

Back to the cars, we only had a couple kilometers of the B4 remaining, before it was time to leave tarmac behind and become one with the dust. With a heavy heart, we turned left onto the C13.

We also said goodbye to other people, it seemed. Because we went that entire drive with only seeing one other car. Like I said a few blog posts ago, just stunningly desolate. It was also stunningly long. We left lunch shortly after 1, and as the hours were ticking by, I was getting nervous that we were going to be racing against sundown again, just like yesterday.

This drive was beautiful, though. We went through some rolling hills, with much lusher plant life, and craggy peaks to our left. There were a few random homesteads we passed, but otherwise it was just our two trucks and our dust clouds.

After forever, we turned onto the D831, which pointed us west and into the setting sun. We were indeed, again, racing the coming dark, but as with yesterday, the silver lining to that was being lucky enough to witness a jaw-dropping sunset.

“I’m just stunned,” Springbok radioed to us.

So were we.

Camelot!

Finally, as the last sunlight was disappearing, we were there: Duwisib Castle!

“Camelot!”

“Camelot!”

“Camelot!”

“It’s only a model.”

Actually, it’s just a very lame castle. I mean, to be fair, it’s pretty ridiculous it’s even there. It’s really in the middle of nowhere, and someone brought all these materials and built this little castle out here?

But yeah, it’s pretty lame.

Anyhow! We weren’t staying at the castle, we were staying next to the castle, at the Duwisib Castle Guest Farm campground. The man who checked us in was very friendly, and we raced to our spot on the campground so we could start to set up camp. In the dark. Again. Sigh. Well, at least we’re more experienced at it now.

We got set up, cooked a lovely dinner, took showers, and stared at a more amazing array of stars than you can imagine.

Next Time, on Namibia Travels…

After hundreds and hundreds of kilometers of driving, it’s time for the star natural attractions of Namibia: the sand dunes! Come back next time to see the beautiful, amazing scenery the dunes produce!