Day 15 (Camp Xaragu, Damaraland) to Day 17 (Mile 108, West Coast)

Firstly, a huge thank you to all of you for your comments, etc.  It is so appreciated.  Clive, thanks for your input on the Mamba - kinda suspected as much.  He was very lazy which is what threw us but there again, it could be that he had just woken up!  Mum, Dad - the raptor is a Kestrel.  (By the way, we officially named that little crittur "The fluffy little black mongoose" in your honour - rewriting all biography books, as we speak!).  Dave, yes - read on re Damaraland.  We have had no network coverage since we left Etosha hence combined up-date today.  On that score, we have gone from one extreme to the oh cor blimey - running around in undies and standing under tap in Damaraland (41 deg) to wearing our track suits and jackets at West Coast (currently 14 deg!) - will probably get our thermal underwear out for later - such a non-flattering outfit!!  Anyway, back to updates:
Our last night at Etosha:  Took a late afternoon stroll to the waterhole - the best "camp" waterhole as far as we are concerned.  We had no sooner arrived and were watching a lone ellie when a whole herd of them arrived, complete with little babs.  Racing to the water,

they gulped down huge quantities then climbed into the water, thrashing around and generally enjoying it's life giving properties.

There were 2 little ones among the herd, one very adventurous one who was in the thick of it with the adults and another, very shy and wary - he hung around the outskirts, bleating and tentatively trying to take a few steps in.  He did manage to drink and eventually, when the furor had died down,  did paddle in up to his knees!!  Once the bathing was over, they had an exhilarating dust bath.

Even the little adventurous one was not to be outdone and rolled around gleefully:

They were probably there for about an hour and then were gone and silence reigned.  On our later trip to the waterhole, once dark, there were 5 black rhino - 3 together and Mum and Baby on the other side.  Couldn't get a decent pic but spotted a man near us taking video footage.  Luis peered over the man's shoulder to see what sort of pic was coming out and hiccoughed rather loudly (not on purpose) halfway through the man's prize winning video shoot!  We faded into the crowds, giggling, went back to our camp via one of Luis' looo...ooo.ng "shortcuts", got our video cam and went back to get some of our own footage.
Left for Camp Xaragu the next morning.  Did not see anything on our way out.  Stopped in Xorixas to buy provisions.  On parking, we were greeted by two locals:  "Hi, my name is Victor and this is Tito - welcome",  we responded friendly, like and gave them our names.  Went into the shop (Luis keeping an eye on the Rad - we are such trusting souls).  When we came out, they again spoke to us, telling us how may children they had - I thought they were begging so responded that we had 6 children and 30 grandchildren and no money to spare.  Their eyes lit up with joyful glee.  When asked what the name of our youngest grandchild is, we responded with Zacary which they insisted we spell for them.  We really felt quite honoured and thought they intended naming one of their future offspring, Zacary.  Next thing, we are confronted with 3 engraved palm nuts bearing mine, Luis' and Zacary's name.  Cheap, cheap they say so, me thinking $5 is cheap, asked them to do one for Chase and Chloe.  Then comes the bill - $50 each!!!! ("Because they are $70 in Etosha WITHOUT your name").   No ways ... much haggling later, got them for $20 each - nice little reminders of our trip, the friendliness and selling skills of the locals and, of course, our gullibility!
On the way to camp, in the middle of nowhere, were 3 guys repairing a puncture in the midday sun.  They waved us down and asked for water.  Luis did not feel like opening the back of the Rad so said "No" and we drove on.  500m down the road, guilt sets in so we turn around and gave them some water for which they were extremely grateful.  As we are doing the reverse leg of the 3 point turn to get back on route, one of them shouts "Stop, your ladder, it is not up and is getting hurt nasty!".  Ah well, damage is not too great, fortunately - another bit of character added to Brutus and the Rad.

Arrived in the camp

Camp Xaragu, nestled in foothills of mountains

- lovely place and staff are incredibly friendly with a dry sense of humour.  But, IT IS AS HOT AS HELL!!! 39 deg on 1st day and 41 deg on 2nd day.  I did not take a swimming costume so spent the first day in undies (at very private camp site) jumping around under the shower on the Rad.  Second day, I thought what the heck and went in the swimming pool (with my clothes on) -there were no other guests there at that stage.  Lazy day, although we did venture out in the cool of the morning to check out the Petrified Forest.  The fossils of the trees are, we are told, 200 million years old!  Amazing!!  Want to do a bit more research (google/wikipedia) on that when we get home as it was incredibly interesting.

Looking along the length of a tree

Even the knot is perfectly preserved.

As sad as we were to leave the wonderful staff and magnificent campsite at Camp Xaragu, we couldn't wait to escape the heat and get to cooler climes.  Now, we're freezing .... a happy medium would be nice!!!  No, we're not complaining, just having a giggle at our circumstances.

As always, the scenery in this beautiful country is phenomenal and extreme.  One minute you are in dusty hills, the next you are on flat, sweeping plains differing from red/brown, then grey looking like a moonscape, then blackish with white sands clinging wherever there is purchase, normally scrubby little bushes.

Amongst the "nothingness" there is the odd small herd of Springbok and, later, Gemsbok.  Of course, what did we come across:  the amazingly versatile jackal with no visual sign of food or water source for miles around!

We cannot do justice the sweeping splendour with words or photos. Sadly, some of the pictures we took of vast moonscapes did not come out.

 We are the only (insane) folks at Mile 108 - tells you something!!!  The road along the coastline (C34) is constructed of salt and gravel - it is smoother than a tar surface and lacks the potholes we have become so used to.
We stopped on the Skeleton Coast to take picture of a wrecked oil rig and a shipwreck.  Neither were very large or as impressive as we thought they should be.  Once into Recreational area of West Coast, we spotted a sign that said Winston Wreck and thought, Hah - this must be one of the bigger ones so proceeded along a very iffy track.  Next thing we are on the beach, stuck in sand - Luis deflated the tyres and we were able to carry on.  Turns out it's just the name for a fishing spot anyway sooooo - no more looking for large wrecks, thank you very much.

Oh, and Happy Birthday for the 11th, Brent - sorry we could not communicate on THE day!