Somewhere in the Namib Desert

We're at another campsite, but this one's a little nicer than the previous one. I'm currently in the bar, my laptop plugged into a mains socket. So, this means there'll be a few more words yet.

Last night was cold. After the first couple of nights, I thought I was going to be okay, but last night I woke at around 3am, shivering. I put a fleece on, but it wasn't really enough. I use this word carefully, but 'luckily', we were rising at 5am to get on the road. I asked Bjorn if it was likely to be as cold tonight. Whether or not it's because he's Belgian, Bjorn hasn't quite got the hang of looking on the bright side. He said, 'It'll be a little warmer than last night, but that's because we're rising at 4am to see the dawn over Dune 45. The coldest part of the night is just before dawn, and we're missing that.' Thanks, Bjorn. Before bed we'd sat round the fire telling jokes. This was a bit of a challenge, since you had to somehow avoid jokes based on wordplay, since few people spoke English as a first language. And since there were a couple of kids present, we had to go easy on the profanities. So, the 'best' jokes were those that were utterly filthy, but only if you understood them.

So, most of today was spent on the road. The main roads are little more than tracks, and it's a rough ride, but it's amazing how one is able to adapt, even sleeping when being bounced off the walls. We stopped first when we saw some Springbok, then again when we saw a family of ostriches. I commented to Bjorn that I supposed the journey was only fifty kilometers, but that we'd be stopping every ten minutes. Evie, I suppose being a dairy farmer, and thus good at spotting animals, proved to be adept at picking out game from the rolling scrubland.We stopped for lunch by the side of the road, and were inundated by dozens of 'Armoured' Crickets. These are about two inches long in the body, plus legs and antennae. They're not exactly 'cuddly'. At one point, I looked down to see one sitting on my sandal-shod foot. It was all I could do not to leap in the air, but I held it together and it duly trotted on its way.

We arrived at camp around 3pm. The tents are up, and we're in a small, walled grove, about fifty metres from the bar and swimming pool. Very pleasant. The two Spanish girls are sunbathing (natch), and Magda and Artten are swimming. Magda is Polish, Artten is from Finland (or, as previously mentioned, Mettalica), and they're a couple. They met on a language exchange in Holland, had their first 'date' in London, and now they've been studying in Cape Town for a bit. They're good fun, and they have good English – due in no small part to the fact it's their best common language, so they carry on in English, with the odd Finnish or Polish profanity thrown in. I find it fascinating to watch a couple of carrying out a relationship in a second language. I'm not sure I could do it. I'm not sure I could date a woman who's first language isn't my own, as I'm difficult to understand in England at the best of times. Let's add that to the criteria list, shall we? This is truly 'desert-ed'. There are mountains around, and some trees, but it feels more like we're at an oasis. One of the great things about this trip so far, is that every campsite has been a total contrast from the last. It's an utter cliché to those who've visited Africa, and probably makes little sense to those who haven't, but the sky is massive here, and the sunsets mesmerising – and made so much better with a beer in one's hand. I'm not sure it's the taste of the beer, the photo opportunity, or feeling like you're in the last scene of 'Ice Cold in Alex', but there's something very emotional about it. I find myself thinking about everything I've done, everything I haven't done and everything I could have done in my life, all in the passing of a day....

Ahem, not sure what happened there. Cut to some of Bjorn's 'stupid client' stories. Amongst others... when staring at the night sky, a woman asked 'should I keep looking for a shooting star, or should I focus on one star and wait for it to shoot'. I'll save the rest until I (and so, I guess, you, dear reader) are struggling a bit. I'm heading back to the tent and food before the sun goes down. It's going to be cold.