Day 137: Out of the Tropics

Soutpiel Safari
John & Jenny
Mon 21 Mar 2011 18:39
Day 137: Monday 21 March 2011. Quiver Tree Camp Site, Keetmanshoop, Namibia. S26 28.934 E018 14.649. Distance driven 552 km Total distance 23,029 km
 
It was Independence Day in Namibia, a public holiday, so we abandoned trying to get the Land Rover looked at and drove south from Windhoek.  Apparently, there is a very good garage just south of Keetmanshoop, so we'll go there tomorrow.
 
It was a delight to drive on smooth tar with no potholes and no traffic amid beautiful scenery,  Around midday we drove across the Tropic of Capricorn, so we have now traversed both tropics and the equator on this trip.  We have also crossed the 23,000 km mark, so the total to Johannesburg looks like being around 25,000 km.
 
We arrived at this delightful camp site around 1700 to find them feeding cheetahs! The site is on a large farm outside Keetmanshoop and they have five adult cheetahs and two cubs.  Along with several other visitors we went into the pens while they were being fed with fresh springbok.
 
Adjacent to the camping sites is a Quiver Tree Forest (Kokerboom) which is unique to this part of Namibia and NW South Africa.  The trees are, in fact, aloes and grow up to 9 metres high and they do not flower until they are 20 - 30 years old.
 
The camp site is beautifully appointed and each "site" has its own toilet block with good quality fittings, hot water and plumbing that doesn't leak!