June 12th 2001

The bridge at the river Kavango

Wake-up call at five in the morning. We set a new record in taking down the tents in the dawn. After the relatively short leg through Etosha National Park we have an extremely long trip ahead of us for this day which also makes us a bit nervous: 440 miles north to the Angolan border.

We leave very early. There is hardly any time, actually no time, for breakfast beacuse we also want to see the Hoba-meteorit on the way. The huge iron meteorit can be seen in a little arena on the Hoba-Farm, which is situated in a very fertile area of Namibia.

Not all the vans make it to the meteorit. The VW has a flat tyre, the Chevey has worn brake lining. Only our van is ok and therefore just a small group can admire the attraction.

We have to wait long for breakfast. Actually it is a rather hasty lunch in front of a little Café in the middle of nowhere.

We enter the dead straight B8 highway to the north-east. Almost 200 miles without any big turns. Somewhere along the road suddenly a checkpoint of the veterinary office. Beyond that the landscape changes completely. Strawhuts along the street, no more of the endless fences, children are playing in little villages, in between we see goats and cattle. This is the real Africa.

From Angola in the north we see dark clouds coming closer. That isn't going to be a tropical rainstorm, is it? We do not want any clouds. Not here and now.

After hours we reach Rundu, an uncanny town at the river Kavango, which is later named Okavango. Just across the river,on the other shore there is Angola, a country in civil war. Military everywhere, here a refugee camp, in between busy shops. Stifling heat over the river and still 130 miles to go. The sun slowly sinks. Are we running out of gas?

The endless B8 turns east and follows the direction of the Kavango. It is getting dark. Mars can be seen, then Alpha Centauri, then the Southern Cross. More and more stars appear in the sky. We are late. Sagi, our driver is trying to fly the van over the deserted highway. He cannot see much, he is using the wide-headlight beam instead of the full headlight. Does he have one? I control the street with my night vision viewer. I don't know what I would do if I saw an obsacle. The driver has his own cabin.

Did the other vans - they overtook us hours ago - make it in time to the camp? The gates of the camp close at sunset. We are much too late.

Lights, a streetsign "Road Closed". Where are we? The paved road turns into a dirtroad. Nothing near and far. Then a bridge over the Kavango. Narrow and long. Isn't that Angola on the other side? Military police on the other side of the bridge. Sagi gets out of the van, hands in his neck. Debates follow. We have to turn around. But where are we? Back over the bridge, along the dirtroad. Nowhere a sign.

Well, it was NOT Angola, just the Caprivi passage, which isn't much better. The area can only be crossed in daylight with a military escort. It is the hinterland of the Angolan rebels. So far so good, but where is our camp? But now a turnoff, a gate. It is open - let's get in! Crunch ...

Our van was too high, it has demolished the wooden gate. Wolfgang turns pale. His equipment is on the roof of the van. Like a stuntman he climbs out and onto the roof. But everything is ok, just the bench on the roof is damaged. We go on, around the gate. Wolfgang is running behind us, but we have already reached the camp. Better late than never! The mood is getting exuberant, almost hysteric. We are making fun of everything, don't take anything serious anymore. Do we really understand what we went through in the last few hours?

The camp is the most beautiful so far. We can hear the rapids of the river. There are surprisingly few moscitos, but our guide's warning of otters creates a little panick. We have Kudu-barbecue. I take pictures of the scene, carefully choosing the motives, one step forward - ouch!! - Damned, wooden posts where your knees are should be forbidden. ...

Christina finds a place for observing at the banks of the river near the rapids. It is pitch dark. A dream. The Milky Way from horizon to horizon. All the important sights like Scutum, M24, M6, M7, the clusters and nebulae in Scorpion's tail, the coalsack, Omeag Centauri, Eta-Carinae nebulae, NGC 3532, IC2602 and below the "false cross" :NGC2516. 'All of that plus Mars in opposition in the zenith on a completely dark sky. For the complete observation report in German click here.

We stay up late until the rising moon stops our observations around 23.30.

The noise of the river Kavango puts us to sleep and we sleep long and well. An adventurous day has ended, tomorrow new adventures are waiting for us ...