Saturday 23 November: to the Skeleton Coast

 We hit the road at 8am and take a slight detour after about an hour as I need the loo. We get to a garage and refuel and get the tyre pressure checked. Amazingly fortunately they discover a slow puncture and replace our tyre in less than 30 minutes. It would have taken us a lot longer at the side of the road. We feel very blessed! Back on the deserted road we feel we have been transported to another planet. The scenery is totally other worldly with white salt and shades of grey and purple. The road is sometimes covered in salt. Then the sand becomes pink with garnet crystals. Sometimes sand blows across the road in an eerie mist. Initially tarmac and occasionally gravel. We are sharing the driving and stop occasionally to take photos although we know it can’t do it justice. Finally the tarmac ends and it’s really off road stuff now with quite deep sand sometimes. It’s fun in a slightly scary way. The road gets more and more remote with the wild Atlantic crashing against the salty sandunes. After nearly 7 hours on the road we end up at the end of the road. Literally! Here we are met by Wherto our guide who drives through some much steeper sections along the coast and some of the many shipwrecks. The Lodge is an idyllic settlement of 9 individual lodges nestled in the dunes in the middle of nowhere. The staff are very welcoming and we are enjoying the solitude.