The next morning we cross the river bed and drive on, leaving Twyvelfontein. Stopping on the lonely road to catch a view of the Brandberg, a mountain range. We are on the road to Spitzkoppe, a rock formation that we necessarily want to see. Initially, the road is well, then it means crossing a river. Through the river there is a concrete foundation, so no problem. Water is not much in the river. But it comes really bad. The river has washed away the concrete at the end and left a sharp edge , without four-wheel we need momentum, so I push the gas pedal. Done, but it was close. We would not want to get stuck in the river. So what is the lection: Never ever cross a river without walking through before you drive. Theoretically, but hardly anybody does.
Hardly overcome the shock, there already come the hills of Spitzkoppe in sight. We have to drive fast, because our cooling fan has failed and the engine gets too hot when we have too little airflow for cooling. With the last strength, we make it to the entrance of the camp. Now let it cool first.
When crossing the river the cooling fan motor got a lot of mud, cleaned up quickly, it worked again.
We are looking a bit and drive around, find a perfect camp spot at a rock.
The mountains were formed by intrusion 200 million years ago when magma penetrated into the older rock layers. Wind and weather have eroded the less resistant rocks over millions of years, exposing the granite core. That there is an amazing amount of plant and animal life, is due to the special water conditions, because the clouds rain down more frequently than in the lowlands. The rain collects in underground reservoirs formed from rock crevices where water is used for weeks afterwards as a breeding ground.
