Desert Wonderers

Twyfelfontein – Aba Huab – a unnamed luxury lodge – Twyfelfontein

Phillip is the camp manger at the Aba Huab Community Camp, and also a trained guide. He was out with a tourist group when we arrived yesterday, but this morning had time to chat with us. We had wanted to know where the Aba Huab elephants were. He said there were some further down the riverbed towards De Reit. This was in the direction we intended to go.

We wanted to spend some time with the Huab elephants, although we felt they would be strangers, and we didn’t have time to make their acquaintance. I missed Stompie and her family. We were running out of time. We loved the serenity of Rhino Camp in the Ugab, and wanted to spend two nights chilling there, and exploring a bit more of the Ugab, before having to go back to our ‘real’ world in the U.K.

We drove straight onto the riverbed outside the campsite, and made our way along Aba Huab. It was very sandy, but Nigel was used to driving in these conditions. We liked the idea of following the river all the way from Twyfelfontein to Desolation Valley. Halfway along its journey to Desolation Valley the Aba Huab merges and becomes the Huab. Both rivers are ephemeral. The Huab eventually leads out to the coast via the Skeleton Coast National Park, but it is prohibited to continue down the riverbed into the Park.

The Abu Huab is beautiful without being overshadowed in by mountains like the Hoanib. It has sandy plains either side, and is much more ‘developed’. There are several small villages, and quite a few lodges serving visitors to UNESCO World Heritage rock art of Twyfelfontein.  Visitors to the rock art often include an elephant drive in their itinerary, which means that the Aba Huab tends to be a bit more touristy. But this is Namibia, so being more tourist means you will probably see a handful of people during a day, as opposed to none in the Hoanib.

We drove on reaching the few shacks of Rendezvous, where we had met the rhino ranger over a fortnight ago. We had been here on day 4 at the beginning of our trip, nothing had changed except us. Last time we were here, I was nervous, feeling I was an interloper in a different world. Now I felt this was where I should be; that I should never return to the world of streets, TV’s, working mobile phones and meeting friends in coffee shops. This sandy river bed was home, it was where I should meet people, this was where we should live.

We drove past the Rendezvous, and heard a massive crack from the rear of the car. It sounded as if a rock had hit the underneath, except we hadn’t seen any rocks, we were driving on sand. Nigel drove on for a short while, but realised something was not right. He pulled up next to a tree surrounded by bushes, and got out to inspect.

It is at times like this I’m so glad I married someone who was born and brought up in Africa. He grew up in a place where you had to be resourceful. He didn’t have the Automobile Association to come to his rescue when he broke down riding his motorbike across the Kalahari aged 17. Of course, cars have moved on, as Nigel has, but he has never lost his resourcefulness – you can take the man out of Africa but you can’t take Africa out of the man. I have seen this resourcefulness from many of the people I have met in Africa, and many Africans I’ve met in the U.K.

Nigel knew immediately that we had broken the rear leaf spring. Luckily, we were in an area that would be considered very remote by Western standards, but compared to where we had been travelling, it was positively urban. We had a mobile phone signal. There was a kind of repair shop about 20 km away near an airfield which serviced the lodges of Twyfelfontein, but the question was could we get there. 

Nigel rang Bushlore our hire company, even though it was late Sunday morning at this point, it was answered immediately. However, the person answering the phone was used to standard tourists. Nigel explained the problem, but he wanted photos of the wheels. Nigel tried to explain this would tell him nothing, and Nigel knew what the problem was. Eventually Nigel convinced the guy on the phone that he knew what he was talking about. Nigel wanted approval to drive to the airfield garage, despite the risk this could cause more damage to the vehicle. The guy on the phone said he would get back to us. 

We crept past a few shacks of Rendezvous, and asked directions. We passed the home of the ranger we had spoken to on day 4. His wife was there, and remembered us. They had a lovely garden of flowers and produce, clearly tended with such care, and possibly prolificacy, in this arid climate. It was lovely to see they had decided flowers were almost as important as food.

We crept on never getting above 2mph. We came to an airfield we didn’t know existed. It wasn’t the Twyfelfontein airfield we hoped for, this was around 20 km away and there was no way we would be able to get to it. This small airfield which seemed to serve only one luxury lodge. I’m not going to name it here, because of what happened later on.

As we limped along, Bushlore rang to say under no circumstances should we move the car, and they were sending two mechanics to us. If they couldn’t get the car working, we would be able to take their land cruiser to finish our holiday. To be perfectly frank, I had assumed our holiday was at an end, or at least our plans for the last few days had significantly changed. I couldn’t see the car being ready to let us continue on to Doros Conservancy, Rhino Camp and Messum Crater, which was what we had intended.

At the time Bushlore rang, we had left the relative shade of the river bed, and were fully exposed, on a gravel road, on a sandy plain. It was inconceivable that we could camp out in the open next to the road. We would have fried in the sun, before it had ever got to sunset, not to mention how awkward it would be to camp on the road. Nigel explained what we were doing, and they agreed it was OK for us to get to the lodge (we were less than 3 km from it) but no further.

We limped into the lodge car park, and parked under a canvas shade. It was baking hot. We walked up a crazy paving kind of staircase, wondering how disabled tourists managed, and arrived at reception. We were given a very warm welcome. 

In the early days of our trips to Namibia we stayed in a few of these kind of luxury lodges. They were always well designed, integrating existing rocks and  trees, with walls coloured to match the surrounding scenery (apart from the eyesore at Purros). This lodge was no different. Reception was filled with half a dozen staff standing around chatting. It was clear they only had a few guests, and in fact we were told later that there were no guests the following day. 

The staff got the manager who was beautifully presented, and extremely welcoming. We explained our problem, and she said she would get her mechanics to see if they could help. She welcomed us, telling us to wait for the mechanics in the dining room. She offered us tea and coffee, and said we were welcome to stay for lunch as the chef was preparing something special. She was very hospitable, and said there was no problem with us staying in the car park, which in any event was out of sight of the guest rooms. 

We chatted with her for a bit. She came from Sesfontein, and I said how much I liked it there, but she looked very sceptical. She spent six to eight weeks at the lodge, but her children (who were quite young) were in Sesfontein. They came to stay from time to time. She had a nice looking house next to the car park.

We declined all hospitality apart from a glass of  water and the use of a toilet. The toilet was amazing – it had towels, soap, and Nigel didn’t have to empty it! What luxury.

We sat on the dining room veranda with its amazing view over the plains towards the mountain ranges of Twyfelfontein. In the distance, we could see a building, we were told it was their well, but the elephants had pulled up the pipes a few days ago. You have to love elephants, they don’t distinguish between pipes of luxury lodges or community campsites like Bersig.

After about an hour, the lodge mechanics arrived. Bushlore had dispatched their mechanics, but it was going to be six to seven hours before they would pitch up. If the lodge mechanics could repair the leaf springs (everyone drives land cruisers out here so it was entirely possible they had the parts) then Bushlore mechanics would turn back. The lodge mechanic looked at the problem, and said he wouldn’t be able to repair it. He told us he had tried to help in the past, but hire companies would sometimes get upset at his intervention. He reiterated that under no circumstances should we  move the car as it could do a lot of damage if we did. We told Bushlore of the outcome, and they confirmed their mechanics and parts were on their way.

Nigel went up to reception to find the manager, and told her the outcome. He explained the mechanics wouldn’t be here for sometime, and possibly not before dark. He asked if it was OK for us to stay (out of sight) in the car park, and possibly camp there overnight if the mechanics didn’t arrive in daylight. She was charming and said this was no problem.

By this time it was about 2pm, and it was very hot. Under the canopy of the carpark my smart watch was giving a reading of 39c. We broke out the camp chairs and table, made some lunch, and read. It was strangely peaceful. We couldn’t do anything, so we just calmed and did some reading. We checked in with Bushlore around 5ish, and they were still some way off. We realised it was getting likely we would have to sleep there. 

it needs to be emphasised to nigel that does not constitute staying in a luxury lodge

Just as it got dark we moved out from the shade of the canopy, to the edge of the car park. We put up the roof top tent. Nigel knows I’m a princess, so he arranged the car in a way with privacy on the side. We had some borehole water in containers, and we stripped naked and poured the water on each other for a shower. Then, we cooked enough food for the mechanics when they turned up.

We were still out of sight of the guests, but could now be seen by the staff. The staff had come and gone all afternoon – the lodge vehicles driving them in groups to and from their homes (I assume). They smiled at us, and we had some nice conversations with a few. 

It got fully dark. First an under-manager came to speak to us, and ask us if we were staying. He said he’d been sent by the manager. I thought this was not a good sign. We explained the position to him, that we couldn’t move. He left and a little later the manager came out. The same beautifully presented woman who had been so charming and welcoming when we arrived, telling us we were fine to stay until the mechanics arrived. Now, she was saying we couldn’t camp here, we would have to get a room (700 euro a night).

It wasn’t that I was adverse to spending this amount on a nice lodge. We had done it in the past, but if I did, I wanted to get full benefit from it. The full breakfasts, beautifully cooked evening meals, the swimming pool, a game drive, all of which are usually included in the price. I did not want to pay 700 euros and check in at 8 pm, spending the rest of the evening looking for the mechanics to arrive in the car park. The manager became quite insistent that we couldn’t stay. We said we’d been told we couldn’t move the car, including by her own mechanics. 

We were pretty fed up for two reasons. The first was that, the manager had changed completely from her first welcome. The second was that, this attitude was so very un-African. Africa is a place where people need to help each other, and so they usually do. Individualism does not seem to feature in the way it does with people in the west. There is an African word which sums this up – Ubuntu. It is ingrained in South African philosophy and is roughly translated as ‘I am because of what we all are’ or ‘humanity to others’. The manager was most definitely not demonstrating Ubuntu.

Nigel was born and brought up in Africa, but even in the UK he will stop to help if he sees someone on the side of the road looking like they need help. In Africa this is particularly important. If you see someone broken down, you always always stop to see if you can help. Even if you know nothing about mechanics, the distance between towns is huge, the sun is hot, and they may need water, or food.

Our experience in Africa has always been that people go out of their way to help if we’ve ever had a problem. The manager’s attitude when we first arrived was what we expected from an African. Now, her attitude was horribly reminiscent of what we would have expected in the West. It was almost as if her luxury lodge training had removed her African compassion and hospitality. We were very disappointed and Nigel was angry. She asked for the telephone number of Bushlore and left.

It was dark by now, and it would have been difficult for the mechanics to have repaired the Land Cruiser in the dark. Notwithstanding that they would be very tired after their long drive from WIndhoek. Once repaired, we were not happy at the idea of having to leave the place in the dark, but now we had no choice. Driving after nightfall is considered dangerous in Africa and not just because of the wildlife. Many years ago in Kenya, we left before dawn on a trip north. In the pre-dawn dark we came across a chap drunk and sound asleep lying in the road!!!

After the manager disappeared, a woman tour guide arrived with a safari vehicle. She asked us what we were doing, and we told her about the manager’s change of attitude. She also was not happy at the lack of hospitality, and wanted to know precisely who we had spoken to. She left. 

At 9pm it was fully dark, and the mechanics arrived. They understandably said they would prefer to start work at dawn, however we explained the manager’s visit, and they got to work.

As they were working a woman arrived with a driver. We suspect she had spoken to the women tour guide, because she came straight over to us, and introduced herself as the Area Head Manager, and the lodge manager’s boss. We said how disappointed we were with the lack of African hospitality, for people who had a problem.

The woman explained the manager was a fairly new trainee and apologised. She said the manager was wrong, and even offered us rooms, and our mechanics the lodge’s guide rooms. The mechanics were now working, and said they could get the new leaf spring fitted in an hour. She said she would bring us food. We declined the rooms and food, not wanting to take from the lodge in any way. Nigel is not going to let me forget turning down a free room in a luxury lodge!

The mechanics were amazing, but also frightening. They jacked up the vehicle and had no qualms (or if they had they didn’t show them) in getting underneath the jacked up vehicle. After an hour, sure enough we were back on the road. The head manager was still talking with us, and was very interesting. We said we would go back to the Aba Huab Community Camp for the night, and wanted to check the directions with her driver. She insisted on showing us the way, and we followed her.

It was gone 10pm when we arrived back at Aba Huab Community Camp, and we went back to the same spot we had left that morning. It was very strange to return in the darkness of night, with no one around, and after a most unusual African day. As if there are any usual ones!.

Bushlore, our hire company, had come through with flying colours getting us back  on the road in under 12 hours. We cannot thank them enough, and will never use anyone else!