COMRADES IN ARMS

So who are the other culprits on this trip that I'm trying to catch up with?  They all keep themselves busy in Gauteng so the plan was to meet up in Windhoek and to proceed from there.  Salt of the earth bunch they are, and I don't easily pass up an opportunity to spend some time with them.

Ross

'Rossman', who has had his own mechanical difficulties (also Disco Tdi) is waiting for me in Windhoek.  He could be mistaken for a dorsland trekker, but the man is an asset to any expedition.  He never lets anything get him down, and his ready humour keeps everyone upbeat.  He understands things mechanical where I don't, and I know he would cross a desert on foot for a friend in trouble, so I'm glad his coming along and I'm looking forward to seeing him.

The rest of the party has gone ahead with some plans to meet up once we are properly on our way.  I understand that they have a satellite phone, but we only have cellphones, with minimal coverage around, so could be a challenging process to find each other.  They consist of:

Andrew

Andrew, a man of few words and dry humour.  He drives a Tdi Defender and is always seriously organised and prepared.  I look forward to getting to know him and his wife better.  

Natasha

Natasha, his delightful wife, is a woman of Africa.  She looks as comfortable on the roof of the defender as scratching around in the dirt.  Snakes and spiders don't fase this lady.  I'll walk behind her in the bush.  That way, when we turn around and run - I'm in front.

Arthur

My long standing friend 'Archie', has a disarming personality.  He is known to ask very personal questions on first meeting, in such a honest and straightforward way, that you have no wriggle room and no choice but to answer truthfully.  That's usually followed by some insight that bubbles inside of you for a few weeks until it explodes into a revelation some weeks later.  But beware, he occasionally gets this wicked twinkle in his eye, which usually appears well after midnight, at which point you know you are not getting any sleep, and are in for an eventful night.

Judy

Judy, is primarily there to protect us from that glint in Arthur's eye, but she also has a mean pare of hands.  A physiotherapist, she has helped us with many an injury or ailment on previous trips.  And she has a remarkable ability to cook or bake up a storm in the most inhospitable places.  Am I looking forward to those morning coffees with her rusks!

Alan

and Alan, is the biker on this trip.  I guess he will be standing around waiting for us a lot.  He volunteered himself as the safety officer.  I guess he has more to be concerned about from getting lost than the rest of us.  You know when everyone around you are losing their heads and you are not? - it may be that you don't understand the situation!  Well his emails about safety left me a little concerned that I don't understand what I'm getting myself into.

Saurus

This lot usually call me Saurus, sometimes Mollyslip (you will have to ask them to explain) and this morning, after the neighboring tent woke me in Keetmanshoop at about 5 a.m. and I cleared the fog in my head, I hoped I would be sharing a bear with them all soon.  I figured it was better to get going as soon as possible to cover as much distance as possible in the cool of the morning, to avoid overheating the motor as much as possible.

Only once did I have to redo the radiator pipe and add waster.  It was hot and I coasted into Windhoek at 60km/h.  I met up with Ross on the freeway and we dropped of the car at the local Landrover mechanic and set off to do our food shopping in town.

It was good to see a friendly face and talk to someone who understood the tribulations I had been through.  Ross always puts a positive spin on things, although I could tell he had had enough of sitting around waiting for me.

We enjoyed a restful afternoon chatting and I crashed  rather pleasantly after very little sleep the last couple of nights.  Ross claimed I was asleep within seconds of lying down.