Bad news

Day 18, 14.01.23, Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch

The title already gives it away, but let me start from the beginning. In the morning, we pack our things and prepare to leave. Since the mechanic doesn't arrive until 11 a.m., we relax by the large pool after breakfast until Emanuel, not only our guide but also a great help in our situation, comes around the corner.

"Bad news," which we don't understand the first time and ask again.

"Bad news. They ordered the wrong parts." We don't really think so and I pick up the phone as Emanuel is currently on the line with Simon from Greg Motor Spares. He apologizes several times and explains to me that unfortunately the wrong parts were ordered, the new ones have to be ordered from Angola, and they can't be delivered until Tuesday... TUESDAY!!! That means we will be stuck here for another 3-4 days, at least.

When I communicate the news to Cindy, I can see that she is trying to hide her excitement... Since we don't have a means of transportation and we have already done all the activities offered here, which don't need to be done twice, we realize that the next few days will be quite boring.

We explain the new situation to the manager and he offers us a discounted room including meals for the remaining days, which we immediately move into.

We spend the rest of the day rescheduling our upcoming accommodations, but we realize that it is difficult to reach anyone at Sanparks on weekends, so a few emails will have to suffice.

In the evening, we go for a short hike through the reserve to get some exercise. The subsequent dinner somewhat reconciles the situation.

It's fortunate that the damage happened here. If we were in the middle of nowhere in Namibia, the situation would be much worse. Here, at least, we have accommodation and food.

It may not be a coincidence that we are stuck here at the same time as an older couple from Holland who started their three-week Namibia trip in Windhoek the day before yesterday and were robbed at a rest stop on their way to Bagatelle. Luckily, the thieves were only after money and spared them. Their passports have also been recovered. Now they are trying to find solutions on how to continue their journey without money. It's remarkable how they cope with it.

And compared to many people here in Namibia (and all over the world), we are still privileged and can consider ourselves more than lucky with our lives. Complaining is not appropriate, and what does a car breakdown mean anyway.

Cycling, writing and waiting

Day 19, 15.01.23, Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch

After Emanuel kindly offered to drive Cindy to the gate in the morning, she can go on another gravel bike tour today, which she finishes after a total of 5 hours and 131 km, exhausted but happy.

I take the day to finally start writing. With all the activities of the past two weeks, I hardly had time to write the little book with short stories about our journey that I had in mind. We also want to use this text for a blog.

Fortunately, we made a few notes every day, so I start writing in the morning and only interrupted by coffee and cake and a randy peacock, who tries all day to impress its mate with its feathers but even worse, its cries, I try to put our thoughts and experiences on paper all day long.

In between, I clarify the texts with my editor, who corrects me here and there but is generally satisfied and gives the green light for the written word.

In the evening, we go for a short run together to relax our minds and muscles before going to dinner, and another day at Bagatelle comes to an end.

It's raining

Day 20, 16.01.23, Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch

We wake up a little rested, and it's the seventh day at this ranch. On the way to breakfast, Emanuel gives us the latest update: he spoke to Simon in the morning and they promise us that the right parts are on their way and will arrive tomorrow. However, the mechanic can only come here at 17:00 to install them.

We don't really care anymore and discuss our further short-term plans over breakfast. We would like to continue our tour but we actually need to be back in Cape Town on Sunday for the Xterra. And Alan might also want his refurbished car back.

But when Alan said that we could keep it a few more days, we decide to skip the Xterra and continue the tour... provided that we can actually leave here on Wednesday.

In the meantime, we try to cancel the other accommodations and book them again if necessary.

After the paperwork comes the "pleasure." I sit on our small terrace in front of the room and continue writing, only briefly distracted by Cindy's exercises on the lawn in front of me.

And then it's already three o'clock: time for our daily coffee ritual: 2 cups of coffee, 1 piece of cake, okay, sometimes two pieces. How quickly everything becomes routine, we think to ourselves and laugh.

In the evening, there is still a highlight: we experience our first desert thunderstorm and there is a power outage. Franz, the manager, explains that the unstable power infrastructure of this ranch is affected by the bad weather, but it can be fixed quickly. A man of his word, and after a few minutes, the power illuminates the ranch in all its glory.

Interestingly, Namibia gets 80% of its electricity from South Africa. The country that has been struggling with load shedding due to mismanagement and corruption by the state electricity provider Eskom for years and is currently considering raising the load shedding level to 10, which is equivalent to a blackout.

A clap of thunder brings us back to the current situation:

Thunder and lightning let us know that the thunderstorm is right above us and will not move for the next 20 minutes. Add to that a warm rain that gives new life to the Kalahari, albeit for a short time.

And now the next question arises: What happens when lightning strikes sand?

You could suggest asking the mouse. But since no mouse is crossing our path at the moment and we can't contact them online due to the poor internet connection, let's just ask our chemist. And since not much has happened today, there is still time for an excursion:

When lightning strikes, the air around the lightning is instantly heated to 30,000 degrees. And this tremendous heat causes the air to expand explosively. And that's what causes the thunder! So thunder is caused by lightning. Without lightning, there is no thunder. We see the lightning first because light is faster than sound, so we see it before we hear the thunder.

When lightning strikes sand, fulgurites are formed. That's what the glass tubes that are created are called. The sand grains melt and fuse together. Long, solid tubes are formed. They are also called "lightning tubes."

The mouse couldn't have explained it better.

Unexpected

Day 21, 17.01.23, Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch

Another day begins, the eighth day at Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch, but a special one because there is hope.

Hope that today the mechanic will come with the spare parts, repair the car, and we can continue our journey tomorrow at the latest.

In the morning, Cindy gets on her bike to ride the D 1268 for hopefully the last time.

I go for a short morning sand run, and at noon, we receive an update from Emanuel that the mechanic is actually supposed to arrive at 17:00.

Hope dies last, and we go to the pool, play Backgammon, drink coffee, eat cheesecake, and have a positive attitude that a turn of events will happen this late afternoon, in whichever direction.

It's already 6:00 p.m., and there is no sign of the mechanic. We are not really surprised since punctuality doesn't seem to apply to Southern Africa. For those unfamiliar with South African or Namibian time, here's an explanation:

Present Time

Right Now, not to be confused with Right Now (see below).

Right Now

More urgent than now, with a higher probability of something actually happening. No guarantees.

Now

Almost not quite, absolutely NOW... maybe

Now Now

More immediate than Now, but it still may never happen.

Just Now

An unknown amount of time. Could refer to a few minutes, tomorrow, or never.

It was probably a 17:00 Now Now, as at 18:30 our mechanic arrives at the lodge with a colleague from Greg's Motor Spares. Not without bringing the spare part in an open pick-up truck. And yes, it's THE spare part because it's only ONE shock absorber. They calmly tell us that the other one will arrive in Windhoek tomorrow morning and we can have it installed here on Thursday.

We decide to deal with that later, drive the car to the workshop area of this ranch, and the two of them immediately get to work. Or rather, they try, as it quickly becomes apparent that they are not really experts in their field.

It takes almost 2 hours for them to at least manage to remove the broken part. We watch the activity for a while and then go to dinner. At the moment, we can't really help much.

Later, Franz, the manager, Emanuel, and Nico, the in-house mechanic, join us. Here, for the first time, we wonder why they only inform us now that there is a mechanic on the lodge while we organized one through Greg's Motor Spaces? After a few conversations, it turns out that there was a miscommunication between the three. However, we are glad that they are so willing to help us here.

After more than three hours, Nico takes pity on the two hobbyists, takes the initiative, and tries to minimize or fix the damage they caused. After another two hours, the axle on the driver's side, along with the new shock absorber, is repaired by Nico, and we celebrate it in the group with a beer.

Then Nico and Franz promise us that they will take care of the delivery of the second shock absorber in the morning, and Nico will install it directly. So there is a chance for us to leave this ranch on Thursday.

At midnight, Nico comes up with the idea of going on a night drive with us, where we explore the area with a spotlight and encounter nocturnal animals. A few beers in the icebox, and shortly after midnight, we set off with Emanuel, our tracker, and Nico, our driver, in an open 4WD specially designed for safari tours.

Something unexpected happens: Nico decides to drive us to the highest dune on the property, or rather, to race towards it, as he told us before that he is a speed freak. And then it starts raining. He and Cindy on the front seats have the windshield and cheerfully continue driving, while Emanuel and I sit slightly elevated in the second row, under a roof but with the wind blowing in our faces, the raindrops feel like needles and pins on our skin.

Since Nico has already done enough today, Cindy is allowed to take the wheel and skillfully maneuvers our safari cruiser over the sandy tracks and dunes despite confusing instructions.

"Speed up, speed up" is the instruction when going up the sand dunes, and then on the highest point, a "Slow down, slow down" gently slows down the vehicle and prepares it for the downhill. She clearly enjoys it and handles the vehicle so confidently that she has already passed this part of the ranger training with flying colors.

Unfortunately, this does not change the situation of the soaked passengers in the rear area, and we try to remain brave.

When we reach our destination of the night drive, we briefly get out of the car, and Nico proudly tells us that this is the highest dune here and offers a wonderful, if not the most beautiful, view of the Kalahari... In the middle of the night, at 1 a.m., during pouring rain, after such a ride... really?

At 2 o'clock, we report back to the lodge: two men freezing and punctured, one man relaxed, and one woman filled with happiness.

What an unexpected day in our second home.

We are family

Day 22, 18.01.23, Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch

The eighth day dawns. We are now greeted by the entire staff by name and even know each employee and their tasks. We are already considering whether to change the interior design of our new home to bring some variety and excitement to our everyday life.

If this were on Strava, we would receive a Kudo and a Queen and King of the Ranch for the longest stay at Bagatelle since the lodge's existence. A record that probably won't be broken anytime soon.

Claudi and Rusty, the cats of the ranch, as well as Sabi and her four terrier friends, are also eagerly awaiting us, hoping that some of the breakfast buffet will fall off the table.

However, when we arrive at the main lodge, still on time during breakfast, they are already dismantling it in front of our horrified eyes, as they thought we wouldn't come anymore. We are told that we are currently the only guests.

We see it positively: who needs "Chalet Exclusive 1" when you can have the entire lodge to yourselves?

With a positive attitude, we turn back to the topic that brought us to this situation. Nico and Emanuel have already driven to Mariental in the morning to make sure that we actually get our second shock absorber today. And since we can't do much at the moment, we go to our private large pool, which is currently only occupied by a few donkeys. From time to time, we ask for our "brothers," who are still waiting for the spare part in Mariental.

Unfortunately, we still haven't received any response regarding our reservations at the Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park, so we decide to book new accommodations on site since we don't even know if we can actually continue our journey tomorrow.

But what we do know is that it is 3 o'clock again, time for our daily coffee ritual. Well, calling it a buffet would be an exaggeration. There are two lonely coffee cups next to each other, accompanied only by a coffee pot. "No cake today?" we ask disappointedly. We are informed that since we are the only guests, it is not worth baking a cake for two people. So there is only a little pastry in the form of a few dry biscuits.

Then the time has come: at 6:30 p.m., the two arrive with the missing shock absorber, and Nico immediately gets to work. As an experienced mechanic who is actually a farmer, he has no problems installing the eagerly awaited spare part. Only 2 hours later, there is a fully functioning Ford Ranger in front of us.

With a positive attitude, we proceed to the last dinner in the outdoor area of the lodge, where a beautifully set table with two chairs awaits us. Since we are the only guests here as well, almost all the staff make great efforts to give us a nice last evening. Even the sky starts opening its floodgates and gives us another thunderstorm.

A last drink at the bar, a few more conversations, and quickly packing the last things, as we are supposed to leave early the next morning. Even cat Claudi is already eagerly waiting for her cuddles in the room, and we go to the ninth and final night's rest at Bagatelle, which, it should be noted, is on the house.