Sunday 2020/01/05

Mesosaurus Fossil Camp – Hardap Recreation Resort

In the morning we first take a tour on the specially designed 4x4 drive through the landscape with countless quiver trees (about 5000 on this farm, as we will learn later). When we pay for the night, the farmer, who owns the land, tells us that because of the drought, he has not raised cattle for a long time and has had to reduce his flock of sheep from 1500 to 700 animals. Very sad for a farm run by a family in the fifth generation.

While we chat with the son, Astrid and Leo meet the father, who is happy to give us an extra tour to the fossils found on the farm. During the 45-minute excursion, we learn a lot about the fossils, the stones (dolorite) and the quiver trees.

Around noon we make our way north along minor roads. For the first time, we feel the landscape as barren. We are not far from the Kalahari and there is actually not much to see, few plants, hardly any animals, no variety.

We leave the minor roads at Asab and take the expressway to Hardap Recreation Resort, located on a large reservoir of the Fish River. Now we know where the river's water has gone. The drought is also clearly noticeable here, the water level of the reservoir is far below the usual height.

We have a nice dinner on the terrace of the restaurant with a view over the dam and the lake.