PREPARING FOR KAOKOLAND Known to be one of the most adventurous 4x4 routes in South Africa, we were keen to drive through the Kaokoland in North West Namibia. The drive takes you through some of the most spectacular scenery, including Epupa Falls on the Angolan border, the treacherous Van Zyll's Pass, the stunning Marianfluss, and finally ending with tracking desert elephants in the Hoarsib Valley. It is a tough eight days off-the-beaten track expedition that goes through the remote tribal areas of the Himba and Herero people. We were pleased we had prepared Biggles for such a journey and stocked up on supplies to last the 1000km (8-10 days). We took 185 litres of fuel, 85 litres of water and lots of food supplies. To do this journey it is advised that you have two cars so we were pleased to go in convoy with Wim and Sofie from Bruges in Belgium, who we had last travelled with in Ethiopia. Time would always be an issue. Wim and Sophie had their parents to meet ten days later and Rich had his birthday to celebrate in Swakopmund on 12 April. If we didn't encounter any major problems we would both be able to make our itineraries. The one fly in the ointment was that Wim and Sophie's car was a near right off and had had major mechanical repairs. Recovery on the Angolan border would be next to impossible. After rigorous route planning we drove through to Kamanjab, a town filled with a mixture of people from Arfricaans farmers to Himba tribesmen. It was fascinating to see seminaked tribes women shopping in the supermarket next to Herero women in their huge skirts. The Germans in Victorian times were shocked at the naked Herero tribeswomen and so introduced petticoats and full-bodied Victorian skirts. To this day the women still wear approximately 12metres of material around their waists, resulting in lots of very hot, oversized women wandering around. We did a few chores in Kamanjab - bought more jerrycans, bought 2 kilos of Kudu steaks from the butchers shop and welded the a crack in our roof rack. Then it was off to Opuwo where we bush camped off the side of the road. We were soon joined by ten children, all fascinated by us. They sat staring at us until we went to bed! It was great to be bush camping again as most of our nights since Tanzania have been spent in campsites. Collecting fire wood with the help of the Himba children was a great way to start our trip.