An hour from Sesrium on yet another gravel road we had our second puncture of the trip. We were miles from anywhere in the red hot sun and it took us exactly an hour to jack the camper of the truck, jack up the truck, change the wheel and put everything back. In all this time only 4 vehicles had passed us, two cars and two 4x4's. The 4x4 drivers stopped and asked if we were o.k. or needed any water or anything but the two car drivers just drove straight past. Obviously they don't take off road routes and know it is common courtesy in remote areas to check that your fellow man is o.k.!!! Thank goodness we didn't meet anyone like that on the Moyale to Marsabit Road through Kenya or in Sudan where it was easy for pepople to die in the remote conditions.

As a result of the puncture we were late in arriving at Luderitz and after another punishing dirt road drive of 377k the dirt and dust had once again completely invaded the truck. We were meeting our friends Bernie and Annemien and we met them on the road into town as they were out looking for us.

The Lonely Planet guide book describes Luderitz as " a surreal colonial relic sandwiched between the barren Namib Desert and the windswept South Atlantic . Barely touched by the 21st century, this remote town might recall a Bavarian small village with its churches, bakeries and cafes". It has a small harbour built into black rock and the camp site is right out on the headland. Peter liked this place and thought it was interesting but I thought it looked like somewhere built on the side of a Welsh slag heap and about as far removed from any Bavarian village I've ever visited as you could get!!!!

The evening was cold and windy and the only thing we could do was go out for a meal to the only restaurant in town that was open as it was Sunday. During the night the wind whipped up again and out on the headland with no shelter it felt like gale force. Everyone was up at 6.30, especially those in tents, trying to secure their belongings and we had a struggle even to wind down our roof. It took 4 of us to secure Bernie & annie's awning, the wind was so strong. Once again we adjourned to a cafe, this time for breakfast. We had planned to stay another night but in the afternoon we left and found a lovely campsite about 100k out of town on the way to our next stop at Fish River Canyon.