Saturday 7 May: Ruacana (Hippo Pools) - Grootfontein (Roy's Camp); 569 km

Today's going to be the longest drive of the trip, so we move out at 0715. Still, we do take the turn-off to the Ruacana NamPower works and the falls, which takes only a few minutes, and even fewer minutes to looks at the falls. They may be beautiful, but the sight is completely spoilt by the dam and other NamPower installations.

We leave the Kaokoland behind us and enter the largely flat Ovamboland, Namibia's most densely populated Northern part where rain-fed agriculture is possible. Soon after Ruacana indeed the numbers of cows start to decrease, and fields of Maize, Sorghum and Millet start to appear. We then come to the first of the Omuramba's, shallow depressions without outlets to river systems, running in a North-Westerly directions, with many of them still carrying water and people fishing in them with nets.

Small villages dot the roadside, and selling alcohol is obviously a important economic activity around here. Small, colourful bars, restaurants, nightclubs, carry the most amusing names, we should have made notes. Oshakati, the capital of the North, is large, bustling, shopping malls alternating with African markets, and Saturday's shopping traffic quite busy. In fact, it's so big that you almost seamlessly come into Ondangwa, the North's second city. At the Ondangwa airfield, all of the fortifications, watchtowers and dispersals dating back to the South African counter-insurgency activities around here and its use as the main airbase against SWAPO/PLAN still stand, a silent testimony to less peaceful days.

We fill up at the BP, and continue to make good time. After the largely denuded areas around the two big cities, more trees and Hyphaene palms appear again, little Ovambo homesteads with their Mopane fences dot the roadside. The new King Nehale entrance road to Etosha branches off to the right, and in the distance across the Etosha Pan we can see the white tower of the Namutoni fortress. We then come to Oshivelo and the veterinary fence, where we leave the densely populated communal lands of Ovamboland behind us to re-enter the largely privately-owned ranchlands of Central Namibia.

The construction of the new railway linking Tsumeb to Oshakati is making good progress, although it remains an expensive project with dubious chances of success, and perhaps largely inspired to satisfy the core of SWAPO following in Ovamboland. With no more cows on the road to worry about, I press the pedal down to 120, the sun is now well behind us and the view of the road much more comfortable. Fatigue is slowly settling in, the neck starts to get a bit stiff, but we get to Grootfontein without mishap at 1330, where Marike and Maarten raid the Spar supermarket. All other shops have already closed, so a planned stop at the Northern Arms and stocking up on Windhoek will have to wait until Monday.

Roy's Camp is reached at 14.45, we are welcomed by Irmgard, new to the crew last year, and now camp manager together with her boyfriend Willie. Boots is no longer there, just like Wilma, the pretty and slim girl who had surprisingly taken a fancy to Boots and his enormous bulk (his beer-belly started somewhere around his knees). We're told that the owner Wimpy & family are OK, though not around: Wimpy and his mother are in Outjo to compete in the farmers' association annual potjiekos contest. Hier bly die regte boeremense!

We haven't booked or announced our arrival, and the bungalows are full. However, two smaller units are available between the dining area and the campsite. Irmgard shows them to us, and we decide against camping. Built in the same style as the bungalows, they offer just the perfect type of simple luxury that we feel like enjoying. And yes, we'd love to also dine tonight.

After settling in, Marike and I sit down at the small bench overlooking the waterhole. A lone Eland comes for a drink, than starts to graze at the campsite. I briefly spot a couple of Dik-dik, and around sunset two more Eland come to the waterhole. One of them is Roy's Camp famed tame Eland, Irmgard and Willie offer him chunks of apple and slowly make him come all the way up to the bar. I've heard much about this Eland, and cannot resist asking to also be allowed to feed him a chunk. No problem, and the huge animal gently takes the fruit from my hand.

Dinner is of true Roy's Camp quality - delicious. We have coffee at the fire, and chat with Irmgard and Willie, who also runs a farm nearby. More animals now show themselves in the floodlight, we argue about whether the two small ones that we can see along the bungalows are Dik-dik or Duiker, until the Maglite settles it: Duiker. A larger group of Eland now also appears, among them more than half a dozen youngsters: we’re told that the Eland have been breeding quite successfully in recent years. We leave our hosts in peace towards 2200 and have an excellent night's rest.

Sunday 8 May: Roy's Camp; 0 km

Marike and I get up before sunrise for an early walk on the trails around the camp, starting with the Ystervark (Porcupine) trail. The morning is lovely and fresh, but there's little to be seen or heard except for a brief glimpse of a female Kudu crashing through the bushes as she runs away. There's even less to be seen on the Dik-dik trail, but looking at the various tracks and freshing up on the trees is fun anyway.

We wake up Maarten and have a hearty Roy's Camp breakfast, after which we start a day of relaxing, doing chores like cleaning the interior of the car and doing the laundry, birding and playing with the tree-book. Maarten buys firewood, it's of a quality that can meet with his now expert approval, and chops up two bags of it into quick-burning pieces.

At 16.30 the three of us walk the Ystervark trail again, but nothing. While Marike and Maarten work on the wors and potato salad, I settle down at the bench near the waterhole. A large group of Eland arrive close to sundown, including the youngsters, but are chased away by the three loud German couples who had settled into the campsite. Just before dinner is ready, a Scrub Hare hops onto the floodlit path no more than 4 m away from me, and seemingly oblivious to my presence starts to preen itself for several minutes before gently hopping away again. Zebra and Wildebeest now come to drink, dinner is served, and we end a restful day with another brief chat with our dear hosts.