Leaving Sossusvlei

Leaving Sossusvlei, we again traveled into the Naukluft Mountains taking a more southern route. The scenery changed quite dramatically. With high plateaus bounded by  gorges we felt almost transported to the US southwest. This area is known for hiking and 4 wheel off-roading. We headed for Zebra River Lodge for the night. This road was probably one of the worst we have been on. It was a continuous up a hill, down the hill, try to avoid the washout spots, narrow dirt road. However, the scenery was wonderful and you could almost swear you were at a mini grand canyon.

The lodge was very remote and tucked into a small canyon by the dry Zebra River. Our host mentioned that this area was well-known for mountain zebras but that the last four years of no rain at all had really decreased their numbers. There had been rain earlier this year, but the area has not recovered yet. We enjoyed the quiet of this special place and spent the time mainly relaxing and taking  walks. The only wild life we saw were eland (at least that is what we think they are). 

Zebra River Lodge

 We left in the morning to travel east to our next destination, Bagatelle Game Ranch, traveling over the dirt roads. We were in the middle of the desert about 80 km from the nearest town when we got a flat tire. No big deal, right? We were prepared for this. It is a common occurrence on the gravel roads of the country. We had a spare and the equipment to change the tire. We even had two extra bottles of water. We thought we were prepared. We jacked the car up, undid the lug nuts and spent the next hour plus trying to get the tire off! It was stuck tight and would not budge. Bruce pulled, we both pulled. We banged on it with a hammer. I mean really, this was suppose to be the easy part. Bruce used a screw driver to try to chisel it off. Nothing! That sucker was on tight. Not a single car had passed on the road during this whole time. We started weighting our options: 1. Walk about 2 km back to an intersection of two dirt roads thinking that it would increase our odds of someone passing by,  2. Walk to the nearest town (quickly dismissed since it would take us too long--80 km is a long way and we would not be able to get there in daylight) or  3. Stay with the car. At this time, we offered a verbal prayer for help. I know we both had prayers in our hearts, but this is the first time we knelt and prayed out loud. We then decided to go with option 1 and started to lower the car off the jack and start walking back to the intersection. Then, and it could not have been more than 3 minutes after our prayer, a car came by and stopped. A couple were on their way to the Zebra River Lodge. They were from Germany. After explaining our situation in broken English and arm motions, the husband also tried getting the tire off. Still no luck. Then he just simply kicked it hard! The tire came off. We were then able to put on the spare and be on our way in literally minutes from our prayer. Some might say that it was just luck or fate and that the car was already on the road, but I know in my heart that it was a direct answer to our prayer. God watches over us and hears and answers our prayers. What should have been a four hour drive turned into a six-seven hour drive, but we were not left stranded in the middle of the desert. I have thought about how this a a parable of our lives. When we hit a road block, a flat tire if you will, in our lives, it can seem like we have been deserted and left alone. Even when we are prepared, life and bad things can happen. But we are never alone. Heavenly Father is and will always be there to lift us up when we feel we can do no more. We just need to reach out to Him.