Tuesday, May 16 Part II: The shifts in Namibian terrain are abrupt; imagine driving west from Kansas through the uninhabited parts of Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Montana and California in one afternoon. The feeling of being on another planet is enhanced by the dearth of other people. At times we drove for more than an hour on a gravel road without seeing any other humans, in or out of vehicles.

After a couple of very rewarding hours on the road, full of spectacular scenery, several gemsbok (a type of antelope), and possibly a herd of zebra, we stopped for an excellent lunch at the appropriately-named Solitaire Country Lodge. The Lodge, which is several miles distant from any other visible buildings or settlements, has camping and hotel accommodation as well as a wonderful open-air restaurant. Shortly after leaving the Lodge we picked up a hitchhiker, a young man who needed to go to the hospital in Walvis Bay. We had at least another two- to three-hours' drive to reach the coast, and we journeyed at least one of those hours without seeing even one vehicle traveling in either direction, so if we had not picked him up we don't know when--or how--he could have made the trip.

We entered Walvis Bay at about 5 p.m. It's a small city consisting primarily of brightly painted square concrete and stucco houses, except along a lagoon, where the houses are larger and grander, with some constructed of timber. It is unusual to see wooden houses in the rural parts of southern Africa because of a lack of high-quality hardwood and severe problems from termites.

We have now driven approximately 3,500 km since leaving Johannesburg.