The “Hotsprings” campsite is reached by entering a gorge of the Molopo River on one side, crossing the dry riverbed, and travelling down the river for a few hundred meters before reaching the official campsite. The gorge here is the only entry and exit point. Cliffs along either side are in places almost vertical and about 80m high.
On reaching the campsite we immediately inspected the surrounding area and realized that a huge a huge amount of water must have come through here some weeks ago, as the hot springs circular bathes was damaged extensively. We could understand this, as we made a trip to the Kalahari in January 2000 to witness the “Green & Wet” Kalahari for ourselves. By 5:30pm we were well settled with the campfire already burning. A beautiful evening set in and we were going to creep in early, as the travelling tired the family, and “Hey”, tomorrow was going to be an exciting day! By 10pm we were fast asleep in our rooftop tent. I woke up with a “pee” at around 11pm. “I hear water!” I shouted in absolute amazement. By the time I have reached the ground, I could see water streams in the sand. Absolute panic and chaos set in as the echoes of the water coming down the gorge became almost deafening as the seconds passed.
I shouted to my wife and son “Move to the front of the rooftop tent, we’re leaving now!”, while I disconnected the lower portion of the rooftop tent ladder. The glow plug lamp on the dashboard hardly went out when the engine started. Followed was a bumpy 30m ride with the wife and son still in the rooftop tent. Finding the highest spot on the slope of the river, I stopped. “Come help Vincent” I shouted to my son, as I ran back to our campsite to collect containers, water cans and jerry’s. We frantically carried everything up the slope. On our last collection effort, the water was already knee high in some places. All our items were saved, except for the stuff hanging on the trees. By now it was too dangerous to collect those items. I started to measure the depth of the water against the tree (where our camp was), by shining the torch at a fork in the tree. By 3am I was mainly listening to the echoing sounds of the water, as the dark moon made visibility almost zero. One could hear rising and subsiding water levels. By sunrise I was inspecting the possibility of exiting the gorge. The track back was under water and the bottom filled with soft sludge, in some places knee high. There was no way out as the possibility of getting stuck was real. While I was inspecting the area, Norbit came from Riemvasmaak. He was shouting from the other side of the river. I crossed the river with effort towards him. “Ek is so worried oor julle, waar’s julle kar?”. “Is hy weg saam die rivier?”. After telling him all was fine, we agreed that we should exit the gorge the next morning. Wonderful caring people, I thought to myself. It was a beautiful, warm and sunny day. Having the luxury of the day visitor’s shaded area for ourselves, we prepared a huge breakfast on gas. Afterwards we went for a walk and took some fotos. By late afternoon, the river subsided substantially. I moved our Korando to a more level spot so that we could have a peaceful night’s sleep. It was around 9am when I finally closed my eyes for the 1st time since 11pm the previous night. By 10:30pm I woke up to the sound of thunder, coming from the north. Not again, I thought to myself. By 11pm it started to rain heavily. We were all wide awake. I checked the water level again as it was fast approaching the highest level compared to the previous night. The sound of the water streaming over the cliffs became deafening as the intensity of the storm increased. Soaking wet, I moved the Korando again to the highest possible spot. Lightning lit up 4 to 5 waterfalls from the cliffs that became visible. We sat in the shelter that was by now also wet from side to side, with water streaming through it. The water level continued to rise. Not only water from the river, but also from the cliffs above. One of the waterfalls above us became vicious. During the lightning it glowed orange and red as the sand mingled with the water. This was the most frightening sight I have ever witnessed. I inspected if there was a safer place for us, as the area have large boulders on the edges of the canyon. Should one of those boulders start tumbling down, it will destroy everything in its path. By 3am we packed our emergency kit and absolute essentials, and we were ready to move on foot to higher ground, as the water level just kept on rising. By 4am the rain and thunder steadily subsided. I packed our army containers in a row, with another row of containers on top of it. I rested on my back on the containers with closed eyes, but with wide awake ears. Surprisingly, the next morning was a beautiful day again. Just as fast as the river rose, it subsided rapidly by sunrise. By mid-morning, a local farmer from the Kakamas area visited the area to view the flood damage. The first night’s rain was caused by heavy rainfall in Namibia. Last nights rain was localized. The good thing was that the localized rain flushed away most of the knee-deep sludge in the riverbed that was there the previous day. The farmer made it across the riverbed, and we soon followed him back across the river. What an experience, and the holiday just started!
Ons het ook nog destyds n plakaat gemaak van ons ervaringe. Of die plakaat nog by die ontvangskantoor is weet ons nie.
