The 1999-2000 expedition left Syracuse on the very snowy morning of 27 December 1999. Some of our party had to travel from as far away as Buffalo, so getting everyone together at the airport presented a nerve-wracking start to the trip. Fortunately, we all made it, and we all arrived safely in Cape Town about noon on 28 December 1999.
The expedition to the deserts began in earnest the next day, when Jambi (the overland truck) pulled up at the hotel and we crammed everyone and their limited bags on board. We arrived in Prince Albert in the Karoo about 9 that night, after experiencing our first flat tire. After a quick meal of sandwiches at a small cafe in the town, we set off to what we thought would be our first night's accommodation in a vacant farmhouse. Unfortunately, our way was blocked by the Gamka River, which chose that night for its first flood in 28 years. So, under the tutelage of Tinus, we set up camp in the bush, many of us enjoying our first boskak under the stars of the southern hemisphere. For the next two days, we hosted Richard and Sue Dean, who helped lead the group through field exercises studying the plants and grazing dynamics of the Karoo. Our visit to Prince Albert ended on New Year's Eve, and we spent the millenial new year watching an ox being roasted, dancing the langarme and listening to sakkie-sakkie, as we awaited the rifle shots that heralded the new year.
From there, we pressed north toward the arid savannahs of the Kalahari, staying in one of the cheapest campsites of the southern hemisphere, crossing into Namibia at the spectacular landscapes around Onseepkans, and finally to Windhoek, for a quick shower (first in three days) and reprovisioning. We finally encamped at the Waterberg Plateau Park, where Harry Schneider-Waterberg enlightened us all on the travails of private conservation initiatives. Scott Turner also led us on an expedition through a termite mound. Tinus slept. We then took off overland toward Laurie Marker's Cheetah Conservation Fund, learning along the way how to take a three-ton truck through a sandy riverbed, and gaining some insights into the tribological properties of cattle dung. It was here that Andrew demonstrated his gymnastic skills.
After some close encounters with cheetahs, it was north again to the Etosha National Park, where we saw that the "desert" had been transformed by the heaviest rains in decades into something resembling an English country park. This made for limited encounters with the park's charismatic megafauna, although we did see two (not one!) prides of lions. We also had a close encounter with a rhinoceros just outside the park boundary.
Etosha represented our northernmost point, and from there, we turned to the south and west, visiting the remarkable rock engravings at Twyfelfontein, and the rock paintings at Brandberg, where we learned the dangers of too much sun. After a puzzling encounter with Welwitschia, we trekked across the lunar landscapes of the northern Namib to the coast, where we had hoped to visit the seal colony at Cape Cross and the lichen fields near Hentiesbaai, but diesel problems forced us to miss them by minutes. After help from a passing diesel mechanic, we limped into Swakopmund for a days R&R, a day Maria will never forget, although she probably wants to.
After an evening's vigil at the dunes at Rooibank, Barry packed his harmonica and led us eastward, up the escarpment, where we increased the population of Solitaire by 1400% while Nico and Tinus tried to persuade the diesel pump to work, please. Fortunately, they were persuasive, and we were able to make it into the dune sea at Sossusvlei. There, we had some important lessons in microclimate and the physical properties of semi-liquid sand.
After that it was a long haul south to the Orange River, finally able to collapse on its banks after a fourteen hour drive. As a reward, we all stopped for a well-deserved breakfast of bacon, boerewors, eiers and aardappels in Springbok. From there we pressed on to Kamieskroon, where we learned about the succulent flora of this incredible region, and about the travails of starting a national park from the ground up. On our way out of the succulent Karoo, we visited one of the world's most spectacular collections of succulent plants in Vanrhynsdorp.
This took us finally to Langebaan, the end of our desert trip, where we ate seafood at an open air restaurant, and presented the awards all so richly deserved. And then it was back to Cape Town, for a night's rest and a day's hobnobbing in the Mother City. All arrived safely back in Syracuse the day before classes began.