We all have these photos … throwback photos!
It’s described as ‘nostalgia-inducing pictures … from a different era of your life”.
Every Thursday we will throw a few photos of ‘way back when’ on our blog. Why on a Thursday? Because it’s just a day away from the weekend … and we love weekends!
You are welcome to join in or just enjoy the photos (#TB Thursday).
May/June 2016 – West Coast and Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park, South Africa
Because De Hoop campsite is such a lovely place, we decided to stay here for two days. We arrived after lunch the day before and on our second day we just had a relaxed time, taking a short stroll, made a fire and enjoyed the tranquility.


Sunrise at our campsite De Hoop

Lovely day at De Hoop

Tranquility at the Orange River
While we were enjoying rusks and coffee, we heard a noise behind us. A herd of goats approached slowly. The goat keeper walked with them to a place where they could graze. How cute are those lambs?


Herd of goats
We decided to walk along the river to see what was behind the hill. Although it was the beginning of winter, it was a lovely warm day and perfect for a stroll.


On the other side of the Orange River is Nambia

Almost a moon landscape
To our surprise we saw a big group of vehicles camped close to us. They were very well equipped; generators and solar panels for power and even clotheslines … I’m sure they had real fridges and showers!

Big camping group
We made a fire in the late afternoon and enjoyed the rest of the day on the banks of the Orange River.

Preparing lunch
The same herd of goats walked past us again – this time back to their ‘kraal’ for the night. They decided to graze on our little piece of grass for a while, not at all bothered by us sitting a few meters away from them.


The same goats of earlier

Look for juicy leaves among the thorns
We prepared a piece of steak for lunch along with a potato bake that we made for the first time on the fire. There was also a bottle of curried green bean salad. We didn’t have all the luxuries of the group of campers near us, but I’m sure our food was just as good!


Steak and potato bake

Lunch

A few birds found loose pieces of cooked potato
That evening was one of the most beautiful ones we have ever had while camping. It was quiet, not cold and we just enjoyed being in nature.

Sunset
After it got dark we made another fire and had some toasted marshmallows. We loved our last night in the Richtersveld.

Toasted marshmallows
The next morning, we left the Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park to drive to our final destination for this trip. But to get there, we had to drive on a terribly rough road. We’ll tell you more about that in next week’s TB Thursday post.
Dis nou weer ñ anderste mooi, Corna.
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Jy’s reg Una. As mens hierdie wêreld van nader beskou, staan jy eintlik verstom oor hoe die plante en diere (en mense) hier oorleef. Dis die kalmte en rustigheid wat ons elke keer wil laat terugkom.
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Lyk of mens wragties kan hoop skep by de Hoop!
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Ah, ek hou van jou woordspeling! Dis inderdaad so … nuwe hoop en (hope) vars lug 😉.
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It sounds like an idyllic day.
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It was one of those days where we didn’t really do much, but which was a truly fulfilling day … if that makes sense 🙂.
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It does! It looks beautiful.
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😍
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Hah! I remember that moonscape.
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Oh yes, I’m sure you’ve seen it on your trips here in South Africa and Namibia 😉. It’s definitely worlds away from beautiful and green Cornwall!
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No wonder you based yourselves at De Hoop. Tranquility indeed and such beauty at sunrise. The landscape across the river towards the Namibia border is really something else, otherworldly in every sense. Your ability to rustle up fantastic dishes in isolated places continues to impress. Those birds must have been delighted with the scraps that got from you.
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De Hoop is a wonderful place to get in touch with nature. You’re right Leighton, this part of South Africa and the south of Namibia are wild desert landscapes – beautiful in their own way. This trip was the beginning of our cooking adventures on the fire and since then we haven’t stopped. We have now made so many different camp dishes that we are putting together our own recipe book 😄.
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Wonderful – I agree it is almost a moon like landscape. Looks really peaceful 🙂
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Thank you very much Hannah. It’s definitely a place that “speaks” to your soul … although the silence is deafening 🙂. You won’t find this dramatic mountainous desert anywhere else in South Africa – and that’s perhaps what makes the Richtersveld so special.
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Your campsite gets my vote, hands down. Why go camping if you have to haul all the facilities along? I assume those campers were quiet at least since you were surprised to come upon them? Your last evening must have been bliss! And the little goats. How sweet are they!
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Yes, it’s strange that we never heard them (there was a generator after all 👀). But they were about a kilometer away and I think the hill between us might have muffled the sound – luckily! We will always look back on this day in the Richtersveld with fond memories … we thought then that’s how it must feel to be content 🙂.
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What a beautiful place, there really are some idyllic spots in your past exploits.
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This arid landscape is one of our favourite places … probably because it’s so quiet, pristine and peaceful.
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Beautiful location Corna! I can see why you were drawn to this place. I enjoy tour TB Thursday posts and am looking forward to reading about the bumpy ride in your next post.
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Thank you Tricia 😊. It’s definitely one of our favourite places – even though it’s so barren and vast. Thank you for enjoying our memories with us. Yes, the next day’s ride was not fun … but the destination was an absolute oasis!
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De Hoop looks very attractive and with the goats around it must have been a lovely place to stay.
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I think one of the reasons why De Hoop is so beautiful (and popular), is because it’s located next to the river. I really enjoyed the little goats – they were very shy at first, but later almost walked right up to us.
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Dit lyk so lekker, ek lief die wolke en die bokkies
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Dit was waarskynlik een van ons lekkerste kamp dae nog! Ons onthou nou nog die rustigheid en tevredenheid wat ons daar by De Hoop ervaar het. O ja, die wolke is altyd besonder mooi in die Richtersveld … dis gewoonlik net blou lug, so wanneer daar wolke verskyn, is dit altyd pragtig om te sien. Ek was mal oor die bokkies – hulle was glad nie gepla met ons nie, dink hulle stap baie daar verby en is gewoond aan kampeerders.
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Ons het bokke gehad, en die babas was baie, baie oulik
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Ek hou so baie van die omgewing! Di ooptes en die stilte! Die lammertjies is pragtig!
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O ja, dis daardie ooptes en stiltes wat ons elke keer terug roep 🙂. Baba diere is darem maar net mooi, ne? Dit het amper gevoel of ons op ‘n plaas is toe hulle daar verby stap!
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Ons wil weer graag Namibia toe gaan. Klein diertjies laat my ook na n plaas verlang.
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Namibie is hoog op ons lys!
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Beslis!
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I can easily see why you’d want to stay at your campsite for a bit longer. And how fun to have some goats as visitors.
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If we had more time, we would have stayed there for a week! Yes, the goats were a nice surprise … the young ones were quite playful and the goat keeper had to keep his eye on them 😉.
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What a lovely place to camp – along a river in perfect weather! I’ve always wanted a baby goat, so I thought your camp visitors were adorable.
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I remember you mentioned earlier that you would have liked a baby goat – these two were just too cute 😊. I’m glad you enjoyed the post … De Hoop is definitely a winning campsite in this park!
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I love goats. Go for the views, stay for the goats!! 😊 Maggie
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What a clever plan Maggie 😄. It sounds to me like they are regular “visitors” at De Hoop, so there’s a good chance we’ll run into them (or their offsprings) again when we go camping there!
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Such a lovely reminder of that area. I wish I could step outside into a new camping landscape every day. 🐐🐐🐐
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I’m glad you enjoyed our memories Morag. In my opinion, camping is the best way to be as close to nature as possible.
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Absolutely! I agree 😍
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