the little shop was scurrying to the baker's next door carrying a huge empty serving dish. A short time later she emerged with a fresh dish of crumble. As a huge fan of home-made crumbles I was looking forward to this. Despite a generous helping of porridge a couple of hours earlier, I felt no shame at tucking into a portion that was cut and shovelled onto my plate. It was huge - delicious with huge chunks of apple - though I thought that it may have gone down a bit easier with a couple of scoops of custard - but I managed it - just!!  Solitaire provided an interesting place to wander around with various vehicular casualties of the desert accumulated over the years, and a shop that needed only Ronnie Barker's "Arkwright" serving behind the counter. With a belly-full of crumble we were soon on

our way. Apple crumble at 8.15 in the morning - that was a first even for me!!! Within the hour we were crossing the Tropic of Capricorn, and needless to say, a stop for a photo opportunity. Several cameras were changing hands as numerous shots were taken, then it was back on board to continue our journey to Swakopmund - via a lunch stop on the coast at Walvis Bay. We had a couple of stops however before we got there - one scheduled - one not. The first was at Kuiseb Canyon a local viewpoint on route, with some amazing rock scenery - and a number of rock agamas (small lizard) which were scurrying around. As we continued towards Walvis Bay we came across an upturned car. The sole occupant, a young Japanese woman was out of the vehicle, having a minor

 head-injury. Max and the  lads went to assist. We were a good distance from anywhere, and this clearly could have been a problem with the thermometer around 36 degrees in the shade. She assured us that she was not in need of assistance and that help had already been summoned. We were not sure of what had happened, though the guys speculated that she had been unwrapping some chocolate, which was partly unwrapped on the floor. No doubt she had drifted off the dusty track and the front wheels had dug in - end of story. I thought she was very fortunate that there were no trees or lamp-posts that in UK can turn such an event into a fatal accident. An hour later we were arriving on the shores of Walvis Bay. As we arrived everybody began to wrap up and take on that extra layer, as the hot temperatures of the desert gave way to the cool of the coast.

 As the lads began to prepare our lunch we took a walk along the beach - very pleasant too, but on return most were seeking a lunch-spot in the shelter of the truck away from the coastal breeze. Lunch over - back on board - Jonas went to start up, and nothing happened - the truck was dead. Gecko and Jonas got the tools out and began trying to diagnose the problem. The battery was the prime suspect. Max called on one of the locals to try and start it with jump leads, but clearly his smaller vehicle was unable to provide the required punch. Max called for the assistance of another of the fleet's safari trucks, which conveniently was nearby with the lodge-travellers aboard, but despite their efforts we remained stranded. Time for the big boys - a quick telephone call from Max and he somehow

arranged  for a JCB turn up. There were hushed conversations from its driver along the lines of "I pull, you pay." Then, with a tug from the JCB we were mobile again, and after a deft passage of cash from Max to the JCB man we were once again on our way. And so we pressed on to Swakopmund and the much-awaited comfort of the Swakop Lodge hotel. To camp on safari of course is our choice, and no matter how much you enjoy it, it's always very nice to have a break with a bit of civilised comfort. Having settled in for a while and freshening up we took a walk into the town, and took the opportunity to pop into one of the internet cafés to send home the (one) promised e-mail. As I logged on, my son Steve came on with an instant message and we had a little chat - and

caught up with the latest football news. After arrival we also had to sort ourselves out with regard to the following day's activities. We were to start the day with the dolphin cruise, and for the afternoon had to make a choice between quad biking in the desert, riding out on a dune buggy, hot-air ballooning or a township visit. The group were split across the first two. Nancy wasn't too confident at riding a quad bike single-handed over the dunes, so we elected to take the dune buggy ride, along with Lori and Chuck. Time then for our evening meal at the hotel, which made a very pleasant change, particularly for the crew who had joined us. A bottle of wine went down very well, and at 11 o'clock it was off to bed with everybody looking forward to the following day's early-morning cruise with much eager anticipation.