Monday 2 June 2008

Fish River Canyon - Upington (23.998 km)

Namibia

Rain coming

Welcome to South Africa


My new open-up portable tent



Pochi chilometri dopo aver lasciato il Fish River Canyon ho incontrato Leon, un simpatico sudafricano in sella ad un BMW 1200 GS che mi ha offerto ospitalita' per quando arrivero' nella sua citta' vicino a Cape Town. E' incredibile, ma e' gia' il quarto sudafricano che incontro che mi offre ospitalita' ancora prima di essere arrivato nel loro paese. Quando sono giunto a Grunar il tempo e' peggiorato cosi', invece di proseguire verso sud come avevo programmato, ho deciso di deviare verso est per raggiungere il confine orientale col Sud Africa e cercare di evitare la perturbazione. Ma cosi' facendo ho peggiorato la situazione ed ho guidato fino ad Upington in mezzo a pioggia e vento. Come se non bastasse mi sono ritrovato senza soldi perche' tutte le banche di Upington quel giorno erano fuori servizio. All'improvviso e' rispuntato Leon. Ha fatto un paio di telefonate ad alcuni suoi parenti dopo di che mi ha detto di aver rimediato una sistemazione gratuita per entrambi in un albergo di proprieta' di alcuni suoi conoscenti. Poco dopo mi sono ritrovato al Ontvangs Hotel, un bellissimo albergo a 5 stelle sulla riva dell'Orange River.
Colonna sonora: "One night in the hotel" Michel Petrucciani

A few kilometers after leaving the Fish River Canyon I met Leon, a friendly guy from South Africa riding a BMW 1200 GS. He was very nice and offered me hospitality when I’ll be in his town near Cape Town. Unbelievable: he’s the fourth South African saying he would put me up even before I get to their country! I cruised down to Grunar, but as the weather was getting worse I preferred not to venture South (like I had planned) and detoured to the East instead, in order to get to the South African border trying to stay away from the bad weather. That was a wrong decision. Things got even worse and I got me a windy and rainy drive all the way to Upington. Worse still, I had no money and the banks were all closed on that day. Unexpectedly, Leon was there once again. He made a couple of calls to some relatives of his and was able to find a free accommodation for the both of us in a hotel owned by some people that he knew. In a very short time I was feeling safe and comfortable in the five-star Ontvangs Hotel overlooking the banks of the Orange River.

Soundtrack: "One night in the hotel" Michel Petrucciani

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