No matter where you are, you're always a bit on your own, always an outsider - Banana Yoshimoto

25 March 2019, Ai-Ais Richtersveld Transfrontier Park
Boplaas Campsite - camp R160

We woke up at first light and got up to make coffee, pack and hit the road, our intended destination Rosh Pinah, 60-odd kms away. We had just lit the methylated spirits that fuels our Trangia stove, when I felt faint and almost fell to the ground. I gathered myself together and got myself to the loo 50m away. When I could not make it back to camp for fear of passing out, and had to call to Charl to come and help me, I was feeling a little frightened. Far from home, though in reality not especially far from help with five government officials occupying a house with a vehicle just 200m away. So many thoughts rush through your head, some embarrassingly over-the-top. Heart attack? Stroke? Some more realistic. Dehydration? My recently removed wisdom tooth gone septic? Then I recognised the “blindness” and nausea that precedes a migraine and realised I was facing a humdinger. Luckily we are carrying the mother of all pain pills; took one and dozed for hours and awoke feeling better.
One problem with spending an unplanned day on a shop-less road is a potential shortage of supplies. Late yesterday we had been joined at the campsite by two young men from Norway. When they arrived in their hire car, they hit loose sand and had to be rocked loose with Charl’s help, something they rewarded with a gift of pomegranates. This morning, Charl mentioned our potential problem and they immediately said they could help us out. So we managed to buy from them five litres of water, droewors, and canned goods. Jens-Emil and Mityel are studying to be school psychologists and are interning in Cape Town with an NGO linked to the Tygerberg Hospital. They had a visit last night from a porcupine.
So … an unintended rest day with canned noodles in tomato soup and creamed corn for a less-than-interesting, but filling dinner.