D707 - a.k.a. Namibia's most scenic route

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I had read about that one exceptionally scenic road, D707, but had actually decided against it, for my trip from Klein-Aus Vista to Büllsport; the road was described as beautiful but lonely and bumpy, and I didn't want to risk anything, being alone and with a sedan car. However, Piet and Christiana from Klein-Aus Vista described Schwarzrand mountains (the alternative route) in a threatening black, so they really talked me into following D707, and I'm grateful for that, now :-)

I left Klein-Aus around 11 a.m., and followed the more or less straight C13 road northwards. The road crosses the vast Neisip plain, with the red Koichab dunes to the West, Tirasberge ahead, and the Rooirand mountains to the East. The little hamlet Neisip lies at the place where Tiras and Rooirand meet.

The D707 turns west shortly after, first over a little pass with quiver trees, to then follow the half circle formed between the Koichab dunes and Tiras mountains. There was quite some game to be seen, mainly springbok, oryx and ostrich, as well as the occasional flower. But it's the landscape with a folly of earth colors that really struck. The Tiras mountains are of a very dark plum color; most Koichab dunes feature the same too-orange-to-be-true ochre as Sossusvlei, whereas other dunes are beige. The plains in between are covered in yellow grass, dotted with the occasional green camelthorn tree. And all this under a steel blue sky!

Just mountains, grass and dunes may sound monotonous, but I believe I stopped each 500 m because the view was even more breathtaking than before... At some point I could even see Dikke Willem behind the dunes, and the Aus mountains - I had been on that side of Koichab two days earlier!

The pictures I took are meaningless compared to my memories of the places depicted. My most favourite place is a big plain I called "the arena", close to the border of Karas and Hardap regions, probably Kumbis farmland: to the West were the red dunes, quite close to the road; to the East an arena-like plain with round anthill-like mountains in a semi circle. The mountains seemed to hover over the plain, in the heat, and a few trees to their feet flickered like a fata morgana. This is the place where I would like to camp, one day...

Accommodation along D707

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D707 gives access to several farms in the Tiras mountains, many of them being guest farms (no wonder, the arid region won't support many cattle). Koiimasis and the associated Tiras Conservancy farms Gunsbewys, Tiras and Landsberg, as well as Namtib were signposted. Gunsbewys is closest to the Koichab dunes (and to C13 at Neisip), the other farms are well hidden in the Tiras mountains. But I imagine all of them are nice places for a few days of solitude...

Northwards on C27, and on to Büllsport

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The idyllic meadow at the end of D707 soon gave way to the disastrous consequences of overgrazing. C27 cuts through nice, but barren landscapes, with grass bitten down to the ground. A strong wind blew and obscured the sky in a sandstorm, with sand gusts playing on the road - and in the midst of this big herds of goats and cattle. I was glad I got out of this again; approaching lovely and more intact Namib Rand was a relief!

We've been in Wolwedans, in Namib Rand Nature Reserve, 3 years ago. I immediately recognized the vast plains and the characteristic hills which emerge from red dunes, and soon saw lots of game. Beware, game really crosses the road here, as there are no fences - another relief! I saw springbok, oryx, ostrich, zebra - but no giraffes, irrespective of the funny giraffe roadsigns. Nice memories came back, I really had the urge to turn and visit Wolwedans again - but it wouldn't be the same without JJ, whom I would meet only three days later...

Due to the frequent stops on D707, I had to hurry a bit to arrive at Büllsport in time. From NamibRand, I took C27/D826, D845, and then D854 following Tsauchab and the Southern Naukluft. I arrived at Büllsport around 6 p.m.