Wednesday 9 October 2013

The road to Noenieput

Noenieput used to be a border post to Namibia, mainly for Namibians who schooled their children in South Africa. It stopped operations in 2007 due to low volumes of traffic. We wanted to see what it looks like and took one of the (longer) gravel roads to get there. 

The second turn-off to Noenieput, 70km from Upington on the R360, took us onto a gravel road through red sand dunes. Typical Kalahari scenery. We reached Noenieput 80km and 11 farm gates later! 

Noenieput is a small village right on the Western border of South Africa with Namibia. There are only 7 permanent homesteads in town and no electricity. Those who need electricity must generate it themselves. However, there is a MTN cell phone tower.

We were desperate for an ice cream but no luck due to the lack of electricity. There are two shops: a general dealer and the local agricultural co-operation.