The pans are teeming with the long-legged birds that wade through the shallow water and flood the sky in psychedelic flocks. Our attention shifts back to the road as it crumbles onto an endless beach.
“You have to follow the tracks,” says Loubser, indicating the other 4×4 trails that have cut deep fissures into the sand. “But if nobody’s been here for a while, you better know where you are going. You see that?” He points to a darker patch of sand running parallel to us. “It looks dry, but you’ll lose your car in that. Swallowed right-up.”
Eventually the flat expanse gives way to a deep bay where the 4×4 grinds to a halt. Loubser indicates we have arrived by getting out the car and flipping a cigarette into his mouth. A small but perfect wave hits the shoreline in front of us and unravels into the distance.
