“The Clan” – Potch matric buddies with the dust of many travels on their 4x4s – thirsted for a desert adventure. McGill Alexander reveals whether a crippled Landy in Namibia’s harsh Naukluft Mountains was more than what they bargained for.

Was it while sheltering from the blazing sun under such a tree in a dry Middle Eastern desert land that David composed his Psalms? The young shepherd boy of biblical times could well have been inspired by scenes like these to write those immortal words that have endured as priceless poetry for thousands of years.

We were taking a break from the Naukluft 4x4 trail, enjoying lunch in the tiny patch of shade from a stunted shepherd’s tree (Boscia albitrunca) on the starkly beautiful plateau atop the imposing massif of the Naukluft Mountains in Namibia.

And we could well understand how the wonder of creation could have touched a young man’s heart. Beyond the edge of the plateau stretched endless, dry plains towards the Tsaris Mountains in the southeast, looming, almost beckoning in the distance.

The sun burned down and when we pushed on again on this 73 km trail, we were grateful for the air-con in our vehicles: McGill Alexander and Becks Beckerling in an Isuzu 3 litre double-cab, Ken and Bev Collett with Hilary Peinke in a Land Rover Defender 110 and Terry and Edna Ballentine in a Land Rover Discovery 3.