Thursday, February 9, 2017 - 09:45
The two French tourists that went missing last weekend were found on the same day they were reported missing after a search from the air spotted their vehicle in a remote riverbed.
According to Bazil Calitz, a well-known resident of Uis, he found the tourists in the bed of the Quantaghab River after being directed to the area by the pilot of one of the aeroplanes taking part in the search.
The French couple, Dr. Regis Deram and his friend Sylvie Hemez, were on a self drive safari through Namibia.
The tourists were hosted in Namibia by Matiti Safaris and once it became known that they did not reach their intended destination in Swakopmund on Sunday, the company commissioned amongst others Pleasure Flights and Safaris to search for their vehicle in the vicinity of the Doros Crater.
The vehicle is fitted with a GPS tracking device but it only functions while it is within reach of a cellular phone network. Once the tracking device cannot connect to a phone network it becomes invisible and usually results in a search if lost for a certain period of time.
“The pilot sent me the GPS coordinates and I immediately drove to the place. When I got there the tourists and their vehicle were nowhere to be found. I drove around the area and found the tracks of their vehicle and followed it until I found them,” said Calitz.
He said the couple told him that theygot lost on their way from Twyfelfontein. “The road from Twyfelfontein does not have adequate road signs to indicate the main road and a lot of smaller tracks crisscross the route in many places, so for a person with little experience of the road and the area, it is very easy to get lost,” Calitz said.
“Both were very thankful when they saw help had arrived because when we found them their vehicle hardly had any fuel left.
They have been driving around a lot trying to find their way back to the main route to Swakopmund,” he said.
Calitz said the couple stayed at Uis for the night and continued on their tour through Namibia the next morning.