Namibia Day 8

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Another day on the road today so not a great deal to say. We hit the salt road north again after breakfast. Not far out of Swakopmund is a small community called Wlotzkasbaken that we had passed yesterday. It comprises lots of colourful houses and caught our eye yesterday, so when we got back a bit of research informed us that this town lives off grid, as it were, generating its own electricity, storing is own water and recycling it waste. On our way back north today we had a quick drive through and took some more pictures.

Just after we turned off the salt road we came across an area of the desert that was cordoned off for filming. We know that two days ago when we went kayaking that they are filming Mad Max in the area so we think that this may have been the set. As you drive across the desert with the dust trails of the traffic shimmering in the low morning sun it’s certainly atmospheric and you can imagine Mel Gibson tearing along, but I think he would need a smoother road.

We had a quick stop at Uis and the coffee shop was a small unit in a building built with money from Austria. There was also a tourist information office and a small craft stall selling local handicrafts.

As we headed inland the landscape changed from arid desert to hilly grassland, getting more populous with small settlements alongside the road. Notably, many seem to have the remains of a car somewhere completely stripped of all parts and rusting away. We stopped at one that was selling handicrafts where the women were dressed in the traditional Herero style.

We have been driving with Brandberg Mountain, the highest mountain in Namibia on the horizon for two days, and today we took the road off our main route to go and have a closer look. You can take an excursion up the mountain with a guide to look at the white lady rock art but we didn’t really have the time to go and look: maybe next time.

We pushed on to our next overnight stop at Camp Kipwe, a delightful place, cleverly built into one of the small rocky hills that are around the area. It is almost completely camouflaged consisting of small domed huts that look like the rocks themselves. The bathrooms (including the toilets) are outside, although designed with privacy in mind!

I am writing this watching the sun change from bright white to burning gold and orange across the savannah as it falls below the distant mountains, listening to the myriad of evening birdsong on the evening breeze whilst sitting on the sundowner terrace (steps have been built in leading to the top of the rocky outcrop) holding an ice cold beer. Now tell me there’s a better way to end the day.

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Comments

[Kate]

Another sunset
These blogs and photos are bringing back so many memories to me of the 'best holiday of my life'! I remember stopping at Uis, and still have the rag doll I bought from ladies at the side of the road. Have fun x