Namibia 21 September to 1 October 2013

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This will be a very long blog as internet access throughout Namibia has been so limited. However we have just found this lovely internet cafe in the middle of nowhere near the town of Maun in Botswana so we will take advantage of the free wifi (as long as we drink some coffee) and upload our travels throughout Namibia.



We stopped at the South African/Namibia border which was extremely busy - where had all these people come from - apparently groups of school children were setting off on vacation - I think we chose the wrong day to cross borders........ In the end we had a very long wait of over two hours in a slow queue with only a couple of people processing the visas when we finally arrived at the desk. We finally got through all the paperwork and once into Namibia only had a short drive before we stopped to camp alongside the Gariep River on our way we were still seeing some amazing colourful flowers. The weather improved a little but we still had a very cold night so in the morning we actually bought a bedspread from the campshop, hopefully we would get a warmer night and start removing some of our many layers of night clothes..........it was a shame they did not sell a blanket though.... It was an idillic setting and we spent time walking along the riverside and spotted many birds including large black and white Pied Kingfishers and a brilliant Southern Red Bishop, a male which was vivid red and black, quite striking and easy to spot in the reeds. Some of the group decided to take canoes down the river but as we had seen that lots of the school children were doing the same we decided to give it a miss!



So we are now in a different country, Namibia which is well known for its contrasting landscapes, a land of wide open spaces, never failing to enthrall its visitors. It does this from the moment you arrive in this country which is the same size as Kenya. I must admit that we had expected it to be mainly flat sand and desert, but this was definitely not the case as we passed through miles and miles of different terrains with many huge mountain ranges cutting through the landscape.



We continued to Fish River Canyon which is the second largest canyon in the world, only being outdone by the Grand Canyon itself. It features a gigantic ravine, in total about 160 km long, by 27 km wide and in places cutting almost 550 metres deep into the plateau which was dry, stony and sparsely covered with some hardy drought-resistant plants including the amazing looking Quiver Trees. When we arrived at the canyon, its exact location was a bit of a mystery as the vertical drop from the flat dry plateau is completely out of view until you look over the edge which I must admit took my breathe away....... The immensity of this magnificent landscape is indeed truly breathtaking - the towering rock faces and deep ravines were formed by water erosion and the collapse of the valley due to movements in the earth's crust over 500 million years ago. We walked along the sides of the canyon which was immense, keeping well back from the loose scree sides, apparently someone had fallen off after getting too close, so our guide had given us some good instructions before we set off.





As we walked around we were chatting to our guide, Albert who as well as giving us details on the canyon itself also told us stories of his childhood in Zimbabwe. One story comes to mind about when he was bitten by a Puff Adder when he was 15. He did not have any shoes and was walking when he saw this stick poking out of a bush and thought his friends were trying to scare him but before he realised it the snake had taken a bite out of his leg. He managed to kill the snake and cut off its head putting it in his pocket and then went for help crying as he though he was going to die.......... His uncle found him and he showed him what had bitten him by pulling the snake’s head out of his pocket. He was now in agony and his leg had started to swell. Local people pierced it in several places with the thorn from an acacia tree before applying various roots, as well as some antioxidant from the snake itself. Happily Albert survived but since then had been very respectful of the snake...............



We continued on our journey stopping for the necessary toilet break which the guides called ‘bushy bushy’ along the way. You can probably guess why as there are not many western style loos in the bush of africa - so when our little red bus came to a halt, it was gents to the right and ladies to the left - with the ladies usually having to walk down a ravine to get out of sight..........men do have it so much easier than us women........I usually had to watch where I was walking and was wary of wildlife all around me.........



We stopped in a small village sleepy village called Bethanien to fill up our ‘little red fire engine’ which was getting low on fuel. Bethanien is ranked as one of the oldest settlements in the country and had a delightful church in its centre. Reverend Heinrich Schmelen arrived here in 1814 as a missionary but in 1822, he left Bethanieafter becoming dissatisfied with his missionary work among the local tribes, who refused his repeated and impassioned pleas to attend church. We passed a few isolated homesteads travelling on rough unsealed roads but were surprised when we stopped at a small cafe where we were told to sample the Apple Crumble by Chris our guide. I must admit I was glad we did because it was very delicious but such a weird thing to be doing in the middle of nowhere. Along the way we noticed that most of the large acacia trees had huge nests in their lower branches and were told that these were Social Weaverbirds. Apparently the birds all build there nest together and some become so large that they eventually all fall out of the tree........... We saw many of these as we travelled up through the country. The weather was not improving greatly although we were seeing more sun in the day the nights were still very cold and last night we had a lot of rain and we could have done with yet another blanket as we were both very cold - still cannot believe that this is Africa.



Camping was now becoming ‘the norm’ for us and putting up the tent was not such a chore although our hands were quite sore and when we get to a biggish town we must try and buy some gardening gloves! Most evenings everyone would help Albert with the cooking and clearing up although some of our fellow travellers were not so good at this - enough said! Albert and also Chris managed to rustle up some stunning dishes with little ingredients over a camp fire as well as a couple of gas rings. One thing that stays in our mind was the beef stroganoff as well as the whole chicken roasted over the top of a can of beer inside a helmet of foil - we must try this when we ‘settle down’ and start having friends around for BBQ’s again, which by the way is called a braai in Africa. Also we enjoyed starters of gem quash boiled and served with various different fillings including sweetcorn and cheese which was delicious. The guides always managed to find different ways to cook vegetables so that everyone was kept happy and full - I was hoping not to put on weight though..........



Early one morning we arrived at Sossuvlei, which was what we imagined Namibia to be like with towering red sand dunes which form the gateway to the Namib Desert. A walk up one of the largest dunes known as Dune 45 was to be our next challenge to watch the sun rise - no easy task with every step on sliding loose sand. I set off with good intention to get to the top but nearly there, or so I thought, and the sand being inhaled into my lungs started a coughing fit, so I just sat down and watched the amasing view from where I was whilst Paul continued on and disappeared over the top....... The sun came up and what an awesome sight that was sitting all alone on the side of this huge sand dune. Descending down which was much easier than walking up and you just really slid, I walked around the edge of the dune only to see that it merged on and on and on and I could just make out Paul over the peak of the next dune - he did finally return exhausted himself. One could easily see how you could get lost in these wary conditions where all you see is sand and more sand. Back on a even surface I spotted two Oryx and set off to get a closer view only to find the nearer I got the further they walked...........Back at the bus our guides had prepared a delicious brunch which was awesome in such a lovely setting and we were joined by lots of little birds expecting a free breakfast as well. The weather had started to warm up now and we had reduced our five layers of night clothes to one at last.........although our guides said that we would still have some cold nights particularly when we got to the Kalahari Desert.



Later that day we stopped at Deadvlei and a couple of the group decided to walk to the dunes but the loose sand was not good for walking. They set off with Albert who had awoken with flu, so he walked the whole way complete with a big thick jacket - he said he was going to sweat out the flu which he seemed to do........ We were more sensible though and caught a 4X4 taxi to take us to this scenic area, bumping along steep sand until it could go no further much better idea than trying to walk and on the way we passed Jackal, Ostrich and Springbok as well as some huge birds but the journey was so bumpy we could not get any photographs. Finally the 4X4 could go no further as the dunes close in with the biggest called Big Daddy and you could see why. Towering red sand dunes dominated the skyline and as we walked along we came across large and small oasis of dead trees in all shapes and sizes it was like a scene from a movie and indeed had been in a number of films. We started to see more wildlife including huge number of Ostrich which climbed the dunes with easy strides so much easier than us Back at the entrance we helped our guides prepare brunch and I remember actually cracking 30 eggs for an omelette (my sore hands were covered in egg shell cuts now). As we ate some jackals had caught on that there would be rich pickings and edged nearer so we had to keep our eyes on our own food otherwise we would be going hungry.



In the evening we walked to Sesriem Canyon, a natural canyon carved by the Tsauchab River in the sedimentary rock which looked like giant concrete . It is about a kilometre long and up to 30 meters deep. The name Sesriem is Afrikaans and means ‘six belts’, given by settlers who had to attach together six belts (made of oryx hides in order to reach buckets down into the canyon to scoop up water. In some places the canyon is only two metres wide and in some places has a portion that permanently contains water, which many animals use and where we saw several large Catfish swimming in the dank water. It was an enjoyable walk through the canyon but cloud cover meant that we did not get to see a dramatic sunset over the world’s largest sand dunes - oh well maybe another time..........



Continuing on our northward journey through Namibia we started to see more birdlife as well as small herds of dark Wildebeests hovering in the sandy bush. We stopped on the side of the road for lunch and as far as one could see it was reminiscent of a lunar landscape. The roads became more bumpy which made for long uncomfortable stretches before we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn (we last crossed this line in Western Australia) and arrived at the coastal town of Walvis Bay.



Walvis Bay was a large town and we stopped to replenish our food supplies. The bay has been a haven for sea vessels because of its natural deepwater harbour and being the only natural harbour of any size along the country's coast. Being rich in plankton it also drew large numbers of whales which attracted whalers and fishing vessels - hence its name. The Dutch referred to it as Walvisch Baye and the English as Whale Bay. The harbour's value in relation to the sea route around the Cape of Good Hope caught the attention of world powers which explains the complicated political status of Walvis Bay in history. We stopped to have lunch by the ocean and were joined by thousands of flamingos feeding along the shoreline. A huge colony of both Greater and Lesser Flamingos filtering their food in the shallow waters. It had started to rain again now but at least it calmed down the dusty roads but we had a very cold picnic watching wonderful nature all around us.





Just up the coast was Swakopmund (hard to pronounce) — known as Swakop to the locals — it had a discernible Germanic flavor and design and dated back to Namibia's colonial days as German Southwest Africa. Today, the trappings of a beach resort are mixed in with that old world charm - like Bavaria by the Sea, apparently there is even an Oktoberfest here. It is also known as the adventure capital of the area and on offer was everything the ‘thrill seeker’ could want - but I think in these rainy conditions we will give the sand boarding a miss, as I am sure the board will not ‘glide’ well over these wet sands and after a very uncomfortable five hour journey on our bus it was not to be relished.......Some of our fellow travellers tried out the quad biking though which they said was good but we set off to town and explored the area. There were many small cafes dotted around the town and we stopped for coffee and cake before walking down to the beach where we met a couple of locals who wanted us to visit them at the craft market. We avoided the area as we did not want to buy anything but as we approached the area the chap came running out after us to come and see his stall - we said maybe later!!!! Later we went out to a local bar with John the Oz/American from our group for dinner and met up with a couple of the other guys who had come into the bar to shelter from the rain. The bar was very busy and it was strange to see quite a few people smoking, even the bar attendant. We have become so used to non smoking public areas. Locals come here for the beer — especially the Hansa, Tafel and Windhoek lagers — and the meat, particularly wiener schnitzel and game such as Oryx and Kudu - strange names on the menu for us. All the tables were reserved but they owner said we could sit at the bar to eat and the food was really good. We enjoyed our time in Swakopmund which apparently was off the beaten track until the 1970s when it quietly blossomed. Hollywood has even made an appearance when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's daughter Shiloh was born here in 2006, and the city is a location for the USA’s remake of the 1960’s UK television series The Prisoner.



We started travelling up the coast, known as the Skeleton Coast as it is one of the most inhospitable and hauntingly beautiful yet extremely desolate and uninhabited places in Africa. We saw everything, from huge sand dunes, windswept plains, towering canyons and saltpans to seal colonies and shipwrecks. We stopped to look at this huge vessel drifting just off shore it was indeed very haunting - the current here drags boats in close to land and if they then have a mechanical failure all is usually lost for them. Further along this arid coastline we stopped at the Cape Cross Seal Reserve. Home to one of the largest colonies of Cape Fur Seals in the world. Huge numbers of seals were swimming in the surf and covering the whole beach as far as you could see - the smell was not too good but you stay and watch this awesome sight with you nose well covered. The brown fur seal is the largest and most robust fur seal with a large and broad head, a pointed snout that may be flat or upturned slightly.





We left the coast and started travelling inland, small stalls were set up along the roadside selling salt and semi precious gemstones. We stopped at one but we did not want to buy, however we gave a small donation to a local lady who was feeding her baby whilst trying to sell to our group. As our bus was pulling away she banged on the window and handed me a small black stone as a thank you - they have so little but want to give in return.





We arrived at Spitzkoppe where we were going to camp for the night, huge granite domes rising out of the desert it reminded us and others of The Olgas in Australia. It was a lovely setting as we set up our camp between the huge outcrops. The granite is more than 700 million years old and the peaks stand out dramatically from the flat surrounding plains. We took a guided walk with a local Damara Bushman climbing up to cross a stone natural rock bridge and proceeding on to see some rock art called Bushman’s Paradise. Alas it was extremely faded and hard to see as almost all of the 2000 – 4000 year old prehistoric rock paintings have been destroyed over time. The Bushman said there were many more vivid paintings in the area but most were hard to reach which is why they probably have survived. He gave us a demonstration of his language which has loud clicking sounds which was most unusual it was just as well he spoke excellent English.





The Damara people are an ethnic group who make up 8.5%!o(MISSING)f Namibia’s population. They speak the Khoekhoe language and the majority live in the northwestern regions of Namibia. They have no known cultural relationship with any of the other tribes anywhere else in Africa and very little is known of their origin. It has been proposed that they are a remnant population of southwestern Africa’s hunter-gatherers. Prior to 1870 the Damara occupied most of central Namibia, but large numbers were displaced when the Nama and Herero people began to occupy the same area in search of better grazing. The Herero woman wear long Victorian dresses with pointed hats which they make themselves.





We also met some Himba people in the area selling trinkets on the roadsides. These were mainly commercial Himba who had moved down from their villages further north. In the area there are also a few groups left of the Ovatwa, which also belong to the Himba people, but are hunters and gatherers. Whereas Himba are mostly a semi-nomadic, pastoral people, closely related to the Herero and speaking a similar language to them. The Himba wear little clothing, but the women are famous for covering themselves with otjize, a mixture of butter fat and ochre possibly to protect themselves from the sun.The mixture gives their skins a reddish tinge and the women braid each other's hair and cover it all except the ends, in this ochre mixture. Traditionally both men and women go topless and wear skirts or loincloths made of animal skins in various colors.





We moved on to Brandberg where we camped next to the dry Ugab River, home to the rare Desert Elephants. The Brandberg Mountain is 2573 metres above sea level, making it Namibia’s highest point. It derives its name from the glowing colours it reflects during sunsets. We were hoping to get a glimpse of the Desert Elephants but as there are only a few left in the wild it not surprising that we did not, although we did see their huge foot prints behind our tent! In the morning whilst taken a shower in the open air facility in the middle of the bush I heard this rustling and thinking it was an elephant peeped outside only to see four donkeys drinking from the water that was running out of my shower - the first time I have shared a shower with a group of donkeys - shame it was not the elephants though! The shower are powered by fires lit under small boilers which the guards come and light early in the morning before anyone awakes.





We trekked through the huge campsite to try and find the reception area where there was a pool and got lost a few times trying to find it but finally made it. Paul was rewarded with his first glimpse of a couple of wild Meerkats which we had been hoping to see whilst in Namibia but had not been lucky so far. These two sisters had made their home at the camp’s restaurant and lived in the grounds, it was quite funny as they were sitting outside the fence of some caged birds trying to get in............They were semi-tame and you could stroke them but we had to be careful not to get bitten as they are quite vicious creatures although they look so cute. We watched them digging around the swimming pool area whilst we had a nice cold drink chatting to our group.



Our guides introduced us to another Bushman who took us to see the White Lady, one of many rock painting found in rock shelters and caves around Brandberg. After about an hour’s hike along a gorge over rough terrain we arrived at the location to see what is widely agreed to be a bushman painting of at least 2000 years old. The painting is in a cave known as the Maack Shelter which shows several human figures with bows and animals including an Oryx. In 1955 one of the figures was described as a ‘white lady’ by Henri Breuil, who made the connection to paintings he saw in Greece - the name is misleading though as the painting is probably that of a male hunter or medicine man doing a ritual dance. It is thought that it was painted with ochre, charcoal, manganese, hematite, with blood serum, egg white and casein used as binding agents. The painting has been damaged since it was first ‘discovered’ in the early 20th century as tourists used to pour water on the it to make the colours more visible in their pictures, thus causing the painting to fade rather quickly. Luckily the site is now a protected heritage site of Namibia, and may only be visited when accompanied by local, official guides. It was quite a trek in the heat but well worth it and we also got to see some small Rock Hyrax hanging in the trees and colourful lizards darting around our feet but it was good to get back out of the heat.





We set off again to continue our journey and whilst travelling along this desert road we came across a really serious accident. Chris our guide stopped to see if he could help and we all piled out of the bus to help also. Two young men were wandering around with minor cuts but the car they had been travelling in was squashed flat, they said that it had happened about 10 minutes before we arrived. They said that their driver was still in the car and they thought he was dead, so a couple of us went over to see if we could help - sadly the driver had horrific injuries and was dead and there was nothing we could do and the police had been called. Back in the bus it was really sad but even if we had got there a few minutes earlier there would have been nothing we could have done.





We continued on and entered Etosha National Park (meaning ‘place of dry water’) the highlight of our Namibian adventure, as soon as we entered the park we saw so many different animals including Plains Zebra, Springbok, Oryx, Kudu, Blue Wilderbeest, Black-backed Jackal, Giraffe, Black-faced Impala and Red Hartebeest scattered across the endless horizon and crossing the roads in front of us. As well as animals we were lucky to see quite a lot of birdlife including giant African Fish Eagles, Lappett-faced Vultures, Southern Yellow and Red-Billed Hornbills, Black Bellied Korhaan, giant Kori Bustards, Cape Glossy Starling (everywhere), Groundscraper Thrush, Violet-eared Waxbill as well as the colourful Crimson Breasted Shrike. We also spotted some smaller animals including Ground Squirrels and Yellow Mongoose although these did not let you get to close before they disappeared into a small hole in the desert. We watched several giant Hornbills snatch food from little ground squirrels right next to our tent. At night our guides cooked tasty meals and we tried Kudu and Oryx but neither were to my liking but luckily I filled up on the variety of vegetables that were served at all meals. Peter our German fellow guest delighted in helping Albert cook and spent a lot of time in the ‘camp kitchen’ if he reads this a big thank you to him. As we travelled throughout the countryside our guides would always wave at passers by and they all waved back such friendly people.





Etosha National Park is one of the world’s most famous game sanctuaries located in the vast arid space of Northern Namibia but we still could not believe the number of animals that wandered all around us most of the time we were there. The ‘Pan’ provides a great, parched, silver-white backdrop of shimmering mirages to an area of semi-arid savannah grassland and thorn scrub, such astonishing scenery. The huge, salty bowl which forms the vast central area of the park is only occasionally filled with water after very good rains, so game concentrates in the grasslands and bush which encircle the reserve Here on the perimeter, are underground springs feeding smaller pans, which serves as the magnet which has drawn such an abundance of game to the area and as it was the end of the dry season the watering holes were low which enabled us to see so many animals.





We set up camp at Okaukujo which is is the oldest tourist camp in Etosha situated at the western end of the pan. The main attraction of this camp is that it overlooks a permanent waterhole which is floodlit at night. Here we saw a wide diversity of wildlife congregating right in front of our noses. The spectacle started at dawn, with animals coming in large numbers to quench their thirst, with the activity continuing throughout the day and deep into the night such a perfect place to see so much wildlife. As well as a tented camp there were also these great looking chalets which looked out over the waterhole and we made a note that this would be a good place to return one day and have a little bit more luxury with a great view.





Whilst in the park we did several game drives and were lucky to get up really close to a huge endangered Black Rhinoceros feeding in the evening light. We saw many herds of Elephants drinking at the watering holes or lone males wandering around the plains. We got our first glimpse of a Lion who scattered all the other animals as he arrived at the watering hole to drink and then strolled off to sleep under a nearby tree whilst the other animals waited patiently for him to disappear before they ventured down to drink themselves - he is truly king of the jungle here. At night the waterhole came alive with different animals waiting in turn to drink, one night there were nine Black Rhinoceros drinking at the same time. On our last night there were only three and Paul sent me back to the tent to get a new battery only to lose my way - luckily a lovely South African guy walked me back to our campsite, otherwise I may still be wandering as it was very easy to get disorientated here. Later Paul and everyone else returned to their tents and chalets but I waited for this last Rhinoceros to leave but he just took a view steps and laid down next to the water and fell asleep, so I decided it was time for me to turn in also............





The next day we left the park and continued to Windhoek, the capital of Nambia, home to approximately two hundred thousand people, an extremely small capital by global standards but to us it seemed really busy after travelling up through nearly the whole of Namibia without seeing too many people and our magical time in Etosha National Park. Windhoek is the social, economic, and cultural centre of the country where nearly every Namibian national enterprise, governmental body, educational and cultural institution is headquartered. We have travelled 3500 km throughout Namibia much of which on rough unsealed roads but have really enjoyed our travels throughout this country. It was here that we said goodbye to John our Oz/USA friend and also Fabian from Sweden who were flying home from here. So our group was now down to six as we headed into Botswana - see you there.

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Comments

[Charmian]

Namibia
The chicken/beer scenario is definitely on the unusual side of a lot of unusual things you have seen/posted. However I guess you can adapt to most things in the end. Saves on washing up at least!! Love the pictures & your blog Sheila, very interesting insight into a country seldom on anyone's holiday list. Love from us both.xx

[D MJ Binkley]

Fantastic blog
You are experiencing all the wonders of the world. We hope to get to this piece of the world some day.