Day 13: Swakopmund - Twyfelfontein

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We had a pretty short drive today heading to Twyfelfontein (uncertain spring; Afrikaans), and it was even better because since we were staying at a hostel, we didn't have to pack up tents. Along the way we stopped at two stalls along the roadside; one run by the Himba tribe and one run by the Herero tribe, two major tribes of Namibia. Unfortunately, I felt these were very "touristy", with the tribes people dressed in their traditional clothing, selling trinkets and asking for money for a photo opportunity. It is Africa's answer to the gladiators outside the Coliseum. I didn;t buy anything or get photos with the tribesmen simply because it felt like both them and us were being exploited. One thing I will say is that the Herero tribes people were much friendlier than the Himba and it felt less exploitative going to their stalls, but it still felt weird.

We arrived mid afternnon, set up camp then headed out toto llok at the rock carvings and paintings in the area. These carvings are known to be around 10,000 years old. Tonight we had our first camp fire. We were situated along a dried up river and it was absolutely freezing at night, so it was a good night to have a camp fire. Sitting around the camp fire was fine, but as soon as you moved away it became bitterly cold. Everyone was surprised I was still wearing shorst, but as I said, near the camp fire was fine.

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