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This 'late' blog post is not because we are Namibia, but lack of wifi facility in current camp sites, apologies !
Ah Africa.....I can smell it & taste it, once you have some of it in your blood - it never leaves you !
And so to one of my favorite places on the planet - Cape Town, and the first day to one of my favorite people 'The Cape Coloured' and to Bokaap. They are a bright, colourful, cheerful, energetic, musical mob generally and their lifestyle, homes & dress reflect it.
Then on to the old railway building & Green Market Square, where we were greeted to a black brass jazz group to schmooze our beers down with, before an African drumming, dancing & chanting group enticed us to stay for lunch to see the repetoire out, then the 7 member black gospel archipeligo had us on our feet spilling our coffees as they boomed out their infectious hip giggling & clapping tunes !
That evening I have arranged to catch up with one of my closest, dearest mates IGGS & wife Jules for a drink at an old drinking establishment around the corner from his
home 'Forries', The Forrester' s Arms, and he surprise us by also inviting Debbie that I have known since I was 6 years old, and felt like we all together just last week. A great reunion.
What a way to start an African sojourn.
The following day was far more sobering with a visit to the slave lodge, a walk around the city & park with Cecil Rhodes monument before retiring to an aperol spritz on the seapoint foreshore & back to our colonial shared digs for a well earned rest !
The 3rd day, a little late to rise (so not before the sparrows this time !) we drove to Simonstown and my old naval base (2 years military service) to help an old school friend, Neil Scott, move his yacht and secure it before he left for home in the US. It was indeed good to see the old port again, naval school, The British & Central hotel (that as recruits we 'never' visited) and a flood of long lost memories.
We then drove on to Fishhoek beach, to watch the coloured fishermen strap a couple of timber beams across the gunwhales of their fishing
boats, lift them to shoulder height & manually walk them up the beach ashore 100m, then haul their nets & catch in.
It was then that we noticed the shark flag warning system - green shark, spotting them was good - black, spotting yhem was poor - red , high shark alert - white, shark has been spotted ! Fortunately for us the board also noted that the last shark was spotted in poor visibility - yesterday !
We left & on to Kalk Bay & their commercial fishing fleet & snoek market at the harbour (seals included) and on further to Muizenberg, an old surfing haunt of mine, where we would take time for a little r&r when off duty in my service days.
The quaint multi coloured beach huts, The Majestic cafe (since 1937) bringback a host of memories.
The next morning breaks warm & clear & we fossic about the historical waterfront, the clock tower & its tidal guage, pick through the tourist traps, and dine on the front eloquently for a pittance of what we are used to - heaven !
The next morning, early as usual, we drive to Stellenbosch, amble around the
village stores, visit Spier 1692 winery & their attached raptor conservancy. Taking up the greater part of the day, after an awesome raptor display we drive to and hike the 7km waterfall trail which was breathtaking with the pungent odour of Africa permeating all our senses.
Over the following 2 weeks we visit Robben Island (Mandela's prison), Kirstenbosch botanical gardens, 1685 Groot Constantia winery, hike Lions Head & Table mountian, Noordhoek & Blaauberg beaches, Masiphumele township, Afrikaans monument & visited Paarl & Franschoek.
The 1st Feb arrived and with it our hire 4x4 Hilux with roof top tent, fridge, off road equip, long range tank, all cooking equip & 40l water tank. And so we tentatively made our way out of Cape Town to our first overnight stop in Paternoster north on Cape town, on route to Namibia.
Paternoster is a quaint fishing village that hasnt changed in 40 years. We have snoek & chips on the beach, wrapped in paper (they dont do newspaper any longer) then make our way to Titties Baai & set up camp on the beach, ooen a bottle of 2 Oceans Sav Blanc & toast to the start of a great Namibian
trip.
The following day we stop at bird island in Lamberts Bay to a mass of 7500 Cape Gannet adult birds, each with a chick in various stages of development. 15 000 birds is a spectacle. Contrasting this we drive on through Bitterfontein (bitter fountain) made up of 2 shops, fuel stop, rugby field and 10 houses on route to Springbok for the night. Here we meet Jacque & Josse' (two French veteran travelers, that came for a months holiday 15 years ago and never left) driving their 5 ton Renault, home, truck, camper, innovators dream workshop.
The next day, dry, hot by 8am, blue cloudless skies, we moved on to Fish River Canyon to the camps at Ais Ais & Hobas. The Ais Ais camp had 2 swimming pools (that should cool us off) however both being fed by thermal underground springs, the first was 85 degrees & insufferably hot, so we were only able to splash from the second then evaporate in the shade. The canyons were immense, desolate & gargantuan and second only to the Grand Canyon.
On route to Luderitz we stopped at the war graves, spotted ostrich, oryx, massive social weaver bird nests
twice the size of the 4WD, rare mountian zebra & the odd prehistoric quiver tree eeking out a living in the desert. Luderitz is an anomaly, an old German town caught in Africa, colourful & quaint, dischevelled by Africa & the desert & blowing the clothes off your back. The only refuge we found capable of keeping the tent up and attached to the 4WD, was in the lee of a gigantic, round as a marble, rock on the beach for the night. We slept that night to the sound of the surf almost on our tyres.
The following day we forced our way through the sand laden highway and accompanying rail line alongside the road, and intermittently covered by 5m high sand dunes to the now deserted diamond mining town of Kolmanskop. In its heyday it was the richest town on earth, miners paid in diamonds and earning the equivalent today of $140 000/month. When discovered, diamonds were so prolific, that teams of dozen or so men, still in their 3 piece suits would leopard crawl elbows & knees across the bushveld searching and collecting diamonds strewn on the surface. Today the desolate, decrepid town, overun by sand
and snake trails a photographer's dream.
On to Duwisib Castle, blood red against the African savanna, a stark contrast as it was in the day that Hansheinrich Von Wolf had it built for his american wife Jayta Humphries to breed thoroughbred horse at, as the air here was exemplary.
On the 75km road to Sossusvlei & Sesriem we often spot the iconic Oryx, capable of going without water for 3 days ata time, but the beauty of Dune 45 & Big Momma sand dunes silhouetted, stark, naked & captivating, have to be seen to be believed - truly awe-inspiring. Early the following morning we are to be greeted by a 'fog sausage' rolling across the desert eerily making its way towards us, leaving a moist film on everything (including us) as it steamrolls its way to oblivion. We make on towards Deadvlei, a pan cracked & dried under the merciless desert sun, littered with the bleak remnants of a forrest that once stood, now just a defiant reminder of what once was. We climb the 309m near vertical shifting sand escalator to view a kaleidoscope of desert sand shades from the mount.
The pit stop for a
drink to quench our dusty parched throats at Solitaire strewn with 1920's & 30's cars & trucks bodies graveyard before crossing the Tropic of Capricorn border, and on to Walvis Bay with its Flamingoes, salt mine & resident seal population were in sharp contrast. In Walvis we kayak with a few 1000 seals, playing with the bow of our kayaks like ocean dogs. Amazingly agile in the water & totally unafraid of our presence, which was incomplete contrast to being out of the water where they scatter before you can approach to within 100m.
On then to Swakopmund, its lunar landscape, desert lichen and living 1500 year old Welwitchia plants. The reptile park & rock museum fascinating as we head further north to Cape Cross seal colony and its 10 000 resident (you can smell them from 1km away) Cape fur seal population.
That night we camp at Brandberg White Lady camp in an old dried up riverbed camp, that elephant visited yesterday - there is hoping ! With no elephants through the night however, we take a trip up the valley next morning to view some ancient bushman cave paintings and on route are incredibly privileged to
cross a herd of 6 rare desert elephants just off the road and have warn two local woman in their donkey drawn cart of their close camouflaged presence mere meters away.
Spectacular & a gift.
The following night we camp amongst giant rock marbles at Mowani mountian camp that was rather luxurious, with private hot shower in the morning, provided by one of the camp lads arriving at 6am to lite the log fire under our personal boiler......only in Africa.
And so all clean, we take off to see the 260 million year old petrified forrest (now lying down resting !). After 260m years, some of these 'stone' trees you actually have to touch to confirm that they are in fact not still timber and recently alive.
The following morning we wake excitedly to visit a working Himba tribal vilkage. This turned out to be a mixed blessing for us of overwhelming privilege & yet great sadness that they need to do this to produce an income for the community.
And so it was we cruised on into the western 'Olifants' gate at Etosha Game Park, a vast sand expanse, yet prolific in number and variety of fauna
& flora. Not 1km into the park, idling along the sand and pebnle road track, all windows wide open, we almost miss a lion kill not 1m from the car. We stop, reverse bavk, right past a lioness lying conceled in the grass, within stretching distance of the wide open passenger window alongside and protection her kill !
For a week we drive East across Etosha we witness a smorgasbord of adventures, caught in 500m high sand storm, surprised and just meters from a massive lone bull elephant, lion & rhino drinking at a waterhole at night just meters away, single file gnus trekking across wasteland pans, goshawk tearing off strips of freshly caught snake, bataleur eagle hovering 20ft above us, dung beetles patiently pushing plump balls of poo endlessly after their lithe gorgeous females and too many others to account. Etosha is unique, a contradiction, stunning & bleak and very addictive....an inspiration.
On route now South we overnight at Waterberg escarpment, alongside Hoba (the worlds largest meteorite at the surface). Waterberg rises deep red out of the sand. We do an early hike before the heat of the day, to the top, and on return with Jan taking
the lead round a bend in the track to be confronted by a startled cobra, hood extended & at full height expressing its dissatisfaction at our pressence. We retreat to a calming beer for breakfast.
On the way to dropping the 4WD in Windhoek we stop overnight at Okonjima Nature Reserve where 35 leopard reside. We take an afternoon drive with a research team member from the park, in the hope of spotting one of the ever elusive cats. We are blessed after leaving the road and driving along a small dried stream bed, with a big male not 10m from our open top 4WD that we follow for about 20 minutes, and then later in thick scrub a female with a 10 month old cub both relaxing only 5m away completely unperturbed by our presence. Humbling & spectacular.
Our last stop, to clean sort the 4WD before handing it back, was another contradiction.......Camp Gros Barman !
A massive camp, beautiful huge modern building at reception & shop (no product), 2 olympic size pools linked together in an L shape, lined with palms and crystal clear.....................however including us only 3 guests, and we happen to be the only
campers in the 100 site camp, all with power (however all electrical sockets having been stolen and removed). After the initial build and installation obviously in true African style nothing gets maintained.
The following day we make our way to Windhoek to reluctantly leave Namibia after an incredible month of mind bowling beauty.......a beautiful country.
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David Atkinson
non-member comment
Thanks for the update
Hi JAN and Kevin, We were wondering where you both had go to, thanks for the very interesting description of your travels. Weather cold and wet here and sailing at FSC in the winter series. Cheers to you both, David & Bev