Wild Horses and Stargazing in the Namibian Desert

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About an hour outside of Luderitz, we stopped to try and find the Namibian wild desert horses. There are various colourful theories about their origin, involving shipwrecks and famous historical figures. They are the only population of wild horses in Africa, and are scientifically interesting because of how they have evolved, over a relatively short period of time, to survive in the desert. Despite being an invasive species they have been afforded protected status, I suppose due to their uniqueness and the length of time they have survived here. The population never expands beyond much beyond 150 animals due to the harsh environment, so the damage they could do is limited.

Their only source of water is a man made borehole next to the viewing hide just off the main road, so the horses are usually relatively easy to spot. They have to come here, sooner or later.

On arrival we immediately spotted a group of a dozen or so in the far distance, so we hung around to see if they would approach. We sat in the hide and made sandwiches while waiting. Eventually they wandered across in a long line, moving incredibly slowly, wasting no energy. They looked skinny but tough, uniformly dark in colour, coats still glossy over visibly protruding ribs. Signs in the hide implored tourists not to feed them, explaining that conservationists were putting out additional food in other locations to see them through the current drought. As they drank, another group gathered a respectful distance away, patiently waiting their turn.

On both sides of the road to Luderitz are huge signs warning people against wandering off the road and entering the Sperregbiet, the “Forbidden Area”, otherwise known as Diamond Area 1. The Sperregbiet is a 26,000km square restricted diamond mining zone, though mining only actually takes place in around 5% of that area. The rest is a buffer. Members of the public are banned from entering under any circumstances, and the Lonely Planet gives dire warning about the Sperregbiet being patrolled by trigger-happy guards who will shoot you on sight.

This becomes relevant because as we were packing up our sandwich making equipment, we somehow lost a plastic wrapper. It became airborne, sailing off towards the horses and their watering hole. We weren’t quite sure if the area around the borehole counted as being inside the Sperregbiet or not, but we were freaking out that one of Namibia's few remaining wild horses will choke to death on our plastic bag. Sam launched himself over the wall of the hide in pursuit of our litter, while I watched through binoculars to see if he got taken out by a sniper. He managed to retrieve it after a few minutes of comedy chasing, where the bag took off again each time he came within inches of grabbing it.

Our campsite for the night was fully in the arse end of nowhere. 150km from Luderitz, which is itself a fairly frontier town, along roads alternating between gravel and tarmac. There is absolutely nothing here, but it's a strategic spot to break up the 8 hour journey between Luderitz and Sesserim.

We stayed at Tirool Guest Farm, a tiny place with only three camping pitches, completely off grid, running on solar power and borehole water. That night we were the only people there.

The campsite was surrounded by rocky plains dotted with patchy clumps of feathery grass, growing around a foot off the ground. On the horizon there were mountains to the east and sand dunes to the west, but nothing much in between.

It was beautifully silent, aside from intermittent bursts of insect chatter. Occasional trucks passed on the road in the distance, too far away to hear, visible only by their rising streamers of dust, like vapour trails behind a plane.

Sam cooked risotto while I tried to scrub the dust out of our clothes, with water that had reached the temperature of a hot shower just from sitting in the pipes.

The sky was bright and cloudless so there was no dramatic sunset, rather the mountains gradually faded through different pastel shades.

When the sun finally went down, the sky lit up with stars. I didn’t realise at the time, but Namibia is known as one of the best stargazing destinations in the world. This makes perfect sense, given the low population density and lack of rain to obscure the view. That night at Tirool was the stars I saw in Namibia. The only thing I've encountered anywhere in the world that comes close would be the high camps on Kilimanjaro, and the Moroccan Sahara. There were shooting stars and satellites, and the swirls of the milky way, indistinct, like a smudged thumbprint on the sky. I lay down with my head dangling over the edge of the rooftop tent, and stared up into space until my eyes hurt.

I loved this place, with nothing to do in the middle of nowhere. I felt completely peaceful and content, like I no longer even want to murder car hire guy.

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Comments

[Yeti]

That hire car....
Hi Jennifer, enjoying your current blogs. We're a year way from a lengthy trip and Namibia certainly appeals. To that end, how much did it actually cost to hire your fine vehicle for the month? Or, how much would you recommend spending on the rental for a month? Car hire aside, has it proved to be a costly trip? Many thanks for the info. Andy n Ali.

[D MJ Binkley]

Very cool photo
Love this adventure.