Day 4 - Moonscapes and Oryx

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Early start as we fly south west to the Namib Rand desert for our first real piece of African desert/wildlife. Up for brekky and we are on time (0630), unlike the 2 “boys” who have their clocks set an hour behind real time. Never mind, they had been awake waiting for the right time to come down for brekky, and ended up being late....

Into the van and off to the domestic airport for our charter flight to Soussasveli and into the winds of Namibia. Security check was interesting to say the least. Discussions about who was doing what meant our checks were a little slacker than what we are used to going through.......

Into our small aircraft and after checks, etc. off into the wilderness. Finally landed and into the waiting safari vehicle. No sides to the vehicle and a few interesting modifications to the Toyota. Nevertheless it did its job getting us to the sand dunes of this desert. And wowee, had we landed on the moon or what....

Red sand dunes as far as you could look. Sharp ridges and craters like a meteor had hit earth here. Colours that changed as you looked from different angles. People climbing them like specks on a huge canvas.

Eventually we get to Soussasvile and get out to walk the dunes into the valley of death. Soft sand and a few hills then we get to the valley of death. A “salt pan” area that is actually a hard crust of old mud that looks like a lake from a distance but when closer it does look like a dead area of space.

Back to our truck then back to the lodge for lunch. Finished and back to our plane for the 10 minute flight to our next stop - our overnight lodge - Wolwoldens which is a short 6km drive from the airstrip to the lodge via dirt tracks which keep disappearing into the horizon. Along the way we see up close our first real Oryx. This is a member of the antelope family and also the Namibian national emblem. They have really long horns and are an amazing colour scheme. A few more and the cameras are on overload.

Eventually find the lodge and it is amazing. Questions, answers then allocated our rooms. We have suite #2 and another couple suite 6. You would think 2 would be closer to the lodge - uh huh.. never mind, a walk in the sand always helps the legs.

We get organised and then head out on a Sundowner drive. Off into the dunes to watch the sun set with drinks which were pre-ordered and some snacks. Now we see lots more Oryx’s. So many that we all get a bit blasé about pics. Sight overload then the sun is setting like a huge red ball. After oohs and ahh’s subsided we were back in time for dinner. The restaurant was lit by hurricane lamps - very intimate until the food arrived then you couldn’t see what was in front of you. We had 5 courses including a singalong in Afrikaans by the staff.

Great food, wine and company ended up in the bar with the tour leader giving us insights into life in Namibia during the tough years if the independence fighting and how they have come out the other side.

Back to our room, bed turned down with choccies and hot water bottles to boot. Very nice.

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Comments

[Denise and Terry Russell]

Thanks Steve and Chris for including us in the blogs. Love reading them and your trip sounds amazing. Looking forward to the next ones!