Hi all, it’s been a bit. Sorry about that but internet and the Namibian desert aren’t always at good odds with each other.
What can I say about Namibia, it’s beautiful, breath taking and beyond words. The roads on the other hand, well…you have paved which is wonderful and rare. Then you have your degrees of gravel roads; decent, martini tumbler and jack-hammer. Any arteriosclerosis that may have existed in any of my vessels has now been cleanly shaken loose. If I had fillings those too would be out. The other thing about Namibia is you must come to terms with the sand/dust. There is a fine layer of dust on everything. No matter how hermetically sealed you think things are it will find a way in. The cleanest you will ever be is when you’re in the shower. Inevitably, as soon as you step out the wind picks up and you have a new sprinkling of dust. Like pixie dust minus the fairies or the magical powers, so nothing like pixie dust. Apart from that it’s been amazing.
Fish River Canyon lead to Klein-Aus Vista, beautiful mountain setting just a short drive from the wild horses. The road to Sossusvlei and its famous dunes is of the Martini Tumbler variety with intermittent jack-hammer. The mountains give way to desert and eventually dunes. Here is where I met Karen and Nigel. A wonderful couple whom I got to travel with for a couple days. We ventured to the Dunes and climbed Big Daddy. Climbing dunes is not an easy task, it’s like elliptical meets stair master plus a wind machine. But the view was worth it. Too windy to whip out the camera but the iphone was eagerly sacrificed. The heart wrenching moment of the dunes is that in less then 10 minutes down you undo all that effort, over an hour, to get to the top. Sheesh!
Sossuvlei to Swakopmund and Walvis Bay. We were fortunate enough to make it to the bay for sunset and flamingos coming in for the night. En route there is a little place called Solitaire famous for it’s apple strudel. More of a apple cake then strudel but great nonetheless. The bird audience was a little daunting. It was like eating in a prison yard. You had to cover your food at all times or they came in for a peck. The coffee was beyond!
Co-pilots are important whilst driving in Namibia. The suicidal animal watch is much needed. I’ve had suicidal Gemsbok, Springbok, Steenbok, Baboons, donkey’s, goats, cows and ostriches. The ostrich is the funniest of them all. They saunter onto the road. Hey Bob, Ed you hear anything? Nah, you? Eventually one will turn around and spot the vehicle and make off like the road runner only to end on the other side looking perplexed as to why he ran in the first place.
Next morning, I ventured solo again to Spitzkopp and the bushmen paintings. They think they are 2000-4000 years old, but were discovered only 50 years ago. And tonight, is spent in the Brandberg Mountain Range. Perhaps I’ll be fortunate enough to catch a desert elephant. One can hope! Saving a rock agama from a watery toilet death ought to count for some karmic brownie points. Then it’s off to Terrace Bay, Epupa falls before venturing into Etosha National Park and hopefully have a mini reunion with Karen and Nigel.
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