Swakopmund - "Let's Find Something More Interesting"

"Let's Find Something More Interesting"...the words of Tommy our Living Desert tour guide in Swakopmund, after each time he spotted something amazing in the dunes that looked to us like sand. We'd be driving along in Tommy's special landrover when suddenly he'd leap out the car and run bare foot up the dune, dig frantically in the sand and would appear with a lizard. After sharing its habits and survival adaptions in the desert, he would let it go and then say "let's go find something more interesting". Around another corner, the same procedure was repeated and a different creature would appear. We saw beetles, spiders, geckos, lizards, chameleons and the highlight was a side winder snake. Tommy fed the chameleons some worms so you can see some awesome pictures below of the tongue of the chameleon reaching out for breakfast.

Tommy must have a part time gig as a weather man as he had to call in with the high for the day which was 56 degrees celsius on the dune...compared to 26 degrees under the surface. As a result of the heat, creepy crawlies get their water from the moisture in the air from the fog or from desert plants that contain water. A desert beetle collects moisture on its back and then it drips down its back to its mouth to drink. 40% of its body mass is water so when a chameleon eats a beetle it gets a good drink too. Amazing! Another amazing tale is the war between the wasp and spider. If the wasp wins, it stings the spider and lays an egg in the spider and the baby wasp will hatch from the spider! The gecko in the photo below can survive 20 minutes in the sun before dying. We watched in awe as it used its four feet as shovels to create a hole and bury its self back to coolness.

The word Namib perfectly translates to "vast open space"...this captures the essence of what we have seen so far in Namibia. You cannnot capture on camera the vastness of the open spaces! Someone described it to me as the opposite to claustrophia!

We have a new appreciation for the delicate life that lives in the desert and the destruction caused by ignorance of quadbikers who churn up the sand in the name of fun. Tommy drives on the same tracks each day so not damaging the area. Ever heard a dune roar? Imagine driving down the steepest incline you can envision over fresh sand that has not yet compacted and the noise of the air particles makes this unbelievable roaring sound! A ride at Disneyworld doesn't even come close to that exhilaration!

We are off to Brandberg Wes today back into the roof top tent and the wilds of Namibia! We will write again as soon as civilization permits and we find internet!!

Namibia

Back to civilization for a couple days in Swakopmund, which is such a contrast to the quiet silences of the Namibian desert that we have traveled through. We have seen more springbok than people on our travels through Namibia so far - a country 2/3’s the size of South Africa with only 2 million people. The definition of remote is a Namibian town…town is a slight exaggeration…more a place to refuel and get firewood with no neighbours around for a hundred k’s or so. “So by so” (the Namibian expression for therefore) we haven’t stumbled across any internet cafes and the blog has remained untouched!

Highlights
- Crossing the Namibian border at sunset
- Spotting animals and birds as we drive
- Silence of the desert
- Off the already beaten track 4x4 drive through the dry river bed of the Fish River Canyon
- Awakened in the roof top tent by the howling jackals
- The magnificence of the dunes in the Namib desert and placing the first footstep of the day on them
- Better not forget the Blue Bulls Super 14 win over the Chiefs!!

Lows
- The orange juice froze in the fridge

Orania, South Africa
Our first night of our adventure was spent on a slight detour through Orania in South Africa and fortunately in a B&B as temperatures were very chilly even inside. For the non South African readers, this was a derelict town purchased by an Afrikaaner community that they restored with the intention to protect their language and culture. There are 700 people living there now and they believe they are not against anything and that their community represents what they are for. The people are encouraged to produce 50% of their food. Their flag has a little boy rolling up his sleeves which represents that they do everything themselves as opposed to having labour assist them. An interesting approach to life!?

Fish River Canyon
Our first roof top camping experience was in Fish River Canyon, second only to the Grand Canyon. We arrived at Ai-Ais Campsite and found it under construction. However no problem…the hot spring water was diverted to two portable swimming pools so after a hike through the canyon we were still able to enjoy the 100+ degree water. Setting up camp was a new experience!! Deon cooked a delish roast chicken, gem squash and potatoes in the potjie that just added to the perfect spot. En route to Aus, we went via a 4x4 route off the already beaten track through a dry riverbed of a magnificent meandering canyon. Just us!

A Day in the Life of a Landrover Roof Top Tent Camper
Requirement – must enjoy waking the birds and collapsing into bed from exhaustion by 8pm!! Two signed up for the adventure!

The inside of the Landrover is your home that is organized into 4 boxes – cutlery & crockery, pots & pans, food and tools. There is also a fridge for the meat, butter, beer and water. We had veggies but they suffered from freezer burn! What turns your home into organized chaos is all the other stuff that you think you need for the journey and finding a place for it to survive the ruthlessness of the Namibian gravel roads!

Our routine, on arrival at camp so far has been…
- Deon’s duties – opening the roof top tent, making the fire and preparing the potjie or braai for dinner
- Kirsty’s duties - setting up the tent for the night with the 3 sleeping bags and extra blanket, organzing all the thermals and hats out to prepare for the bite of the coolness of the night of the Namib desert and dishes
- Then packing everything away back into its place before bed

Our routine, before leaving camp so far has been…
- Deon’s duties – making the fire for coffee and breakfast, roll up the sleeping bags into bags made for a much tinier sleeping bag
- Kirsty’s duties – brush my teeth according to the funny one & dishes
- Then finding a place for everything

Driving in Namibia
Driving in Namibia is a fantastic driving experience – hundreds and hundreds of kilometres of gravel roads to ourselves as they are generally deserted apart from the odd vehicle that passes by. What makes it a great drive is that its hundreds of kilometres of challenging gravel roads – with a pothole here or a sandbank there or a rock patch to navigate and dips to be cautious of. They had abnormal had 173mm of rain in February so there are sections of road that have been washed away. Some of the gravel roads allow you to meander peacefully and take in the beauty of the dryness of the Namib desert, others however require a more cautious approach.

We have had the pleasure of roadside viewings of springbok, ostrich, wild horses, jackal, oryx, bat eared foxes and steenbok so far. More to come we expect!

Any fellow Landrovers wave as they drive by so we are in and must look the part!

Aus
We made a lunch stop in Aus in order to see the wild horses. Deon spotted 4 just off the road. I didn’t want to admit how disappointing it was to see 4 wild horses grazing freely in the distance. I expected something so much more magical however there are only 180 of them that graze over 40,000 hectares so maybe we got lucky. We headed to their main watering hole and saw a mother and foal…and then the magic moment, over 100 of them in a valley before us. Despite the harshness of the desert, they appeared in pristine condition apart from the odd one that wasn’t going to survive the next winter. It was a scorching hot day and some looked so comatosed you may mistaken them for dead apart from the flickering tail swatting flies. The rest took their turn in their hierarchy to drink.

A Little Place Called Magic
Each day on this trip is a new adventure, a path less traveled that we take and an amazing surprise at the end awaits us. One of our best surprises was what awaited us at Ranch Koimasis. It was 5pm so we decided to turn of off the gravel road at a marker that said Camping 20km. There were 5 gates to open along the path and after each gate there still appeared to be just the wide expanses of nothingness with mountains in the far distance. After a brief confirmation with a motorcyclist with a gun strapped to his back en route, we were assured we were heading to a campsite. So now the sun is setting, we’ve just seen a guy with a gun and there is nothing ahead…should we turn around?...no we decided this trip was about paths less traveled. What awaited us was the most stunning campsite set at the foot of burnt orange coloured mountain that had the sun setting on one side and the moon rising on the other. There were wildhorses at camp and a private area for us to sit by the fire and braai. Wow a little place called magic I seem to have said so many times on this trip!

Sesriem
There is big debate in the “camping world” (as we are officially now campers J) of whether its worth paying N$600 for a campsite at Sesriem so you can get into the park an hour earlier at 5.30am to head the 64km drive to the magnificent dunes at Soussvlei before sunrise. It was like a scene from Amazing Race, all the 4x4s and overland buses in line waiting to get in and once the gates opened the race began under the full moon to get there. Our footprints were first on the dunes that morning as we hiked an hour to the crest as the sun rose and warmed the icy sand. Even the Namib beetle still slept! The colours of the dunes were transformed from taupe to every spectrum of brown, red and orange as daylight broke. You can’t fully appreciate the magnitude and colours and shadows of the dunes until you have climbed…it reminded us of our trip to the Grand Canyon…there are those who have peered over the edge and can say they’ve been…we have hiked the dunes and still finding sand in socks and shoes to prove it!! PS...it’s worth every penny to see the dunes transform from darkness to sunrise!

Scary Moment
The owner of the Live Desert Snake Park is assisting the snake to remove its shedding skin, when it suddenly leaps out the cage at him (we are not sure if snakes really do leap but this one did)!! I too lept…to escape the snake on the loose! He is so blasé and says “he doesn’t mind if it bites as nothing serious will happen”…but the sign says it is mildly venomous!!

The Days Ahead
We have another day in Swakopmund and then heading North away from civilization. We anticipate our next internet access may only be about June 17 when we should be in Maun, Botswana. Look forward to sharing our adventures with you then!

Remoteness in Namibia is Taken Literally!

Hello
We are finally back in civilization after 7 days!! There are no "towns"..just places to buy fuel... so therefore no internet access and no cell phone access. Remoteness in Namibia is taken very literally. I hope to update the blog tomorrow!!

K & D