Namibia, meaning VAST desert. Only the most adaptable creatures can survive in this land that goes on and on for kilometers before even a small shanty hut can be seen. Believe it or not there are farmers who choose to farm this land; shaking out an existence, raising sheep and goats is the only farming possible. Animals we have sited include jackels, oryx, springbok (like our deer).and ofcourse ostrich, both wild and farmed. When we went out for dinner our last night in Cape Town, Ed and I chose the game platter to share. The spread included crocodile, ostrich, warthog ribs and as Clancy reminds me (one of the Aussie girls travelling with us), oryx was also on the platter. As I was admiring the young female oryx, she blurted, “Lyn, you ate part of one of those animals a few nights ago.” Wait till we see a warthog, and I remind her of the tasty ribs she devoured. Hahaha! I am now vegetarian and Kioko, our cook creates some magical veggie dishes for Alisia (a young British girl) and I every night for dinner. By now, we are all very familiar with each other. At 5:00 am wake up call this morning, we all scrambled to collect our valuables, including water and sunscreen and get on the bus by 5:15 a.m. It was an urgent matter, of dire importance for all fourteen of us (including Sam our driver, Kioko our cook and Chris our leader).
There are a few markers which consistently mark the days for me; the sunrise, the hot, the breeze, the cool, the sunset, the dark, the cold. Today's sunrise was particuloarly special. We drove 10 km to the most famous part of the Namibian Desert,the dune fields. Balancing on the crest of Dune 45 we climbed to the very top and watched the sunrise. Ofcourse, Ed was the first one in our group to reach the top; testing his limits, I suppose. The sky was clear and the sun spectacular and we greeted it with all kinds of appreciation. Descending was a blast as we hopped, skipped and jumped down the other side. Kioko had bacon and eggs and toast and sliced apples all ready for us by the time we reached the bottom. Breakfast for fourteen cooked alongside of our truck. Anything is possible!
Mindful of the fact that the Namib-Naukluft National Park is the location of the oldest desert in the world, it isn't surprising what we hiked to next. Our next destination was Deadvlei, meaning dead marsh. It was a massive dried up marsh (crusty clay and rock) garnished with several tees (approx. 800 years old), looking like massive chunks of driftwood or sculpted trees with all the effects of 800 years of weathering.Onward we plowed on foot and in a jeep to Soussusviel. Word has it that the Tsauchab River flowed through these parts about 15 million years ago. It is thought that this river once flowed all the way to the Atlantic Ocean, but its course was blocked by the massive sand dunes. Now the river flows out to the dune fields that stretch for hundreds of miles up the coast, and dries up in a clay pan at Soussusviel. Guess what that S word means; dead end marsh.
Back to the campsite for lunch and a quick shower and then the five hour drive to our first bush camp in the desert. Along the way we sited zebra, oryx, warthog, fox, jackel, and springbok. We drove quite a long way on the washboard road, through a mountainous pass to the camp. We fournd a beautiful campsite overlooking the plains and had to scare a male oryx away so we could set up camp. The bees were very happy to see us, indeed. They enjoyed a good drink of water while we all escaped to a nearby rock to watch the sunset
View from the top of Dune 45
Kioko making pancakes at the bush camp and our driver Sam helping out.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.