Under Southern African Skies: 2006

Namibia

We met our group at the Drifters Lodge in Seapoint, Cape Town on October 28 2006. There were ten in our group, five Germans, Thomas, Katrin, Uwe, Sara and Claudia, a Norwegian, Gru, an Aussie, Nikki, the two of us and another Canadian Sarah from Regina, who we dubbed Sarah Regina to differentiate her from the German Sara who became Sara Maria. Our very personable and knowledgeable South African guide, driver and cook was Johan Harley.

Our travel vehicle, the Green Machine, was a very comfortable Mercedes Benz truck with a custom built box. There were upholstered bus seats for sixteen passengers, giving our group of ten lots of room to stretch out. Johan had seats for two passengers up front beside him if anyone wanted to keep him company. Our clothing and belongings were stored in individual lockers at the back of the truck. Our entrance to the truck was up a set of stairs that dropped down from a door between the seats and the lockers. Cabinets were built into both sides of the truck. One side had space for our tents, folding chairs, spare tires etc while the other side folded out to reveal cooking surfaces and room for pots and pans, metal dishes, cups and utensils and non-perishable food. Two large containers inside the truck functioned as an icebox and refrigerator for the perishable food and our cold drinks.

That afternoon we set off for our first excursion in the truck, a visit to Morgenhof Winery on the slopes of the Simonsberg Mountains outside Stellenbosch. A French woman, Mme Cointreau-Huchon, a descendent of both the Cointreau and Remi-Martin families, has spared no expense to revive this old estate. We were impressed by the beautiful grounds and rose gardens as well as the unique circular wine cellar. The winery has become a favourite for weddings and other family celebrations. Our wine tasting included a sample of their prize winning Merlot. Several of us, including me, bought a few bottles for our trip.

After our winery visit we had time to wander around the Cape Dutch buildings in the center of Stellenbosch. Back in Cape Town that night Johan took us to one of the better seafood restaurants at the Victoria & Albert Harbour, a good send-off for our trip.

The next morning we headed off to Table Mountain, this time to climb up Pletteklip Gorge, the most popular route. Four of the women took one look at the mountain and decided to take the cable car and meet us at the top. Johan and the rest of us went up the gorge. It took Ray and me about 11/2 hours to reach the top. Some of the group took a bit longer getting up but everyone made it and were quite pleased with themselves. We just had time for a little sightseeing on the top before taking the cable car down to the waiting Green Machine and driving down to the Cape Peninsula for an afternoon tour. We did see more ostrich and Bontebok than our first trip to the Cape, but only a few whales.

The next morning was the first day of our real expedition. We stopped in the suburbs of Cape Town so that Johan could buy fresh provisions and the rest of us could buy our beer, wine and snacks for the next several days. The next time we stopped for supplies, Ray and I cut down on our snacking as our meals were all plentiful and very good. This was not a diet tour.

The first night we camped in a deserted spot in a boulder-strewn area near the Namibian border. This was one of our more primitive camping spots, although there was a flush toilet, but it was too chilly to think about braving an outdoor shower. Johan showed us how to put up our tents, which were high enough to stand up in and allowed more than enough room for two. Three of the girls elected to share one tent for extra warmth that night. We were provided with a large inch thick foam sleeping pad, but most of us had an extra inflatable mattress to make our bed even more comfortable. We helped Johan prepare the evening meal by cutting up vegetables and cleaning up afterwards. Everyone took turns with these easy chores without any complaints.

The next day was a short drive to the Namibian border and to the headquarters of the Felix Unite River Canoe Adventures company on the banks of the Orange River, which forms the border between South Africa and Namibia. The company offers trips on the Orange River of up to five days but we were only going on an overnight trip. After our lunch at their camping and chalet site on the river we packed our sleeping bags and clothes in watertight plastic pails and placed them in the middle of our kayaks, secured by bungy cords. Each canoe carried some of our food supplies as well. Some in our group were neophytes to kayaking so we divided up so that an inexperienced person was with either Johan or our river guide William. Ray and I were partners. We pushed out onto the river and soon negotiated our first set of rapids. We shipped some water in our canoe but made it through without overturning, although it was tense. Thank goodness some sections of the river were calm and we could coast and enjoy the scenery. There were high cliffs beside the river and lots of birds on the shore, even a Fishing Eagle or two. We had a snack break where we could jump into the water for a swim. We all made our camping spot on a sandbank without incident, much to our delight. After we pulled the canoes ashore, several of us went swimming again in the warm waters.

We slept under the stars that night with our canoe propped up as a wind guard. The next day we negotiated more rapids and met up with a large school group on a multi-day trip in inflatable rafts, not as tippy as a kayak going through the rapids. We ended our trip farther down the Orange River and were driven back to the Feliz Unite in an antique tramway bus, complete with wooden seats and a bell to ring to let the conductor know we wanted to get off. Back at the Felix Unite camp we all met in the outdoor bar for a drink before returning to our tents for the night.

A word about the Namibia roads; there are very few paved roads. The pavement continued a short distance from Felix Unite past a huge table grape farm beside the Orange River and then changed to hard packed dirt. The country is mostly desert and the few bare mountains display the mineral colours of their composition. There is very little traffic so Johan had no problem with the unpaved roads. He even had a few more remote sideroads for us to explore. One went through a canyon he had christened Johan's Canyon.

We stopped at the Ai-Ais hot springs resort and parked under a tree encased in a huge straw nest. This was the cooperative home of the sociable weaver birds. The management of Ai-Ais was just in the process of refilling the large outdoor pool with the very hot waters of the underground springs. There was just enough water in the bottom of the pool to cover our prone bodies, but it was still relaxing.

Later that afternoon we drove to the Fish River Canyon, 160 km long, 27 km broad and 500 m deep, the second largest canyon in the world, next to the Grand Canyon. Both erosion and the collapse of the valley bottom many millions of years ago formed the canyon. We had hoped to be able to hike to the bottom but that is no longer permitted. A few years ago two Frenchmen attempted the hike in the hot summer, got lost and died of dehydration, so you are now only permitted to go on a five-day hike that ends at Ai-Ais, with a guide in the winter season.

We started out early the next morning and passed several antelope, springbok, gemsbok and kudu on the road. We were getting to recognize the different variety. Sarah Regina said the bleak, dry landscape of Namibia reminded her of the Alberta Badlands, while Ray said it reminded him of the Australian outback. There were few communities at all along the road and the one we did stop in, Bethanie, had a single small grocery and a liquor store.

We were headed for Drifters Desert Camp on edge of the Namib Desert. Drifters Company bought the former farm several years ago and now operate it as a game conservancy. So far the company has been able to expand the land holdings rather than cull the animals. Our campsites, each under a thatched roof sun canopy, were next to a Maringa tree with a sociable weaver nest. A sign near the tree warned not to approach too close to the tree as a "friendly" black snake lived there, hoping to catch an unwary bird or two. Johan admitted it was a venomous Black Mambo, so we kept our distance.

The resident conservancy manager, Peter, took us on several game drives during our two day stay. During our night drive we were all bundled up in fleece and jackets, quite a contrast from the heat of the day. Johan stood at the front of our open game viewing jeep sweeping a spotlight over the terrain, looking for the reflection of eyes, indicating the presence of a nocturnal animal. We did manage to identify a wild cat, a bat-eared fox, a spotted eagle owl, a black-backed jackal and several antelope.

Peter told us that the land was unusually lush when we were there. Instead of just red gravel, small yellow grass hillocks covered the ground. The average yearly rainfall in Namibia is 42 mm, but 2006 had brought over 340 mm of rain. A few weeks ago all those yellow grasses had even been green and flowers had briefly bloomed.

No trip to Namibia would be complete without a visit to the sand dunes of Sossusvlei, located in the Namib Naukluft Park. The colours of the dune are at their best early in the morning so we set off before 6 AM to get there. One bonus of an early morning start are the animals that you encounter. We stopped to let a herd of more than sixty Zebras cross the road in front of us.

It takes about an hour to drive from the park gates to the largest dunes, each one numbered according to its distance from Sesriem Canyon, part of the park. We passed the famous 360 M high Dune 45, featured in films and advertisements. Peter had told us that the distinctive red sands of the Namib Desert originate in the Kalahari and Lesotho. Over millenniums the sands were blown west and carried in the Orange River to the Atlantic Ocean. There the Benguela current carried the sand north and deposited it over the natural yellow sand in the desert. Some people were already climbing the knife-edge of Dune 45 but we were headed farther on to "The Mother" at the end of the dry Tsauchab River, which very rarely fills with water. The only way you can tell it is a river is by the line of trees that grow along the dry course. The river once reached all the way to the Atlantic Ocean but shifting sands have stopped its progress. We had two routes to choose from to get to the top and I think we took the more difficult route. We climbed up the backside on the shorter but steeper trail. We forgot how walking in sand means two steps up and slide one step back. Reaching the top and the view was our reward. Johan and Ray took a short cut down straight over the side of the dune but I wanted to enjoy the experience on top and walked down the longer, more gradual route.

Back at the Green Machine, Johan discovered that we had a flat tire. He changed the tire to the spare and we were on our way. We hadn't gone very far when a loud bang announced the fact that the spare tire had shredded. We changed to the second spare tire and proceeded on to our lunch stop at Solitaire, a restaurant and small motel complex in the middle of nowhere. Johan had promised us pieces of their famous Apfelstrudel made by the manager, Moose. We were barely able to eat the huge rich portions, but it was good.

We reached the summer resort town of Swakopmund on the Atlantic Coast late in the afternoon. We stayed in the Drifters Lodge, not in our tents, for two nights. Our tent accommodation was very comfortable but it was nice to sleep in a regular bed for a change. Namibia was a German colony until the First World War, during which South Africa annexed it. Namibia became independent in 1990 but Swakopmund retains many of its original German Colonial buildings and many of the inhabitants speak three languages, English, Afrikaans and German. Some people say that Swakopmund is more German than Germany.

Swakopmund is on the edge of the Namib Desert, the center for many "adventure" activities. Some of our group went tandem skydiving, others went sand boarding in the dunes while Ray and I chose a quad-biking expedition in the dunes. We drove to the edge of the desert where we chose our bikes and rode single file behind our guide into the dunes. I had no idea they were so extensive. They were not as high as Sossusvlei but they went on as far as the eye could see. We gradually became accustomed to the machines, racing up and down the dunes. One of our guides scooped a small lizard from its home at the top of a dune and brought it back to show us. He worried it enough so that it threatened to bite him then let the lizard bite his ear to become a live earring. He did eventually return it to its home in the sand.

We left Swakopmund and drove a short distance up the coast to visit Cape Cross, the breeding place of the Cape Fur seals. The sound and smell of the seals announced itself as soon as we approached the site. We spent about an hour watching the tiny jet black baby seals try to find their mothers and the large males vie for domination. Our lunch was at one of many campgrounds on the cold Atlantic beach. Johan told us he plans to return to this area for a fishing holiday with his father in January.

Our remote campsite that night was at Sptizkoppe, called the "Matterhorn of Namibia". This 1782 m bare granite inselberg rises out of an endless dry plain, next to the 1584 m Little Spitzkoppe and the rounded mound of boulders called Pontoks. We camped in the open next to the Pontoks. Several of our group were planning to sleep without their tents until Johan picked up a large scorpion in a cup and showed it to us. Everyone decided to put up their tents. We all walked up the rough surface of the Pontok boulders to see the view but Uwe sprained an ankle badly coming down and spent the rest of the trip limping.

Johan showed us the route to "Bushman's Paradise", a San painting site under an overhanging rock wall. The San people, or Bushmen, as they were formerly called, are believed to have lived in the Kalahari Desert. They were hunters and gatherers and were especially adapted to desert conditions. As depicted in several paintings, the San were small, brown skinned people. Fat was stored in their large buttocks, allowing them to fast for long periods of time. Individual ownership of land and belongings was unknown, which eventually brought them into conflict with white settlers. If a San needed food and a cow was nearby, he killed and ate it. The San were driven from their traditional lands and their numbers decreased dramatically. They exist today only in small numbers in northwestern South Africa, the Kalahari, Namibia and Botswana. Cave painting sites are numerous at Spitzkoppe and wherever the San lived but because of vandalism, only a few sites are open for view.

The next day we visited Twyfelfontein, named "doubtful spring" by David Levin, who tried to settle in the area with his family but spent most of his time searching for water. Twyfelfontein has one of the most extensive collections of rock paintings and engravings in the world. The local Damara people run the site and just last year obtained money to build a fascinating information center entirely of oil drum parts. Our guide Sylvia led us on an interesting short walk amongst the hot sandstone rocks. She was very well informed and pointed out more and more drawings, some older than 6000 years.

Our next campsite was at Palmwag resort, an oasis on the Uniab River in northwest Damaraland. We spent a relaxing afternoon swimming in the camp pool. Desert elephants, smaller than other African elephants, have a regular route right through the campsite. For this reason we had to sleep in designated areas but to my disappointment, they bypassed us the night we were there.

Johan discovered another flat tire when we arrived at Palmwag, so we had an unscheduled stop for some patch work in a service center in the flower filled town of Outjo. A small group of Himba women and children, from a town 20 km away, arrived to do some shopping at the corner store next to the service station. These nomadic people wear little clothing, apart from a goat skin mini-skirt. They cover their skin and hair with red ochre and fat to protect them from the sun. We had been advised not to descend on people with our cameras so we had to be content with photos taken surreptitiously from inside the Green Machine.

Etosha National Park is one of the oldest and best game parks in Southern Africa. The German Colonial government in 1907 established it as a game preserve. Etosha now covers 22,000 sq km, at the center of which is a vast salt pan. The pan is rarely water filled but there are several waterholes throughout the reserve for the animals. We camped the first night at Okuakuejo Resort, and the second night at Namutoni Resort, both very comfortable conglomerations of cottages, motel rooms, restaurant and a campsite with swimming pools for the visitors. One of the highlights of our visit was the arrival of a Black Rhino male at the waterhole close to our campsite at Okuakuejo. Special yellow spot lights illuminated the area without disturbing the animals that come after the heat of the day has passed. Visitors quietly sat in a bleacher or on benches next to the wall and fencing surrounding the waterhole and watched the Rhino drink and then carefully mark his territory with his dung and urine as he stalked away. After the male had finished, pairs of female Black Rhinos and their calves took their turn.

Johan took us on several game drives in the Green Machine. We would drive through some areas without seeing any animals and then there would be large herds of animals. We saw springbok, giraffe, a huge herd of Burchell's zebras, wildebeest, jackals, warthogs, red hartebeest, hyenas plus many more birds and animals.

Our most exciting sighting was at a waterhole in the eastern section of the park. Eight giraffe, waiting their turn to drink, were all staring in the same direction. Johan said the other animals know to use the tall giraffe as a barometer for trouble. A lion lay under a tree a short distance from the waterhole. The giraffe were being very cautious, as they are very vulnerable while drinking. They have to splay their front legs far apart in order to bend their long necks down to the water. One by one they took a turn drinking, but the lion didn't move. We drove away to see other animals but returned before sunset to find the lion slowly ambling across the field with two small cubs in tow.

As we were driving away from Etosha towards the Okavango Delta, Johan warned us we would be passing several very poor but traditional hut villages. His principals are that unless a person is performing a service for you or there is an exchange of some kind, he does not stop to photograph the villages or the people. The alternative would be a photo taken out of the Green Machine window as we drove past. Johan did say he would be stopping at one of the several villages with clay pots for sale and we might have an opportunity for photos at that time. We found a village with a pot display and were greeted by the entire population of children and the pot salesman. Johan struck a deal for a large pot, destined as a present for his mother and several photos were snapped of the children. The pot travelled the rest of the way to Johannesburg strapped into the passenger seat of the cab beside Johan. It was as big as and almost looked like a passenger.