Travels

Dune 45, Sossusvlei Area, Namib-Naukluft Park

Petroglyphs, Twyfelfontein, Damaraland

Water was the dominant theme of our visit to Namibia. That’s pretty surprising given that deserts cover some 90% of the country.

Now, it was the end of the rainy season, but we didn’t expect large parts of the country to look more like Ireland than like one of the driest countries in Africa. The rains had been particularly good, and the hillsides and plains were covered with a luxurious blanket of green grass. The animals, both wild and domestic, looked fat and happy.

Before we arrived in Namibia, our plan was to first go north to Etosha National Park but, upon arriving in the country and hearing that northern areas were flooded, we changed our minds. We headed south instead, hoping that the north would dry out a little before we got there.

But, even in the south, rain was a factor. The main road to Fish River Canyon was closed due to flooding, and we never did make it to what is considered one of the largest canyons in the world.

While the main highways in Namibia are paved and have bridges over the watercourses, the majority of roads in the country are gravel and simply proceed straight across any stream beds they encounter. For most of the year this isn’t a problem because the streams and rivers are dry but, during the rainy season, driving can become a little trickier. If the rains are particularly heavy, the rivers may become too dangerous to cross, and motorists might just have to wait until the water goes down.

We were glad to be driving a 4×4. There were some river crossings where a regular car wouldn’t have made it and, particularly in Etosha, places where there was so much water and mud that we needed a four-wheel drive to get through. By the time we returned our Nissan Bushcamper, even the engine was covered with mud.

Cathy and the Nissan Bushcamper at the Spitzkoppe Campground

We had a couple of experiences that showed just how quickly the water can come and go. In the first case, we drove across a bone-dry riverbed in the Namib-Naukluft National Park on our way to see the otherworldly welwitschia plants. It was a blue-sky day with nothing but fluffy white clouds as far as the eye could see. When we returned to the crossing about an hour later, a fair-sized river was running, and the brown, debris-filled water was getting deeper by the minute. We either had to drive through the water or wait for what would probably have been several hours for the water to recede. We decided to go through, put the truck into four-wheel drive, and started across. The water wasn’t that deep, but the entry into the river was fairly steep, and water came up and washed over the truck’s hood. I slowed down a little so it wouldn’t wash up and over the windshield, but kept a steady pace until we were across and on the other dry bank. We never did figure out where the water came from, but it was obviously raining somewhere.

On another occasion, we were camping at Palmwag Lodge in the northwestern part of the country. We had a terrific campsite that fronted directly onto an ephemeral stream. When we arrived, the stream bed was dry except for a few puddles and small pools. It would have been easy to walk across the river and, in fact, several people had done just that.

It was fairly clear overhead, but black clouds hung in the mountains to the east, and you could see lightning, and hear the far-off rumble of thunder. We were sitting there watching the distant storm when we started to hear something that sounded like the hissing of a giant gas burner. Cathy even went over and checked the next campsite to see if everything was okay. Moments later the water appeared and, in no time, a good-sized river was running in front of our campsite.

The River that Appeared at Palmwag. A Few Minutes Earlier this had been Dry.

A family that had earlier crossed the dry riverbed tried to return from the far bank but were turned back by the swirling thigh-deep water. Eventually, with the help of several people, a vehicle with a winch, and a rope, they did manage to make it back.

That night, a couple of Land Rovers filled with lodge guests didn’t return from the day’s outings. Apparently, they were also stuck on the other side of flooded rivers.

The next morning, the river was gone, leaving behind nothing but the same puddles and small pools.

Sometime after breakfast, the two Land Rovers, filled with wet, bedraggled guests, drove up.

Of course, it wasn’t raining all the time. The rain tended to arrive in short, sharp storms that moved on just as quickly as they arrived. This storm activity made for some wonderful skies, especially around sunrise and sunset.

Sunset at Sesriem

Quiver Trees at Last Light

Palmwag Sunset

Quiver Tree at Sunset

Another Palmwag Sunset

With its fabulous landforms, dunes, red sand, and usually blue skies, Namibia is a landscape photographer’s paradise. One of the most visited and most photographed areas is in Namib-Naukluft Park around Sesriem and Sossusvlei. Here you can drive along the usually-dry Tsauchab River into the heart of a sand-dune sea. The highest dunes rise up to almost 400 m above the valley floor.

Dunes Near Hiddenvlei

Our first day in the area started clear, but then a terrific storm blew in, sending the sand drifting over the dunes like red snow. As we drove back towards the campground, we hoped that the blasting rain and sand weren’t doing too much damage to the truck’s paint or windshield.

Storm at Dune 45

We were up well before dawn the next day so we could get to the Sossusvlei area, some 60 km away, by sunrise. I started to go into the men’s washroom but was driven back by the thousands upon thousands of bugs, ranging from the tiny to the frighteningly huge, that covered every square inch of the walls, floor, and ceiling. The door had been left open and the lights on, and it looked like every insect in the country had decided to make the washroom its home. It was like something from an Indiana Jones movie—the whole place was moving, and you couldn’t step inside without being swarmed by, and covered with, bugs. I didn’t even dare to go in long enough to take a photo.

Sensibly, the women had kept their door closed, and their lights off. A small group of young men from an overland tour stood plaintively at the door asking for permission to use the Lady’s.

Giant Cricket

We were glad to leave the entomologist’s dream behind, and head into the heart of the desert.

Instead of joining the crowds at Sossusvlei (a couple of dozen or so people!), we instead decided to hike the two kilometres to Hiddenvlei. (A vlei, also called a pan, is a place that may flood during the rainy season. There was no water in Hiddenvlei, or in Sossusvlei for that matter, while we were there.)

On the Way to Hiddenvlei

By the time we left the truck and began hiking towards Hiddenvlei, the sun’s first rays were just starting to pick out the dune crests from the dawn’s half-light. As we walked along, we watched as the dunes changed colour from the fiery orange of first light to the rusty brown of daytime. The low-angled light of sunrise also accentuated and highlighted the landscape’s textures, and emphasized the ripples in the sand, the curves of the dune crests, and the footprints of Oryx and Jackals that had slipped by quietly in the darkness the night before. We didn’t see another soul the whole morning.

Near Hiddenvlei

Pied Crows on the Dune Edge, Hiddenvlei

On the Way to Hiddenvlei

Besides its dramatic scenery, Nambia is also well-known for the variety and abundance of its wildlife. One of the areas we particularly liked was in the northwestern part of the country around Palmwag in Damaraland. It is a rugged, wild land, and the last place in Africa where you can find free-ranging black rhinos. On an all-day guided trip far back into the remote mountains of Damaraland we were lucky enough to see two of the ill-tempered beasts.

Giraffes, Palmwag Area, Damaraland

Black Rhino, Palmwag Area, Damaraland

Meerkat

Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra, Palmwag Area, Damaraland

Etosha National Park is another remarkable place. The land itself is mostly flat and brush covered, and not particularly exciting, but the wildlife easily makes up for it. On plains that stretch to the horizon you might see hundreds or thousands of animals including springbok, zebras, wildebeest, ostriches, giraffes, warthogs, and other grazing animals. The park is also home to lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, elephants, black rhinos, and white rhinos. In the five days we stayed in the park, we saw all of these species as well as numerous birds, lizards, and smaller animals.

Female Lion

Elephant Encounter, Etosha (Note the backup lights!)

Leopard (Good shot Cathy)

White Rhino at Waterhole
(This is an unusual shot. It was taken at 12:30 a.m. at an artificially-lit waterhole. It was hand-held at 1.3 sec, wide open, at ISO 3200, equivalent 35mm focal length of 300mm.)

Springbok

Cheetahs

Like many visitors to Namibia, we rented a truck with a camper, and enjoyed camping in some of the country’s many outstanding campgrounds, including those in Etosha.

Namtib Campsite

But the campsite at the base of the Spitzkoppe may have been the most spectacular of all. With its towering red granite walls rearing up some 700 m above the surrounding plain, the Spitzkoppe is sometimes called the Matterhorn of Africa—although there’s nary a glacier, alpenhorn, or pair of lederhosen to be seen.

The Spitzkoppe

As evening fell, the almost-full moon peeked down at us, and the Rosy-faced Lovebirds kept us company as the shadows crept up the Spitzkoppe’s imposing ramparts.

There was nowhere else I would rather have been.

Moonrise over the Spitzkoppe