Entry #8 - Namibia - July 22 - 31, 2023

Hello from Namibia,

For the past little while, we have covered a lot of ground.  I say that because our time has been packed full of new experiences, and also because we have travelled what feels like endless stretches of land in our journey through southern Namibia.  We have been intoxicated with awe.  Namibia’s vastness - its unbelievable expanses of sand and sky and sea - leaves us speechless.  I know I will fail to properly honour its scale and impact with brief summaries, so I hope the photos will speak for themselves. 

For this leg of our trip, we became part of a wonderful family of travellers when we joined a Nomad group tour.  

We are so lucky that our crew included another family, with kiddos around the same age as ours, who happen to be some totally awesome folks!   It has been a joy getting to know our new friends and sharing these experiences with them.  Meet Ryan, Lisa, Zoe, Tayton, Maria, and Larry.  

Our guides, Shortie and Goodness, are the captains/chefs for our giant, military-grade truck, that races along Nambia’s unpaved roads, rattling our bones with the country’s rough terrain.  

Jessie and Tayton would often be sitting right up front as mini co-captains, bouncing along for hours of driving, enjoying the best view together.

Now… here is the journey.  Leaving Cape Town we watched as the world around us became more and more arid.  

The border between South Africa and Namibia is carved out by the gushes of the Orange River. 

Here we had our first foray into desert terrain with a hike in the area’s dry, cracked earth.

It was hard to believe that our next stop would be an oasis of sorts.  In Ai-Ais, we discovered the joy of natural hot springs that gurgle up from the deep, feeding warm pools in the midst of otherwise parched landscapes. 

We had a fun night of splashing in the pools, soaking up the warmth, and watching the sunset behind the rocky hills that surrounded us. 

Every day on our tour was a new adventure.  These adventures often started before dawn.  And while it can be tough getting up at 5 am, in the freezing, biting cold, it was always worth it in the end.  Particularly when it came to watching the sun rise over the magnificent Fish River Canyon.

Very little river.  No more fish.  Lots and lots of canyon.  This African version of the Grand Canyon is incredible! Strata after strata documenting the millions of years of erosion and sediment that have worked together to create a massive, colourful, streak in the earth.  This rocky gash carved deep into the ground was beautifully described as a “classical symphony in rock”; and that it was.

Our days would go from one gasp-worthy site to the next.  We marvelled at the variety of breathtaking landscapes, always surprising us with differing versions of beauty.  From the depths of the canyon, we moved on to the playful peaks of the Giant’s Playground.  The kids loved climbing up and over hills that looked like scattered piles of boulders. 

The nearby Quiver Tree Forest gave us a special lesson in the local flora, introducing the desert-resistant trees which traditional Bushman hunters hollowed out to hold a quiver of arrows.  They were the perfect backdrop for sunset.

Every spot would have an unexpected gift. This often appeared in the form of coming face to face with incredible animals doing incredibly everyday things, like when we got to be up close to watch cheetahs gnawing at their dinner, or when we took a last minute game drive and saw the cast of the Lion King just chilling at a watering hole.

Then there are days that are so unbelievably special, they feel utterly surreal.  Waking up before dawn we made our way to the dunes of the oldest desert in the world.  Welcome to the red sand “wonder” land of the Namib Desert. 

As the sun began to spill over this other-worldly terrain, we were already trekking up the ridge of famous Dune 45, each step sinking into the powdery soft sand.  

The dunes are huge and difficult to climb, but worth the effort. Catching our breath at the top of the ridge inspired an overwhelming awe.  As we balanced ourselves on this sandy summit, watching the wind whip the epidermal layer of the dunes into ever shifting streaks, we stared out into a russet-coloured foreverness.   

Then, there was the fun part.  Bounding down the slopes of the dunes is a cross between flying and walking on the moon.  There’s nothing quite like it.  Needless to say, the kids would have happily spent all day taunting gravity on these double black diamond levelled steep slopes.

Farther into the desert we discovered a place where time stood still.  Having been completely cut off from any form of water for the last 1000 years, Deadvlei (Dead Valley) is the graveyard for trees so dry that they cannot decompose.  The ghostly, fragile, half-petrified trees are monuments to the severity of this ancient land.  

Another pocket of the desert is the complete opposite, somehow supporting a small collection of trees robust enough to grow green leaves in the middle of a near-constant drought.

These isolated spots could only be reached with a ride on 4x4 vehicles.  It was so much fun fishtailing at top speed, even if the trucks occasionally needed a little help getting out of the sand.

This particular day felt like it couldn’t get better.  We were emotionally exhausted with joy by the time we arrived at the Bushman Desert Camp, which would be our home for the night.  However, the day concluded with yet another dose of magic.  Our host, known to all as Boesmon (Bushman), took us on a tour of his farm, and he shared with us the history of the land and taught us about the remarkable features of the desert that made it such a deeply rich and plentiful place.

Boesmon was the most passionate and engaging guide we could have ever asked for. His reverence for the desert and respect for the original Bushman - the only group of people who had ever successfully survived here - was inspiring.  

Boesmon’s ancestors came to Namibia in 1901 and interacted directly with the Bushman people while they still lived in the traditional way.  Boesmon inherited information that has limited documentation. The stories of brilliant Bushman practices, their skill as hunters, their ability to thrive independently in a home with no water, and then the vicious genocide that nearly eradicated them, kept us hanging on his every word.  

Boesmon also revealed the secrets of the desert that made it possible to survive the treacherous conditions.  He wasn’t regurgitating something he saw on YouTube.  His lessons came from several of his own journeys, some seven days long, of independently trekking through the desert with nothing more than a sleeping bag.  Nothing.  No water bottle. Not even shoes - which he last wore 27 years ago.  The kids’ eyes were the size of saucers when Boesmon demonstrated how to eat the nutritious seeds that can be found in jackal droppings, or explained how to squish the head of a lizard in order to make it a hydrating, life-saving snack.  It was an unforgettable, extremely moving, and truly educational night.

The desert was a captivating place.  Scary. Peaceful. Exhilarating.  We fell even more in love with the sand-swept scenery when we went ATVing across the dunes near the town of Swakopmund.  On an outing with our friends, we took off for an adrenaline-filled ride that felt as wild and free as the gale-force winds whipping our faces.  It was hard to believe that Jamie was driving his own ATV.  We were hitting speeds of 50 km/hr, following a guide who was navigating uncharted paths that seemed to have the design of some extreme-sport desert racetrack.  It was a full-throttle, woohoo-ing-at-the-top-of-your-lungs kind of ride.  

Then, to top it off, our next treat was sandboarding!  We revved our way to the top of a particularly high dune, where the wind was so strong it could almost support your whole body weight and made us feel like human sails.  From this height, we plummeted down the slope and swooped into the valley, often dismounting in a sandstorm tumble.  The kids didn’t hesitate for a single second.  They were fearless and had the time of their lives.  

Our itinerary was full of variety.  Miles and miles, (and miles and miles...) of travel gave us access to the many wonders throughout this vast country, including some pretty fantastic animal encounters.

Beyond being spellbound by the stunning landscapes and unique animals, we were so fortunate to learn about Namibia’s ancient history. This was especially true of the stops where guides explained cryptic cave engravings.  The Nama people would use rock paintings to record their experiences, communicate warnings, indicate the presence of water, and even document their initial interactions with White Europeans. It was hard to believe that our eyes were seeing these 5000-year-old messages that were the blood-soaked brushstrokes of ancient nomads. 

It was fitting that the rock paintings were found in places of natural grandeur, such as bouldery mountains in Damaraland, or in the foothills of Namibia's highest mountain range.

We have been extremely grateful for the many lessons this leg of our trip has taught us.  Whether it be about desert plants that you can squeeze water out of, the tiny rabbit-like animals called dassi being the closest relatives of elephants, or about the various tribes that make up Nambia’s cultural tapestry; this amazing country inspires us to be eager students.  

The icing on the cake has been making wonderful new friends to share this amazing adventure with. 

The next part of the tour and the conclusion of our time in Namibia has a shift in focus; wildlife. The next chapter is all about safari!

T.T.F.N.