Our photos and our words cannot do the place justice. I still find myself scrolling keenly through my archive of photos to make sure it was me: that I was there under the purple black sky overflowing with stars, to check that the deep red glow of the sun setting over the barren Atlantic was something I saw, to prove that the two recently-sated lions strolling past our truck, so close that I could almost touch them was not something I dreamed.
We packed an enormous amount into our two weeks in Namibia, driving up from Fish River Canyon (Grand Canyon...eat your heart out!) to Windhoek in one, long day before the 12 day Dunes and Delta tour with Thimbi Thimbi. I don't think I fully appreciated the import of the word VAST until I saw Namibia. I thought I did as we traveled up the lush green Olifants River Valley in South Africa, flanked by colossal mountains the sun seeming too far away to ever set. Then we drove all over Namibia and now I understand how very big the open spaces are, how many bumpy dusty miles of ever changing landscape roll by through a colour chart of khaki, yellow, ochre, red and brown between oases of townships. And the sky....there is just so much of it, uninterrupted by tall buildings or light pollution, bright blue or twinkling black arcs take up two thirds of the space on my retinas.
Our itinerary took us from Windhoek to the Dune Sea at Sossusvlei and Sesreim for a couple of nights of bush camping in the desert. Then back to Windhoek for a brief respite from the heat, before continuing our infinity loop up to Etosha National Park, Bushmanland, the Okavango Delta and the Caprivi strip, finishing up in Livingstone: dazed, exhilarated and enriched. We became adept at spotting all the wild animals - baboons, oryx, ostrich, springbok, jackals and zebra - crossing our paths. The desert was surprisingly cold at night - we had four season sleeping bags and multiple layers of fine merino wool keeping us above freezing both we were nights there. It is a wonder anything can survive in this harsh, utterly breathtaking and surreal land, but they do. I picked up a nasty cough and cold in Sesreim, which ultimately spread to our whole group and, as I was later told, to almost all the tourist groups doing the same circuit. Of all the things to get in the hottest, driest and oldest desert in the world...a common garden cold, no doubt a stowaway from Europe.
I can't adequately convey my experience in Namibia, it still needs to filter through my senses that are buzzing from over stimulation, but I have favorite moments. Dawn at Dune 45 (because of its distance, in kilometers, from Sesreim) - not just for the physical conquest of making it up a three or four hundred foot shifting sand dune but for the quiet awe we stood in as the sun crested over the mountains and bathed the previously matte terracotta dunes in twinkling golden red light, technicolour where there had been black and white. The utterly surreal vision that is Deadvlei - a haunting, stark white clay pan - the ghost of a once might river - dotted with pitch black petrified trees, stuck denuded in comical poses against a backdrop of bright orange dune. Windy Walvis Bay with its regular conical mountains of refined salt and plethora of flamingos, pausing briefly to breed and feed. Pushing my comfort zone to go quad biking and sand boarding down vertiginous golden dunes and being rewarded with adrenaline and the realization that I am more competent than I give myself credit for.
Our first night at Etosha National Park - after a long drive up from Windhoek, through Grootfontein, we arrive at dusk and are rewarded with the truly breathtaking spectacle of wild animals resting and re hydrating at the water hole, adjacent to our camp site, which is flooded with infra red light so we can watch from the cheap seats. First the family of Elephants, lined up like big grey Russian dolls along the bank, noisily slurping and play fighting with dust. Then there was the cautious White Rhino mother and her calf, dismissively staying clear of the solitary Black Rhino, strutting and grunting at the bizarre flashes of light caused by overzealous and ignorant tourist cameras.
And out of Acacia trees materialize five lanky Giraffes, awkwardly angling their limbs to drink at the waterhole. Jackals zig zag everywhere, eerily howling at the red crescent moon that set right behind the waterhole. As these animals tried various jetties into the watering hole, they passed no more than 10 feet from us - smelling but not seeing the alien figures, all of us holding our breath or slack jawed in amazement.
Taking a walk in the bush with a real live Bushman, of Kalahari and The Gods Must Be Crazy fame - watching him pad silently through utter wilderness and learning about which animals will feed me and which plants will cure me. Another highlight is the peaceful watery relief of the languid Okavango Delta, being punted through the lily pad studded swamp in mokoro (dugout canoes) along the maze of channels made by hippos and being lulled to sleep in our island bush camp by the constant drone of frogs and cicadas.
It feels odd sleeping in a double bed inside four, air conditioned walls. No more tent pitching and camp fire ritual and mercifully no more pre-dawn starts. I like the noise and the colour and the bustle of Livingstone, the "real" Africa feel after the surreal of Namibia but I know it is a place and an experience that will stay with me for a long long time to come. I will miss the kind, inquisitive and easy going nature of the Namibians I met and very much hope we will see them again when we return.
Comments
August 26, 2007, 08:31:16 Derek & Ann wrote:
Repeat missage in case of ursine incompetence. Package from Minter Ellison safely arrived and awaits. Glad that wildlife is tractable. Midges and cows do not compare. My envy will cost me three Hail Marys....
Love & Hugs,
Urses
September 07, 2007, 06:48:25 Kit wrote:
*qsh* Piglet 3 *qsh* to Piglet 1 *qsh* do you read? *qsh* Over *qsh*
Sorry about that it just made my day.
Anyway, so while I'm reading your beautiful and (dare I say) evocative descriptions of your trip through exotic Africa, I am sitting in a second hand office wheelie chair in Hadleigh on a grey and nippy Friday, desperate for the 30 min alloted internet time, while simultaneously dealing with Pips' Uni dilema's, being Fara's chaperone (don't tell Rog I said that please), and being at Rog's every beckon call!
Dont you just love family!
But I am so jealous of you guys, although I'm too sure what it is exactly you guys are up to? I can't to hear the details (hopefully) in person sometime soon
Lots of Love from the Maconick Troop
and
Miss you <3
August 10, 2008, 07:39:30 Anne wrote:
Truth fears no trial.
May 12, 2009, 04:25:31 pharmchemical wrote:
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May 12, 2009, 04:45:36 pharmchemical wrote:
http://www.pharmchemical.com , http://pharmchem.3322.net , E-mail: hero@pharmchemical.com , zyongfu@netease.com , ZHOU XI FEN PHARM CHEMICAL PRODUCT LIST (ZXFPC20090512) , Sell Lamivudine (3TC) Lamotrigine Lansoprazole Lappaconitine Hydrobromide Latanoprost Leflunomide Lenalidomide Lercanidipine Leucovorin Calcium Levamlodipine Besylate Levetiracetam Levobetaxolol HCl Levocarbastine HCl Levocetirizine Hydrochloride Levosimendan Linezolid Liranaftate Lisinopril Dihydrate L-Leucovorin Calcium L-Methyldopa Lomerizine HCl Lomustine Lonidamine Loperamide HCl Lopinavir Loratadine Losartan Potassium Lovastatin Low Molecular Weight Heparin (LMWH) Lycopene Madecassic acid Malotilate Manidipine HCL Mannatide Mecobalamin /Vitamin B12 Medicinal Evodia P.E Meglumine Antimoniate Meleumycinum Melphalan Mequitazine Meropenem Meso-2,3-Dimercaptosuccinic Acid Metaraminol Bitartrate Methotrexate Disodium Methyl Cantharidimide Mevastatin Micronomicin Sulfate Midecamycin Milrinone Miltefosine Minocycline HCl Minoxidil Mitiglinide Calcium Hydrate Mitomycin C Mitotane Mitoxantrone HCl Mizolastine Mizoribine Moexipril Montelukast Sodium Moxonidine Mupirocin Mycophenolate Mofetil Mycophenolate sodium Mycophenolic Acid N-Acetylneuraminic Acid Nadifloxacin Nafamostat Mesilate Naftopidil Natamycin 50 PCT Minimum + Lactose Nateglinide Nebivolol Nedaplatin Nelarabine Nelfinavir Neridronate Netilmicin Sulfate Nevirapine (NVP) Nicardipine HCl Nifekalant Nigericin(Sodium/salt) Nimustine HCl Nisoldipine Nitidine Nolatrexed 2HCl Nonivamide Norcantharidinum Octacosanol Octylonium Bromide Officinal Magnolia Bark Extract Olmesartan Olopatadine HCl Olpadronate Olprinone HCl Olsalazine Sodium Ondansetron HCl Orlistat Oteracil Potassium Oxaliplatin Oxybutynin HCl Oxymatrine Oxymetazoline Hydrochloride Ozagrel HCl / Sodium Paclitaxel Paeoniflorin Palonosetron HCl Pamabrom Pamidronate Disodium Panipenem Pantoprazole Sodium Paromomycin Sulfate Pazufloxacin Mesilate Pemetrexed disodium Pemirolast Potassium Penciclovir Pentoxyverine Citrate Perindopril Phentolamine Mesilate Phenylephrine Hydrochloride Phosphatidyl Serine Pidotimod Pilsicainide Pimobendan Pioglitazone HCl Pirenoxine Pirenzepine Hcl Pirfenidone Piribedil HCl Pitavastatin Calcium Platinum Dioxide hydrate Podophyllotoxin Policosanol Polyadenosinic acid Polycytidylic Acid(polyc) Polycytidysic acid Polygonum Cuspidatum P.E Polyinosinic acid Polymixin B Sulfate Polyuridinic acid Pravastatin Sodium Prazosin HCl Pregabalin Primaquine Phosphate Proglumide Prostaglandin E1 Prostaglandin E2 Prulifloxacin Puerarin Quinapril Rabeprazole Raceanisodamine Racecadotril R-alpha Lipoic Acid Raltitrexed Ramipril Ramosetron Hydrochloride Ranolazine Rapamycin / Sirolimus Repaglinide Reserpine Resveratrol Retinamide Rhamnose Ribostamycin Sulfate Rifabutin Rifamycin O Rifapentine Rifaximin Rilmenidine Risedronate Sodium Risedronic acid Ristocetin A Ritonavir Ritonavir Rizatriptan Benzoate Rocuronium Bromide Rofecoxib Ropinirole HCl Rosiglitazone Base / HCl / Maleate Rosuvastatin Calcium Roxatidine Acetate HCl Rubescensin A (Oridonin) Rubitecan Rupatadine Fumarate S-adenosylmethionine toluenesulfonate Salicin Saquinavir Mesylate Sarpogrelate HCl Sarsasapogenin Sequoyitol Seratrodast Sertaconazole Sesame P.E. Sevelamer HCl Shikimic Acid Simvastatin Sirolimus(Rapamycin) Sisomicin Sulfate Sitagliptin Phosphate Sodium Aescinate Sodium faropenem Sodium Ferulic Sodium Folinate Sodium Hyaluronate Sodium Usnic Acid Sofalcone Solifenacin Succinate Sophocarpine Sophoridine Spectinomycin Hydrochloride /Sulfate Stavudine (D4T) Streptozotocin Strontium Ranelate Sumatriptan Succinate Tabersonine Tacrolimus Tanshinone IIA Sulfonate Taurocholic Acid Sodium Salt Taurolidine Tazobactam Sodium Tegafur Tegaserod Maleate Teicoplanin Telmisartan Temocapril HCL Temozolomide Tenatoprazole Sodium Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate Tenoxicam Terazosin HCl Terbinafine HCl Tetrandrine Thioguanine Thiostrepton Thiotepa Tiagabine Tigecycline Tilmicosin Tilorone Tiludronate disodium Tiopronin Tiotropium bromide Tirapazamine Tirofiban HCl Tobramycin Sulphate Tolterodine Tartrate Toltrazuril Topotecan Hydrochloride Torasemide Torasemide Tosufloxacin Tosylate Tranilast Trapidil Tretinoin(Retinoic acid) Trifluridine Trimetazidine Hydrochloride Triopisetron HCL Tropicamide Tropisetron HCl /Mesylate Troxipide Tubeimoside A Tulobuterol Hcl Ubenimex Ulinastatin Unoprostone Urapidil HCl Uridine diphosphate disodium salt Uridine diphosphate glucose Ursodeoxycholic Acid Ursolic acid Valdecoxib Valiolamine Valsartan Vancomycin Vinblastine Sulfate Vincristine Sulphate Vindesine Sulfate Vindoline Vinorelbine Bitartrate Vinorelbine Tartrare Vinpocetin Vitamin B12 Vitamin D2 Medical Grade Vitamin D3 Medical Grade Voglibose Voriconazole Xylometazoline Hydrochloride Zafirlukast Zalcitabine Zeatin Zidovudine (AZT) Zofenopril Calcium Zoledronate Sodium Zoledronic Acid Zolmitriptan, Oncology, Anticancer, Antivirus, Antibiotic,API, etc.
February 03, 2010, 08:40:20 Tassos wrote:
Thanks for the article.
February 22, 2010, 02:54:32 jerseys wrote:
I plan to get up a progress board this week for us to start documenting the details of this project, so you'll be able to go there for more info on it if you're really interested.
February 24, 2010, 02:47:18 air force wrote:
How did they get there?
I wonder how those greenfreak NGO got there im sure they didnt flap their arms or teleport or use pixie dust they most likly came on commercial airliners or as with these GREENPEACE troublemakers they came in their diesle fuled garbage scows ARCTIC SUNRISE and RAINBOW WARRIOR II