7/19/19
From Outjo, we headed to Spitzkoppe, a very beautiful desert region with some rocky mountains that jut out of it. It's a very stunning area, like something you might see in the Southwest. After setting up our tent in a little alcove in a rock cliff, Elisha and I walked to a natural arch that was really cool. What was also entertaining was that there were 4 Chinese girls doing a photoshoot under the arch. They were taking forever, wearing fancy outfits, and then they stripped down to nightwear. Eventually I had to ask them to move for a second so that we could take some photos. The other funny thing was that they were covered head to toe to protect from the sun/sand (even wearing masks) before they got to the arch.
After exploring around the arch area, we climbed the little rocky peak behind our campsite to watch a gorgeous sunset with some South African wine. The sunset really lit up the rocks gold and red. Back at camp, we had beef medallions and then went out into the desert. Out in the complete darkness, we looked up at the amazingly bright stars. The milky way was so clear!! It was unbelievable! Once the nearly full moon rose, we walked back to the campfire and had some marshmallows.
7/20/19
In the morning, Elisha, Norbert, Jodi, and I got up early and climbed back up the rocky mountain to watch and equally stunning sunrise. It was beautiful as the surrounding rock mountains turned red as the sun rose.
Next, we drove towards the Atlantic Coast. The drive was through pure barren desert. As we got closer to the coast, we saw this long bank of what looked like a dust storm in front of us, but then I quickly realized it must be the fog from the cold Atlantic. We drove into the thick and soupy fog and then quickly reached the coast. We then drove on a salt/sand highway with the coast on one side and the desert on the other until we reached Cape Cross. At Cape Cross there is an African Fur Seal colony of about 200,000 seals. The smell is overwhelming! But there are pups everywhere, and they are very cute. The seals are packed everywhere, and we could get really close to them. The colony is really loud, and the seals are barking all over the place. We also saw 3 jackals scavenging through the colony.
After our visit, we continued driving along the desert coast. The desert here is known as the Namib desert. It ranges from the coast of Angola to South Africa. We had lunch on the chilly beach next to a shipwreck. This part of the coast, from Swakopmund to Angola is known as the Skeleton Coast because there have been so many shipwrecks (due to foggy conditions, sand banks, and shoals) and rescue from the sea is tough as is rescue from land because of the desert. In fact, where we had lunch there was a human skeleton in the sand.
After lunch we drove to Swakopmund. It's such a strange town. It doesn't feel African at all because it is very nice and modern with big European style houses. It's pretty clean, and the streets are super wide with sidewalks as well. All quite an enigma in Africa. The town is also strange b/c it's built in the sand of the desert. It's an old German settlement and there are still lots of Germans. We stayed in a hotel in Swokupmund, so after checking in, we walked around the town a bit, walked out on the pier, and then did some laundry. The whole group went out to a restaurant, and I ordered a game platter with Oryx, Kudu, Springbok, and Zebra steaks.
7/21/19
In the morning the town was swathed in dense fog. We signed up for a 1/2 day tour called "Living Desert" where we took a Land Rover into the dune of Dorob NP and we learned all about how animals and plants survive in this dune/desert environment. The dunes were tall and stunning, especially after the fog burned off around 11am. We drove up to the top of one dune with a view of dunes as far as we could see! If it would have been clearer, we could have seen where the dunes meet the sea. Besides learning about the plants and animals, we searched for them. We found 2 sidewinder snakes, which were really cool to see side-wind up the dunes. We also found a shovel-nosed lizard (known locally as a Ferrari b/c it runs up to 50 km/hr). We also found various beatles, but could not find a scorpion or the famous translucent gecko. We also checked out various plants and ate some of their seeds. Overall, it was just really amazing to see how these animals and plants manage to collect moisture in a place where it doesn't rain, but does have the dense fog in the mornings.
In the afternoon we went out on a tour, led by an American guy who moved to Namibia 17 years ago. It was a cool tour and very informative. We drove through canyons and across a moonscape type landscape. Very unique, but maybe similar to the Badlands of South Dakota (though I don't remember them well). We also checked out the famous Welwitschia tree. We stopped at a nice view for sunset and were served champagne and chips. The tour visited both Dorob NP and Namib-Nauklauft NP. For dinner we had pizza at a restaurant.
From Outjo, we headed to Spitzkoppe, a very beautiful desert region with some rocky mountains that jut out of it. It's a very stunning area, like something you might see in the Southwest. After setting up our tent in a little alcove in a rock cliff, Elisha and I walked to a natural arch that was really cool. What was also entertaining was that there were 4 Chinese girls doing a photoshoot under the arch. They were taking forever, wearing fancy outfits, and then they stripped down to nightwear. Eventually I had to ask them to move for a second so that we could take some photos. The other funny thing was that they were covered head to toe to protect from the sun/sand (even wearing masks) before they got to the arch.
After exploring around the arch area, we climbed the little rocky peak behind our campsite to watch a gorgeous sunset with some South African wine. The sunset really lit up the rocks gold and red. Back at camp, we had beef medallions and then went out into the desert. Out in the complete darkness, we looked up at the amazingly bright stars. The milky way was so clear!! It was unbelievable! Once the nearly full moon rose, we walked back to the campfire and had some marshmallows.
7/20/19
In the morning, Elisha, Norbert, Jodi, and I got up early and climbed back up the rocky mountain to watch and equally stunning sunrise. It was beautiful as the surrounding rock mountains turned red as the sun rose.
Next, we drove towards the Atlantic Coast. The drive was through pure barren desert. As we got closer to the coast, we saw this long bank of what looked like a dust storm in front of us, but then I quickly realized it must be the fog from the cold Atlantic. We drove into the thick and soupy fog and then quickly reached the coast. We then drove on a salt/sand highway with the coast on one side and the desert on the other until we reached Cape Cross. At Cape Cross there is an African Fur Seal colony of about 200,000 seals. The smell is overwhelming! But there are pups everywhere, and they are very cute. The seals are packed everywhere, and we could get really close to them. The colony is really loud, and the seals are barking all over the place. We also saw 3 jackals scavenging through the colony.
After our visit, we continued driving along the desert coast. The desert here is known as the Namib desert. It ranges from the coast of Angola to South Africa. We had lunch on the chilly beach next to a shipwreck. This part of the coast, from Swakopmund to Angola is known as the Skeleton Coast because there have been so many shipwrecks (due to foggy conditions, sand banks, and shoals) and rescue from the sea is tough as is rescue from land because of the desert. In fact, where we had lunch there was a human skeleton in the sand.
After lunch we drove to Swakopmund. It's such a strange town. It doesn't feel African at all because it is very nice and modern with big European style houses. It's pretty clean, and the streets are super wide with sidewalks as well. All quite an enigma in Africa. The town is also strange b/c it's built in the sand of the desert. It's an old German settlement and there are still lots of Germans. We stayed in a hotel in Swokupmund, so after checking in, we walked around the town a bit, walked out on the pier, and then did some laundry. The whole group went out to a restaurant, and I ordered a game platter with Oryx, Kudu, Springbok, and Zebra steaks.
7/21/19
In the morning the town was swathed in dense fog. We signed up for a 1/2 day tour called "Living Desert" where we took a Land Rover into the dune of Dorob NP and we learned all about how animals and plants survive in this dune/desert environment. The dunes were tall and stunning, especially after the fog burned off around 11am. We drove up to the top of one dune with a view of dunes as far as we could see! If it would have been clearer, we could have seen where the dunes meet the sea. Besides learning about the plants and animals, we searched for them. We found 2 sidewinder snakes, which were really cool to see side-wind up the dunes. We also found a shovel-nosed lizard (known locally as a Ferrari b/c it runs up to 50 km/hr). We also found various beatles, but could not find a scorpion or the famous translucent gecko. We also checked out various plants and ate some of their seeds. Overall, it was just really amazing to see how these animals and plants manage to collect moisture in a place where it doesn't rain, but does have the dense fog in the mornings.
In the afternoon we went out on a tour, led by an American guy who moved to Namibia 17 years ago. It was a cool tour and very informative. We drove through canyons and across a moonscape type landscape. Very unique, but maybe similar to the Badlands of South Dakota (though I don't remember them well). We also checked out the famous Welwitschia tree. We stopped at a nice view for sunset and were served champagne and chips. The tour visited both Dorob NP and Namib-Nauklauft NP. For dinner we had pizza at a restaurant.
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