Towards the end of September, I approached the half-way point through my mission. My colleague at NRC kindly reminded me that I had accrued some annual leave and encouraged me to use it otherwise I would lose it, so I arranged to take a ten-day break. It was a gift! I decided to use the time to go on an explorer camping safari around Namibia with Wild Dog Safaris, an excellent value for money, responsible tour company.
I joined my fellow travellers Vikki and John (from Canada), Ian, (from the UK), Jonathan (from the US) and Petr (from the Czech Republic) plus our brilliant guides Clifton and Joseph in the tour truck and we set off on a sunny Tuesday morning from Windhoek, south through Rehoboth and on to Sesriem in the Namib-Naukluft National Park where we set up camp for a couple of nights.
After putting up our tents, we visited the Elim dunes, just a short drive away, where we could climb up the sandy slopes and watch the colours change over the plains while the sun set.
The changing colours as the sun set over Elim dunes
The next day we were up before dawn and drove further into the Park to climb some dunes to watch the sunrise. It was a breathtaking site watching the sun rise, turning the dunes into a deep red, gold and russet.
Dunes at dawn
After breakfast out in the open air, Clifton took us on a desert walk where he explained the different plants, identified animal tracks and told us stories about the ways of the indigenous peoples, such as the Khoisan, and how they were able to survive in the desert.
Clifton squeezing some ostrich salad to get water
He led us onwards and upwards to a series of dune ridges where he left us to scale their heights and then run down the slopes to Deadvlei, a dead lake which eerily resembles an out of this world landscape containing a salt pan and dead tree stumps reaching up to the sky.
Me climbing the dunes
Me and fellow traveller John running down the slopes
Eerie Deadvlei
Toasted in the sun, the happy band of travellers trekked onwards through Deadvlei and made their way to the road where we hitched a lift to Sossuvlei and then back to the campsite. A few of us chilled out with an ice-cold drink in the bar in the afternoon and swapped travel adventure stories, one of the best bits about travelling in a small group! Then when the afternoon had cooled off a little, we piled back into the truck and went down to the Sesriem canyon, a small but nevertheless impressive gorge carved out by a river over thousands of years.
Last weekend I took myself off on a self-guided mini-walking tour in the centre of Windhoek, taking note of some of the landmarks and orientating myself to find places of interest I want to go back and explore at a later date e.g. the State Museum, National Art Gallery, Craft Centre etc. I stopped to admire the fountain and sculpture on Post Street Mall, made from real meteors commemorating a large meteor shower at Gibeon which happened 600 million years ago! I meandered through the many street stalls selling wood carvings, bead and leatherwork and baskets and stopped to buy some collectors stamps for my postcards home. I dropped into Ocean Basket to treat myself to fish and chips (well what is a Brit abroad supposed to do?) which happens to be one of my favourite foods anyway and cooked to perfection. I tucked in while sitting on the balcony overlooking the street craft market and watched the world go by for a while. You have to take a peek at one of their bizarre TV adverts, check out the prawn pack
Then to work off those calories I set off again on a ramble, pondered for a few tranquil, prayerful moments in the courtyard garden of the Dutch Reform Church, enjoying the welcome shade. And then I continued on to the Owela museum to see the Natural History Collection which ranged from the Welwitchia mirabilis desert plant, through to the endangered rhino and included an impressive display showing the evolutionary history of the elephant. On the other side of the museum visitors can wander through a series of displays showing the history and cultural practices of Namibia's diverse peoples including the Himba, Herero, Nama, Damara and Khoisan. Well worth a visit!
After that and feeling a tad parched in the strong afternoon sunshine, I toddled off to Maerua Mall to down an iced chocolate and slice of pecan pie at the Mugg and Bean Cafe but was disappointed with the iced chocolate because it had coffee in it. I said to the waitress "but this is a mocha....", she replied, "no it's iced chocolate", I replied "when you mix chocolate and coffee together its a mocha", she said "no its an iced chocolate muggaccino".....oh my how confusing! Anyway I then bought myself a ticket to see "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" at Windhoek's only cinema. I thought the dialogue was pretty ropey at times but the computer generated action and special effects were impressive. I think the best actor award should go to the computer generated "Caesar", voice over and motion capture by Andy Serkis (remember him as Gollum in Lord of the Rings?....I rest my case).
Yesterday, I had a lazy Saturday, firstly a long lie in then a ramble down to get a strong coffee at Caffe Brazza. Secondly I bought a lovely aloe and soft linen home fragrance reed diffuser from the Body Shop to bring a fresh spring scent into my flat now that the winter cold and wind is showing signs of abating and summer is on its way. A quick dash round Checkers supermarket to stock up on my food for the week ensued and later I joined my new friend Tracy, who runs the Cinnamon Cafe and a lovely little bar next to it, for a very late but delicious lunch at La Marmite restaurant on Independence Avenue. A North and West African venue with a fantastic menu is a place not to be missed. I delighted in one of my favourite African dishes, chicken in groundnut sauce with rice and spinach followed by flambed bananas in Amarula and coffee liqueur with ice cream...hmmmm.....amazing. I didn't need to eat again that day!
