Last Days in Namibia

The morning was cool, and a strong wind was blowing from the north. Powder was blowing over the ridgetop, replenishing the fresh supply in the bowl, and hiding the previous day's tracks. We climbed up the bowl and traversed the ridge to the high point, clipped into our skis and dropped in, carving turns down the dune.


We had found Ski Namibia, run by Henrik May, the world sand skiing speed record holder, and probably sand skiing's biggest advocate. We had been planning on going sandboarding until we found the dune skiing brochure in our hotel, and we were glad we'd be able to take on the dunes on two planks; Tom was particularly excited they even had telemark skiing available (Henrik also seemed excited to have a fellow telemark skier with him). He took us out to the biggest dune in the dune field near Swakopmund, known to him as the Matterhorn of Namibia. The dune had three sides, one on which we took a couple practice runs, then two others which were steeper and had drier sand (more like fresh powder). Of course walking up sand dunes is a far cry from lift service and we had taken about 10 runs by the time we were getting tired.

Swakopmund was the adrenaline portion of our tour, after the wildlife part which went up until we left Etosha, and the cultural part, which was Monday afternoon and Tuesday.

Monday morning, as you may remember, we were still hoping to find a lion, so it was an extra early start to the game drive ~ 5:30am! We were in the truck and on our way as soon as the sun was up, and D was making a beeline for where he thought there might be a lion. All the usual suspects were out and about - antelopes, zebras - but no larger animals, and so far, no lions. We reached a waterhole that was completely quiet, and headed back towards camp following a different route and not feeling very optimistic. "Lion on the left!" We heard from the back of the truck. Somehow one of our fellow travelers had spotted a lion far across the plain, and it was about to walk into the bushes. We got some long distance pictures of it before it disappeared.
Pressure off, we had seen a lion, even if it was at quite a distance.

When we got back to camp, we walked past the waterhole for one last check on its activity. Not a whole lot, just a few zebras. But from the forest farther away, there was a line of zebras heading our way. Dozens of them. And soon enough, they had all arrived, drinking water and turning the waterhole into a sea of black and white stripes.


Our time in the park was just about up as we packed up camp and headed towards the park gate. Just a couple miles shy of the exit, D decided to make a stop at one last waterhole. "Get your cameras ready" were once again his words. Not far from the road there's a lioness, facing directly away from us. And near the waterhole a herd of zebras. And one of them was limping around with his front legs both injured. It looked like we were about to witness a hunt! Soon enough the lion starts towards the injured zebra.

In a burst of adrenaline, the injured zebra runs away from the waterhole and joins the group, the lion chasing all of them. But now the injured one is camouflaged in the herd, and the lion loses track of it. The lion wanted the injured one because it would make for an easier snack. For a while, we lose sight of everything as they go behind a small hill, but soon enough all are back in view, except the injured zebra. Now the lion is lying and waiting again, as zebras move back and forth - but she can't find the injured zebra. The lion's motivation seems to have disappeared, and we tire of watching, ready to move on to our next destination; plus we have learned that lions will patiently stalk their prey for two hours. But wait, Etosha has one more treat for us! A trio of lions, two female and one male are catching some rays right next to the road. They're all being pretty lazy, but give us a chance to get some lion-in-the-grass pictures.

Watching the lions lazing in the grass, or confidently approaching a waterhole, you really can tell they rule the land here. And so the wildlife portion of our northern Namibia trip ended on a high note. Next up, the cultural portion.

After a stop for restocking and lunch in a town called Outjo, we headed Northwest to near a town called Kamanjab. Here we would spend the night next to a Himba village. The Himba are a nomadic tribe found in northern Namibia easily recognized a for the red hue of their hair and skin caused by ochre paste they spread on themselves, and for their lack of clothing - the classic National Geographic naked natives.
The town we were visiting was a bit unusual as it was a Himba orphanage town,
and not so much of an actively nomadic community. We did learn quite a bit about their culture, such as their fascination with hair extensions which used to be made from animal hair but has since been replaced by artificial extensions. We also learned that the women never shower, bathe, or even wash with water at all, but instead go through a daily two hour cleaning ritual in their huts using incense smoke and their ochre lotion.

The following day was our big rock art day. First stop was an area called Twyfelfontein, meaning Doubtful Spring for the low volume freshwater spring there. In the area there were 2500 separate rock engravings dating back 6000 years,

as well as one rock painting dating back 2000 years. After our stop there, we continued south to the Brandberg, a massif containing Namibia's highest peak

at about 2500 meters as well as the White Lady painting, dating back at least 2000 years.
The name is a reflection of the confusion which long surrounded the meaning of the drawing, with the initial theory being that a European woman had made her way to Namibia (maybe this was before the painting had been dated) since the color of the figure is white from the chest down. However, it was later determined that the painting was of a male shaman dancing in a trancelike state, and the white was due to dust that had stuck to the sweat on his body while he's been dancing. This was backed up by the presence of drawings of human-animal hybrids since it was though that in their trance states, shamans became partially animal.

We then made our way to Swakopmund stopping at Cape Cross, home to a huge colony of cape seals. The beach and rocks were covered with them, and the water was full of them.

The sound they made was a sort of cross between a sheep's baa and throwing up, and the smell was awful, so we didn't stick around to observe them as long as we would have, say, a lion. A bit farther down the coast we reached Swakopmund and went quad biking in the dunes with a few people from our group. That was a fun activity too. And, to Tom's amazement, Katie kept up speed and was just as fast as Tom (although it must be said that Tom was limited by the power of the quadbike and the requirement to stay behind the guide)! That night we had our last group dinner and then our dune skiing adventure this morning.

Now after one more night in Windhoek, we are off to Botswana tomorrow (Friday). It's been great traveling though Namibia with lots to see and do, although often with a great distance between things. The landscapes from dunes and mountains to vast grasslands; the culture from ancient rock carvings to the German influences to present day nomadic tribes; and the wildlife from the small rock hyraxes to enormous elephants and timid jackals to confident lions have all been spectacular.