Weekly Photo Challenge: Forward
March on. Do not tarry. To go forward is to move toward perfection. March on, and fear not the thorns, or the sharp stones on life’s path. –Khalil Gibran The sand dunes outside the town of Swapokmund, Namibia feel infinite. Grains of sand, for as far as the eye can see, stretch out forward into […]
Weekly Photo Challenge: Big
We’ve seen California Redwoods and Giant Sequoias (including General Sherman); towering ancient junipers in China, Strangler Figs at Ta Prohm, Angkor in Cambodia, and twin Ginkgo trees in Seoul. Tāne Mahuta (Lord of the Forest) and Te Matua Ngahere (Father of the Forest), Kauri trees in New Zealand’s Waipoua Forest were truly majestic, and we […]
Fish River Canyon
Fish River Canyon is the destination of a long drive day (640km). The canyon is the 2nd largest in the world (the Grand Canyon is first). It measures 160 km in length and 27 km wide at the widest spot. It’s 550 km deep. The scenery of the area reminded us of Arizona, with high, […]
Sossusvlei: A Walk in Namibia with a Japanese Guide
We drove through Namib Naukluft Park on the way to our desert walk from Sesriem (gateway to Sossusvlei).This southern region of Namibia is dry, nestled between two deserts: the Kalahari and the Namib. The area of the national park spans 50,000 square kilometers, and comprises one of the largest conservation areas in Africa. Sossusvlei Dunes […]
Sandboard Namibia
Clearly Swakopmund is a tourist town. Hotel managers, activities instructors and shop-keepers all wait for the next crop of tourists to roll in be it on overland trucks or in group tours from Germany (most likely). Tourists are ripe for the picking, too, looking for adventure and ready to embrace a new experience. At the […]
Swakkie Parasail
Swakopmund is truly an adrenaline capital, and our trip optional activities included sand boarding, quad biking, fishing, sky-diving, sea kayak, etc. We chose para-sailing for our first activity. It was a great experience, though hiking up the dunes in a harness laden down with glider wasn’t easy. After a brief instruction from the pro, we started […]
Cape Cross Seals and on to Swapokmund
The Cape Cross Seal Colony is a breeding reserve for the Cape fur seals who lay and play along the shore. Seals are truly smelly, but it was fun to watch their antics: fighting, nursing, barking, swimming. We continued down the Skeleton Coast (named for all the shipwrecks dotting the shores). The seas are trecherous, […]
Spitzkoppe Bushman Paradise
We spent the night bush camping near Spitzkoppe, a huge collection of boulders and rock formed by the collpse of a huge volcano and subsequent erosion. Spitzkoppe is now called the Matterhorn of Namibia. The landscape was striking, and reminded us a great deal of Arizona or southern Utah. There were some bushman rock paintings under one of […]
Okuhepa Is Thank You: Himba Village
The Himba are a semi-nomadic people who lived mostly in northern Namibia’s Kaokoland. They herd cattle and goats, moving from place to place with the seasons. The houses they build are left behind when they move, and sometimes reused when they return (if there is anything left of them). The Himba have fairly successfully resisted […]
Outjo and Onward
We stocked up on provisions at Outjo(settled in 1880). There was a yummy German bakery there, and lunch was sausage rolls and meat pies. Mmmm. By late afternoon we reached the Cheetah Park. This conservation project is run by a farming family. The boys of the family grew up there, and have taken over most […]