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.…
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…
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. …
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…