Bush Camping in Namibia
The time I have left in Africa is dwindling to a bit over 3 months now and I find that I haven’t seen much of Africa outside of the country I serve in, South Africa. So, my good traveling buddy Brenda and I decided to visit Namibia, a country the size of California with a population less than 2 million people located in south west Africa bordering the Atlantic Ocean, via a bush camping tour….not luxury tent camping, mind you, but a 10 day driving tour out in the bush (wilderness). With just enough provisions to get us through 2 days at a time, we were instructed to keep our tents zippered tight at night because of the scorpions and snakes and keep our shoes inside as the jackals like to carry them off in the middle of the night…..It sounded like our kind of fun.
What did not occur to me was that I would be camping for the first half of the trip with “only the clothes on my back.” My checked duffel bag did not arrive with me to Windhoek, the capitol of Namibia, where we flew to begin our journey. I was stunned. How was I supposed to function without all of those dependable and necessary items like clean clothes, tooth brush, and soap? I had nothing but a windbreaker. Well, I said to myself, I have three options. Choice number one was to become angry and frustrated, choice two was to get anxious and worried. Both are familiar territory. But I chose option three which was to accept the fact I had no control over the situation and to just get on with the trip. So, while the other 10 travelers on our tour were stocking up on gin and tonic, beer, wine, water and sodas with the 20 minute stop before our venture out to the desert, I was scouring the tiny shops for essentials; underwear and a cheap cotton hat that made me look like a thug. I borrowed shirts, towel and followed Brenda around anytime she had a flashlight, toothpaste or detergent in her hand. I did a lot of hand washing. What I found was that the fun and adventure of the trip was not diminished because I didn’t have the stuff that I thought was so important.
Namibia is a land of contrasts, so flat that it seems you can see forever in any direction, especially awe inspiring when inhabited with wild life, then suddenly, red star-shaped sand dunes rising as high as 60 stories tall stretching down to the crashing waves of the ocean. We saw ship wrecks imbedded in the sand along the Skeleton Coast and cave art paintings and etchings as old as the Pharaohs of Egypt. We stayed two nights in a tiny town called Swakopmund that has an atmosphere that many say is more German than in Germany. But, the highlight of the trip for me was the red sand dunes at sunrise and sunset on our last day of the tour. A freak thunder, lightening and rain storm had greeted us at Sossusvlei where we arose at 5:45 am to race to the top of Dune 45 to see the sunrise. The sand was wet and squishy between my toes as I gingerly made my way along the crest of the dune. It was spooky. It was difficult to balance as the wind whipped over me and pelted me with sprinkles of rain. Although there was only sand to tumble down on if I fell, it was a long ways down to the bottom. The sunrise was obscured by the low clouds that morning, but sunset gave us what we came for….a magnificent 360 degree view of setting sun colors reflecting off the desert, mountains and dunes, standing atop the tallest sand dune in the range we had climbed, rainbows, prism, thunder and lightening storms far off in the distance. The sensory experience was one to remember the rest of my life. As the sun disappeared below the horizon, we suddenly realized that distant storm clouds had changed direction and were barreling down on us. We started running down the dunes one after another back to where our tour guide promised he would fetch us. We struggled against the increasing wind. The sky darkened and we could hear the thunder and lightening getting closer and closer. Since I was the tallest one in the group of five, I figured it would be me chosen if lightening struck us. Just as it began to rain we reached the bottom of the dune and in view of the headlights of the tour truck lumbering down the gravel road towards us. In no time, Benny reached us with the door open saving us from getting drenched and anything worse.
What did not occur to me was that I would be camping for the first half of the trip with “only the clothes on my back.” My checked duffel bag did not arrive with me to Windhoek, the capitol of Namibia, where we flew to begin our journey. I was stunned. How was I supposed to function without all of those dependable and necessary items like clean clothes, tooth brush, and soap? I had nothing but a windbreaker. Well, I said to myself, I have three options. Choice number one was to become angry and frustrated, choice two was to get anxious and worried. Both are familiar territory. But I chose option three which was to accept the fact I had no control over the situation and to just get on with the trip. So, while the other 10 travelers on our tour were stocking up on gin and tonic, beer, wine, water and sodas with the 20 minute stop before our venture out to the desert, I was scouring the tiny shops for essentials; underwear and a cheap cotton hat that made me look like a thug. I borrowed shirts, towel and followed Brenda around anytime she had a flashlight, toothpaste or detergent in her hand. I did a lot of hand washing. What I found was that the fun and adventure of the trip was not diminished because I didn’t have the stuff that I thought was so important.
Namibia is a land of contrasts, so flat that it seems you can see forever in any direction, especially awe inspiring when inhabited with wild life, then suddenly, red star-shaped sand dunes rising as high as 60 stories tall stretching down to the crashing waves of the ocean. We saw ship wrecks imbedded in the sand along the Skeleton Coast and cave art paintings and etchings as old as the Pharaohs of Egypt. We stayed two nights in a tiny town called Swakopmund that has an atmosphere that many say is more German than in Germany. But, the highlight of the trip for me was the red sand dunes at sunrise and sunset on our last day of the tour. A freak thunder, lightening and rain storm had greeted us at Sossusvlei where we arose at 5:45 am to race to the top of Dune 45 to see the sunrise. The sand was wet and squishy between my toes as I gingerly made my way along the crest of the dune. It was spooky. It was difficult to balance as the wind whipped over me and pelted me with sprinkles of rain. Although there was only sand to tumble down on if I fell, it was a long ways down to the bottom. The sunrise was obscured by the low clouds that morning, but sunset gave us what we came for….a magnificent 360 degree view of setting sun colors reflecting off the desert, mountains and dunes, standing atop the tallest sand dune in the range we had climbed, rainbows, prism, thunder and lightening storms far off in the distance. The sensory experience was one to remember the rest of my life. As the sun disappeared below the horizon, we suddenly realized that distant storm clouds had changed direction and were barreling down on us. We started running down the dunes one after another back to where our tour guide promised he would fetch us. We struggled against the increasing wind. The sky darkened and we could hear the thunder and lightening getting closer and closer. Since I was the tallest one in the group of five, I figured it would be me chosen if lightening struck us. Just as it began to rain we reached the bottom of the dune and in view of the headlights of the tour truck lumbering down the gravel road towards us. In no time, Benny reached us with the door open saving us from getting drenched and anything worse.
posted by Judy @ 3:04 PM
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