Mainly Namibia

[RooFlyer]

Yeah we stayed here too...wished I hadnt had the oysters for bfast prior to the desert tour.

I didn’t, but I was still just a tiny bit delicate by the time we stopped halfway through the Dunes tour.

 

[RooFlyer]

Not sure if I’ll be able to continue much for a few days. Just arrived at lodge in Damaraland and the wifi is - I tried to attract a screenshot showing half a meg per second, using the lowest resolution, but it won’t even upload that

 

[Pushka]

Not sure if I’ll be able to continue much for a few days. Just arrived at lodge in Damaraland and the wifi is - I tried to attract a screenshot showing half a meg per second, using the lowest resolution, but it won’t even upload that

Just enjoy the experience and not worry about that. You can catch up later. We will still be here.

 

[RooFlyer]

Just enjoy the experience and not worry about that. You can catch up later. We will still be here.

Yes, good advice, but right now I'm also dealing with two advised flight changes from VA and two from QF, and I'd rather spend part of a hot afternoon in the boonies catching up here rather than when there's a bit of action on.

We were picked up at 11:30 in a 4WD sedan by a burley, over 6 ft Afrikaner Namibian who could have been a champion Sth African rugby player. First stop were the salt works within the lagoon at Walvis Bay. The pink (which I recall is present also in the Pt Adelaide works, and probably elsewhere) is caused by algae/phytoplankton which causes the pink colour in the 'lesser flamingos' here. The larger, 'greater flamingos' eat shrimps which, oddly cause them to be more white.



That's foam, not salt



Out in this salt works area there were flamingos everywhere - much like seagulls elsewhere. A much closer viewing than yesterday







We then fanged it south, along the beach for over an hour, doing 80-100km/hr, heading for a broad area known as Sandwich Harbour, just below the grey area north of Anichab. There were 3 4WDs in our group. They never travel solo, for reasons that will become apparent later (and were obvious then)







We stopped at a location marked by numerous collections of shells in clusters across the beach and were told these were graves of indigenous people from the 1700s.



And what looked like a skull appeared. I have to say, such things surviving after about 300 years seems very unlikely, and I haven't been able to find anything on the web.

 

[RooFlyer]

Another stop was to view some heavy mineral concentrations on the beach. There is a lot of black magnetite, but also swaths of pink garnets also containing many other minerals, including microdiamonds, we were told. The heavy minerals get winnowed and left behind in the wind.





Our driver told us the story of the Namibian sands. The Orange River, which forms the border between Sth Africa and Namibia, drains the Drakensburg Mountains in St Africa. When the sediments reach the sea, they are transported north by the ocean current, beached then blown east forming the Namib desert. Forgive the fat fingers



Sandwich Harbour is a fascinating place. It strictly is a bay much like Walvis Bay, but we didn't get that far south.

Wikiwand - Sandwich Harbour

Sandwich Harbour, also known as Sandwich Bay, Sandvishawe, Sandvisbaai and Sandfisch Bai is an area on the Atlantic coast of Namibia that includes a bay in the north and a lagoon at the southern end. Sandwich Harbour might have been named after an English whaling ship, the Sandwich, which worked...

www.wikiwand.com

There area we got to is a few lagoons and low vegetation which from the air, seems to mark a dry delta of some sort, with a watercourse feeding into it. We were told that this was the final subterranean 'outflow' of the waters that flow into the desert at the Okavango Delta in Botswana.





We drove past that area initially then had about 2 hours of good 'ol dune bashing/hooning. Our driver, seatbelt-less, and one handed (radio in the other) gave us a great thrill - many steep descents, long sand-pluming ascents, tight corners etc. Photos don't do it justice nor to the videos I will post when I have better bandwidth.



STOP!

 

[RooFlyer]

Our driver said there would be between 50 and 100 vehicles in the dunes. We frequently had 4 to 5 others in our field of view - its a big place.



The Spanish/French family, the rest of my group. I've been nominated the group photographer, having the only 'proper' camera. Post highlights every evening to the WhatsApp group.



Wildlife amongst the dunes - this ostrich



A group of male springboks








And a separate group of females

 

[RooFlyer]

About to go over a big one. Wait till the vehicle in front is clear, then somewhat slowly down. Very thrilling





We stopped for a light lunch around 3pm;l by this time I was feeling just slightly delicate in the stomach. After lunch we did some more dunes then seemed to be heading back. We entered the vegetated area we passed by before.



2-4m high dunes anchored by vegetation. Fed from below by the traces of the Okavango delta drainage.



Our convoy of three soon started weaving around, sometimes following another tyre track, sometimes not. Were we lost? Surely not. Lot of chatter on the radio. We came perilously close to getting bogged by/in the lagoonal water, trying to get over the gap to the right.





Our driver was totally professional. Tried twice, then backed off with LH just in the water and went another way. And after about 15 mins, the reason for the meandering became apparent. A solo vehicle had become bogged - we had to find them by visual. The pax were vigorously waving (ie for help!) as we approached Expertly snatch-strapped out.





This took about 20 mins, as the bogged vehicle was well and truly bogged. Pride of course comes before a fall, and shortly afterwards, we got bogged. Again, driver very professional. Stopped instantly, no wheel spinning, got out, got the strap out, fixed it to other vehicle, which pulled us out. 5 minutes.

 

[RooFlyer]

We cut across to the beach and started back - at speed. The reason why soon became obvious. We were about 30 mins behind schedule, and the ocean tide was rising to our left. To make it worse, the recent super moon had cause a recent very high tide which had over-topped the road course and put water into a shallow area to the right. So the sand could be softer than normal.





Some of the larger waves were putting foam almost the the road-course, and we had about an hour to go! Someone asked our driver what would happen to groups behind us. A chuckle and "not my problem".





We made it back OK of course. I don't think we were in any real danger but I'm equally sure the drivers wouldn't have wanted to be any later.

On the road between Walvis and Swak, sun setting over the Atlantic.



Several oil reigs were close inshore being maintained. there are large oil fields out there. Walvis is also the port for many western and central African countries - out driver said maybe 25 or more anchored out there.



Got back a6 6:30pm; about A$200 was good value.

Showered then out to dinner at another seafood joint. Tonight's sunset

 

[RooFlyer]

Went to the Lighthouse Restaurant which was okay but not as good as the previous night. Had oysters to start with and crumbed calamari again - no picture but it was a big portion.





Today’s drive up to Damaraland. About six hours including stops with about 50% bad to very bad corrugations.



We entered the lands of the sand, another tribes of the Damara. Not much on the drive but we passed plenty of villages many selling stuff mainly it seems rocks from out in the desert.



They were plenty of people by the side of the road trying to engage passes by. Fair number of bare breasted ladies, shall we say waving in the breeze and also curiously ladies dressed up like this. We were told it was a hangover from missionary days, but obviously now just a gimmick to get peoples attention.





This mountain appeared on the horizon





As usual, I was keeping an eye on our route on Google Maps and was startled to see that this feature was almost perfectly circular



That usually means a very unusual geological feature so frantically googling, I found it was just a granite body, albeit annular. The Brandenburgs - including the highest peak in Namibia. This mountain is the site of some of the greatest concentration of Bushman paintings in Namibia, including the mis named 'Whute Lady'. Worth a read.

The White Lady (Namibia) - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[kpc]

Back to home in Sydney yesterday....your TR very accurately describes our recent experiences travelling through Namibia for 8 nights. Great and very interesting country but I won't be missing those long drives on very bumpy gravel roads!

 

[Quickstatus]

we got bogged

What vehicles did they use?

 

[RooFlyer]

What vehicles did they use?

Didn't look, sorry. Maybe someone can recognise from the pics?

 

[RooFlyer]

One thing about the dune hooning. Their road tyre pressure about 2.6 bars. For the dunes, 0.8

 

[JohnM]

Didn't look, sorry. Maybe someone can recognise from the pics?

It looked like mainly Toyota HiLux and Fortuners. Basically the same vehicle, the Fortuner being a wagon variant on the same chassis. I noticed when I was there some years ago that Fortuners were very common - much more so than here, where Prados dominate that wagon segment.

 

[JohnM]

One thing about the dune hooning. Their road tyre pressure about 2.6 bars. For the dunes, 0.8

38 and 12 psi.

 

[Seat0B]

A solo vehicle had become bogged - we had to find them by visual. The pax were vigorously waving (ie for help!) as we approached Expertly snatch-strapped out.

This took about 20 mins, as the bogged vehicle was well and truly bogged.

Exactly this happened to us on our last dune bash in the UAE - a group of Lebanese tourists in a brand new SWB Pajero had well and truly bogged themselves, and had no recovery equipment whatsoever. They had not even deflated their tyres and were running on highway pressure. The 'law of the desert' is to assist anyone who needs it, because, as you found out, you never know when it could be you that is in trouble.

 

[Quickstatus]

Their road tyre pressure about 2.6 bars. For the dunes, 0.8

38 and 12 psi.

They had not even deflated their tyres and were running on highway pressure.

Thats about right. I would air down to 15psi for my several trips to Frasers Island .
There is a facebook page called "Bogged at Inskip Point" where people with road inflated tyres inevitably get bogged when they hit sand. They are aptly called the 50 psi club

 

[RooFlyer]

Just backing up a bit. The drive out of Swakopmund northwards follows the coast with bitumen for awhile. This is known as the skeleton coast due to many shipwrecks having occurred there. There is one that we saw - a small vessel that was being sold for scrap being towed to India broke it's line and ended up on the shore. I think in the early 2000s.





Otherwise the coast was exactly the same as to the south : tens to hundreds of miles of Atlantic Ocean breakers onto the beach



The Namibians have paved the road for a fair way after we turned NE off from the north south highway and it’s obvious that they are actively extending the bitumen to the north east. There was maybe 20 to 30 km of bitumen just being finished off as we drove past and grading and preparations for at least another 20 to 30 km.

But after that, it was more bone jarring corregations for most of the way up to about 10 K short of our lodge and then bitumen again which will continue for the rest of our trip.

 

[RooFlyer]

So we entered Damaraland, home of the Bushmen San people. Although they are not numerous any more in the area where we will be, having moved more to the north east.

Accommodation was the Gondwana Damara Mopane Lodge. A central admin, bar and eating building and then 60 individual chalets built in a fan out the back of centred around a pool.





Each room is a brick built hut surrounded by a low wall containing gardens where they grow their veggies. Plenty of water here ( but no waterholes for game).

Although the complex is built in a mopane forest and there’s lots of shade around, the rooms were still hot as Hades when we checked in at 3 pm. The air-conditioner got put on for full blast then and it’s still going strong 24 hours later now.











The rooms are pretty basic - concrete floor and no fridge and the beds I now classify as downright hard. Last night I asked for extra pillows and put them underneath me to try and get some decent sleep.







but they have cold beer on tap and at least seven types of gin, so we shouldn’t go thirsty although I must admit I’ve been having more vanilla milkshakes than beers while I’m here.

 

[RooFlyer]

Working hard on a TR.



Lunch of springbok club sandwich