Wintering in Namibia

(Navyn) Fausto says we can sleep when we are dead. Therefore we keep rising at 5:00am, stumbling around in the cold, dark desert mornings wearing headlamps and wooly hats to find our way to breakfast without encountering a scorpion, oryx, or pride of lions. Fausto is our guide through Africa who is brave enough to spend 54 days with the Salem Explorers. He can track animals, chart constellations, explain thermals, tributaries and exoskeletons, and most impressive of all, answer all of Paul’s questions. He tells the girls, “Don’t worry, the scorpions here don’t bite … they sting. Please check your sheets before you climb into bed.” Jolie is ready to leave Namibia to spend the night with the great white sharks back in South Africa.

Our first sunrise hike was straight up a dune. No ordinary dunes, but the tallest in the world. We followed along the top of a sandy ridge with eyes squinted as we tried to block the bright sun and sand from gusting into our faces. Our shoes filled up with the fine, red sand until our toes could no longer fit. Gracefully sloping smooth golden brown and burnt red sand dunes surround us as the sand filled my mouth, my eyes, and my camera lens. The early morning sun cast dramatic shadows on the zigzagging geometric patterns chiseled and carved by the creative and powerful winds. The unique reward following a strenuous dune hike is the way down. Just lean forward, stick out one leg and run. Straight downhill. Smiles and giggles erupted from the girls as hair, clothing and sand fly out of control. (See Maya’s amazing video she made 100% on her own).

Just before sunset I decided to go for a short desert run. The heat of the day had retreated and as the sun dropped so too did the temperature, allowing us to experience summer by day and winter by night. The mountains turn so red they are scarlet, then nearly purple. I stand in the middle of the Namib Desert and hear nothing. Complete silence. I can see for miles in all directions. Cracked earth and dead petrified trees pose on the desert floor, casting shadows like crooked scarecrows. The scrubby grasses and sparse trees are fed by the mist coming in off from the sea sixty kilometers away creating an entirely desert adapted ecosystem. The sun drops quickly over the horizon and with the darkness comes a bright starry night sky with a crescent moon, Venus and Jupiter glowing above us. A look through a telescope shows us four of Jupiter’s moons and even the rings around Saturn as we watch for shooting stars and wonder about all the secrets that are held in the galaxies.

Today was June 19^th, our 16th wedding anniversary. I remember when we first met Paul told me that his goal was to ensure each year was more fun than the last. I thought to myself, well that is impossible, this was a pretty good year. But much to my surprise, year after year, he has been right. I always knew Paul would be a fun guy to spend the rest of my life with and so far he has delivered. Take today for example. Again, we rose at 5:30am, more breakfast in the dark, and we’re in a hot air balloon by 6:30 just in time for the sunrise over Sossusvlei. We looked out of the basket from high above and floated gently over the mountains and dunes, just missing their tops. We landed in time for a desert breakfast and a champagne toast to celebrate the day. Paul interviewed everyone in our balloon thoroughly, investigating who was getting married, where they were all from and the last three jobs they held. Where does he find the energy, I don’t know? I am exhausted and it’s only 9:00am. But we laugh all day until our stomachs hurt and what could be better than that.

Next stop, we head north, up the coast up to Swakopmund for quad biking over the endless rolling dunes. I know we have had a lot of bucket list suggestions, but the girls have put this in their top five (see Zara’s blog). Never have we had so much fun. We went flying at top speed over dunes that stretched for miles as far as the eye could see. Up giant hills, down natural sand dune half pipes until we arrived at a tall and very steep hill, for sand boarding. This is basically sledding head first on a thin piece of wood that makes Suicide Hill back home look like a sissy bunny slope. We finished our day (yes, it is still June 19^th) with a short flight up to Hoanib, along the Skeleton Coast just in time for sunset and time to find our tents for the night. We head to bed early to prepare for another predawn wake up call and head out on a 4-hour drive to the coast.

Our local guide and driver Papa G tells us, “We will not see many animals today, just a drive along the dry riverbeds to enjoy the scenery”. The girls think this sounds pretty boring so pack their books and iPads to catch up on some reading. Ten minutes later, we come across a pride of seven lions perched on the rocky riverbank above us, surveying the land below. Next up on our “no animal” drive was a cape hare, an elephant, a spotted owl, 1,000 four-striped mice, caracal, jackals, a few giraffes, a baboon and hundreds of seals. Not bad. That is what I call excellent management of expectations. Two of the big five checked off the list already. We have done well, maybe Fausto will let us sleep in tomorrow.

Our last stop in Namibia was a camp nestled along the Kunene River, which also serves as the northern border with Angola. Each camp seemed to be more remote than the last, and this is the first riverbed we have seen with water in it. It hasn’t rained in most places we have been through in the last five years. In the middle of this barren desert, sat ten domed stick and straw huts, home to a small community of people called the Himba. The tribal women and their children gathered around a fire as the men were away tending cattle or looking for other work. The women were welcoming and cheerful as they sang, danced, laughed (probably at us) and shared a few of their traditions with us. Their skin glowed beautifully from the mixture of ochre and butterfat that was rubbed on their skin to keep it clean and protected. They were dressed mostly in animal skins and practiced other traditions that have been passed down for many a generation. It never ceases to amaze me how little people can survive on especially in the harshest of environments. It seems to always come back to one thing – family. That is the center to which we are drawn to, no matter where that might be.