Monday, September 5, 2011

Naukluft mountains

We left Swakopmund and headed into the desert - our destination was Namib-Nakluft National Park, known for being the home of the world's oldest desert with beautiful sand dunes, and the Nakluft Mountains, which has great hiking. Our mode of transportation was a little 2WD Volkswagen sedan, the Polo. Most of the roads we would be driving on are gravel and while a 4WD drive car was recommended to us, all the rental places were sold out of them. We knew most roads were open and accessible to 2WD drive cars, therefore with every damage waver and collision policy on board, we headed south. Importantly, this was Hugh's first experience with driving on the left side of the road, and using a stick shift with the left hand as well. We had first thought about stopping at the Martin Luther, a very old diesel locomotive that came to a stop while in service over 100 years ago and hasn't moved since, but then decided it was too lame to pay the nominal fee. Therefore, our first stop was the Moon landscape 30k outside town, which was an interesting canyon-style landscape.


The drive along the coast to Walvis Bay was beautiful, desert on one side, blue Atlantic ocean on the right. As we drove further south, we passed the Tropic of Capricorn, which was both of our first times driving across it.


During the long drive, the landscape changes of coast, desert, mountains, flat open emptiness were really impressive. We also saw plenty of animals, including oryx, springbok, baboons, ostriches, and at dusk even an owl in the middle of the road who didn't flinch as we drove past. We also found it pretty funny that at one point, as Betsy was offering Hugh a piece of springbok jerky, we almost hit one as it dashed across the road. As big of fans as we are of jerky, we were not really interested in making our own at that moment. At home, Betsy regularly eats jerky and we both were happy to find out that it is popular here in southern Africa, but it is known as biltong. We have had biltong from beef but prefer the other game/antelope species (kudu, oryx, springbok, eland). Our first night was at the Namib Lodge- our tent/cabin was interesting but had too many insects - Betsy will no longer use a towel without shaking it a couple of times, after the monster spider Hugh found in his. This night will also be known as the Night of the Grasshoppers. It seemed like a plague had overtaken the lodge. Dinner was a buffet and we had to walk outside 20 ft to get to the food area. It was hard not to step on one or more as they were jumping at us from all directions. They even jumped into the hot pots with the chicken as soon as the top was lifted from the pot. We should point out that these were not the size we were used to, but about 4 inches or longer. After dinner, Hugh spent a few comical moments trying to capture and remove one from our tent cabin. The next day, we stopped in Solitaire to get petrol and investigate this famous bakery we had heard about. Solitaire, the town, consists of only a gas station, the adjoining snack shop, and a bakery! Yes, it was true that here in the middle of nowhere a guy named Moose started making apple pies and opened this bakery here in 1992. We met Moose, as he was the guy ringing up the food, and had to exhibit self control as we surveyed the long counter filled with all types of cookies, cakes, muffins and of course, huge pieces of apple pie. We choose apple pie and some cookies, and before we even took our first bite, we were trying to figure out how many more times we "had" to pass through Solitaire again. The apple pie was outstanding and we were excited to work out that we would have two more opportunities to pass through Solitaire. Apparently, Moose's brownies wouldn't be available until Friday. No problem, that worked for our schedule. Finally, we went hiking in the Naukluft mountains. The trail began with a steep climb but then descended down into a dry river bed within a tall canyon. It was beautiful walking through the canyon. While 99% of the canyon was dry, there was a small section with a deep pool and no trail through it. The only way to pass was to use the chains on the canyon wall. It seemed intimidating at first but actually turned out to be fun.





A couple of times we saw this random plant (above) growing amidst the rocks. We didn't know what it was but the leaf looked a lot like what we see on signs of the medical cannabis clinics in SF. Hugh's mom should stop reading this post. Afterwards as we checked in to our next hotel and mentioned our hike, the hotel person asked us how many black mamba we saw. This happens to be one of the most poisonous snakes. He was surprised that we did not see any since apparently they are breeding out of control up there. We admitted to each other that we had each been apprehensive but didn't want to say anything because while we were getting the permit from the park office, there were about a dozen wildlife photos on the wall and more than half were of poisonous snakes. Maybe this was the reason the park ranger asked us to check back in at the office when we were done hiking. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Namib-Naukluft National Park, Namibia

3 comments:

  1. Hey Hugh & Betsy,

    Good to catch up with you on the blog =) Would be great to chat on facebook too =)

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  2. Hey guys, great blog! Your posts are fun to read, especially the foodie ones (crocodile? Wow.) Sounds like you both are having an adventure of a lifetime; I'm glad to hear (and read) this. Safe travels!

    xo
    Ameena

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  3. Enjoying reading of your adventures - I want to go!! And I want to try crocodile and springbok ...and I don't think I could eat giraffe. It all sounds fabulous - looking forward to reading more.
    Hey, had a Jon and Courtney sighting! They actually came to our Labor Day cookout - first time we've seen them in at least 6 years, I think. Look great - their daughter is simply beautiful. Told them all about your beautiful wedding :)Julie

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