Life Trove: Jo's photos

This holiday, we decided to explore Namibia. Antony goes to Windhoek quite often for work and he was dying to show it to us and his favourite spot, Joes Beerhouse!

We only had a weeks school holiday, so decided to focus on Windhoek, Sossusvlei (the red dunes), Swakopmund and then ended off the last 2 days at a private game farm (although we should amend that and say "nature farm") Next time it will be Etosha as that is where the exciting game viewing is!

In the capital of Namibia, Windhoek, the Jacaranda trees were in full bloom and it was a beautiful sight seeing all the purple mixed with the bourganville plants. The famous landmark, the town Church was photographed and we wandered around the museum. Of course, no visit to Windhoek would not be complete than a stop at Joes Beerhouse where Matthew had a bushveld sossatie, with crocodile, oryx, springbok, zebra and Kudu!

Solitaire really is a little town in the middle of nowhere but it is a true oasis! As we discovered on our way back, they sell tyres which is a godsend with the stony dirt roads in Namibia. They know how to charge a premium but when you are stuck with a shredded tyre, you gladly pay up! They have a little bakery which is famous for its apple pie. (If there had been a bit of cream it would have been PERFECT). There is a restaurant, a filling station and a lodge. Dotted around the area are rusted cars but it certainly makes for a fun stop and photo shoot!

After driving for many hours, we finally arrived in Sossusvlei. There are a few lodges close to the gate of the park,but we stayed about 30 minutes south of the gate at Betesda Lodge. A rather sad, empty lodge to be honest but there was a pool and air conditioning and the food was good. We arrived with temperatures reaching nearly 40C and just did a quick drive to get a feel of the park.

Whoo Whoo! Up and Away! Antony decided to treat us to the most amazing experience ever. Hot air ballooning over the desert. We kept it a secret from the kids for as long as we possibly could but we were so excited and told them about it at dinner the night before. We woke up at the crack of dawn and headed to a lodge at the entrance of the park and then the Namib Sky Balloon Safari guys picked us up and took us to the balloons. Luckily there were 2 balloons with 16 passengers in each. That way we managed to get lovely photo's, looking out over the dessert with the 2nd balloon in view. It was so gentle and peaceful up in the sky. We had great pilots, Manny and gggggg. He told Matt that if they spit over the side, that is navigating but if we do it, that is just "gross"!! There was a lot of clouds about which I believe is quite unusual for the area but it gave us a bit more wind and allowed us to travel further than they normally do. Landing was another story. You get two types. Gentle and sports! We had a sports landing. A little rough and the basket was dragged across the sand for about 100m before tipping onto its side. I tried to video tape it and am embarrassed at how I sound. With a laugh in my voice, I keep saying "Oh my god, oh my god, help"!! Think I would not have been jerked around so much if I hadn't been holding the camera and been holding on with both hands instead! What one does to get the shot! Will have to add some background music to the video to drown out my voice!

After our flight, which was just over an hour long, we got into 4x4's and were taken to our breakfast spot. There were tables set out on the dunes and the champagne was much appreciated! We had lovely yoghurt and berry coulis pots, cold meats and delicious home-made crossoints.

Thanks goodness it was much cooler the 2nd day (by at least 15C) After we were dropped off at our car, we drove about 60km to the end of the tarred road at the National Park. From here you have to have a 4x4 vehicle or if like us you don't - you pay R100 and there is a kind of 4x4 taxi service. About 5km in on rather soft sand, you come to the start of the Dead Vlei walk. It was absolutely breath taking. You walk over a small dune and then come to this amazing sight. A white vlei with black "dead" trees protruding from the ground, with beautiful orange sand dunes in the foreground.

Car trouble! We had a shredded tyre after leaving Sossusvle. It was a good lesson for Matt who was Antony's right hand man while changing the tyre on the side of the road. It was a rather warm experience with only flies for company. Loads of cars drove past us leaving a plume of dust but one kind couple stopped to see if we needed any assistance which gave Sam some hope in humanity!

We limped on to Solitaire and Ants got the tyre replaced. R2800 and a slice of apple pie each later, we carried on to Swakopmund.

I really enjoyed the town of Swakopmund. There is sea on the one side of the road and desert on the other. It is quite a bit cooler than Windhoek (not to mention the desert) and although we did not experience it this time, there is a fog that rolls in making the town quite eerie. We had a lovely hotel, with a lounge and pool deck on the 4th floor with lovely views across Swakopmund. We ate at Tugs the first night and at a restaurant near the lighthouse the 2nd night. Both nights there was an exquisite sunset.

Next adventure was quad biking on the Swakop dunes. I am a bit terrified of these bikes so I was passenger to Sam. She is a total champion and was totally calm and collected and did all sort of manoeuvres of the dunes that made me a bit greyer but I had total confidence in her.

Our guide stopped a few times and showed us some interesting creatures. At first glance, you think the desert is totally devoid of life, but if you look carefully, it is alive. From just a tiny mark on the sand, our guide dug out a gecko and found us snakes and spiders. I believe there are also chameleons living in the dunes but we did not find any.

We discovered that there is a national park just out of Swakopmund in the Namib-Naukluft Park where you can find the Welwitschia plant. We decided to do a detour on our way to the game farm and followed a numbered scenic route to track down these plants. At the one stop, you come across remains from a camp that the South African troops made during the First world war in 1915. Does it really take so long for metal to deteriorate? Scary stuff. Good thing I recycle!

Found it!! We did a lot of extra travelling to find a plant that is really not all that beautiful! The large plant on the middle right is 1500 years old! It is surrounded by a fence to protect it. The Welwitchia is unique in the Namib. It is a coniferous dwarf tree that is related to the pine tree. Although it appears as though the Welwitschia has many intertwined leaves, in realty there are only 2 leaves which continue to grow throughout its life span. As time passes these are torn into thinner shreds. The heat of the desert and eventually causes the lower ends of the leaves to wither.

I tried to book us into a reserve called Erindi, but by the time we finally had our dates sorted out, it was full. Maybe I was expecting something similar, but unfortunately Kansimba did not live up to my expectation of a farm with amazing animals to photograph. I feel a little cheated but other than that, it was a very restful 2 day stay. The farm is so quite and peaceful and the communual facilities like the pool and lapa were wonderful. We had a view of a small water hole from the lapa but we mostly saw warthog and buck there. We had the all inclusive option and Hanalie made us lovely food but we were the only guest there and we felt at times we were putting them out. The owner is actually a man who lives 5km away from us in Constantia!! Helmut mostly lives on the farm but travels between the 2 places. Once again, lovely sunsets, and apart from the lack of game (thank goodness we saw 2 giraffe as we drove in) it was a pleasant stay.