One more treat (Nov. 27/08 - Windhoek, Namibia)

We went to bed last night in the desert and woke up this morning on an island! It had poured overnight, and the camp was flooded. It was yet another early morning, as we had over 600km to travel today to get to Windhoek, Namibia's capital. The first hour was driving back through Etosha Park to where we came in, which meant another chance at spotting wildlife. Sure enough, we spotted two female lions lying out in the open about 200 feet from the truck, and by the time we relayed the message to the driver, they were far behind us. But the long reverse was worth it - one of the two stood up and started walking toward the road, and as we crept forward to keep up with her, we quickly realized that she was headed for a puddle at the side of the road for a drink. She watched us carefuloly as she leaned down to the puddle, and we were able to drive right up to the puddle, stopping within about 10 feet of her. She lapped up water, looking up at us several times, before walking away. We agreed that we have been very lucky with our wildlife sightings so far, considering the amount of rain there has been lately. And just to add to that, I spotted another male lion lying beside a tree as we sped past. Eight lions, ten rhinos, three elephants - Etosha has been wonderful!

The drive to Windhoek went quickly despite the distance, but with the luxury of paved roads, we were able to speed along. At one point, I spotted a field full of about 50 black baboons, but when I turned to tell someone, everyone around me was asleep, looking like a bunch of bobble heads as we bumped along the road. We pulled in to Windhoek at about 3pm and had the rest of the afternoon to ourselves. We walked over to a shopping mall to get Ken a haircut, send some emails, buy some headlamp batteries, and find a replacement for the elastic clothesline that bit the dust yesterday. It was weird to be in a shopping mall, and we quickly realized how we really dislike cities, as we both get annoyed and irritable with the hustle and inevitable to-do lists that happen when we get to civilization.

Since today marks the end of the trip for six of our group and the beginning of the trip for six more, we all went for dinner at this huge, funky place called Joe's Beerhouse that had a thatched roof, gravel floors, and big picnic tables, with a fish pond inside and random things hanging from the ceiling as decorations - bicycles, shoes, haybales, animal hides, and sausages. The menu included dishes made with many of the creatures we've been watching and photographing over the past week, including springbok, oryx, kudu, ostrich, snake, crocodile, and zebra. One guy ordered zebra and I had to look away as he ate it. Ken ordered a springbok/oryx combo, and it came with a shot of flaming cane sugar schnapps and a habanero pepper hidden amongst the veggies that he ate unknowingly and cursed for hours afterwards.

Looking around the table full of our fellow traveller friends, we realized that we haven't described the group yet. So here's a quick rundown:

• Walli - A 67 year old German Canadian from Ontario who spends her time travelling around the world by herself.
• Heidi - A German woman who left her other half at home to do several big trips over a year. Also an awesome photographer.
• Ken - A fellow Vancouverite who has travelled extensively. (yes, two Kens from Vancouver!)
• Steve - A British businessman who has been around the world three times and is an accomplished scuba diver.
• Annie - A 33 year old woman from Wisconsin who shares the same birthday with Ken.
• Thomas - A triathlete also from Wisconsin who has completed an Iron Man race and uses all our down time at camp to run, even in the 45°C desert heat.
• Shawn - Another Vancouverite who works in the film industry. With his voracious appetite, he regularly cleans the plates of everyone else "so as not to waste food".
• Brent - An American guy who is just finished a 3 year stint with the Peace Corps teaching computer skills and english to people in Cape Verde and Zambia.
• Ben - A university student from Montana who is taking a break to travel before completing his Masters in International Business. He's so tall that he likes to ride sideways at the back of the truck with the cooler and the matresses since his knees have to press into the seat infront if he sits with everyone else.
• Elisabeth - An Irish travel agent who has traveled the world and was offered time off to check out Africa.
• Stefanie - A french girl from Ireland who is also a travel agent at the same office as Elisabeth.
• Nadia - A German girl who works in education and entertains us periodically by singing - luckily, she has a lovely voice!
• Carolin - Another on the German team who works in health care and is using this trip to practice her English.
• Marie-Eve - A girl from Quebec City who is an actuary and has traveled to exotic places like India and Nepal.
• Marc-Andre - Boyfriend of Marie-Eve, also from Quebec City, who works as an operator at a nuclear power plant.
• Evan - A Torontonian who works in city planning and left his job to come on this trip without firm plans to go back. Also a fellow MEC lover, as we have many of the same clothes and gear!
• Kristy - An outdoorsy woman from San Luis Obispo in California who is a good soul and likes to make sure everyone is happy.
• Rupesh - A young guy from London who just completed a degree in mathematics and has traveled to India several times to visit his family.
• Wayne - A geologist from Calgary who recently retired and is planning to travel for about 9 months a year from here on out.
• Carole - Wayne's wife, who was brave enough to jump out of a plane in Swapokmund. She and Wayne fly to Sri Lanka after leaving this GAP trip for their next adventure.
• Raymond - Our awesome trip leader. Born and raised in South Africa, known for his ability to eat ungodly amounts of meat. Tonight, he ate a hock off some sort of game that looked like it was out of a Flinstones cartoon. He swears he won't need to eat for two days!
• Francis - Raymond's sidekick and our chef. She is Dutch, but married to a South African man, and owned her own safari truck that she normally uses to take out small Dutch groups. She once drove from Amsterdam to Cape Town in the '70s, which often meant cutting their own roads.

Wandering where the lions are (Nov. 26, 2008 - Halili, Etosha National Park, Namibia)

It rained like crazy last night. Our first rainy night, and most of us had gone to bed with our tents' front doors and windows open, as usual. So at 3am, most of us were fumbling around outside half asleep in our pyjamas, trying to close the flaps as we and the contents of our tents were drenched. Needless to say, 5am came way too soon, and although the rain was long gone, all our stuff was soaked. We were loaded and off at 6am, headed out for a long morning game drive that would eventually take us to tonight's campsite at Halili at the east side of the park.

The sun had just come up and the light was bright enough, and the air cool enough, that spotting animals was easy. The very first thing we spotted was a female lion walking across the savannah several hundred feet from the road. Score again! We had all hoped to see a lion today, and it was accompished by 7am! She was beautiful - illuminated by the sunlight and pausing only briefly to check us out before continuing on her way.



We drove for over 5 hours and saw hundreds of animals, including:

• a dozen giraffes, including several young ones


• hundreds of zebras, including lots of babies and one adult that had evidently survived a lion attack, as his rump was gashed and bloody


• countless springbok

• lots of oryx (gemsbok)


• a dozen or so red hartebeests, including a baby that was probably less than 24 hours old



• a dozen wildebeest, including two play fighting and head bashing

• several ostriches, including a pair with 10 tiny babies (maybe a week old?) and they put on quite a show for us as they tried to protect the babies from a bird of prey that was circling and threatening to hunt them - this involved spreading their wings to show their huge plumage and dancing circles around the babies while screaching at the bird to piss off

• several weird "kori bustard" birds, which looked like a fat goose with a large beak and big head feathers


• more random birds, including blue cranes, Egyptian geese, sandgrouse, vultures, and Northern black korhaans


• two spotted hyenas

• a rabbit


• and the absolute highlight: FIVE African lions lounging in the shade right at the side of the road. They were so beautiful - three males with thick manes and two females. They were only about 15 feet away from the truck, sleeping and occasionally looking up at us nonchalently. Those big brown eyes making eye contact was an amazing experience. A herd of zebras passed by behind them, but all the lions did was sit up and eye them... They had apparently just eaten, and it was way too hot to think about hunting.

We drove to the edge of the salt pan for a view out onto the white horizon, then headed to camp. After a swim and some downtime, we went back out for a couple hours, this time traveling farther east to a spot called Springbokfonetin in a circle tour of the eastern part of the park. It was still pretty hot out, so we really didn't see a lot, plus some big storm clouds were moving in, so animals might have been heading for cover. We did see lots of impala and wildebeest, including more babies and some zebras, some steenbok, and even a turtle paddling around in a mud puddle on the road. Even though we didn't see a lot, it was still fun to look!

Like camping at a zoo (Nov. 25, 2008 - Okaukuejo, Namibia)

After a somewhat fitful sleep (dreaming about being trampled by elephants!) we were up before dawn to be on the road, bound for Etosha National Park. Etosha is the holy grail of wildlife in Namibia, and it protects over 22,000 square kilometres of savannah and salt pan that is home to hundreds of thousands of animals.

We drove east for an hour and made a stop to a site that was home to petrified logs left over from 280 million years ago. It was pretty amazing actually - full sized logs from ancient pine trees that grew in central Africa that washed here in the ancient sea that existed when Gondwonaland began to intact. Glaciers moved in and preserved the logs (no oxygen was available to allow rotting), and the increased pressure and temperature eventually brought in minerals like silica that replaced the organic wood material. Those minerals are very hard and not easily eroded, so the logs are so perfectly preserved that the knots, bark, and even the rings are still visible. I loved how I was apprently the only one who read the blurb in the trip dossier, so I ended up explaining everything since the tour guide sucked.

Onwards, our next stop was a medium sized town called Outjo, where we had a snack, bought some funky African jewellry, and took a minute to visit some traditional Bahimba women who were hanging out at the town square. These people never bathe, so they rub some sort of ochre-coloured plant all over themselves - skin, hair, clothes - to absorb the smell and protect their skin from the sun. The women only cover their lower half, so there were boobs all over the place. The babies were adorable, laughing and dancing and chubby (and orange!).

From Outjo, we drove north to the entrance of Etosha National Park, and almost instantly, we were spotting herds of zebras on both sides of the road. It was funny how silent everyone became when there was animal spotting to be done! The camp site is beautiful - big empty tenting areas and lots of cute little bungalows, a store, a restaurant, and a pool. The highlight is the watering hole - the camp site is built about 200 feet from the edge of a large watering hole, which is bounded on three sides by open savannah where all sorts of wild animals roam. Benches line the edges of the viewing area, and they even have flood lights to illuminate the area at night. The animals are used to the lights and don't hesitate to come in for a drink. When we first arrived, the animals present were kudu, springbok, wildebeest, and a herd of zebras. Just as we were walking away to have lunch, we spotted a lone elephant slowly lumbering toward the watering hole. Lunch can wait! Even though he was walking so slow, it didn't take him long to reach the water. He was just as huge and magestic as the elephants we saw yesterday, but this time we certainly felt safer. We watched for a long time as he drank and splashed water over his head and under his belly to cool down. So cute! When we came back after lunch, there were three elephants there, and we counted at least 45 zebras! The zebras splashed and drank on the opposite side of the pond from the elephants, some going in up to their bellies for a swim.

At 5pm, we all piled into the truck and set off on a 2 hour game drive. This basically means driving around the huge network of dirt roads that traverse the park, keeping an eye out for anything other than bushes or logs. Right away, we drove right up to a giraffe munching on a tree at the edge of the road. Score! He was adorable - huge long neck and the goofiest faces as he pulled leaves off the tree. We visited several watering holes, and by the end of the day, we had spotted 16 giraffes, hundreds of zebras and springbok, a few dozen impala, kudu, oryx, and as a grand finale as we were gunning it across a barren piece of unvegetated piece of land to make the 7:15pm gate closure, two black rhinos were spotted running toward the road. They were quite far away, but still, they were rhinos! Awesome. We were told that there were only 20 of them in the park, but either that number is wrong or we're really lucky, because after dinner as we sat in the dark watching the parade of animals come and go to the watering hole, we were lucky enough to see eight black rhinos all at the same time. Amazing - they were close, and so cool to watch. Slow moving, yet graceful. Most came in pairs (mother and baby), and some went in up to their bellies for a swim. We saw a few arguments between the males and one of the larger babies kept trying to nurse. Two large bull elephants joined the drinking party soonafter, and we just couldn't get enough of it. It was like watching one of those night vision documentaries on the Discovery Channel - yet so much better. The lightening on the horizon made for an eerie effect as we watched them in silence until we could barely stay awake.

Elephant encounters (Nov. 24, 2008 - Twyfelfontein, Namibia)

Today was a day we will never forget. It started with Raymond mentioning at breakfast that we should be on the lookout for elephants as we drove, as they are frequently seen in this part of Namibia. We had no idea what was in store for us.

We pulled out of our bungalows in Swakopmund in the morning, disgruntled with the rain that had moved in and ready to get back to the desert. We drove north along the coast for a while, with a whole lot of nothing on both sides of the road except the occasional shipwreck on the beach... a common sight around here thanks to the dense fog that often blankets the coast. Eventually, we turned east and traveled inland, reaching the end of the clouds and the start of the hot sunshine again. We made a quick pitstop in the town of Uis, which was once home to an operating tin mine. Our eyes were peeled for wildlife, but all we saw were the usual springbok and ostriches. The road became rough and bumpy, and the topography became rocky hills with flat treed plains between them. The occasional tiny stick shack was spotted on the side of the road, which we were told was home to the native Herero people, who still live a traditional life out here in the middle of nowhere. Raymond pulled the truck over at one of them, where a woman with two children and a baby stood by the road in their traditional outfits, with a small shack set up behind them selling home made crafts. Their clothing dates back to the Victorian era - big poufy dresses made of colourful fabric with matching strange hats that have what almost looks like horns sticking out from the front. I bought a small stuffed leather elephant that the lady had made, which I thought would make a cute Christmas ornament. (Later, I realized how appropriate the elephant theme was...) Ken took a picture of her family with me in it, and just as he was getting ready to shoot, she shoved her baby into my arms. Alrighty then! So I held this sweet little baby with a cute little loin cloth over his soft black baby bum. I have mixed feelings about tourists interacting in this way with such traditional cultures, but I suppose they are being resourceful by making themselves accessible to tour groups that drive past, so I guess everyone is happy.

We pulled over for lunch at a wide spot in the road, and Raymond showed us elephant tracks in the dry riverbed nearby. They were huge! The biggest ones were about 12 to 18 inches across, and there were baby ones too, about 5 or 6 inches across. It was so exciting to see evidence of wild elephants! (Again, if only we knew what was coming...) He also showed us elephant dung, which, as expected, is enormous. Each plop in the pile was about the size of a big coconut, and the pile was about 10 coconuts in size. Holy crap! Interestingly, it was easy to tell that their digestive systems really don't work well, because most of the dung was composed of intact stalks of grass.

We pulled into our camp site a few minutes later, which turned out to be right on the bank of the same dry river as our lunch stop. We set up camp quickly and then drove to the site of the Twyfelfontein rock engravings. The hills here are a series of sedimentary rocks, topped with sandstone, that are flat topped and steep sided. Approximately 5000 to 6000 years ago, the San Bushmen used pieces of quartz to carve out images of animals on the sandstone surfaces, both high up on the cliff face and on the many pieces of sandstone that had broken off and tumbled to the ground. Anthropologists hypothesize that the purpose of the carvings were both functional (i.e. a map of nearby watering holes) and educational (to teach children about animals). Most of the carvings we saw were in excellent condition. Images included elephants, giraffes, lions, antelope, rhinos, hippos, penguins, flamingos, seals, and various animal and human footprints. It was pretty interesting to see early artwork that was created back in about the same era as the ancient Egyptians.

When we got back to camp, Raymond took a bunch of us on a walk up the riverbed in search of elephants that were reportedly nearby. There were tracks everywhere, of all sizes, and so we followed them. Raymond kept checking the dung piles for freshness, but all of them seemed to be old. The elephants tend to walk on the dry riverbed for the easier walking, so we followed it with high hopes. After about an hour of walking, we decided to go just 10 minutes more before turning around. No sooner had we said that, somebody whispered "HOLY CRAP!!!!" and pointed toward the trees lining the riverbed. My heart jumped into heart attack mode when I saw the large panel of grey moving slowly behind the tree, not 30 feet away. We were standing beside elephants! We quickly dashed to a clump of trees on the riverbed and watched with gaping jaws as eleven elephants emerged from the trees and made their way down onto the riverbed about 100 feet in front of us. We looked at eachother with huge eyes, realizing how incredible this was. Our hearts raced and our hands shook as we tried to snap photos of the massive beasts right in front of us. We counted four huge adults with long tusks and wrinkled, saggy skin, plus four adorable little babies and three young adults. I just couldn't believe we were sitting there looking at elephants in the wild - it was an exhilirating experience!

The herd moved slowly down the riverbed toward camp, and once they were a safe distance away, we followed quietly along the bank, out of sight. We sat in silence for a while watching the babies play fighting and the adults flapping their ears and pulling leaves off the trees. Finally, we decided we should make our way back to camp, and quietly walked back across the riverbed to give them a wide berth. When we were about half way across, one of the large males perked up his ears, lifted his head, and looked straight at us. Not a good sign. What followed was a sign I will never forget - a loud trumpeting sound from his trunk, directed at us as a warning to get out of his territory. I was petrified that he would charge, but thankfully he just turned around and walked away. We quickly crossed the rest of the riverbed and continued perpendicular to their path so that we were completely out of their sight. Only then did we give high fives all around and blurt out how insanely amazing and terrifying that was, both at the same time!

When we got back to camp, everyone was shocked at what we were telling them. Barely ten minutes later, the entire herd came plodding down the riverbed in full view of our camp! But they turned off and went up to the water cistern on the bank to steal some water from the farmer's stash. The people who didn't come with us were equally amazed just to spot wild elephants. The whole group was ecstatic over dinner (cheese fondue over the camp fire!) except for one girl who was in the washroom and missed the whole thing. We didn't see them again after that, but there's a good chance they will carry on and meaner down the riverbed tonight, walking right past our tents. This has to have been the most incredible, authentic experience we could have hoped for in Africa - meeting elephants face to face in their natural environment. It was beyond words. Oh yes, and the day got even more perfect, as we cooled off under an outdoor shower with a bright starry sky overhead. Life is grand! And now I can look at my little Herero elephant and remember our encounter with wild elephants that now tops our list of incredible life experiences.

A day off (Nov. 23, 2008 - Swakopmund, Namibia)

With zero plans for the day, it was a nice break to spend the day checking out the town and taking it easy. We did breakfast with others from the group, camp style, but in one of the bungalows. Some people looked pretty rough, as we found out that a few of them rolled in from their night on the town at 7:30am this morning! Maybe the 16 year old lesbians everyone was preoccupied with at the bar last night had something to do with it?!

We enjoyed some awesome fresh seafood at a funky little place called the Ocean Basket and then wandered around the town to see what Swakopmund was all about. Being a former German settlement, many of the buildings had a European feel to them, and we noticed German street names, German pubs, German food in the grocery store, and lots of German visitors. Every time a local guy hassled us trying to sell us something, they always asked if we were German.

The town has excessively wide streets - four lanes plus a curb-side parking land, even off the main drag - yet the town was virtually dead. Most of the shops are closed on Sundays, so it was pretty quiet everywhere we went. The beach is wide and sandy, and some crazy people were even swimming (we were wearing fleeces!). Locals had set up along the beachside boulevard to sell their carved wooden masks, statues, necklaces, artwork, beautiful wooden bowls, and woven baskets. There was a gorgeous wood carving of some intertwined abstract giraffes that would be awesome to put in a corner at home, but how on earth would you ship it home? I do want to buy some canvas artwork while we are in Africa, as that's easy to roll up and send home. But we still have 5 weeks to find just the right one.

We went back to the same place as last night for dinner to try some of the pizza that other people had, which looked really good. It was - and cheap! Pizza for two people, bottled water, and dessert was barely 100 Namibia dollars, or about $12.50 Canadian. Definitely a far cry from the $35 mediocre dinners we were having in London not so long ago!

Zebras!!! (Nov. 22, 2008 - Swakopmund, Namibia)

There seems to be a silver lining to getting up before dawn and hitting the road before the sun comes up. Animals are active in the morning, grazing and hunting out in the open while the temperatures are cooler. As a result, or early morning drives have turned into wildlife spotting sessions, with everyone clutching their cameras and scanning the horizon for anything that doens't look like a bush. Today was no exception. Right away, we came across half a dozen oryx right beside the road, which cantered gracefully as we followed behind slowly. A few minutes later, a huge flock of 13 ostriches was spotted directly on the road in front of us. They trotted away from us with their big poufy feathers bouncing, reminding us of ballerinas tip-toeing in their tutus! Herds of springbok, the occasional jackal, and finally, Raymond came over the speakers with the word I had been waiting for - ZEBRAS!!! A herd was grazing at the base of a hill off in the distance, far enough that you could barely disinguish them from any other animal. But still, they were zebras! Better yet, we soon rounded a corner to see about eight of them right on the road. We slowed down to a crawl to get close. Two went right and the rest went left, but they just stood there on the side of the road checking us out as we climbed over eachother trying to get pictures. They were adorable - big ears and bold stripes. We were thrilled.

Barley a kilometer later, we approached a big sign that said "TROPIC OF CAPRICORN". Now, last night as Raymond explained the next day's schedule and mentioned this landmark, someone asked if we could stop and take pictures there. He jokingly replied that we shouldn't since it was bad luck... Well, we did stop, took our photos, and when we went to start the engine again to leave, someone saw sparks coming off the battery, and pretty soon it was on fire. Someone yelled for everyone to get off the truck in case it blew up, Raymond grabbed the fire extinguisher, and then someone mentioned the bit about bad luck. Hmmmm. The men spent half an hour MacGyver-ing a repair job while the rest of us stood by in the blazing 8am sunshine. I noticed that our herd of zebras was visible on the horizon where we had come from. At least it was a scenic spot to break down!

Onwards, the landscape changed yet again from flat plains to rolling coulees, where strongly bedded rocks were exposed, dipping steeply into the ground. It made for cool topography, as the dark strata were highlighted with rows of yellow grass growing inbetween. We soon veered west, and the landscape eventually became flat once again. Yellow sand dunes and a north-south band of marine cloud appeared on the horizon, and soonafter, we pulled into the coastal town of Walvis Bay. Ocean! And cool air - at least 20°C cooler than the heat of the desert... a welcome reprieve.

Walvis Bay is the main port of Namibia, but we were headed about 20 minutes to the larger town of Swakopmund, which is known both for its adjacent dunescape and the fact that it was the town chosen by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie for the birth of their daughter a few years ago. Now there's a claim to fame!

The dunes ended abruptly at the Swakop River, and the town began on its north bank. We filed through the visitor info center to browse through various activities you could do here. We're actually staying here for two nights, so tomorrow is completely at our leisure. And as a bonus, we're not camping! Pink A-frame bungalows will provide real beds and a guaranteed good sleep for a change.

After an afternoon of laundry and errand-running, we all went for dinner at a restaurant that had a sandwich board outside displaying the daily specials: springbok stirfry, grilled oryx, and zebra steak! My jaw dropped at the last one - who could ever order zebra?! Ken had grilled ostrich (which was tasty, texture of chicken but taste of beef) and I had fresh peri peri prawns. So delicious! Birthday cake for one of our group members whose birthday was today rounded out our awesome dinner. Some of us dropped by he "Cool Bananas" bar for a while, which is the only bar in town and is only open on Saturday nights! A few drinks and a little dancing was about all we had in us... the cozy bed and thoughts of no 5am wakeup calls was just too tempting.

The red dunes (Nov. 21, 2008 - Solitaire, Namibia)

Our wakeup call came at 4:15am this morning, but we were promised it would be worth it... and it certainly was. The red sand dunes of Namibia's Namib Desert are well known not only for their unique colouring but for their size - these are the tallest sand dunes in the world, some as large as 1000 feet tall. The dune field stretches 500km along the Atlantic coast, 100km wide, and persisting right to the ocean.

We raced another safari group to Dune #45, which is a mid-sized dune that happens to be easily accessible and gives a great view from the top. It was a difficult climb - soft sand that makes you sink backwards with every step. We trudged up the ridge of the dune in the dark and eventually reached the peak about half an hour of slogging. It was definitely an early morning cardio session to remember! At the top, we sat down along the crest, perched high above the desert and surrounded by massive red dunes on both sides of the pan. The sun started to rise in the east, and as it came up, the dunes began to glow a beautiful golden red hue that became so intense that they almost appeared to be on fire. It was a fire that is hard to describe - surreal, magestic, and insanely beautiful. Sitting on the top of the group in virtual silence, just taking in the moment, made us feel very small - that's for sure. When the heat started to make an appearance and our stomachs started to rumble, we made the much easier descent (some ran straight down the face of the dune!) and enjoyed a fabulous breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon. As we piled back onto the truck, many of us agreed that the whole experience ranked near the top of the most memorable and/or beautiful things we had ever experienced.

We carried on westward down the long, straight road that bisected the whole pan and ended up at a spot called Sossusvlei, which is where the dunes cut off the pan. The word "vlei" means "end", and "sossus" has something to do with water, so "Sossusvlei" is the place where water ends at the dunes. We were driven out to the current Sossusvlei, but we learned that when the dunes cut off the desert, Sossusvlei will move to a new spot farther upstream. There is also a "Dead Vlei", which was Sossusvlei at one point in time, about 900 years ago, when the dunes cut off the vlei and it became isolated, depriving the trees in the vlei of water. The Dead Vlei was an amazing spot, where the blackened, mangled trees stand on bleached white clay, with towering red dunes behind and a bright blue sky above. It made for some postcard-worthy photos, one of which really resembles the cover of the Namibia Lonely Planet guidebook.

A local San Bushman named Frans led us around the area, explaining the environment and the ways his people use the desert resources to survive in such a harsh environment. Frans was one of the darkest people we've ever seen - with the biggest white smile you've ever seen too. He could make it big with an advertising deal with Colgate. Side note: he also wears no shoes! Even when the sand gets extremely hot during the day (up to 80°C), he still goes barefoot. I finally gave up on dumping the sand out of my shoes, and I attempted to go barefoot, but that didn't last long, as the hot sand burned the moment I took a step. Frans's feet must have soles an inch thick! Or maybe he has just fried all the nerves. That's much more likely!

Some of the things Frans showed us in the desert:

• the "ostrich salad" plant will bloom in a matter of seconds with the addition of only a few drops of water, even if the plant is dead and dry


• a certain type of spider builds tubular nests down to 1.2 metres below the sand surface, with a webbed trap door that is designed to keep sand out


• when water is available, they fill ostrich eggs and bury them at known locations in the sand, with a dried tree root poking out so you can suck water up out of the egg as needed


• identified a variety of tracks and dens of mice, lizards, beetles, snakes, rabbits, and scorpions


• a melon called "!Nama" (the ! is one of five audible clicks in the Khosian language) grown in the desert and will provide enough water for an oryx for two days if eaten


• a particular type of tree produces banana-shaped seed pods that will germinate when an oryx eats the pod and poops it out, as the digested seed gets water from the animal's system

He was full of crazy desert facts, and it was amazing to learn some of the customs of such a traditional culture. We also spotted a bunch of ostriches, springbok, and oryx on the ride back to the truck.

Back at camp, we packed up in the sweltering heat and made our way north for about an hour to a tiny pitstop called Solitaire (supposedly the smallest town in Namibia). It was basically a small lodge, campground, gas station, and a rough gravel landing strip with a sign that said "Solitaire International Airport" - hilarious! We enjoyed some home made kudu stew (tasty!) and some famous Solitaire apple pie before calling it a night. Today was definitely the best day of our trip so far - those red dunes were amazing, and I hope we never forget the landscapes we saw today.

Full speed ahead to nowhere! (Nov. 20, 2008 - Sesriem, Namibia)

As promised, were up before the crack of dawn, at 4:30am, to break camp and be on the road by 6am. It's funny how wide awake you can be so early when it's so warm and bright outside! The first hour of the drive was beautiful, as the morning sun cast a pretty glow on the savannah. Animals are active at this time of day, and we started spotting wild ostriches and little springbok bounding away from the road. The gravel road followed the train tracks for what seemed like several hours, and we turned occasionally at junctions with other gravel roads that disappeared into the horizon in another direction. We trusted that Raymond knew where we were going, because we were literally in the middle of nowhere.

After hours without seeing a single building or vehicle, we pulled into a little town called Bethanie just in time for ice cream and a washroom break. Then back on the truck for several more hours of bumpy roads... A lunch stop at a camping spot behind a gas station in another tiny whistle stop, then back on the truck. Are you seeing a pattern here? C'est la vie on long driving days, and such is life on an overland safari! But this is territory that few people get to (or care to see), so we considered ourselves lucky.

Mid afternoon, we pulled over to check out an amazing feat of nature - the giant nest of the Sociable Weaver Bird. These little finch-like grey birds build huge multi-roomed nests in and around branches of Acacia trees by weaving pieces of grass together. Raymond said this nest could house about 1000 birds! It literally enveloped the tree, and probably measured 15 feet in all directions - just massive! The birds carried on with the construction as we gazed up at them - they fly away, come back with a piece of grass, find a spot, stick it in, and fly off to get another. Somehow, the blades of grass sort of intertwined enough to hold the whole thing up. It was so large that the local farmers had to brace one end of it with a post to keep it from falling to the ground. It was amazing. But we did notice that virtually every tree that had one of these bird condos had pretty much killed its host tree. Oops.

Finally, we turned west and entered Nama Rand Nature Reserve, and the scenery changed yet again to dark eroded hills flanked by flat plains of yellow grass with sporadic green trees and a horizon of looming red sand dunes in the distance. Almost at once, the wildlife started to appear - groups of springbok and oryx huddled in the shade of trees, ostriches roaming in the grass, and lots of keen eyes keeping an eye out for giraffes, as we ha heard they were around and the saw a "giraffe crossing" sign! No such luck today though.

Soon, we pulled into the camp site at Sesriem (from what I could tell, the camp site WAS the town!) and set up camp, huddling our tents under the shade of a tree with barbed branches. Some people went for a swim, but most of us piled back into the truck for a drive to Sesriem Canyon. The canyon is very different from the massive Fish River Canyon we saw yesterday. This one was simply eroded into the ground by persistent streams flowing west off the inland mountains. But the canyon is only about 20 to 30 feet wide and 80 to 100 feet deep, with twisted walls and eroded caves and windows. We were able to walk down through it, even finding the standing water at one end that farmers draw from to water their cattle up on the savannah. The geologist in me loved it.

For one final adventure of the day, Ken went to the campground shop in the dark with a headlamp to get some water, and not only got lost trying to find his way back, but had a close encounter with a scorpion on the way. After describing it to Francis, she confirmed that it wasthe type of scorpion that is most poisonous.

Oh, and as we were washing dishes, a jackal was spotted running between our tents. Ah, the joys of camping our way across Africa!

Today was friggin' hot (Nov. 19, 2008 - Hobas, Namibia)

It was 36°C when we got up this morning at 6:30am, and the mercury went up from there, topping out at about 45°C this afternoon as we walked the rim of Fish River Canyon. We found ourselves drinking 5 to 6 litres of water each, and most of it was like chugging down really hot tap water. Absolutely necessary, but not at all refreshing. The simple task of packing up the tent in the sun was enough to bring on heat exhaustion, which didn't fade until the afternoon.

To beat the heat and see the countryside from a different perspective, a dozen of us went for a paddle down the Orange River (also known as the Gariep River), and ending up back at our camp. Our guide managed to forget three paddles, so we took turns making the men in the back do all the work. The river meandered past impressive sedimentary cliffs and grassy banks, providing a beautiful glimpse of the barren red hills in the distance. Fish jumped occasionally, and we spotted a wide variety of bird life, from the bright red and black little guys to funky coloured ducks and several very large herons. We passed local farmers tending to their water pumps and driving a herd of goats along the banks. The water was surprisingly low considering that the Orange River drains most of South Africa. There were a few sections of small rapids, which were fun to navigate until two girls managed to capsize their boat on a particularly fast moving corner. A yard sale followed, as shoes, bottles, packs, and the overturned boat carried on downstream.

Back at camp, we were loaded and on the road by 1pm, headed north again. It wasn't until we turned west onto a gravel road and into Gondwana Canyon Park that the landscape began to change again. The gentle rolling desert gave way to flat plains, punctuated only by the occasional quiver tree (the San Bushmen use the limbs to carry their arrows, hence the name). Suddenly, an oasis of trees appeared, and we pulled into the camp site that is dotted with shady trees and even a pool! The whole crew was in it within minutes of piling out of the truck, and then ten minutes after getting out, we were just as hot as we were before. The desert is a harsh place.

About an hour before sunset, we piled back into the truck and drove out to a viewpoint perched right on the edge of Fish River Canyon. Wow - it was magestic, very much like the Grand Canyon, with winding eroded ridges, layer upon layer of ancient rocks, and the sparkling Fish River meadering far below. Trails could be spotted on the plateaus in the distance for crazy hikers with a death wish. Indeed, the trails are closed for day hiking following the death of an unprepared hiker in 2002. We enjoyed a nice spread of appies as the sun eased down to the horizon, eventually slipping below and leaving behind a glowing sunset that was reflected in the rock faces below. It was a beautiful sight, but I think some of us were secretly thankful that the heat was over for the day. Warm breezes blew through the camp as we ate soup around the camp fire and learned the plans for tomorrow. It will be a long day of driving, with beautiful scenery along the way, the world's largest sand dunes, and a very good chance of spotting zebras and giraffes along the way. It should be a great day.