Just Dune It – Namibia

Admit your errors before someone else exaggerates them. 

Andrew V. Mason, MD

Spitzkoppe (pointed dome), the incredible ‘Matterhorn’ of Namibia

And we continue our journey along the nearly endless sand dunes of Namibia.  Although infrequent plants poke through the sandy landscape, it doesn’t feel empty or without life.  I feel like it speaks to me on a different level.  Sparseness doesn’t equal emptiness or lack of meaning.  It evokes a sense of smallness and humility, a sense of respect and appreciation, a sense of peace and quiet, much needed in today’s world.  We are in the heart of the great sand sea of Namibia, land of superlatives.  I smell salty air even though I am surrounded by sand… miles from water, it is a bit surreal…

Just like a sea… of sand – that goes for miles

Namibia became the first and only country to have its entire coastline protected through a national parks network.  It is home to the world’s oldest desert, its dunes are some of the tallest, some topping a thousand feet, it is enveloped in endless blue skies, it is the picture-perfect land of stark contrasts.

Not on the way to anywhere, we only stay one night in remote Spitzkoppe and could’ve played in this spectacular national park for many more days.  Serene and colorful, it is easy to climb for novice yet hard enough for experts.  Too soon, we leave the back way and ‘pay’ the park attendant with leftovers from last night’s dinner.  He seems pleased.  I will let pictures do the talking…

Famous arch, easy to climb, photogenic

Many rounded boulders

Extended cracks and ridges

Ammocharis Coranica (ground lily)

Nearly looks like plastic leaves with real flowers.

Seen along the road – hundreds of Brunsvigia josephinae (candelabra) lilies

We finally make it to the large sand dunes Namibia is famous for.  I get to sandboard with Alter-Action for the first time in my life and what a blast it was.  Their moto, Just Dune It.  Sand so fine it didn’t hurt when falling, making it less frightening to try more difficult moves. 

After a long climb, ready to go sand-boarding, a first for me!

Climb again for 10-15 minutes after a mere 20-30 second ride down.

Repeat until your legs can’t take it anymore.

Many falls but none on camera – looking like a ‘pro’ by default…

Steady, steady… watch for others below…

Fun end of the day – flying down at 26 miles (42km) per hour on a thin piece of plywood.

Had sand everywhere – took two showers to get it cleaned out

Cape Cross and the Diogo Cão exploration.  

Cão, Dias and De Gama routes - Cape Town Museum

This is the desolate and remote rocky outcrop of coastline where a Portuguese Explorer Navigator erected a limestone padrão (Cross) more than 500 years ago, in January 1486.  Marking the furthest point south that any European had been known to travel.  The discoveries made on this voyage were the foundation for the 1487-88 voyage, when another Portuguese Explorer first rounded the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) showing that trade with the east could be accessed by sea. 

Cape Cross seal by the famed two crosses

Etched in a stone are the following words:

‘In the year 6685 after the creation of the world and 1485 after the birth of Christ, 

the brilliant, far-sighted King John II of Portugal ordered Diogo Cão, knight of his court, 

to discover this land and to erect this padrão here.’

‘The padrão of Diogo Cão was to stand a lonely vigil for over four centuries until the arrival of the Germans in 1884.  Captain Von Raven of the ship ‘Wolf’ landed at Cape Cross Bay where his crew erected a wooden sign proclaiming German sovereignty.  However, the landing party failed to notice the Padrão of Diogo Cão which would remain undiscovered until late January 1893 when Captain Becker of the German Naval Cruiser ‘Falke’ and his men were ashore surveying the area.  They found the cross laying over at an angle and protruding only 1.8 meters out of the sand.  Becker realized the importance of this historical landmark.  He arranged for the cross to be shipped to Germany and had it replaced with a 5-meter wooden double cross that would allow for an easier sighting from ships at sea.  It stood there until 1980 when the National Monuments Council of Namibia commissioned an exact replica of the original cross to be carved from Namibian Dolerite and erected on the exact, original site.  Thus, the reason for the two crosses that can be seen on the site to this day.’ (from www.namibia-1on1.com)

On the German cross are the following words:

‘Erected at the command of the German Kaiser and King of Prussia Wilhelm II 1894 

on the site of the original which was weathered by the years.’

What was there to do in such a forsaken area?  White Gold!  The Namibia name for ‘guano’ which turns out to be an Inca word for a mixture of eggshell, feathers, decayed corpses of birds and bird excrement.  Still harvested today, its early demand meant the construction in 1895 of the first railway line in Namibia, about 13 miles (21km) that was used to transport guano as well as seal skins to ships. Although short-lived due to poor working conditions, Cape Cross became a short-lived economic hub. 

Today you can still see a small graveyard near the seal colony, attesting to the difficult conditions the men had to endure without adequate supplies of fresh fruits and vegetables, making them prone to scurvy.  By 1903, Cape Cross had reached the end of its road after only nine years of production, the area had been stripped of guano and the seals had either fled or were proving too difficult to cull. A year before the ten-year concession agreement expired, the Damaraland Guano Company, including its customs office, post office and police station, closed.

The colony is the largest on any mainland.  You will find seals there throughout the year.  The numbers fluctuate between 80,000 and over 100,000 in breeding season. 

We were here in March.  Pups are usually born between November and December, so they were approximately 4-5 months old (most born around Dec 10^th).  Many young dead ones, some barely buried in the sand with jackals on the outskirt waiting to eat them.  We could hear a constant cacophony of bleating.  Between the culling and the difficulties of life in general, only 50% of the young will survive.  An interesting fact is that females ovulate and mate within 10 days of giving birth, but the embryo development is delayed and takes place four months later. 

Thanks to the cold Benguela currents (the same ones that bring fog inland for up to 60km) and upwellings, this area is extremely rich in food.  Seals and fishermen alike benefit from its abundance.

Although there are that many seals, they only cover about 11 miles of the more than 900 miles of Namibia’s coastline.  Today, the seals are still killed for their genitalia, oil, and skin.  The first two are sold to China, the latter to Turkey where they are made into coats mostly for the Russian market.

Waves are yellow and full of scum and foam with excrements from such a high concentration of seals and sea birds.  The area if not for the faint of heart, the smell being quite overpowering. 

We return to the city on the salt road that led us here.  A road that can easily get slippery when fog or rain turns the salt into liquid ‘ice’ and famous for its many accidents.  Thankfully today’s drive is dry and safe.  Most of the way is lined with shiny pink quartz chunks for sale.  Resting on small rickety tables with a money jar nearby.   No one around to collect your fee, just the honor system. 

Nose to nose

Curlicue, ground littered with seal fur balls

Leaving Spitzkoppe

Incredible colors

Weaver birds’ nests, kopjes

Solitaire can mean a single set diamond and Solitaire can also mean solitude or loneliness. Combined these two meanings create the definition of being unique or one-of-a-kind and a precious but solitary place.  Although no one is sure of the origin of the town’s name, this makes for a good story. 

We pass the small town of Solitaire, renown for its baked goods and about the only place for miles around where you can get fuel, fix a tire, and get food.  With a population of fewer than 100, it is small and solitary indeed.

Crossing the Tropic of Capricorn

Lone colorful home in the desert

Rainfall since 2009 in Solitaire

Solitaire’s old gas pump

Old truck in Solitaire

Place known for its apple (really!) pies

They didn’t look that good, so I didn’t try any

Huge weaverbird colony – as large as small sedan car

Some so large and heavy they make the host tree fall

Single weaver bird nest – not colony

We finally arrive in Swakopmund where we visit the famous Welwitschia plants of Namibia with Jay Sarro from Open Space Tours. 

With Jay Sarro, looking at a rare but not endangered Welwitschia plant

A subsistence conundrum 

Thought to be a relic from the Jurassic period, having survived centuries, the Welwitschia plant’s survival may be threatened by uranium mining traffic.  Considered the oldest living plant species in the world, little is known about this plant, how it is pollinated, where the young plants hide, how climate change or pollution is affecting them.   Weird, peculiar, wonderful, strange, bizarre, fascinating, and of course, ugly or unique are the kind of words that are used to describe the Welwitschia. They are so old that fossilized male cones and pollen have been found in the Brazilian Basin when South America and Africa were still on the same continent (Dilcher et al. 2005). 

Coastal fog travels 31-37 miles (50-60 km) inland thanks to the cold Benguela current and the Welwitschia’s distribution coincides with that fog belt. Water is provided in the form of dew / fog as rain is an absolute exception. 

In the various local native languages, the name means stump (shape), desert onion (edible core), or two-leave-can’t die.  Indeed, the plant lives for a long time and only has two permanent leaves that grow slowly and continuously.  They get split and shredded with age, making it look like several leaves.  Recently, specimen with four leaves have been found.  They are believed to make only 5% of all specimens.

This plant is on the coat of arms of Namibia, so you would expect it to be beautiful, instead it is represented there as a symbol of endurance, survival in hostile environment and for perseverance against all odds.  Far from that, it looks semi-dead as if trampled by hundreds of buffalos.  When touching the leaves, they feel like stiff corrugated cardboard.

Surrounding the valley where we see these magnificent plants are dark dolerite dikes called Dragon’s Backs.  Being harder than granite, they leave large elevated veins among the softer granite.  The rock’s iron content is so high that many ring like bells when hit with other rocks, they are called singing rocks.

We see amazing lichen fields, some receiving just enough light through clear quarts or cracks in the rocks to grow.  What at first looks like a field of rocks, is actually covered with myriads of lichen of various colors and textures.  Jay explains that lichens can only survive in areas with clean air, our canary of clean air…

Jay explains that it has been proven that plants communicate.  If a camphor plant for example is being eaten by an antelope, it will ‘warn’ the nearby plants which in turn will become temporarily more bitter, so it will taste worse and be left alone.

With the high percentage of protected areas in Namibia, it is not possible to completely ban exploration and mining in National Parks, but it is a constant battle. 

Leaves can grow to 20 feet, shredded by wind and animals

Pollinated by these plant specific bugs or by wasps is still an unanswered question

Considered a living fossil, a cone bearing succulent with only two leaves

No young ones can be found in this area, worrying our guide

Simply because there has not been a high rain year in a long time, mining dust, or climate change?

Would you know this desert plant grows ‘melons’?

Well protected Tsamma or Nara (aka Acanthosicyos) melon

This fresh fruit (of the cucumber family) can be eaten raw 
as a substitute for water in drought, has a pleasant fruity taste, 
peeled seeds can be eaten raw or roasted.

Rock Hyrax (aka rock rabbit) – elephant’s cousin

The guide from Desert Explorers who leads us four-wheeling in the sand dunes near the beach tells us about some of the amazing adaptations to the desert many animals/insects have come up with.  

As he says: It’s Africa!  Adapt or die!

Four-wheeling in the sand dunes – stay in tracks to minimize damage

Roller coasters are the most fun

He speaks of fog beetles that stand on their heads on dune tops in early mornings to catch fog and let it drip back into their mouths. These fog beetles are known to drink up to 40% of their body weight during these morning exercises.

When it’s really cold, he said he has seen jackals lie on the beach to let the wind cover them with sand for warmth with only their noses sticking out.

Next, he mentions the Namib dune gecko (palmato gecko).  Its main food consisting of fish moths (silverfish), spiders and crickets, which are all active at night. It gets protein as well as moisture from its food source.  This gecko is also able to lick the water that condensed on its body due the thick fog that settles on the Namib desert.  Before sunrise the gecko will dig into the sand to ride out the heat of the day with temperatures sometimes exceeding 70°C (158°F).  Our guide sees faint ripples in the sand.  He plunges his hands in the sand as if it were water and comes out with a gecko, its only trace these designs in the ever-moving fine dune sand. 

Namaqua chameleon turns from black to white when heat gets too high, reflecting the sun instead of soaking it… Most of their moisture is also accumulated by drinking fog off their bodies, plants, or stones.

The shovel-snouted lizard has two bladders (one for urine, the other for water).  It can carry up to 12% of its body weight in water. At full capacity, they can survive on this reserve for weeks.  Snakes like to eat shovel-snouted lizards, because that second bladder of water is like a built-in water bottle – an added bonus.

The oryx can conserve water and withstand extreme heat (as well as a body temperature that can climb to 40 degrees) which would ordinarily kill any other animal, by cooling the blood that flows to its brain.

Finally, our guide speaks of a type of spider that rolls itself into a ball, so it can roll down a dune when trying to escape predators.  They are white and fuzzy.  Although we didn’t get to see any, it would be a neat adaptation to see in action.

Sossuvlei – otherworldly landscape

An onward to Sossusvlei (aka dead-end marsh) – salt and clay pan surrounded by high red dunes at the end of the Tsauchab river.  Although claimed to be salt and clay, I tasted it and never could taste salt. 

Once a place full of plants, birds, and animals now replaced with trees too dry to decay because the river changed its course, challenged by ever-moving dynamic sand dunes.  It gets hot early in the desert, so we nearly race to see Sossusvlei before the heat of the day.  We only have ½ day to explore this vast area. 

Sossusvlei landscape with dead trees

Rain drops in sand

Almost unreal but colors are not enhanced

More salt and clay pan surrounded by red dunes

Dead trees so gray they almost look lilac/purple

Closer look to salt and clay pan design

Final destination: Orange River – Fisher Canyon

Home of the third largest Canyon in the world (1 = Copper Canyon, Mexico, 2 = Grand Canyon, USA), we also get to enjoy a relaxing soak in the Ai-Ais hot springs before heading to the land of wines, South Africa.

Blooming near the edge of the canyon

Our bus in upper left corner

Odd design in rocks – natural or not?

Namibia’s Grand Canyon – in the top three largest canyons in the world

Baboons are found here – not sure how they survive

Such a delicate flower in this harsh desert

Adapted to extreme dry weather

Near the slums – Orange River – we start to see grapes grown along the river

Everything else dry and colorless

From diamonds in the earth to diamonds in the sky – Namibia is breathtaking.  From deep blue skies to apricot, red, ocher, burnt sienna dunes, best seen at sunset and sunrise.  Colors changing every hour.  Every turn with a new spectacular view, it is nearly impossible not to fall in love with this ancient country.

As we near South Africa, we start to see the Karoo landscape, a desert full of succulents instead of cacti.  We hardly pass through, nearing the end of our trip, it seems everything is speeding up.  We spend less and less time in each new place.  The Karoo hosts AfrikaBurn, the little cousin to Nevada’s Burning Man. 

For anyone interested in a bit of Namibia’s history, the Dog Tax, is an interesting read on how the whites facing labor shortage tricked the natives into working for them.  Click here.