Namibia – The Green Deserts

A fly-in safari - Northern Namibia

- Solitaire, Namibia - photo: Ralf-Erik Hahn

It was like landing in a land of abundance, between the green Hills near Windhoek. The fist day in a new country is always so full of new impressions that, at the end of the day it is hard to report on it everything seems to be so different at first and you see so many new things and different aspects on the life that they live here. As we came through the clouds to land at Hosea Kutako International, we saw a Land that seems to be filled with natural life and recourses – you have to remind yourself that, this is in fact a country of deserts.

Most Europeans that visit the country for the first time are impressed by the size of the country, and the lack of size at the International Airport. It is no more of an international runway, than an airport; there is not much else there, except for a runway and a couple of buildings. No other plains in sight, except for ours. But when you step out, the ground crew, none the less, behave as if it is a busy international airport. After stepping off the stairs and setting my feet on Namibian soil, a number of men in bright yellow vests guided us safely away from the aircraft and towards the terminal building. It was a welcoming party of at least 15 people that formed a corridor in which we were allowed to move without interfering the other “air traffic” (With a total of 5 arrivals and 5 departures a day, it you never know...)

After we made it safely though customs, Frans was waiting for us on the other side of the Gate. We made our way to the car, the weather outside was overcast and not quite like I expected it in Namibia. Frans, Anette and I drove the km to the City of Windhoek, where we would pick up Christl who arrived a couple of day before us. Then we went to have a coffee where Frans gave us a rundown of what we let ourselves into. He really had a great trip planned for us: 6 Lodges in 7 Nights, spread over three quarters of the country! It is a small tour of a massive country. We were to see only small sections of what the country has to offer, but of the parts that we did visit, we were going to get real close. From all the people that we were going to meet, we would not only get the background information to the areas, the relevant history, but also a feeling of what it must be like living in such an arid country. We also got to see the sights worth seeing, met the people worth meeting and got an insight to the cultural groups of each area. Not the least, we received the “Insider information” that you will only get when you are there yourself and one of the reason that we were here for.

The road to our first stop was long, (just like every road in Namibia) and the rains did a good job of making sure that we could only travel at a moderate speed. At this time of the year the streams wash away the drifts in the gravel roads, so that one has to slow down at every dip on the way. But we got there safely, and in good sprit.
The city of Solitaire, as they call it, consists of: the Lodge, the filling station, the shop, the lapa (bar), camp site, a newly build bakery and some buildings for farming. It lies in a flat area surrounded by mountains along the horizon. It feels like a little oasis in the middle of nowhere. This is where we met Frank, General Manager of Solitaire Country Lodge (and Major of the city of Solitaire). He is a character, hard to compare, but he also has a lot of character. You probably need to be very optimistic and always try to have fun, in order to work successfully in these merciless surrounding. Well, Frank does just that, an optimistic happy person in the middle of the desert.

He took us for a drive to the outskirts of the city and around the farm. We came past a heard of cattle that were newly delivered. A mixed bunch of all sorts of races: Brahman, Africander, Nguni, Kashivi and lots more, all a happy family on the farm. We took a long drive around the perimeter of the estate passing some Springbok here and there. We ended the tour on a little hill, at sunset, with a beer – the perfect! From here you can even see the petrified dunes of the Naukluftpark in the distance. The sunlight changed as the sun went down which created an amazing atmosphere, and made for some good photographs.

There is quite some wildlife in this region and they are slowly introducing more of the bigger game. You can also go for game drives at the foot of the Mountains. The Lodge itself has 25 rooms built in a square with a green lawn and swimming pool in the middle. The rooms have basic furniture: mostly twin beds, no air-conditioning, en-suite bathroom with shower. Basic but clean. The coffee facilities that were available in the rooms is something that I personally enjoy very much. It made waking up in the early morning a bit easier. One thing that I did miss a bit in the other lodges we visited. Dinner is a buffet with a bit of variety in starter, main and dessert. Nothing too fancy, but tasty.

To most people, the stay a night in Solitaire is to stop over on the way to or from Sossusvlei – which we would also do the next morning. Our departure was at 5 o’clock! – because we did not want to miss out Sossusvlei which is about 80 km from the Lodge. What made the getting up a bit easier was a cold shower – they were having some electrical difficulties at the time of our visit, I assume this was also the reason why there was no hot water that day. Another nice service is the breakfast pack that they do for the early birds like us. The packed food lets you get a head start and the packs were filled with a lot of nice bites. It was definitely worth only a short night’s rest, to see the huge dunes at sunrise. We took a walk to Dead Vlei - what an eerie place with many fascinating little inhabitants of the sandy dunes when you have a closer look.

It was a long drive – but scenery is in constant change: we headed through the Kuiseb Pass and further northwest where the vegetation gets lesser, the landscape gets flatter and the ground got sandier – till we got just in front of Walvis Bay and there were only little sand dunes left. We did a short trip through Walvis Bay. A Town set amongst sand dunes, with little resources, only able to exist because of its harbor. Driving towards the town a wind came up and blew the sand over the street, it was hard to imagine that we will be arriving in a town soon, in such a hard terrain. We went further north towards Swakopmund. Another sight that boggles your mind: desert on the one side on the street and the ocean on the other, big ships on the horizon, holiday makers on the beach, kite surfers, quad biking – we were getting near the adventure capitol of Namibia – Swakopmund – a German town far away from home, yet at every corner you can see something familiar, like “Hohenzollern Haus”, “Altes Amtsgericht”, “Bismarck Str.” ect.

We spent the night further on, in Henties Bay. What a cute little town. In our Hotel (the only hotel in town) was a true event: Valentines’ day. The restaurant was all in red and white with hearts and a bottles of the sweet red sparkling wine was at each table. A special menu was printed (on red paper of cause) and seemed to be enjoyed by everyone.

The following day we left the coast for another stretch of barren, flat, white sand as far as the eye can see – something that captivates so many people that travel the country: sometimes “nothing” is the thing that is fascinating. We had a quick look a Brandberg, covered in a blanket of clouds and continued our journey past Uis till we arrived at Twyfelfontein. The Manager showed us around the Twyfelfontein Country Lodge, a the fairly new Accommodation that is beautifully situated in front a mountain of red rocks between some ancient rock carvings – leftovers from the stone age. Halve the rooms have a nice view over a massive vlei (pan). The quality of the rooms was similar to Solitaire, the setting of the lodge is defiantly the part that lets an atmosphere develop.

For lunch we had a stir fry on the buffet – very tasty.
We went with Siggi (the guide) on a nature drive around the area. Siggi has phenomenal knowledge about earth, he explained us the creation of the area starting in Gondwanaland, about the formations the landscape and the changes of the present day that still occur. The tour starts at 4pm in summer and 3pm in winter at the lodge and is very recommendable to get a better insight into the formation of these strange landscapes. Generally the lodge has a great selection of activities; a tour to the rock engravings is of course very worthwhile, whereby the “Verbranter Berg” and the “Organ Pipes” are less spectacular then I had imagined.

What followed was a long wait for Willem (General Manager Namibia Country Lodges). He came with a Cesna 210 from Windhoek to pick us up for the rest of the tour. After landing, there were some difficulties with the radio of the plain and we had to wait for the repair and continue hoping that the weather would not worsen and keep us from continuing our trip on that day.

Christl and Anette and I relaxed at the lodge and took a million photos of the Namibian Rock Agama and the Bushytailed Rock Rats, that you find around the lodge. We were in fact a lovely little group, Christl and Anette are easy going people, always up for just about everything that is offered – an we did just about everything that was to do. It was the positive attitude and the genuine interest in the tour and the Country that made this tour so successful. A great deal of optimisum probably comes from being in the industry for a long time and of the previous experiences in Africa. If you have ever made a trip to Africa where everything went as planned, then you have not really experienced Africa. It is more of matter of where and when, and how much fun it will be to solve a difficulty and to improvise – this is something people actually love Africa for and it is something that you start missing when things go too well for too long.

Our first flight was pure entertainment: the guys from the lodge tried to chance away the many birds that invaded the runway and we were able to take off without an incident. The flight was over a country that was green as far as the eye could see. Not really what you would expect in Namibia. We flew up, further North till we reached Opuwo and the country of the Himbas.

Willem gave us a nice intro to the lodge as we closely flew over the Lodge. The Lodge is situated on the one side of a hill facing a seemingly endless range of hills and mountains. On the other side of the hill is the town of Opuwo. The view from the lodge is magnificent, and the chalets are build in a way that you can sit on the veranda of your chalet and enjoy drink while the sun sets in front of you. The Opuwo Country Lodge is quite new and fells quite luxurious. The Design and interior decoration is a truly good combination of the Himba style and modern furniture. A Wine cellar in the upper floor has a great selection of South African Wines. We had a Kanonkop Cabernet Sauvignon for Dinner, very recommendable. The Dinner was prepared by a kitchen that is able to create dished that are a bit out of the ordinary, look great and taste even better. But before dinner and one of the most beautiful sunsets of our trip, we first went for a visit a Himba Village.

If it is your first time to visit a traditional village – you will feed quite out of place, you will feel like you are intruding in on a world that is so different from your own. But the children are the ones that come, look at the photos you take and get a connection to this other world going. The ladys come and sit around and have their photo taken. It is astonishing how firmly they hold on to their traditions and believes. We were shown how they prepare the “cream” for their skin, and how they “perfume” themselves with smoke of a certain bark. Slowly their interest in our world also developed and I was asked if Anette and Chrisel are my two wives, and how many children we had. For them, children are the true riches in life. At the end of our visit, they started to dance. You can see their joy in the dancing and singing – this lifts your spirit and you start to feel more comfortable around them.

The next morning we had a long flight ahead of us. We flew along the border to Angola in the direction of Caprivi. Dodging the rain clouds here and there. We followed the Okavango River as it crossed the Caprivi Strip, then we flew alongside the boarder to Botswana, further and further into this Bush that is so different to the rest in Africa. Willem made another low flying maneuver to have a look at the Namushasha Lodge from atop.

The Wildlife here is sheer bursting with life. There is an abundance of beautiful bird species, the vegetation is so diverse and green and you can find insects in all variations, forms and sizes.
Namushasha is situated directly on the banks of the Kwando River. The cottages are spread along the river allowing all a private piece of Nature when you sit on your veranda. The rooms are large with a big bathroom and an interior that is held in a natural tone. There are Mosquito nets on all windows and the door to the veranda, allowing you to sleep under the Mosquito nets with open windows. Waking up in the mornings to the sounds of nature - is a feeling of being home.

After our arrival, we when on an evening game drive with Gordon, Willem and some sundowners. Due to the heavy rains that had fallen previously, The bush is thick and animals are scares, but there is always so much more to see when you have someone that knows the wild. We made a stop on the river bank they call “horse shoe” to have a drink. A distance into the bush, the where a couple of baboons playing around on the banks and a lonely elephant bull slowly moved out of the bush and towards the water for a drink.

That evening we got to know the rest of the crew of Namushahsa and played a round of Kniffel with them and had a couple of drinks. They decided to go show us some crocodiles. So, in the middle of the night they packed the essentials – which in this case was a cooler box with Jägermeister. We took a boat out into the wild night with a lamp, scanning the banks of the river to find the reflections of crocodile eyes. But to no avail. With the amount of water which was in the river system at this stage, the crocodiles moved to the shallow areas away from the main stream of the river. In the end we just had a couple of Jägermeister on a river in the middle of the night.

The following day it was sunny and a perfect day to go fishing. We packed the rods and with Willem and Gordon, we went out onto the river. What a wonderful way to spend the day. The two Breams that Anette and Wihelm caught were later given to the chef who prepared them wonderfully as a starter at dinner.

The next morning it was time again to depart and head to the Bushmen. Our flight took us over a part of Botswana where you were able to see the Okavango Delta - at this stage with a lot of water. More water is still expected, when the river brings the rains from northern Namibia and Angola. Shortly before landing, we saw the Nyae – Nyae Pans in front of us. Willem made a dive with the plain and we flew over the heads a heard of Wildebees. They started to flee after they heard the sound of this great white bird coming to attack them.

After settling in to our rooms at the Tshumkwe Lodge, and paying a little visit to the Tshumkwe shop, we got back onto the vehicle and drove to the pans. They were wet, green and seem to stretch forever. Flamingos, Duck, Springbuck and the Wildebees that we had chased earlier were waiting for us there. They set up a table and some chairs at the side of the plain and served us a delicious Lunch. The overcast clouds decided to let go of the rain and we had to cut our visit short. The open 4x4 Vehicle took us back to the Lodge, however the rain increased and it started to poor, a wind started to blow and the rain was swept into the vehicle. Our Driver did the best he could to get us back to the Lodge as quickly and safely as he could. But by the time we got there we were soaked to the bone.

As quickly as it came, it was gone again. So we decided to visit the city of Tshumkwe, which consists of a cross section and a couple of houses around it. But Stacey Main (Community and Conservancy Relations for Namibia Country Lodges) knew were to go and took us to a small shop where the Bushmen of this area sell their crafts they make themselves. The income from these products goes straight back to them. Bow and Arrow, Jewelry made from Ostrich eggs, knives and other traditional items for sale which the Bushmen made from the few resources that they have in the “veld”.

That evening we sat at the fire and some Bushmen ladies came to sing. There is no text in their songs just melodic rhythm clapping and singing different tones. Hearing these songs and looking into the fire you feel set back in time.

After we had a truly delicious dinner, we went to our rooms. They are still busy renewing the lodge and are busy putting up little cottages all around the main building. They will be of a basic standard, Bedroom with a shower-bathroom and a veranda in the front. A new main building is also planed and the construction will start soon.

The Bushmen are the attraction of this remote area. So Stacy took us to visit a Bushmen village on the following morning. They do not life the traditional way anymore, but the older generation had still grown up in the traditional way and sill know all the trick on how to survive in the Kalahari. The little village was complete with the traditional grass huts, men women and children, all together like a big family. They led us out into the bush to show us a couple of their traditions: From a broad leaf they extracted the fibers to make a piece of rope, within minutes this was done and they used it to set up a trap for birds. When showing us how it works, one of them imitated a francolin hopping along on the ground and imitating the sound. What a funny sight: a grown man behaving like a little bird. They went to certain bushes and after a while they returned with a branch. On it was a small worm. This they used, together with parts and extracts of other plants to mix the poison thy use for their poisoned arrows. Furthermore they would look at a certain twig sticking out of the ground, they go dig out a big boll that was the root of this which could be cooked and would taste a bit like potato. Because the Bushmen of this area do not require this knowledge anymore to survive in the everyday lives, these skills might soon vanish. But if they continue to practice these skills, even though it is just for the sake of the tourists, their skills and their unique knowledge might remain alive for a little longer.
The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, we took off again, did a low flying maneuver over the pans, where we scared an Ostrich half to death. The poor bird must have never seen such a large bird fly so low.

Back in civilization, in Windhoek, we rested a while in our accommodations. I stayed at the Terra Africa Guest House, a very friendly and lovely little Guest house with a view to the new and impressing Government buildings – a monumental complex that they have been building for the last couple of years.

On our last evening in the country, Chrislt, Anette, Frans, Willem and I met at Joe’s Beer House for the last time. This is a perfect setting to review the adventurous last couple of days. The portions of meat at Joe’s are huge and the food is good. We carried on and had some Jägermeisters in a local Bar with a local live band, Afrikaans music.
Throughout the tour we were attended to, looked after and were shown a good time by Frans, Willem and all the others from Namibia Country Lodges.

Thank you guys very much! And a big thanks to Petra Feyand-Weilbächer (http://www.feyand-tourismus.de/) who invited me to this tour. She represents the Namibia Country Lodges here in Germany.

- Ralf-Erik Hahn

(all text and pictures by Ralf-Erik Hahn)