The sound of stillness

We moved on from Swakopmund via Walvis Bay towards Spreetshoogte Pass. We took a scenic detour along the dunes through the Namib-Naukluft Park. You need a permit for using these small roads i.e. you have to pay an entrance fee. It was well worth it, the sight of the dunes behind the green riverbed on one side and dry, stony desert on the other side was an amazing experience. We passed some villages of the local “Topnas” people. They used to make their houses of wood, clay and reed, but nowadays you mainly see ugly huts made of leftovers from the civilization: wooden boards, tin, plastic and wire. We met a family travelling in a donkey cart, quite a common method of transport amongst the indigenous people.

It was a hot day and a long drive on bad roads. I was really glad to have air conditioning in the car and in the end we avoided stopping to have a look around because when we switched it off it immediately became unbearably hot. We passed the Tropic of Capricorn. In shallow places, where the rain water was kept for a little while, the grass began to grow. Zebras and oryx were grazing there, ostrich and springbok running around.

Approaching the mountains we saw dark rain clouds in front of us, but it rained very locally and we only got a few drops. However, it was impressive to watch the weather developing. A few days before one of the two passes we had to drive through was closed because the river was so strong and high that it threw tree-trunks onto the bridge. By now the road had been freed and there was hardly any water left in the riverbed. This change is hard to imagine.

Late afternoon we arrived in the camp where we had booked a “family unit”. This consists of 2 permanent tents with 2 beds each, a raised place between them with an open (that is without walls and a roof) kitchen with gas cooker and fridge and a bathroom behind. In order to have a warm shower you had to light a fire at the back and heat a tank of water. About 100m away from this place was a little pool, more like a stone-built bath, in the middle of wilderness. I had a bath there at night, watching the starry sky (and there are a lot of stars out there!) and listening to the sounds of nature. Before this, however, we observed the Namibian ritual of sundowner drinks, walked up a hill to a lapa (thatched roof with a bar underneath, but it was empty), taking our wine with us. We took our seats on the wooden benches outside, had our drinks and watched the beautiful sunset. All that was around us was space and nature with the mountains forming a phantastic background. The only signs of human beings we could see were the lapa and our tents. And it was so still …