trying to fly

Last weekend we spent at the coast as I wanted to try hanggliding. After a couple of exercises such as running with the thing I moved a few metres up the dune and started with the first hops. Early afternoon I was successful to fly for about 20m, but the landing was a bit too fast, I twisted my ellbow and finished the sport for this weekend. However, I got the taste for it and I definitely want to continue with it.

the coast

One night we camped wild at the Brandberg with no-one around for a couple of kilometres. We enjoyed the nature and the absolute quietness. Then we explored the other end of our proposed original route, the Brandberg West camp. We drove through a deserted mine and just as we thought nothing will be there and wanted to turn around a simple camp appeared. We were greeted and the woman had a registration list ready and also hand-drawn maps of the way through Doros Crater. So, from this side the undertaking looked much more possible, but now it was too late. We turned around and drove to the coast. The Skeleton coastline is as bleak as described in the books, but we did not get bored by this. I even enjoy this emptiness. The kids went bathing in the Atlantic at 13 degrees water temperature, mist and an unpleasant wind outside. On our way we visited one of the largest seal colonies in Southern Africa. The number of animals was quite impressive and it stank horrible. We watched the acrobatic swimming for a while.
We stayed a few days in Swakopmund to get some entertainment. The boy and the man went quad biking, the girl and the woman had a look at the Kristallgalerie and adjoined jeweller shops. One day we joined Tommy’s Living Desert tour which was great fun. I had been on the tour over a year ago, but it was very interesting again. In Walvis Bay we met a pelican selling souvenirs and my visitors bought a few.
On our way back to Windhoek we stopped for one night and a bit of scrambling at Spitzkoppe. The kids enjoyed this adventure a lot.

Ugab Terraces

The next leg of our journey brought us along the Ugab river to the famous Vingerklip. Long ago the river cut through the landscape and created towers and funny shaped hills with steep sides. One of these towers is the Vingerklip, so narrow at the bottom that one wonders that it does not tip over. We enjoyed this amazing landscape for 2 days and then carried on to Twyfelfontein. On the way we visited the petrified forest where we marvelled at 30m long logs of stone. We stayed in the Aba-Huab community camp, right next to the Huab river. One evening I strolled along the riverbed and discovered several elephant footprints. Although they were not fresh I found this quite exciting. We explored the surrounding, found the Wondergat, a very deep and narrow hole in the ground and looked at the Organ Pipes, a strange volcanic rock formation. Twyfelfontein is known for its rock engravings and we joined an interesting tour to see these. Usually I prefer looking at rock art at my leisure, without a guide. However, this was not possible in this place and it was indeed good to get some explanation of the engravings. Some of the pictures were like a map where temporary and permanent wells are marked, essential knowledge in an area like this. Most engravings showed animals, sometimes with human body parts. This should symbolize the shaman who is transforming into that animal. Then there was an ostrich with 5 necks which showed its movement.
Originally we intended to cut through the Doros Crater to the coast from there, but warnings about people getting lost, lack of a detailed map of the area and lack of information about the way from local people deterred us from this. We went on a day trip on the 4x4 path into the area and back instead. Then we made our way on a long detour around the east of Brandberg to get to the same point.