Kulala Private Wilderness Reserve Sunday 28th September
Well this was something new! After a two hour flight from Jo’burg to Windhoek in Namibia, we were met, and escorted to a small light aircraft company to meet our pilot, for our personal charter flight to the Kulala Private Wilderness Reserve. This was a Cessna 206 for those who care, and it only just managed to take all of us and our baggage.
The flight took around two hours, and took us into some amazing scenery. This area is very near the famous Sossusvlei sand dunes, which form part of the Namib Naukluft National Park. As we flew, the scenery changed from something similar to that which you would see in some parts of outback Australia, into something totally different. Massive mountain ridges and escarpments became more and more spectacular, whilst there was no evidence of human presence,
We finally descended over these escarpments, as I was trying to find the airstrip somewhere amongst the totally barren areas between the mountains. Needless to say, Elly was once again in the right hand seat distracting the pilot, but he managed to find the airport and produce a good landing.
After landing, there was, of course, someone waiting to meet us; Willem, who was to be our guide for the next couple of days. He took us to our camp, Ha!, Camp! Some camp.
This was called The Little Kulala Camp, and we were met at the front entrance by the manager, and some staff, who offered us cool towels and a welcome drink. The communal area was just delightful, with a fireplace, separate sitting areas, an outside decking area with dining tables and hanging, cocoon type chairs for relaxing.
We were offered lunch, even though it had finished, and we we advised that our huts were ready, and they contained aircon, mini bar ( from which all beverages were complementary), as was all the alcohol and any other drinks we may consume.
The huts were very elaborate, and were each separate from the others. They also had a roof top bedroom, with a double bed which was made up very evening, if you wished to try sleeping under the stars!
All this in the middle of desert, with surrounding mountains, and, in the distance, the beginnings of the great sand dunes. The temperature was surprisingly cool, with a cool breeze blowing and a clear blue sky.
Willem took us on a nature drive in the evening, concentrating on birds and flora in particular, because, apart from the Oryx and Springbok, there were not a great range of animals to see. The scenery was spectacular, with some of the mountains having a large broad sheet of sand blown right up to the base of the mountain, looking for all the world like a band of fog obscuring the bottom section of the mountain.
Massive communal nest built by the Sociable Weaver birdsWe climbed up an area of high ground as the sun was about to set, and Elly set up her camera for yet another unmissable sunset. While she was doing this, Willem folded down a tray on the side of the 4wd and set up sundowner drinks for us all.
Back to the camp for an excellent dinner, and personal visit from the Chef, and complementary wine, and all was well with the world.
We gave the rooftop bed a miss, because it was a bit too cold.
Sossusvlei Monday 29th September
An early rise was required for a hot air balloon ride, which, although it was not usual, would take us towards the Sossusvlei sand dunes. It was a beautiful, clear, calm morning, as we lifted into the air just after sunrise, staying high, because the emphasis was on the surroundings, rather than the animals of our previous balloon flight.
The breeze was in our favour as we headed towards the dunes, which are very spectacular, with a red tinge, because of their high iron content. The dunes run along a wedge shaped section, which is basically two dry river beds, along which you can drive, to the point where the dunes converge, as do the two rivers. They have only had 10 mm of rain so far this year, so it is very dry, but when the rain does come, the rivers feed about 8 metres of water down into that confluence.
As our balloon neared the dunes area and we made our landing preparations, the pilot had to try to land adjacent to a track, which was there. The ground crew are not allowed to drive their retrieval trucks off the track, so the balloons have to be packed up and carried to the trucks.
We watched, fascinated, as the ground crew were walking along under us, while the pilot dropped a long tape which hung below us. We descended until the crew grabbed the tape, and started to pull us towards the track, even though we were pretty close anyway. The retrieval truck was on the track right next to us, and I commented that with these guys pulling on the tape, perhaps we could land on the truck.
The pilot said ” we are going to have to”, I’m not sure why. I couldn’t believe it, he lowered the balloon very gently, as the ground crew took hold of the basket, and gently turned it around to match the flatbed of the truck, while the pilot lowered us onto the truck. Amazing!
After that, it was another champagne breakfast, for us all, except for two people from one of the other lodges, who missed the flight because the staff didn’t give the wake up call they had ordered.
After breakfast Willem picked us up and we drove down along the wedge into Sossusvlei and the junction of the rivers and dunes, where we set out for a walk to the “Dead Vlei” or dead valley, which is an area which looks like a salt pan, which would flood when the rains come, but is, in fact, a clay pan which hasn’t flooded for about 300 years.
To get there we started climbing up the edge of a sand dune, climbing single file up a steep slope, with the dune falling away rapidly on either side of us. The edge we were actually walking on was only about a metre wide, so looking down at your feet, and not to either side was mandatory, otherwise you could get quite spooked. After climbing higher and higher, with no real end in sight, and being a bit spooked by the narrowness of our path, we decided on an early descent down the side of the dune.
We then walked down the slope, very gingerly to try to keep vertical. Andrew helped Elly and Willem helped me ( 70 year old fart!). Bev seemed to cope well. Down onto the Dead Vlei for a bit of a look at some photogenic ancient trees that died ages ago, some around 300 years ago, and are still standing, and then the walk back, not via the dune climb this time.
Back at the camp, again they offered lunch, even though it was after three, then at five, Bev and Elly went for a sunset drive, while Andrew and I believed that since this place is so nice, and we have obviously paid heaps of money for it, we should stay home and enjoy it.
Tuesday 30th September
Elly rose earlier than the rest of us, to be driven down to the dunes, specifically Dune 45, which is the first of the dunes which you can climb. She wanted a photo with the sharp shadow on one side, and sun on the other. This could only be achieved first thing in the morning, and she intended climbing the dune to get the photos, but decided against the climb when she found she could get the shots from the bottom. Wise decision!
On Elly’s return, we were taken to the airport for our flight to Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp. This took us down over Sossusvlei, along the Tsauchab catchment river, down to where we had walked to the Dead Vlei the previous day. We then covered the 55 km across the sand dunes to the coast, and headed north, passing the wreck of the Eduard Bohlen shipwreck from 1909, now located 250 metres inland, and passing salt pans coloured, landed at Swakopmund, for refuelling.
After arriving at the camp, we went for an evening drive, seeing Giraffe, and an Elephant which took exception to our presence and charged us, but we got away.
The camp had only been open for about 3 months, and was another of the “Everything is included” variety. When we returned from our drive, there was a fire burning outside, with the guests sitting around, so we joined in and were supplied immediately with drinks of our choice.
We heard that at 3:00 am the previous night, a pride of 4 lions had been prowling outside the cabins, roaring and waking everyone up. They stayed until 7:30, meaning everyone had to stay inside, which messed up the timing for all the planned activities.
We were hoping they would come back again that night so we could be part of the fun, but no such luck.
Skeleton Coast Wednesday 1st October ( Granny’s birthday)
We departed at 7:00 , a sleep in till 6:00, for a 3 hour drive to the Skeleton Coast. This conjures thoughts of evil deeds, pirates, and generally nasty things, however , it is named because of the many shipwrecks along that section of the Atlantic coast.
The trip took longer than 3 hours, partly because we got bogged, which required all our man/woman power to free us. The drive took us initially along a dry river bed, with sandstone cliffs either side, formed by erosion, with the river being about 200 metres wide, and with shade trees either side. As we progressed, the river became narrower, and shrunk in width, as well as the trees becoming smaller. We then broke through into a flood plain, which is fed by the rare flow from the river,
After an hour crossing the floodplain, which was mostly low scrub, be transitioned to sand dunes, and the most spectacular scenery we have ever seen. Our driver, Guert, was obviously loving driving over these dunes. It was so much like newly groomed powder snow, and we were hurtling over the peaks and down the valleys – until we stopped, and I rolled off my seat and hit the floor. He had hit a patch of soft stuff and was in the wrong gear to accelerate out.
Elly in mid bogging dune climbSo we spent about half an hour extricating ourselves.
We found ourselves, shortly after, on the top of a large dune, and Guert told us to get out of the vehicle, and go and sit on the edge of the dune. Under his instruction we started sliding on our bums down the dune.
Suddenly we could hear a loud droning noise, coming from the dune, and it kept up until we were at the bottom, then Guert amazed us by driving the Land Cruiser over the edge of the dune down towards us. The drone became a roar as the car slowly came down the dune. Even when the car was down, the dune kept roaring until all the sand rivulets had stopped sliding down.
These are known as the Roaring Dunes of Namibia. Apparently the sand grains are larger than normal, and therefore there is more air trapped inside the dune, and when this movement occurs, it sets up a sound which is the resonant frequency of the dune. Amazing!
The scenery as we traversed the dunes was nothing short of spectacular, like nothing any of us had seen before ; towering rock faces and massive, rippled sand between them, any tracks removed by the following day by the steady wind which also kept the temperature comfortable.
As we approached the coast, we saw an oasis, caused buy the underground water flow finally surfacing, producing swamp lands and palm trees and general greenery. Guert drove us to the opposite side where we could see Flamingos and Cormorants, and we walked along a wall made of stones which had been washed down what used to be a river, and which had blocked the oasis water from flowing out to sea.
Further along we were taken to a large seal colony on the beach. There were a couple of thousand in the colony, and it was great to watch them playing and squabbling on the beach and in the water.
It was time to have lunch, so we drove further along the beach, Elly said ” I guess we will turn the corner and there will be a champagne lunch set up”and sure enough we finally came across a table set up for us all, with wine and food, and a kind gentleman who had set it all up for us. We sat down to a very pleasant lunch facing the Atlantic only a few metres in front of us. So there we were, having a picnic lunch, with wine, a few metres from the Atlantic Ocean, on the Skeleton Coast in Namibia! That takes some beating.
The temperature was interesting. Because it is a desert, and with a consistent wind blowing, the night time temperature was really cold, so when we departed on the drives at some silly hour, in an open Landcruiser, we had, not only our own several layers on, but also the company supplied thick, wool lined ponchos, which were fabulous, and we needed them. As the sun rose, and the day progressed, we would peel off a layer, one at a time, until, at around 10 or 11am we would be back to a shirt. On the return at the end of the day, we would do the reverse.
All the others, including Bev and Andrew were booked to fly back to the camp, because, anyone staying 3 nights or more has it included, however, as we were only staying 2 nights, they wanted to charge us $US 500 each for the 15 minute flight back. Not only did we not want to spend $US1000, but we loved the drive through the dunes so much, we wanted to drive back anyway, which is what we did.
Some time ago I mentioned that Elly had an ambition to have a photo of a giraffe at sunset, just like the photo at the start of the blog. She has searched in vain to have a giraffe in the vicinity of sunset. On the way back from the Skeleton Coast, it happened, with Guert manoeuvring the Land Cruiser to get the position just right. This was the result!
Below are animals seen on the Rhino hunt
Serra Cafema Thursday 2nd October
This is the day that Elly and I, and Bev and Andrew were going to part ways, as they were starting to head home, whilst we were heading further north west, to the Serra Cafema Camp, right at the north western tip of Namibia, on the border with Angola.
We all headed out in the morning before our departure, for a Rhino hunt. These animals are extremely shy and avoid human contact actively. We had been lucky to see Rhinos in other places, but here they’d are difficult to find. We drove for two hours to the area where they are known to be, but after a couple of hours searching, we finally admitted defeat and headed home.
The flight took a three sector, two aircraft, operation. The scenery was again wonderful, with rugged rock mountains and desert sand between. When we landed, sure enough, our guide, Stanley, was awaiting us with champagne and sandwiches, before driving us the hour and a half journey to the Camp.
I must say, all the meeting and connections have been seamless for the whole trip, touch wood!
As we travelled from the airport, the magnificence of the scenery became apparent. This was grandeur that we hadn’t seen in Namibia before, notwithstanding the fabulous stuff we had seen. This was absolute desert, with sand dunes and towering rock faces and mountains, with a spectacular range of mountains belonging to Angola, just a short distance away.
Then, a river! A large river, just out of nowhere, when there shouldn’t have been one – this was dry desert, and here was a wide river, although apparently low, flowing along, and making the border between Namibia and Angola. Of course, with the river came greenery, oasis like palm trees and other large green trees were all along the sides of the river, and that is where Cerra Cafema was situated.
This would have to be one of the most isolated places on the planet, but spectacularly beautiful, and the camp itself was fabulous, with an open dining and seating area leading out onto a deck which looked out onto the river. From the main area, an elevated walkway led to the rooms, which were amazing themselves. Very large, running from the door, past the mosquito netted bed, past the wardrobe/suitcase area, past the bathroom and finishing at the toilet and shower, as well as an outside shower for the naturalists among us. Along this entire length were a series of eight French doors leading to an open deck with couches and chairs. This, again, was a ” Nothing costs anything” type of place, and we noticed a champagne bottle, on ice, waiting for us when we entered.
We had arrived fairly late, so we polished off the champagne and headed for dinner. The meal times were obviously very flexible; you could basically turn up whenever you liked and drink whatever you wanted for no extra cost. I was thinking how much I liked this concept, but then I had a flash of memory about how much this couple of days actually cost us. Never mind, the money has gone, so enjoy!
Serra Cafema Friday 3rd October
We had arranged with Stanley to take us on a visit to the Himba people, who are some of the last true nomads in Namibia. Stanley speaks their language, which made it easy for us. There were only women and children in the settlement, because the men and young boys were away looking after the cattle. The women use an ochre mix for various things, including as make up all over, which gives their skin a deep red colour, and looks quite beautiful. Their skin look very healthy and smooth – I would like to trade mine for some like that.
Stanley taught us the phrase for hello, so we greeted them correctly. Elly was in heaven photographing everyone, including the kids. We distributed some small Koalas we had brought with us, and they went over well.
Their hair was also done in a thick ochre plaster over plaits, and the ochre was also mixed with a fat to cure some animal skin that one of the women was working on.
After a while they all spread out the expected craft things they had made, in the hope that we would buy something. This is their only source of cash, as most other dealings are done by barter. We bought a couple of things at a high price, although we knocked them down a bit.
The Himba do get some help from the camp, with some food items etc., but they do grow corn crops and sadly tobacco as well,along the river, on the opposite, Angola, side. There is an agreement that you are allowed to enter Angola, within 40km of the border, so they can utilise the river bank without any problems.
The Himba people’s permanent village, currently not used.After about an hour of Elly’s photography we bid farewell and headed off for a bit of a tour around the spectacular scenery near the camp before arriving back for lunch. There are only a few animals in the area, the Oryx, which is a master of survival, and a few baboons, so animal drives are not applicable, but scenic drives are. We were met by the staff who advised us that we had to have lunch in a different spot, and we should follow them.
We walked along the elevated walkway, past our rooms and into a small open room, looking out onto a section of the river, where a table had been set just for us. We had our own waiter who served us our personal lunch, and more wine than we needed. That was great, although we had noticed we had another bottle of champagne waiting for us in the room!
At around 4pm Stanley took us on a cruise along the river for a couple of hours, with Namibia on one side and Angola on the other. We stopped and set foot in Angola, and were given – more champagne! Then back to the camp to be met by staff with – a liqueur! And then dinner!
Departing Serra Cafema to Windhoek Saturday 4th October
Our flight left at 11:30 on Saturday to start the long journey home, but Elly decided we had time to fit in something beforehand, which sounded like a good idea, because, really the only activity left was to ride Quad bikes, and we thought we might have time to do that for an hour or so.
But Stanley had other ideas. We would leave our packed bags to be delivered to the airport, and we would ride the quad bikes, with Stanley, the 25km to the airport to meet the flight! This is the drive that took 90 mins on the way in.
At 7:00 am we were fitted with helmets and gloves, and led down to the practice area, where our faithful steeds awaited us.
We spent about half an hour getting used to operating the bikes, and then, with Elly still a bit nervous, we set off behind Stanley. Immediately a family of baboons came down near us on the slope of a dune, on their way to the river. We drove along sand tracks with dunes and mountains surrounding us, as we climbed up towards the mountain passes.
Baboons on the duneI was the first to get bogged, which was when I worked out that I had to keep the speed up in the soft sand, or I would get stuck. Elly managed to get stuck a couple of times, and for some reason speared off the track once or twice, but we eventually mastered it.
Riding along that vast expanse of sand, with mountains and dunes surrounding us, in the early morning light was almost beyond description. It was as though we were starring in some James Bond movie. Just the thought of where we were and what we were doing filled me with amazement.
We had a little fun diversion at one stage, when Stanley decided to have a bit of a play in some small sand dunes, speeding over and around the dunes, with us trying to follow.
Poor Stanley, he had to rescue us a few times during the ride, and probably was wondering what he had volunteered for, but at about 11:00 we finally made it to find our aircraft and our bags awaiting us.
Cessna CaravanWhat a fabulous way to finish off our trip!