BOSMAN'S BUSH TELEGRAPH - 26 MARCH 2000
Hey there
Well we are in Swakopmund at
the moment so we thought that we would bang off a quick email to you all
letting you know our latest news. Cell
phone reception in Namibia
is erratic at best (to say the least) so when our phone works we greedily try
to send off news before moving on. I
fear that it will only get worse as we move further north and we might have to
revert to a more traditional form of communication - may even have to put pen
to postcard!
We have been in Swakopmund
for the last two days - we kept being told by Namibians that Swakop is the jewel of Namibia,
Namibia's
premier holiday destination etc and they were certainly right. The town is really quaint with lots of
fantastic German restaurants, taverns and bakeries. There is also a roaring
fishing trade on the go and Nev
and I succumbed to the temptation and booked ourselves onto a deep sea fishing
trip. I have never fished before and
thought that I would just go along for the boat trip and take some photos - the
chances of me actually catching something were less than zero - or so I
thought. When we arrived at the harbour and were introduced to the skipper of the boat - a
crusty Namibian ominously called "Hakkie" -
it was clear that there were going to be no passengers on his boat and that
everyone was expected to fish. Our other
crew mates included some very hard-core looking dudes from the Otjiwarango Angling Club who were all chewing tobacco and
seemed quite put out that there was going to be a woman on the trip as they may
have to curtail their language usage. Hakkie took us about 10 kilometres
from the shore (hardly deep sea but nonetheless) and we were all handed fishing
rods and bait and expected to get on with it.
I must say that Hakkie took pity on me as it
was my first fishing trip and treated me to a few hook baitings
(I was quite relieved as the bait that was being used consisted of some really
smelly pilchards and some day old white mussels). Within five minutes of putting his line in Nev had hoisted out 2
"Kolsterte" or Blacktails
that were of decent size. And low and
behold I had a quiver at the end of my rod and hooked one myself. We continued for the rest of the morning and
by the end of the trip Nev
had caught over 10 Kolsterte and a Galjoen and I had caught about 7. I was most pleased with
myself! On our return from the trip Hakkie had his helpers gut the fish for us and although we
did not take all the fish that we had caught as we did not have space for them
in our fridge, we came away with a Galjoen and a
couple of Kolsterte.
We braaied the Galjoen
last night and it was superb. I think I
am now hooked on this fishing business - next stop Henties Bay.
Hakkie and the Boat Fisherman Nev Galjoen for dinner
Aside from
Swakopmund we spent quite some time exploring the Namib desert.
The highlight was definitely Sossusvlei
which had water in it due to the recent rains that the region has
experienced. The area is absolutely
stunning and surrounded by the most gorgeous orange sand dunes. Nev
and I decided to hike up the largest one behind Sossusvlei
to get a better view of the area.
Although the view did prove to be fantastic and we felt as though we
were on top of the world we almost died of heat exhaustion schlepping up the
dune in the midday sun in temperatures over 35 degrees centigrade. I was only too happy to return to the
air-conditioned land rover and gulp down some water. Namibia seems to have had a lot
of rain recently and the desert looks more like savannah or grasslands - it
is literally covered with green grass and bushes. The bug population also seems to have
doubled and we have been inundated with every species of creepy crawly in
existence from mossies to locusts!
The
famous Dune 45 and a very hot and bothered Pen after a hike up the Dunes near
Sossuvlei
|
Sossusvlei
Desert
Trek
|
Apart from our stint at Sossusvlei
we also stayed at a private camp called Koiimasis
which is on a farm at the edge of the Namib desert.
The farm is run by a young German couple who farm ostriches and are
absolutely starved for company! We were treated to some wonderful German
hospitality - as you can imagine - including the most fantastic ostrich steaks,
lots of Windhoek
beer. Koiimasis
is definitely worth visiting on a trip to Namibia as it is situated in one of
the most stunning areas of the country.
It makes quite a nice change from the municipal and government run
campsites that one finds all over. The farmers in the area have also agreed
that their farms will form part of a larger nature conservancy and the aim is
that they conduct their farming operations so as to leave nature as undisturbed
as possible. Its
quite an interesting concept and seems to work quite well.
We have also visited the Fish River Canyon where we
camped at Hobas, (Ai-Ais
was unfortunately closed as it has been badly flooded and will in all
likelihood be closed for the rest of the season ), Luderitz, Aus, Walvis Bay, bits and pieces of the rest of
the Namib-Naukluft park and Schloss
Duwisib (a castle built by a member of the German
nobility who was stationed in Namibia with the German Army at the turn of the
century).
Fish River Canyon, Namibia
|
Ghost
Town, Komanskop,
Namibia
|
Luderitz
Landscape, Namibia
|
Route
707
Duwisib Castle
|
House
filled with sand, Kolmanskop, Luderitz
|
Luderitz Sunset, Namibia
Desert
Landscape, Namibia
|
We are heading up to the Skeleton Coast
later today (via Henties) and then on to Etosha. We are having a fantastic time and hope that you
are all well.
lots of love
penny
ps.
Nev
keeps threatening to do the next update - but so far it has been left to
me to handle correspondence. He sends
his love though - at present his is perched on the land rover putting down the
roof top tent. I must say I am quite happy
with our respective roles as they are! P