Southern Africa - Day 12

Friday, 24 January 2020 - Namibia

Today we leave at 9 a.m. so I woke up at 7 a.m. showered and packed my things, had breakfast at 8 a.m. and then off!

First to Spitzkoppe to see massive granite formations which tower 700 metres above the desert plains below. The view is beautiful but the weather is really hot. We met a local guide at the foothill of one of the granite hills who gave us some information about Spitzkoppe. This particular area that we were in is known as ‘Bushmen’s Paradise’ because once upon a time it was lush green with many animals living here - elephants, zebras, rhinos, lions, giraffes etc. The white men came and saw the locals hiding in the bushes; hence the name ‘bushmen’. 

The Bushmen were hunter gatherers - the men did the hunting and the women collected firewood, flowers and seeds. Then we saw some ancient rock art. The 

rhinos, elephants and giraffes were used as water directing animals ie to find water. 

Rock art indicates their significance to the San people as a way of communication. So when there is a picture of a giraffe looking left for example, it means there is water to the left.

For colour they used stones known as ochre, mixed with animal blood and the yolk of ostrich eggs. They use ostrich feathers to draw. Bushmen are generally short, about 1.5 m. The rock paintings here are about 6,000 years old.  Nowadays the bigger animals are not here anymore, only the smaller ones such as rock dassies, squirrels, scorpions, lizards, leopards, etc. I saw a weird plant named ‘Small leaf cross berries’ because the berries are really crossed. 

Then we traveled some more and passed a small town called Uis. The main industry here used to be salt mines, but now there is no more salt so they are using the same factories and equipment to make bricks from sand. 

Finally we reached Brandberg Mountain, known also as the burnt mountain because of its colour (dark brown and charcoal-y from a distance). It is about 2,500 m above sea level, and 1,700 m high. It is the highest peak in Namibia. There are desert elephants here and sometimes even rhinos so I was pretty excited. Desert elephants are more aggressive than the other African elephants; they are slightly smaller and leaner but have bigger feet and longer tusks. They usually dig the ground for water.

We checked in and I asked about the desert elephants and to my utter disappointment they informed me that the elephants have not been sighted for a week; it’s likely they have roamed to another part of Brandberg and it is unlikely that we will be able to see them 😭😭😭.

We had dinner at the lodge (oryx steak with pasta - what a combination!). The people here are mostly Damara and it was very nice to hear them speaking to each other in click language, really cute! After dinner there was a small song and dance performance by the staff and I really enjoyed it. 

I’m really really upset about the desert elephants but what can I do.