Monday, 20 January 2020 - Namibia
Nothing much to report today as it is a long travelling day. We ventured deeper into the Namib desert. Our destination was the dune fields that cover the western reaches of the desert. We travelled long dusty roads and sparsely populated farmlands where on the one side there is domesticated animals such as cows, horses and sheep (the fences are shorter), and on the other side of the road there is wild animals such as oryx and springboks for farming (the fences are higher). In itself it was a sight to behold, the vastness of rural Namibia.
My biggest adventure today was going to the toilet in the truck while it was moving on gravel path. Oh it wasn’t easy but somehow I managed. It’s really rather bumpy roads. Clever calls it a free African massage 😁. From the grasslands in the east we slowly arrived to the red dunes of the west. We passed through the Namib Naukluft National Park which is the biggest National Park in Africa. It encompasses a vast area of 48,000 square km.
On one of our pit stops we saw a carcass of an oryx just in front of a fence. Clever says they become scared when they hear vehicles approaching, and they run for their lives but their eyesight is not good so they crash into the fence, most of the time breaking their necks or sometimes getting stuck there and then being strangled to death. How sad.
Our hotel is literally in the middle of the desert and on the doorstep of the dune fields. It’s really nice and quiet, a part of me wishes I could stay here forever. For dinner I tried impala, zebra and eland meat. 😱😱😱 I also ate hake, a local fish that is very popular here. After trying all these exotic meat, I am happy to report that I am still a seafood person.
Clever wore a colourful shirt of African design to dinner. It is made of chitenge material, it is quite thick and coarse but most traditional African wear are made of this material. I notice that Namibian people look a bit different from the blacks of South Africa or Zimbabwe. They have smaller eyes, a bit like the Chinese (but bigger of course) and slightly sharper features. It is very attractive 😍.
We are at the desert so the sky at night here is just beautiful, full of stars and you can see the Seven Sisters and Scorpio very clearly. I’m sure many others too but that’s all I know and can identify. Oh and the Milky Way in the night sky!!! What a sight. I love it.
At night we could apparently hear the sounds of a barking Gecko but I couldn’t hear anything. The older the desert, the redder the sand and I notice that the sand here is quite a nice rust colour. These are from iron deposits deep in the ground which are exposed to the air through erosion, and become the colour of rust. There are many moths flying around everywhere, and I saw beetles, ants and insects around. I also saw 2 oryx drinking water at a pond nearby the restaurant where we had dinner. Next time I should bring a binoculars with me when I travel, it is very useful.
On this entire tour I have a room to myself although on my itinerary it says 2 to a room. I asked Clever about this today and he said it’s because everyone else paid extra to have a room for themselves, so I had no one to share with. What a piece of luck! So in the end I paid lesser but I got my own room. I told you, sometimes I have luck but for these kinds of minor things. Anyway, since I have my own room I have been doing this kiasu thing of washing my clothes every day because I don’t know when I can find the next laundry. We will be at this desert hotel for 2 nights so I washed all my long pants as well 😁.
We have an early start tomorrow so after dinner we all retired to bed.
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