Namibia: Fish River Canyon

Our last stop in Namibia was the Fish River Canyon.  To get there we drove along the Orange River, and what a STUNNING drive it was.

And we got a real treat, we saw a klipspringer!

Like leopards, klipspringers are very rare to see in the wild.  They are very skittish, tiny antelope who are specially adapted to jump from cliff to cliff (thus the name, which even if you don't speak Afrikaans, is pretty self explanatory.)  They actually stand on the tips of their toes, like a ballerina.

Look at this little guy in action:

Very cool.

The next day we went to the Fish River Canyon.   It is the second largest canyon in the world and the largest in Africa.  As per Wiki:  It features a gigantic ravine, in total about 100 miles (160 km) long, up to 27 km wide and in places almost 550 metres deep.

People leave stones marking that they've been here, so of course we had to do it too:

Unfortunately, you can't go hiking!

You have to book ahead and it is a 5-day trek.  Boo.  I think there should be an option for day-trippers like us.

We returned later in the day as the sun was setting to get a few more shots:

A hell of a way to finish our 2-week journey.  Goodnight Namibia.

Namibia: Kolmanskop, Ludritz and Dias Point

Our next stop in Namibia was Kolmanskop, a ghost town in the Namib Desert.  And Namibia continues its streak of being really beautiful and really eerie.

A former diamond mining town, up till the mid 20th century there were hundreds who called Kolmanskop home.  It was slowly abandoned after its diamond production declined.  The last people left in 1954 and since then, the desert has started to take it back.

Sand fills houses knee-high, lovingly-painted stencils chip and fade ...

After roaming around with the ghosts we decided to go to the nearby seaside town of Lüderitz to eat some lunch ...

and goof off a bit:

We capped off the day by going to Dias Point.  Well, one of the Dias Points.  Dias as in Bartolomeu Dias.  As as it happens, there are several Dias points throughout the Southern tip of Africa.  As Mr. Dias went a-conquerin' he kept leaving these crosses.  "Mine.  In the name of Haysus."  Ah colonization.

It's a beautiful, wind-scraped spot.  And the original stone marker and cross are still there ...

But talk about ghosts.  I think I heard a some howling in that wind.

Namibia: Wild Horses

On day 3? 4? (hey I told you I was kinda hallucinatingly sleep-deprived) of our Namibian trek we went and saw the Namib Wild Horses.

Who?

Once again kids, let's turn to the font-of-all-knowledge that is Wikipedia:

"The Namib Desert Horse is a rare horse found in the Namib Desert, of Namibia, Africa. It is most likely the only feral herd of horses residing in Africa. Today, approximately 150 horses now live in 350 square kilometres of the Namib desert. The origin of these animals is unclear, though several theories have been put forward. Genetic tests have been performed, although none to date have completely verified their origin."

We never got great shots.  There were a bunch of tourists (dang those tourists) that kept ruining our shots.  Stallion rearing!  Great ... except for lady with pink visor directly behind him.  Sigh.  Oh well.  They were amazing.  Especially given their environment.  They are incredibly hearty to survive in such an unforgiving place.

PS:


Here is your cheesy You Tube video of the day.  No, but it really is a lovely rendition of a good song.  And I can't believe I'm saying that about a Rolling Stones song, but there you go.  But I don't advise you to go in search of the Rolling Stones actually doing the song.  Unless you like skinny, fish-lipped men who vigorously shake their nether regions at you.  That is all.  Run with the wild horses kids.