Namib Naukluft Park
Second stop: The Namib Desert
After the small embarrassment Mirko takes another photo tour at the sand cars. Obviously a couple of broken down vehicles that were not cleared away in the last 50 years. Then we continue south and drive along a very dusty road for quite a while until we arrive at Namib Naukluft Park.
On the way there the landscape changes from savannah to stone desert and it doesn’t take long until we see the first animals at the roadside. A whole herd of Oryx antelopes even crosses the road and everyone is very excited. We even get quite close without them running away from us and to be honest I would have imagined them to be much bigger. Somehow small wiry animals, similar to a donkey, but with much prettier fur.
About 10 minutes later we pass a few small buffalos or something similar. Mirko and Veronica are sprinting out of the car to get the best picture. I, on the other hand, have to keep the car ready, in case the herd starts running towards us. It’s unlikely, but it’s possible and I feel like I’m driving the getaway car after a bank robbery.
Fortunately we all survive the encounter undamaged and travel deeper and deeper into the desert. When we finally arrive at the national park, we first have to buy our permit and then search for our lodge for a while. Meanwhile it is at least 300 degrees, the sun burns vertically from the sky and if I did not know that I am still on earth, I would believe I am on the moon. As far as the eye can see, you see nothing but boulders and red earth and after about 20 minutes we see little houses standing at the foot of a hill. That must be it, we are finally there.
Our lodge is very nice, with a view to the lunar landscape. Meanwhile it is roaring hot and we have to take a nap first.
Climbing the dunes with moderate success
We decide that we want to go to the Elim Dune for sunset and set off in the late afternoon. Arrived there, all three of us are still quite confident. Such a dune must be doable.
After about 500 meters it shows who is fit or not. Veronica jumps elegantly upwards like a gazelle, while Mirko and I are already showing signs of exhaustion. If you climb up a dune, then you always take rather small steps and then you slide back at least a three-quarter step. 100 meters dune means 175 meters way!
After about 30 minutes Mirko and Veronica are out of sight. Veronica has probably already walked up or directly to Angola and Mirko probably collapsed and needs medical help. After already seeing fatamorgana’s of cell phone towers, I decide to take a longer break. After about another 30 minutes Mirko is back in sight. He is so exhausted that I think I have to order an ambulance to the dune right away. Hopefully he has his health insurance card with him! But I am mistaken. After a short break, he switches back to combat mode and now hikes cross-country with me in tow. No wonder, because in the meantime I carry my backpack and Mirkos backpack and the tripod, which has to be on the dune as well.
We climb hills and even more hills and I hope eagerly that we will be up soon. What I didn’t think about, of course, is that we are in the desert and dune borders dune, so you are never up! Theoretically we could walk another 300 kilometres in one direction without ever reaching the top. We feel like we are exactly doing this! At a halfway good viewpoint I can stop Mirko and he takes his sunset pictures.
I’m German, I have to follow rules
Unfortunately I am a bit nervous, because after sunset you are not allowed to drive in the park anymore and a) we are still far away from the car, so if the descent takes only half as long as the ascent, then we will be at the hotel tomorrow morning, earliest and I haven’t even calculated how long the ambulance takes to get Mirko down from the dune. b) I don’t have the faintest idea where Veronica is and c) Mirko wants to take more photos and doesn’t waste a minute organizing his own transport back. Probably we will spend the next 10 years in the Namibian jail.
Fortunately we suddenly have reception on the dune and we can at least get in touch with Veronica. To my horror she is already on her way back and close to the car. Unfortunately I can’t even estimate where we are in the Namib Desert and how long it will take us to get down.
So I send Mirko down the mountain under strong protest. 38 relationship crises and 3 separations later we finally arrive at the bottom and I am quite glad that we are not the last ones to get into the car.
As I will learn later, the Namibian driving rules „Do not drive before sunrise and after sunset“ are only rough recommendations, like the traffic rules in Asia.
Therefore we and especially I arrive at the lodge completely stressed. When there is no vegetarian dinner and my Oryx Steak is delivered almost alive, only the Namibian starry sky can make me happy. With a beer under the starry sky we see cars cruising through the park everywhere and I can slowly relax.
Next: Dune 45