From Etosha National Park to Swakopmund- We have travelled over 1500km in the last few days over Namibia’s unpaved roads ( most of the roads in this country are unpaved). We spent one night at the top of a mountain in Damaraland overlooking a canyon where the red soil and the flat topped mountains made for a spectacular view. Unfortunately the rain moved in overnight ( they were elated as it had been a long, dry spell) and the fog covered up the morning sunrise. The next morning we felt the effect of the rain as our vehicle got stuck in the first big wet spot on the main road  . It took 2 hours  to get the truck out with help from the lodge and lots of muscle power from the men.

The landscape has been ever changing and we are supposedly in the rainy season but everything is very dry and growth sparse. We realize how much water we waste in Canada when we see the desert running for  hundreds of miles in every direction and only a few huts scattered around.  God knows how they live there.  We can’t imagine how the natives survive but we do see herds of goats scrounging for edible vegetation.

One morning we visited a local Himba tribe – a nomadic  tribe with elaborate hair styles and skin rubbed with red ochre. The village we saw had been set up as a homebase for orphaned children but they lived as their ancestors did. The homes were round, mud huts with thatched roofs and they used ash and smoke to cleanse their bodies. The women were topless and it was a bit unsettling to see the youngsters walk up and start nursing from a mom. We certainly have had our eyes open to the different cultures as we travel along.

 

 Our home  on the top of the mountain

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The amazing pool built into the side of the mountain

The boys hard at work in the mud!!!!!

Some additional help needed 2 hours later.

A herd of Gemsbok(oryx)

The salt flats of Namibia (totally fenced 22000.sq kms)

Children at school in the Himba village

Marlene buying some jewellry from the Himba women

The Himba village

A shopping mall in the desert( no Calvin Kline here)

Native women selling their wares in the middle of the desert

Just one of the many ships on the coast of Swakopmund known as the ships graveyard