I booked this Namibia trip after David's presentation at Wellington over a year ago. Flew out to Windhoek having met some of the group at Heathrow, Charlotte, Mike and Tristram. David met us at the airport and we met everyone else at Hotel Safari. Greg, assisting David, Norman and Fedz from Nomad, Fiona, Graham, Ian, Marie Law, David O and Essen.
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| After a trip to the shopping mall to pick up food and snacks we were on our way. |
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| First stop was two nights at the Quiver tree forest |
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| Graham |
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| Dassy urine I changed the hue for an abstract |
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| Quiver multiple exposure |
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| Holding on |
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| Dassy talking to Greg |
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| Product of the lighting workshop |
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| Milky way |
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| Essen |
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| Waiting for cars to pass to throw up the dust |
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| Charlotte |
I was glad I had bought my thermals and had a water bottle. It was cold here at night. On a long drive to Luderitz the next day.
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| Stopping for a leg stretch David and Essen at the front. Ian at the rear. Greg posing at the side |
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| Norman |
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| Gurag station |
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| Our hotel at Luderitz |
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| Luderitz church |
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| Kolmanskopf |
We spent the morning at Kolmanskopf and then the afternoon at the Queen Elisabeth Mine (Ebay) with Heinz who gave us all the information. The mine closed 8 months ago and is now for sale. Still diamonds to be had from the sand - industrial size. They come down from Kimberley in the water and dumped over time in the sand.
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| Heinz giving us info on the site |
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| The casino |
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| Essen |
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| Oven in the canteen area |
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| Sleeping quarters |
From Luderitz it was another long drive to Sossuvlei where we spent 3 nights camping. Gone were the cold nights. Just got hotter together with two sandstorms at the end.
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| Stopped off for apple cake |
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| Charlotte, David and I were the first on the helicopter flight over the dunes. We missed the coast due to fog |
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| Oryx and antelope walk through the camp. These antelope were by our tents |
Had another hotel stay at Swakopmund to break up the camping. Stopped off at Solitaire for more apple cake on the way.
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| Resident cat on a break |
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| Ground squirrels |
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| This van had driven from China. |
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| Charlotte with much needed icecream |
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| Essen in the desert |
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| David O, Norman and Greg |
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| Greg |
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| Oryx and Mountain Zebra |
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| Flamingo abstract |
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| David O with flamingoes |
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| Guinea fowl waking everyone up |
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| In Swakopmund |
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| Cormorant ship off the coast for another photography workshop |
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| Charlotte |
We only had one night of camping at Spitzkopf. It was supposed to calm but we ended up with 40 mile winds at night. I was sleeping out under the stars as were David and Greg. At one point in the night I thought I should go back to the tent. Luckily I didn't bother as all but one of the tents collapsed in the wind. I joined some of the others in the truck around 6 am and we sat there until 8 ish. Fiona, Charlotte and I went to the long drop, shielded from the winds by each other as the top had blown off. Eventually with some excellent team work, we managed to fold up the tents in the wind and be one our way. We spent an extra night at Hotel Safari instead.
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| Wind hadn't started and already one tent down |
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| Everyone was keeping still. This was a blend of two as David didn't like his position in the other one |
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| The longdrop |
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| David capturing the devastation |
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| Graham in contemplation |
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| A second visit to Joes for dinner at Windhoek |
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| Greg, Fedz, Norman and David at the airport |
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| Flying into Johannesburg |
A great trip and I am tempted to go again next year. I will wait though until David does a Namibia part 2. Thank you to David and Greg and especially to Norman and Fedz who drove and provided great meals. The truck broke down on one of the drives and they got us going again after a lot of work. Two very resourceful men who made the trip seem very easy.
Next trip to Liverpool.
