The Schlink grandparents and uncle fared well at the Erindi Game Reserve so it was time to up the ante, and the temperature by heading north to the Kunene Region (aka Damaraland). Over Christmas, we'd be staying at the Namibian Marriott: Gondwana Lodge.
If you have met Mark's dad, you already know those two are cut from the same cloth. Both of them are passionate about reading, history, rocks, and pretty much anything related to the great outdoors. We'd be making a return circuit around dinosaur tracks, the Brandburg Mountains, Twyfelfontein rock carvings, and the other assorted must-sees in the area.
This time I came armed with a German-to-English geology book to nerd out with the best of them: Nicole Grunert's Namibia: Fascination of Geology; A Travel Handbook. During our 5+ hour drive, I'd daydream about the idea that the geological development of Namibia was basically the epicenter of life as we know it, more than 2,500 million years ago, and that the rocks here are older than the existence of terrestrial oxygen. When driving past a pile of red granite rocks that seemed to pop up from nowhere, as it does in the Kunene Region, I'd point out that they were called woolsacks made from deep weathering along the fissure systems. But I don't think anyone was listening.
Exiting out the northern end of Erindi, we drove in search Dinosaur Tracks Guest Lodge. Perhaps unsurprisingly to see: dinosaur tracks. One hour later, the owner greeted us at the cars, unsure of what language to speak, but clearly eager to chit-chat. Before I could open my mouth he tried out German, Afikaans, and French. Thinking I was funny, I responded in Portuguese but I could see him calculating an alternative back up plan to communicate, so I switched to English. The gentleman questioned if we were Angolan diplomats or maybe from Mozambique, based on our red license plates. Despite my explanation, it didn't occur to him that we could be plain old Americans who happened to know a little Portuguese.
Finally settling on a common language, we listened to his thick accent, explaining the history of the dinosaur tracks that "he" found and expressed grave concern over our children's Crocs footwear, even though the trail we'd follow was less than 1km long. Free of his lonely grip and slathered in sunscreen, we followed the path to see a trail of three toed feet imbedded in the sandstone. Experts seem to think the prints came from theropods, 200 million year old carnivores that walked on two feet. We came, admired, roasted in the sun, and continued on our way.
The Damaraland landscape is dynamic, filled with petrified wood, petrified deserts, dead volcanoes and a whole mess of escarpments and peaks. We arrived to the Damara Mopane Lodge, which is tucked against a mountain with some of the sharpest rocks I have ever tripped over. Once we checked in and swam in their gigantic pool, we headed up the mountain to enjoy a sundowner. Overlooking the lodge, we could see an endless stretch of Mopane Trees. Once you see them in real life, you never forget them because their leaves look like butterfly wings. Unless you're me. Then they look like a tooth and the staff all think you're insane when you say so. These trees were a major hotspot for millions of red-billed qualeas, commonly known as Africa's feathered locusts. They are capable of ruining crops in a single night, eating the seeds and bugs hidden among the leaves. Qualeas fly in a looping pattern where the hungry birds in the back fly over the sated ones and so on. You could hear the birds before you saw them too, chorusing what a shimmer would sound like.
The stay was quiet and relaxing, as much as one can relax by the freezing cold pool (that I couldn't swim in, thank you holiday of the ladies) and boiling sun. Side note: the nearest town, Khorixas had an open grocery store and was only 15 minutes away, it's not a place known for having a decent selection of feminine products.
We ate under the stars and the kids were treated to a visit from a black bearded Santa, traditional Damara songs, and the sole chorus of Jingle Bells on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day we did the Twyfelfontein rock carving tour with unrealistic hopes of seeing desert elephants along the way. No elephants, but we did see a lot of goats. So there's that. Mark and I dragged the kids on ungodly hot hikes around the lodge and countered that with drinks laden with syrup and maraschino cherries.
A few nights there and it was time to head back, and endure one of the most boring drives ever. I was so bored I counted the number of bridges between Uis and Okahandja (24) to keep my brain from melting. This was after the excitement of driving past the beautiful Spitzkoppe Mountain and before the wood carving debacle of 2017 in Okahandja. I tried to prepare myself for all the heckling and cajoling when entering the vendor aisles, but I failed. Once they started harassing my kids and giving them "free" souvenirs, I lost my mind and told them they were all rude and ran off with a kid in each hand. This wouldn't have been such a big deal, but I realized I left my father in-law to fend for himself there. Fifteen minutes later he emerged with nearly N$900 worth of items. I assured him they were all very good deals.
If you have met Mark's dad, you already know those two are cut from the same cloth. Both of them are passionate about reading, history, rocks, and pretty much anything related to the great outdoors. We'd be making a return circuit around dinosaur tracks, the Brandburg Mountains, Twyfelfontein rock carvings, and the other assorted must-sees in the area.
This time I came armed with a German-to-English geology book to nerd out with the best of them: Nicole Grunert's Namibia: Fascination of Geology; A Travel Handbook. During our 5+ hour drive, I'd daydream about the idea that the geological development of Namibia was basically the epicenter of life as we know it, more than 2,500 million years ago, and that the rocks here are older than the existence of terrestrial oxygen. When driving past a pile of red granite rocks that seemed to pop up from nowhere, as it does in the Kunene Region, I'd point out that they were called woolsacks made from deep weathering along the fissure systems. But I don't think anyone was listening.
Exiting out the northern end of Erindi, we drove in search Dinosaur Tracks Guest Lodge. Perhaps unsurprisingly to see: dinosaur tracks. One hour later, the owner greeted us at the cars, unsure of what language to speak, but clearly eager to chit-chat. Before I could open my mouth he tried out German, Afikaans, and French. Thinking I was funny, I responded in Portuguese but I could see him calculating an alternative back up plan to communicate, so I switched to English. The gentleman questioned if we were Angolan diplomats or maybe from Mozambique, based on our red license plates. Despite my explanation, it didn't occur to him that we could be plain old Americans who happened to know a little Portuguese.
Finally settling on a common language, we listened to his thick accent, explaining the history of the dinosaur tracks that "he" found and expressed grave concern over our children's Crocs footwear, even though the trail we'd follow was less than 1km long. Free of his lonely grip and slathered in sunscreen, we followed the path to see a trail of three toed feet imbedded in the sandstone. Experts seem to think the prints came from theropods, 200 million year old carnivores that walked on two feet. We came, admired, roasted in the sun, and continued on our way.
The Damaraland landscape is dynamic, filled with petrified wood, petrified deserts, dead volcanoes and a whole mess of escarpments and peaks. We arrived to the Damara Mopane Lodge, which is tucked against a mountain with some of the sharpest rocks I have ever tripped over. Once we checked in and swam in their gigantic pool, we headed up the mountain to enjoy a sundowner. Overlooking the lodge, we could see an endless stretch of Mopane Trees. Once you see them in real life, you never forget them because their leaves look like butterfly wings. Unless you're me. Then they look like a tooth and the staff all think you're insane when you say so. These trees were a major hotspot for millions of red-billed qualeas, commonly known as Africa's feathered locusts. They are capable of ruining crops in a single night, eating the seeds and bugs hidden among the leaves. Qualeas fly in a looping pattern where the hungry birds in the back fly over the sated ones and so on. You could hear the birds before you saw them too, chorusing what a shimmer would sound like.
The stay was quiet and relaxing, as much as one can relax by the freezing cold pool (that I couldn't swim in, thank you holiday of the ladies) and boiling sun. Side note: the nearest town, Khorixas had an open grocery store and was only 15 minutes away, it's not a place known for having a decent selection of feminine products.
We ate under the stars and the kids were treated to a visit from a black bearded Santa, traditional Damara songs, and the sole chorus of Jingle Bells on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day we did the Twyfelfontein rock carving tour with unrealistic hopes of seeing desert elephants along the way. No elephants, but we did see a lot of goats. So there's that. Mark and I dragged the kids on ungodly hot hikes around the lodge and countered that with drinks laden with syrup and maraschino cherries.
A few nights there and it was time to head back, and endure one of the most boring drives ever. I was so bored I counted the number of bridges between Uis and Okahandja (24) to keep my brain from melting. This was after the excitement of driving past the beautiful Spitzkoppe Mountain and before the wood carving debacle of 2017 in Okahandja. I tried to prepare myself for all the heckling and cajoling when entering the vendor aisles, but I failed. Once they started harassing my kids and giving them "free" souvenirs, I lost my mind and told them they were all rude and ran off with a kid in each hand. This wouldn't have been such a big deal, but I realized I left my father in-law to fend for himself there. Fifteen minutes later he emerged with nearly N$900 worth of items. I assured him they were all very good deals.
 |
| At the Dinosaur Tracks Guest Lodge. |
 |
| Damara Mopane Lodge. |
 |
| Claiming the best seats for the sundowner. |
 |
| The sharp rocks I mentioned. Guess what? They indeed, hurt very much if you fall on them. |
 |
| Mopane leaves. |
 |
| Qualeas filling the night sky. |
 |
| Schlink family on Christmas Eve. |
 |
| Merry Christmas, giraffe carvings! Twyfelfontein |
 |
| Organ Pipes formed by magmatic events 130 million years ago. Polygons: nature's most perfect shape. Not pictured: the swarms of interested, hungry flies. Ugh. |
Totally get the "tooth" shape. Butterflies... um, ok, yeah I see that too. My first thought was toilet seat, though.
ReplyDelete