|
After leaving
Augrabies Falls we drove to our twenty-second new country of the World
Tour, one that I had always wanted to explore, Namibia. Our first
destination was a place called Ai-Ais, which was 535 kilometres from
Augrabies, of which 74 kilometres where on gravel. Along the way we saw
several Springboks and Ostriches and a Slender Mongoose. Springboks and
Ostriches are as common in Namibia as Impalas are in South Africa!
Unfortunately we also managed to hit several small birds who insisted on
almost dive-bombing the car! We later found out that this was to happen
throughout Namibia and was just a part of everyday driving! Mad birds!
Ai-Ais is along
the Fish River Canyon and has a real Wild West look about it with its red
rock and rugged hills. It is a hot spring oasis, where you can soak in
the natural thermal baths which are good for anyone suffering from
rheumatism or nervous disorders. These 60 degree springs originate
beneath the riverbed. We walked all the way to the "official" end of the
Fish River Canyon hike, one of the most rewarding hikes in Africa
apparently! When we say to the end of Fish River Canyon hike, we really
did, it is just we started about one kilometre away from the end! The
real start is five days walk away and not something I would recommend if
the state of most of the hikers we saw is anything to go by! Similar to
the Inca Trail at Mach Picchu, nobody really managed to sell us on the
idea of walking it with their "war" wounds and limps!
After a couple of
nights in Ai-Ais we drove, via the start of the Fish River Canyon hiking
point, to Lüderitz, right on the west coast. Lüderitz was 482 kilometres
away and 205 of them were again on gravel roads! We drove through vast
open plains and sand dunes and in addition to the usual Ostriches,
Springboks and dive-bombing birds, we were lucky enough to see a Secretary
Bird.
Lüderitz is a
strange and unusual place! On Sundays, between about 7:00 am and 5:00pm,
they have no power! This can also apply to Public Holidays! Also, it is
not unusual for the council to turn off the water for up to two days a
week!
Our hotel, which
was lovely, was where we watched England's humiliating exit from the
Football World Cup! The pub we watched it in, the hotel's bar, was also
home to a mixture of unusual locals! All of whom seem to drink all day,
every day! The local Pharmacist told us that we only need to take
Chloroquine for Mosquitos, something which hasn't been recommended for
quite a few years now I believe! I reckon if we had asked her about
contraception she would have said crossing your fingers/holding your
thumbs would work! There was also a mad, drunk chef, a lost Spaniard and
several others who must have been depriving their local villages of their
idiot! It reminded me in a lot of ways of a city I used to live by the
sea at the end of a road!
The main
reason people come to Lüderitz is to visit Kolmanskop Ghost town and
Goerke House. Goerke house, built at the same time as Kolmanskop was
being built, is now where all dignitaries stay if they ever visit the area
and is renowned for its early twentieth century decoration and
furnishings. When diamonds were discovered in 1908 Kolmanskop was built
and became a thriving diamond mining town. In 1938 bigger diamonds were
found elsewhere and the town was slowly deserted. In 1956 it became
totally abandoned and has since been partially reclaimed by the desert.
It was interesting to see the way the sand dunes streamed through open
windows and doors and how they had covered some of the houses only leaving
a small part to see. |