First stop was to secure diesel for Ole Bess. The Total Station on the way into town had none the previous day and still had none the following morning. It was a bit tricky to find the CalTex, the only other station in town known to carry diesel, but we managed. Then it was off to Agate Beach.
The sun was shining the breeze was pleasant and the sound of the surf was mesmerizing while we combed the beach for agates, shells and other treasures. The kids had a marvelous time and we had the beach all to ourselves the entire morning. They were quite pleased with their treasures and Annie was royally amused playing in the dunes. Reid and I also wanted to pick up every rock and shell we saw.
Lunch was on the deck of Ritzi’s overlooking the harbor and then we were off again to our next destination. We had hoped to tour the ghost town, Kolmanskop—an abandoned diamond mining town that is gradually being overtaken by the shifting desert sands, about 10 km outside of Luderitz –but we were again running late and had missed the only two tours of the day at 9:00 & 11:00 am. So, we stopped at the entrance, took a peek into one of the old buildings and snapped a few photos before being chased off by a security guard.
Next stop Namtib through some of the most spectacular scenery we’ve ever seen, replete with springbok, ostrich and oryx sightings around every turn. Namtib is also a farm with camping facilities. The owners are a relatively young couple who adhere to certain guidelines that enable them to classify the place as a biosphere. They of course raise sheep, goats and cattle, but they do so in harmony with the natural environment. We spotted as many springbok and gemsbok oryx as cows. The predators are allowed to co-exist with the domesticated stock and we were even able to get a photo of a bat-eared jackal on our way out. We were heading out to the site just when the herder was bringing in the flock and Augustus got it on video.
In addition to the campsite, the Thiele’s also maintain cottages and dining facilities. Quiver trees abound in the courtyard between the cottages and the dining hall. The campsite is of course located a bit of a ways from the main house. The facilities here were among the best we had encountered so far-- hot showers (another donkey geyser) which the Namibians refer to as ablution facilities, scullery and awesome braaii pit. We purchased lamb and sausage when we checked in and Larkin roasted it up like he was Emeril Lagasse with Emma hovering about for supervision.
We weren’t the only guests on this particular evening. While setting up camp, a couple of women drove up and requested to share the site with us. There were other available spots, but ours was closest to the potties and they were a bit frightened of snakes especially in the night. Turns out they were a Swiss mother/daughter group traveling around Namibia in a hired camper. They were on a three week vacation and completing virtually the same circuit at the moment as we were. They had stopped earlier to take photos of a monstrous social weaver bird nest when a huge, absolutely huge, snake slithered in and out of the holes swallowing up eggs and or baby birds. The daughter actually got some awesome photos of the entire affair on her digital camera. Needless to say, we were speechless when shown this documentation. We didn’t hesitate at this point to include them at our site. It wasn’t to be the last time we’d share a campsite with them either.
During the night, we awoke to the sound of hoofs and the snuffling of some sort of large beasts. I was absolutely convinced that it was a herd of kudu or gemsbok, but it was just the cows. They settled themselves near our tents and spent the remainder of the night in our vicinity. We had to shoo them away in the morning just to get at the fire pit.
After a nice conversation with the owners and an interlude with one of Larkin’s interns conducting research there (she showed us a scorpion that she had snared in one of her pitfall traps), we headed off to our next destination Sesriem , the access point to the magnificent red dunes of Sosusvlei.
The sun was shining the breeze was pleasant and the sound of the surf was mesmerizing while we combed the beach for agates, shells and other treasures. The kids had a marvelous time and we had the beach all to ourselves the entire morning. They were quite pleased with their treasures and Annie was royally amused playing in the dunes. Reid and I also wanted to pick up every rock and shell we saw.
Lunch was on the deck of Ritzi’s overlooking the harbor and then we were off again to our next destination. We had hoped to tour the ghost town, Kolmanskop—an abandoned diamond mining town that is gradually being overtaken by the shifting desert sands, about 10 km outside of Luderitz –but we were again running late and had missed the only two tours of the day at 9:00 & 11:00 am. So, we stopped at the entrance, took a peek into one of the old buildings and snapped a few photos before being chased off by a security guard.
Next stop Namtib through some of the most spectacular scenery we’ve ever seen, replete with springbok, ostrich and oryx sightings around every turn. Namtib is also a farm with camping facilities. The owners are a relatively young couple who adhere to certain guidelines that enable them to classify the place as a biosphere. They of course raise sheep, goats and cattle, but they do so in harmony with the natural environment. We spotted as many springbok and gemsbok oryx as cows. The predators are allowed to co-exist with the domesticated stock and we were even able to get a photo of a bat-eared jackal on our way out. We were heading out to the site just when the herder was bringing in the flock and Augustus got it on video.
In addition to the campsite, the Thiele’s also maintain cottages and dining facilities. Quiver trees abound in the courtyard between the cottages and the dining hall. The campsite is of course located a bit of a ways from the main house. The facilities here were among the best we had encountered so far-- hot showers (another donkey geyser) which the Namibians refer to as ablution facilities, scullery and awesome braaii pit. We purchased lamb and sausage when we checked in and Larkin roasted it up like he was Emeril Lagasse with Emma hovering about for supervision.
We weren’t the only guests on this particular evening. While setting up camp, a couple of women drove up and requested to share the site with us. There were other available spots, but ours was closest to the potties and they were a bit frightened of snakes especially in the night. Turns out they were a Swiss mother/daughter group traveling around Namibia in a hired camper. They were on a three week vacation and completing virtually the same circuit at the moment as we were. They had stopped earlier to take photos of a monstrous social weaver bird nest when a huge, absolutely huge, snake slithered in and out of the holes swallowing up eggs and or baby birds. The daughter actually got some awesome photos of the entire affair on her digital camera. Needless to say, we were speechless when shown this documentation. We didn’t hesitate at this point to include them at our site. It wasn’t to be the last time we’d share a campsite with them either.
During the night, we awoke to the sound of hoofs and the snuffling of some sort of large beasts. I was absolutely convinced that it was a herd of kudu or gemsbok, but it was just the cows. They settled themselves near our tents and spent the remainder of the night in our vicinity. We had to shoo them away in the morning just to get at the fire pit.
After a nice conversation with the owners and an interlude with one of Larkin’s interns conducting research there (she showed us a scorpion that she had snared in one of her pitfall traps), we headed off to our next destination Sesriem , the access point to the magnificent red dunes of Sosusvlei.
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