On May 21st the Namibians celebrated Ascension Thursday, a public holiday here. May 25th was also a public holiday, Africa Day. This meant a 5 day weekend for the Bates family and another excuse to head out and explore the wilds of the Namibian bush—as if we needed any. The girls, especially Emma had been ill with what I term the two ended virus and so I, particularly, was raring to get out of the flat and see the countryside. We had made plans with our trusty traveling partners, the Powells, to visit Brandberg, home of the White Lady Rock Painting. There are over 1000 of these paintings in the Brandberg area. They are generally attributed to the Bushmen but there are a few myths that need to be dispelled before proceeding. First off the “Lady” in the painting is no lady. The first European explorers clearly missed the mark with their original interpretations of the painting. Now to quote Wiki (I know, I know, not the best source…),
It is usually assumed that the painting shows some sort of ritual dance, and that the "White Lady" is actually a medicine man. "She" is definitely a male, as a penis is clearly visible. He has white legs and arms, which may suggest that his body was painted or that he was wearing some sort of decorative attachments on his legs and arms. He holds a bow in one hand and perhaps a goblet in the other. Because of the bow and the oryxes, the painting has also been interpreted as a hunting scene. Apart from the shaman/lady, the other human figures have less detail, and are mostly completely black or completely white. One of the oryxes has human legs. The painting was probably made of ochre, charcoal, manganese, hematite, with blood serum, egg white and casein used as binding agents.[2]
Additionally, the paintings were probably done over a long period of time with different artists and or groups of people adding to the tableau. No doubt there were also some Damara contributions as well, as they are one of the major tribes currently residing in the region. The paintings are thought to date back at least 2000 years if not more.
Getting to the White Lady was somewhat of a challenge for our party of eight. We first checked in at the entrance and were assigned a guide, Matthews. He was very patient with us of little stamina. In all fairness, the girls were just recuperating and their energy level was a bit low for such a demanding hike. Once again we learned our lesson with trusting the guide book. Here’s what Wiki had to say about the hike, “To reach The White Lady it is necessary to hike for about 40 minutes over rough terrain, along the gorge of the dry Tsisab river.” Needless to say, that’s not exactly how the guidebook portrayed it. And the gorge wasn’t dry either. That provided the fun and distraction though, crossing over the water. Yes, I have discovered that I am just a beast of burden in the eyes of my children as I alternately carried either the backpack, Emma or Annie along the 2.5 km hike up and the 2.5 km hike back. Reid pitched in on occasion, but it’s always the mother’s burden isn’t it? We spent about 3 hours total on the round trip, which we thought was pretty good for a party of eight containing young’uns.
It was truly an awe inspiring visit. I personally was humbled by the surroundings. This is Namibia’s highest peak and there is something about the area that is no doubt at once spiritual and uplifting, somewhat akin to being in the church of the great outdoors. I sincerely doubt that my kids experienced the same sensation, however, as they panted and complained about the heat.
We camped at the White Lady Lodge. The staff was friendly and helpful. We ate dinner there on our first night and the food was quite good. We had our choice of oryx prepared in various ways, schnitzel or stroganoff or kingklip (fish). I had the stroganoff which was actually well seasoned. I enjoyed it thoroughly. The reception area has two pools and a rockery. It is a beautiful sight to encounter in the midst of the vast emptiness. The kids enjoyed the pool, even though the water was very, very cool while the adults enjoyed the bar. It made for some welcomed R and R on the part of the adults.
The camp sites were, on the other hand, a bit lacking. The braaii had no grill and the water tap was difficult to use. The showers, although heated, were no match for what we had encountered on our previous camping trip down south on the guest farms. Additionally, there was a large number of campers present due to the holiday weekend, so the noise level was beyond desirable for me and Reid, but one of the advantages to this was the fact that these touring visitors had engaged the services of local singing groups who serenaded them acapella (sp?) for the evening. So, on two occasions, we fell asleep listening to the strains of African folk songs.
The other really cool thing about the White Lady Campsites is that being out in the bush, one can’t help but attracting the local wildlife. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by a feisty springbok who attempted to head butt our small party. He later showed up at our campsite for round two. Upon awaking on the following day, we were greeted by the caws of a pair of hornbills. We later got them on video doing their thing with a little prompting from Reid. After breakfast, as if ordered in to patrol our area for debris, a pair of meerkats sauntered in looking for their morning meal. Emma was bold enough, despite my protests, to pet them. So, all in all it was worth camping there despite the noise and the less than adequate facilities just to experience the close encounters with the little critters.
It is usually assumed that the painting shows some sort of ritual dance, and that the "White Lady" is actually a medicine man. "She" is definitely a male, as a penis is clearly visible. He has white legs and arms, which may suggest that his body was painted or that he was wearing some sort of decorative attachments on his legs and arms. He holds a bow in one hand and perhaps a goblet in the other. Because of the bow and the oryxes, the painting has also been interpreted as a hunting scene. Apart from the shaman/lady, the other human figures have less detail, and are mostly completely black or completely white. One of the oryxes has human legs. The painting was probably made of ochre, charcoal, manganese, hematite, with blood serum, egg white and casein used as binding agents.[2]
Additionally, the paintings were probably done over a long period of time with different artists and or groups of people adding to the tableau. No doubt there were also some Damara contributions as well, as they are one of the major tribes currently residing in the region. The paintings are thought to date back at least 2000 years if not more.
Getting to the White Lady was somewhat of a challenge for our party of eight. We first checked in at the entrance and were assigned a guide, Matthews. He was very patient with us of little stamina. In all fairness, the girls were just recuperating and their energy level was a bit low for such a demanding hike. Once again we learned our lesson with trusting the guide book. Here’s what Wiki had to say about the hike, “To reach The White Lady it is necessary to hike for about 40 minutes over rough terrain, along the gorge of the dry Tsisab river.” Needless to say, that’s not exactly how the guidebook portrayed it. And the gorge wasn’t dry either. That provided the fun and distraction though, crossing over the water. Yes, I have discovered that I am just a beast of burden in the eyes of my children as I alternately carried either the backpack, Emma or Annie along the 2.5 km hike up and the 2.5 km hike back. Reid pitched in on occasion, but it’s always the mother’s burden isn’t it? We spent about 3 hours total on the round trip, which we thought was pretty good for a party of eight containing young’uns.
It was truly an awe inspiring visit. I personally was humbled by the surroundings. This is Namibia’s highest peak and there is something about the area that is no doubt at once spiritual and uplifting, somewhat akin to being in the church of the great outdoors. I sincerely doubt that my kids experienced the same sensation, however, as they panted and complained about the heat.
We camped at the White Lady Lodge. The staff was friendly and helpful. We ate dinner there on our first night and the food was quite good. We had our choice of oryx prepared in various ways, schnitzel or stroganoff or kingklip (fish). I had the stroganoff which was actually well seasoned. I enjoyed it thoroughly. The reception area has two pools and a rockery. It is a beautiful sight to encounter in the midst of the vast emptiness. The kids enjoyed the pool, even though the water was very, very cool while the adults enjoyed the bar. It made for some welcomed R and R on the part of the adults.
The camp sites were, on the other hand, a bit lacking. The braaii had no grill and the water tap was difficult to use. The showers, although heated, were no match for what we had encountered on our previous camping trip down south on the guest farms. Additionally, there was a large number of campers present due to the holiday weekend, so the noise level was beyond desirable for me and Reid, but one of the advantages to this was the fact that these touring visitors had engaged the services of local singing groups who serenaded them acapella (sp?) for the evening. So, on two occasions, we fell asleep listening to the strains of African folk songs.
The other really cool thing about the White Lady Campsites is that being out in the bush, one can’t help but attracting the local wildlife. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by a feisty springbok who attempted to head butt our small party. He later showed up at our campsite for round two. Upon awaking on the following day, we were greeted by the caws of a pair of hornbills. We later got them on video doing their thing with a little prompting from Reid. After breakfast, as if ordered in to patrol our area for debris, a pair of meerkats sauntered in looking for their morning meal. Emma was bold enough, despite my protests, to pet them. So, all in all it was worth camping there despite the noise and the less than adequate facilities just to experience the close encounters with the little critters.
We were a little disappointed that we didn't get to see the desert elephants, the lodge's other big draw. They had not yet returned from the north. We've been told that sometimes they come right through the campsites. So, I guess we'll be returning to the Brandberg White Lady Lodge some time soon so that we can get the full treatment.
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