What a day we had ahead of us. It started with a fresh start at 08h00, leaving Mariental in the Eastern midlands of Namibia, and set course for the coast, on the other side of the Namib desert.
The rains earlier this year are reported to have been much heavier than normal. Now a few months later, the plains leading up to the Namib are covered in a carpet of yellow grass; this knee high mat stretches for hundreds of kilometres, only interrupted with the occasional koppie or bigger mountain. Once in a while you pass a homestead; very typical of those you see in pictures, a ‘voor-stoep’ around a single story house; a few outbuildings and the compulsory windmill, turning lazily in the breeze. Everything in this area seems lazy, quiet, and very peaceful.
This is a ‘must do’ for anyone who finds themselves in the area. At Rehoboth we turned west and headed over the Gamsberg Pass into – a beautiful winding road that feeds thro craggy cliffs and very narrow roads. Far below the Klein Aob is hardly flowing, but the stream provides a coolness to an otherwise, dry, dusty, very dusty, landscape – warning of the desert sands to come. The views are breath-taking, and every bend unveils yet another great ‘photo opportunity’.
The rains earlier this year are reported to have been much heavier than normal. Now a few months later, the plains leading up to the Namib are covered in a carpet of yellow grass; this knee high mat stretches for hundreds of kilometres, only interrupted with the occasional koppie or bigger mountain. Once in a while you pass a homestead; very typical of those you see in pictures, a ‘voor-stoep’ around a single story house; a few outbuildings and the compulsory windmill, turning lazily in the breeze. Everything in this area seems lazy, quiet, and very peaceful.
After Solitaire the road begins to rise, this time only slightly before falling down through the Kuiseb Pass; again breath-taking in beauty it drops you down into the last few kilometres of grasslands before suddenly revealing the stark, flat, almost black and dusty stretches of the Namib Desert. The road to Walvis Bay is straight and monotonous. Nothing breaks the horizon as you drive into the sun, amazed that only an hour before you were in the middle of a huge grassy field.
About forty kilometres before Walvis Bay; once again a new type of landscape unfolds before you. Out of the flat Namib you begin to see silhouetted shapes of the massive coastal dunes to come. The dust now takes on a lighter hue, and very soon the entire road is surrounded by undulating sand dunes. You pass the famous Dune 7 on the right, and then the sea breaks into view ; right turn and up to the lovely little town of Swakkopmund – wow, what a journey, what a day, and for many of us, the highlight of the trip so far.
No tents to put up tonight. It’s a hot shower, and off to the beach for wonderful seafood at The Tug.
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| Cas on gate duty! |
testing response
ReplyDeletehooz the photographer/s. Get Goss to employ.post me a ticket, coz want to join you, together with a sample of Jimmies potpourie.
ReplyDeleteDrive safely.