African Travel Diary 2008
It was just 9 degrees at 6:00 am when we woke this morning beside the Kunene River. It was cold, but with the stunning scenery we were experiencing, it didn’t matter. Our flight to Twyfelfontein was due to depart at 10:45 am, which is why we had a bit of a sleep-in this morning. Like yesterday, tea was brought to our room - it was a small gesture that made a big difference in how we felt at the start of the day.
We packed bags ready for our departure and then had breakfast at 7:00 am; like all meals at our campsite beside the Kunene River, it was great. We set off to the airstrip at Hartmann Valley at a little after 7:45 am in a 4WD Land Rover; this departure time was well before we needed to leave if we were driving directly to the airstrip, but it was early enough to give us time to take in some more of the spectacular scenery of this very special area en route.
The scenery on the flight was like flying through a superbly illustrated textbook on the landforms of arid terrains. Just about every arid landform imaginable could be seen with perfect examples in copious quantities. Suffice to say it was a geographical and photographic delight.
The accommodation at Mowani is in tents that are permanently erected, set among the huge weathered granite boulders that make up the spectacular landscape of the area (see top photo). The accommodation was certainly smaller and more basic than we had enjoyed at the Kunene River, but it was more than adequate and very comfortable, and one of the highlights was the spectacular view from the front of our tent (the photo directly above shows the grand view that we encountered as we stepped out through the flaps at the front of our tent).
Actually, although neither Andrew nor I are experts in tracking elephants, we would have probably taken a different approach to our guide. When we were on the dirt roads or driving along the river bed, we saw quite a lot of fresh elephant tracks, easily recognisable by their wide pad-like appearance. We could see them going in certain directions, but in every case the driver had “a better idea” or a “feeling that they were elsewhere”, and took us in entirely different directions accordingly. At one time, he agreed the elephant tracks were fresh, but didn’t want to go in that direction because the road was extremely dusty - he seemed much more concerned to keep his car clean than to find the elephants. Yes, Andrew and I were somewhat underwhelmed by the astuteness of his tracking skills. However, to be fair, he has a damaged eye, and although he can spot many things well at a distance. he often misses things that are right next to the road. Still, good eyesight and a good sense of direction would seem like useful skills for a driver/guide to have.
Our driver was very excited to show us something called the “Wonder Hole” that local people knew about but only a select few visitors ever got to see. It was reported to be a deep hole in the rocks, so deep that when a stone was thrown in, it could be heard rattling its way down into the subterranean depths. We were told that no-one knew how this strange, deep hole had formed. When we got there, we found it was a fairly average sink hole of the kind that commonly forms as water dissolves limestone (which was the rock type in which the ‘Wonder Hole’ had formed). I explained to the driver that the Wonder Hole was a fairly common feature of limestone landscapes, and described its formation to him. Andrew later said I had been very cruel to dispel the magic of the Wonder Hole to the driver by explaining how this fairly common feature had been formed. As an educator, I simply felt I had a duty to perform, and I performed it. (I later found out that the Wonder Hole is mentioned as a site on page 296 in the Lonely Planet Guide to Namibia, where it is correctly identified as a sinkhole. I decided that as a gesture of sensitivity to the driver, I would not tell him that *his* special place is mentioned in a tour guide).
Dinner this evening was at the campsite, and it was delicious. Both Andrew and I had kudu in mushroom sauce, followed by a malva slice with sauce made from wild fruit. We ate with our driver who told us that he was determined that after three days of failing to find the elephants, we should all rise as early as possible tomorrow morning so that we could set off at 7:00 am and have another try. He was determined that he would not fail four days in a row.
Consequently, my alarm has been set for 5:30 am. I can hardly wait...........
Friday, 20 June 2008
Day 20 - Twyfelfontein, Namibia