The Himba people

The Himba people, descendents of the Herero people are native to the northern parts of Namibia.  They are famous for their unique styles and the traditional ways of life.  Typically the women do most the work and the men focus on political tasks.  Their clothing consists of virtually nothing and the hairstyles determine the stage of life they are in.  There are 2 times as many children as adults which none of them spoke another language past the dialect of the old Herero language.   

Spitzkoppe

The little Matterhorn of Namibia.  

It is not the driver, it is not the truck, it is the road! Enjoy your African massage.

The first morning we left on our adventure, this was saying which we've come to hear on a daily basis. I never thought I'd ever get excited when I see a paved road but sometimes in life, it's the little things.  

After covering a lot of ground we finally found a decent sized town by the Ocean.  Swakopmund is a large port town for the export and import of goods to Namibia and surrounding landlocked countries.  It's like you're in a desert full of sand drifting right into the ocean.  In Swakomund we rented quads and ventured through the sand dunes.  Along the way, we waxed some sleds and bombed it down the biggest dune we could find.  It was incredibly fun although I swallowed a few pounds of sand.  

Tropic of Capricorn

Every time I turn the corner, there's another breathtaking landscape around the way. It is very rare to even see a fence here.  At the camp we stayed at last night, the land was purchased for an equivalent  $30,000 USD.  It had a house and 13,000 sq kilometers.  For as far as you could see in any direction, this was his property.  For not seeing one lake or river, I'm astonished by the amount of wildlife that fills this part of the world.  They say it only rains once or twice a year and the rain is actually very bad for the desert.  A lot of the creatures go deep within the sand at night and the rain hardens the ground trapping them below.  It brings disease and bugs to what's usually some of the healthiest environments on Earth.  Up to this point I have drank water out of the tap and felt comfortable eating about anything excluding the sheep heads in the Langa Township.  I yet to see once piece of trash, the people take pride in their property, and love traveling in a country which has so far survived the destruction of the human race.  Here people understand and respect the limited resources that are available to them.

 

The Bushman

The Bushmen of Namibia were little yellow people who lived in the deserts up until the early 1900's.  They were all very small people who adapted to life in the harshest of environments.  It was said they carried virtually nothing as they followed the aminals throughout the desert.  They were capiable of eating 20 pounds of meat in one sitting as they went for sometimes weeks without food.  They would drink the blood and eat the eyes of the animals for water.  When the Dutch began to inhabit these areas, it was legal to hunt these people as they were considered animals.  The family of the Bushmen knew the importance of survival and it was accepted that at times, they were known to just leave a parent or a child if they weren't able to move or keep up with the food.  They would turn around and never look back.  

Namib Desert & Sossusvlei Dunes - Namibia

The Namib desert is considered to be one of the oldest and largest deserts in the world.  It was so hot here the day we arrived, I can't even compare it to anything I've ever experienced.  My guess would be 130 degrees.  After 2 days of driving I couldn't believe that we still haven't passed through 1 town bigger than a few hundred people. Namibia has only a population of 2 million people and for its size, it one of the lowest in the world.  The climate is so extreme here I'm surprised anything lives here at all.  Surprisingly we've seen an amazing amount of wildlife along the way. We've been on dirt roads now for what seems like an eternity although we manage to move quite quickly down them.  There is no AC and a lot of dust.  

Fish River Canyon

As we pushed through the Cederberg mountains of South Africa, we stopped and camped along the Orange river which separates South Africa from Namibia.  There we dropped canoes and paddled 6 miles down the river to our campsite where we enjoyed an incredible evening under the stars of the southern hemisphere. On a walk with a local tribesmen, we were reminded of all the things to watch for along the way.