Travelogue: Kuiseb Pass

For those that requested postcards you can expect to see it in anything between 1-6 months!

We had lunch here which was nothing special but the location was nice and the company was, as ever, excellent…. and there was a shop which was ideal for topping up on the ever decreasing tonic...

Before leaving the park we went to Sesriem Canyon which has a depth of 6 skins or riems deep to lower your bucket in to get the water which would flow at the bottom. It was dry though we did not walk down there just peered in

It is actually hotter in there despite the shade because there is minimal air movement

On the way back to our lodge we passed Daddy Warthog and we think Master Warthog who was exceptionally good at hiding behind the bushes whenever a camera appeared

This is what the folder in our room at the Namibia Naukluft Lodge had to say about where we had been

This is a kind of wild sage if I remember correctly

And here the sun is setting which often makes the stones glow this fabulous orange but it also changes to reds and golds

This is a shepherds tree which offers shelter to shepherds in the heat of the sun. We were also told about another tree that is used by the Himba tribe as they take the resin and crush it and then burn it and smoke themselves in the incense as perfume. Estee Lauder now also use a resin but from a different member of that tree family.

Looking back towards the lodge… no sign of inquisitive squirrels and mongoos (mongi?!) but they were all there...

This is a phantom tree but our guide knows it by another name the Fairy Tree. She was not sure why but a quick google search says nothing about how they came to be named but does give some information. One site calls it a Fairy Tale Tree so Heidi’s thoughts that it might be that the tree is so pretty fairies live there is unlikely. Perhaps the white bark glowing in the night makes it look like a phantom?

The manager of the lodge had a lovely new puppy and also this baby springbok they had found abandoned and were rearing and will release as soon as it is old enough

This was a painting that was in the bar that I liked mostly because of the tree and because it is painted on a piece of stone

Dinner tonight was at the front of the lodge and had been cooked on open fire in potjies (pronounced poykies)

Lamb, Oryx and chicken with rice and veggies

On the way off in the morning we stopped at Solitaire. I posted the cards in this box here - they empty it once a week and take it to a ‘proper’ post box in the nearest town

refuelling the van

We passed the Tropic of Capricorn and stopped for the obligatory photos… one way

..and the other way… there’s nothing else here!

We went through the Kuiseb pass

which is surrounded by dry sand and rock

but amazingly due to recent rains there was some flowing water in the river. There are wild elephants that travel up and down the river mysteriously knowing where the water is but sadly we did not see any today