Swakopmund August 31

Hello all:

We have traversed the vast Namib Desert in our very bumpy and very, very, dusty bus.  Wow, this dust permeates everything, just as bad as in the Sahara.  Night termperatures get down to near freezing, and days climb up to near 30 degrees.  I had heard about this, but it is quite an experience to be actually here, peeling off layers and layers of clothing, then gradually adding them all back on again.  Thank heavens for my sturdy "Mom" jeans.  I can roll up the legs for day and roll them back down again as we "dress" for dinner.  Heavy duty clothing and shoes is the order of the day as we try to stay clean-ish, for dinner and all.  The 'ish' is the operative part, as photography in the desert is no place for neat, clean, or even remotely fancy clothes. 

Anyway, there are interesting things going on every day.  The ghost mining town was fascinating, with the sand blown into all corners of the abandoned houses, some of which were quite gorgeous back in the heyday of the 1920's.  The fabled Namibian sand dunes lived up to expectations, and now we are in the charming seaside town of Swakopmund, having seen all sorts of animals and interesting sights along the way.  Malaria pills need to be started tomorrow as we make our way steadily Northwards towards elephant and lion country.

Here are a few photos, quickly culled from the several thousand I already have.  I wish I could share more with you.

Kolmanskop ghost town, with houses abandoned nearly 100 years ago

Inside one of the once lovely houses

Namib family on the way to town, forty miles away.  We gave them money and oranges

A huge secretary bird, showing off its wonderful desert camouflage

Typical savannah landscape with tough grass, steeply rising rocks and mountains, and lonely trees

  

More desert camouflage

A young springbok.  Herds of them are common grazing on the dry savannah grasslands

Just one view of the amazing sand dunes of Sossusvlei

This is the type of grass the springboks and other animals eat

This strange 1,600 year old fossilzed plant is carefully fenced, but in the middle of the desert

 

Mother flamingo and her two chicks

Sally the pelican, a rescue bird, comes in to land and collect her fishy reward

This rescued seal (injured by a fish hook) just jumps aboard to pose and collect his reward too

I made friends with Sally, who was injured by a fall off a high ledge before she could fly.

Near Luderwitz, Namibia

Here we are at Klein Aus Vista, near Luderwitz, a pretty coastal town in Namibia.  We have covered a lot of ground since leaving Namaqualand and crossing the border into Namibia.  The scenery has been spectacular all the way, changing from the verdant flowered slopes to the vast and arid Namib Desert with hundreds of miles of barren landscape, but which is really interesting in its own way.  We have visited the Renowned Fish River Canyon, which is the second largest in the world, by volume.  Quite spectacular!  Today we have explored the ghost town of Kolmanskoppe, but photos of that will have to wait until next time.  We are getting a bit blase about all the springboks and ostriches we are seeing.  Apparently elephants come to water to drink every evening not far from where we are staying, but we are not doing a night drive.  Elephants will have to wait.

Our accommodation is in comfortable African style lodges, but with good amenities such as hot water, thank goodness.  And meals are mostly western style, as they cater very much for the European and North American tourists.  But there is always venison to eat, and I really like it.  I have also taken to Roiboos tea, and will have to take it up at home.Our group gets more and more compatible as we get to know each other.  It`s great that we are all photographers - some more experienced and with a vast stock of gear, and some with much more modest equipment.  I will do a blog about my gear sometime.  Anyway, I have found that I am not the only person in the world who is quite happy to spend an hour lying on my stomach amid sand and gravel, rocks and thorns, manoeuvreing my macro lens back and forth to photograph the minute little succulents which are barely visible in the rocky earth.  It is amazing what wonderful tiny flowers can grow in such an arid landscape.  Nor am I the only person in the world completely happy walking by myself for a couple of hours in the desert, in tune with my surroundings,  enjoying the fresh air and the warmth, alone with my thoughts and with my cameras at the ready (I carry two) for all the fascinating little outcrops of flowers, the odd lizard scurrying by, beetles darting back and forth.  This is all wonderful.

Farewell to the Namaqualand flower fields

We are kudus.  What are you.

Mountain zebras silhouetted in the evening.

Fish River Canyon

Quiver tree

A minute succulent in the desert, taken with a macro lens

Namibian mother and child

A hemsboek, which makes good venison.

Ostriches - again!  More and more

I`m always happy to get a bird in flight, but I need to look up its name

In wild Africa

No, I have not been eaten by a lion, but my blogging seems to have to be on the back burner now.  We have gone into the wilds of Africa, and despite my (informed) assumption that internet is widely available this is actually not so.  Today we are passing ..through Springbok on our way to Namibia, and it is the last chance for internet for the next few days.

Our last day in Capetown was filled with a trip South of the city to Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point.  The latter is a spectacular jagged point, jutting out into the sea, accessible by funicular.  Highlights were cormorants nesting on cliffs, ostriches scrounging for kelp on the shore, and charming penguins frolicking on Boulders Beach. 

We are on a privately organised photo tour.  There are fifteen of us, which is a very good number, and we are on a reasonably comfortable bus and are able to ask to stop wherever we wish.

The last few days have been taken up with Namaqualand and the spring flowers.  They are absolutely stunning.  More than you can imagine.

Because of this little internet cafe with people lined up to use the computer I am only able to post a few images of the thousand or so I have taken, and I haven't even been able to choose them properly.  Nevertheless, believe me that this is a fantastic part of the world.

Ostrich scrounging for kelp

Penguins scrambling in to shore

Some of the flower fields in Namaqualand

A seal in Hout Bay, Capetown

Springbok grazing in the flower fields

These charming weaver birds literally weave their grass nests

Sunday in Capetown

Today was cloudy with gale force winds.  Jane bought herself a new fleecey jacket, a wooly hat, and warm gloves.  Ah well!  It is reputedly the coldest winter on record here.

The Capetown Soccer Stadium =  Do you remember the World Cup hoopla of a year or two ago>

The lighthouse near the Biodiversity Garden, which is more "in town" than it looks here

A few of the scores of colourful houses in the Bo Kaap Muslim district

I accepted a lovely invitation to a croquet game with the Kelvin Grove Club champion, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  She won, of course, but I by no means disgraced myself.  It was the fastest lawn I have ever played on.  Supposedly grass, it was more compacted earth, and was smooth as glass in many places.  It was very difficult to judge distance, as the ball kept rolling and rolling.  But I cannot help but enjoy any game of croquet.  I wore five layers of warm clothing - count 'em - as the wind whistled and whirled around.

Saturday in Capetown

It was a glorious sunny day, but still quite cold.  The locals are complaining that it is unusually cool.  But it didn't deter us.  Friends of a friend (more of them!) drove us around and gave us an excellent history lesson.  We admired the Rhodes Memorial, visited the prestigious Kelvin Grove Club, went on to the renowned Kirstenbosch Gardens, and finished with a drive around the gorgeous Atlantic Coast where all the really wealthy homes are situated.  Kirstenbosch, created on the Northern slopes of Table Mountain (the sunny side remember, because we are now down-under), is home to a huge variety of flora.  Most of the familiar flowers we buy for boquets in Canada originated in the wild on these slopes. It felt like a little piece of heaven.  But the cafe in the bustling Waterfront area with all its fine shops and attractions, was a welcome end to the day, as at last we could get really WARM!

Kelvin Grove Club with it's Cape Dutch architecture

Flowers at Kirstenbosch Gardens

Guinea fowl roam everywhere in Kirstenbosch Gardens

Part of the scenic Atlantic Coast residential area

At the Rhodes Memorial

  

Capetown

We have had a fascinating day in Capetown.  First we were escorted through a township by a lovely local person who as born and raised in Langa.  This was followed by lunch at Lelapa restaurant which is owned and run by an energetic lady who regaled us with stories. "How she learned to drive" had us in stitches. She actually didn't "learn", but one day, out of necessity, somehow manoeuvred down busy roads to her destination, and somehow solved the problem of how to park.  As lunch progressed, slowly and deliciously, we danced and sang to the marimba band, and know for sure that South Africa is going to be fun.

Apologies - these photos are not in chronological order.  I'm not too swift at this blogging thing.

Capetown at night, from Table Mountain

Capetown is ringed with mountains, which you can see in the distance

Langa Township

Sheila, owner of Lelapa Restaurant

The top of Table Mountain

A hyrax, happily eating the flowers

Next it was up Table Mountain as the day was clear and sunny with no "tablecloth" (the usual heavy cloud cover).  The top is flatish, as you might imagine, with rocky outcrops and dense low shrubs harbouring masses of flowers and numerous species of small mammals, insects, birds, and other creatures.

Here we are in Capetown

Jane (my roommate for the next five weeks) and I arrived comfortably and happily in Capetown yesterday, and after settling in to our friendly B & B we set off exploring.  We are going to be well regaled by various friends-of-friends (those wonderfully useful people) over the next five days before our tour starts in earnest.  Oddly enough, a highlight yesterday was finding what must be the best delicatessen in the world - Giovanni's.  I have never, ever, seen such a fantastic array of foodstuffs, all beautifully displayed, covering what must be every variety known to man.  We bought marinated anchovies and other delicious goodies to feast upon,and some amazing chocolate, which was one of what must be a selection of a thousand varieties.

Now off to sightsee.

Friends silhouetted against the city and Table Mountain

Last Day in England

My visit to England is at an end, barring a quick visit tomorrow to my old haunts in central London - Oxford Street, Regent Street, Marks & Spencer, - I cannot resist my trip down memory lane.

Here are photos of a couple of English pubs visited.  The Fox on the Hill is the "family" pub frequented by my brother Chris and all his gang.  Cousins Martin and Sam took me for lunch at the Scotsbridge Mill today.  Although the sign says "riverside pub" actually the river flows through the pub.  One can sit and view the flowing water as one eats.  But as there was a glass barrier, my photos had too much reflection to show you.

A quick anecdote - grandson Jack and I were in London in July, 2005, and were caught up in the ecstatic euphoria at the announcement that England had won the right to hold the 2012 Olympics.  And here I am again, in 29012,  part of the hype of the past week of those Olympics, and witness to much celebration.  The bunting is to be seen to be believed, and Union Jacks adorn absolutely everything, from shoes to toilet paper.  It has been fun to be part of it all.

Happy Days in England

The pond at the bottom of Anne's garden

Croquet at Winchester

Thatched cottage near Anne, with it's dove cote

In the gardens at Mottisfont

Honeysuckle at Mottisfont

I have been in good olde England, land of my birth, for a week now, visiting people I love - old dear friends, and my wonderful extended family.  I wish I could see more people, but decided on a quiet visit this time before the hustle and bustle of our upcoming trip to South Africa.  So there is no Devon, or Scotland or cousinly visits this time.  I have been to Mottisfont, a lovely country house with a world renowned rose garden; I have played several games of croquet at Winchester with my friend, Anne; been to the familiar church that I know so well; and had a good Sunday lunch at an English pub.  There are more family visits during the next couple of days, and off to South Africa on Wednesday.