5 days in rainy, wet Northern Namibia

Saturday night at dinner at the Hansa hotel, myself and the 5 Brits from the South Tour met our new driver/guide and new tour members. The driver/guide is Monica a german lady who has lived in Namibia for 20 years. She use to be a nurse. The new tour members were Dickie and her son Thomas (early 20's) from Holland. Our appetiser for dinner was bought along the roadside on the way to Swakopmond and especially prepared by the cook. It was a huge mushroom that grows from the termite mounds if there has been sufficient rains. I can't remember the name but it's considered a delicacy and was quite tasty.

Sunday morning at breakfast, Monica annouced that the tour route would have to be changed due to water levels along some roads. All of todays journey was to be on dirt/sand roads and the mini-coach could easily get stuck in the water/mud a river crossings. It was a big disappointment for me because I picked this particular tour for the stops we were to see today. We were suppose to drive north along the Skeleton Coast to Henties Bay then head northeast into the mountains. Pass by Brandberg the tallest mountain in the country and see the prehistoric rock engraving and the strange rock formations like the Organ Pipes, Burnt Mtn and petrified forest areas of Twyfelfontein. From Swakopmund, we would now be taking a round about way to get to Darmaland mainly on paved roads. We headed east leaving the sand dunes for the moon landscape. Yes it was really bleek and did resemble the moon. The scenery started to change and became greener with red rock formations. We could see Spitzkoppe Mtn which is still fairly tall. We stopped at an area of roadside vendors selling rocks and minerals that are found in the area. They are super cheap and you barter for the price. I could have spent a few hours looking at all the rocks but everyone else had had their fill in about 10 minutes. I did manage to buy a small piece of aquamarine, garnet and another stone that I can't recall it's name.

The scenery was very nice and it was a bit more comfortable riding on paved roads especially with the new mini-coach that was in excellant condition. Since we were to miss the rock engravings, Monica new of a farmer that had rock paintings (pictographs I think they are called)on his property in the Erongu Mtns. It was a long, windy, bumpy road to get there and the farmer let us sit in his backyard to eat our boxed lunches. We all then piled in his 4X4 truck (saw more mtn zebra) and continued about 10 minutes up a rocky pathway and then a short 10 minute hike to an overhang in the rocks. The protected area was covered in paintings in a red rusty color and since the designs were different you could tell that over the centuries, different aboriginal people would probably use this place as an overnight stop and paint their stories on the walls. There were warriors with bows and arrows, paintings of giraffe and elephant. As we headed back, it started to pour with rain so we all crossed our fingers that the mini-coach would make it back to the main road without getting stuck in a riverbed.

From Usako to Otjwarongo, the scenery was beautiful. We now headed west into Darmaland on a dirt road up to Grootberg Pass 1600 metres. We were starting to loose our light but managed to see about 10 giraffes along the roadside. There were elephant crossing signs but we didn't see any. For the last hour to Grootberg Lodge it was dark but we were gradually driving up the switchbacks to the top of the mountain. From the parking lot we have to be transferred into 4x4 for the last bit to the lodge up an almost 45 degree angle rocky trail. A bit nerve racking in the dark. We arrived after 9pm that night and had left at 730am so it was an extremely long day due to the road detour. We had dinner right away and then was shown to our cottages by flashlight. There were very cute rock cottages with thatched roofs. We were told not to walk outside at night since a leopard sometimes prowls the grounds.

I thought it was funny that we were not given keys to the cottages and the sliding glass doors do not lock so I was a bit nervous going to bed that night. We weren't in a populated area so I guess they feel no need to lock the doors. Waking up the next morning I could understand why locks were not needed. The cottages were perched right along the cliff face with the balcony overhanging the rocks with over a 1000 foot drop. An amazing view. I certainly wouldn't want to be a sleepwalker staying at this place. You could hear all kinds of birds singing and the baboons howling every once in a while.

After breakfast we had a game drive into the valley below in 4x4 open trucks along the Klip River. A very bumpy ride over the rocks but we saw a herd of mountain zebra and after stopping to see a vulture in a tree an elephant was spotted nearby. The bull kept to the trees but we would try to find him on the return journey. We spotted kudu and oryx on the drive and was able to get a bit closer to the elephant on the drive back to the lodge. We had free time to enjoy the serenity of the lodge or a dip in the infinity pool after lunch but storm clouds started to roll in. It started to pour with rain around the time scheduled for a mountain hike and only 3 of us decided to give it a go in the rain since it was letting up a bit. I'm glad we did the hike since we saw a herd of mtn zebra, lots of springbok and oryx along the walk. We were shown ancient stone circles that were old hunting shelters. Back to the room to warm up and have a quick shower (the drum of water is heated by a small fire at 4pm everyday so if you want a hot shower you have to take it in the early evening). Before dinner we met on the patio for a sundowner drink but since it was raining again we renamed it the pissdowner drink. Monica said that hopefully the roads heading back down tomorrow would be passable or we would be stuck at the lodge for another night. Out of all the places I stayed in Namibia, this place was at the top of my list.

Tue morn, I got up about 7am and sat out on the balcony enjoying the sun coming up and listening to all the birds and baboons. We headed out and while the road was muddy and wet in some areas we managed to make it back to the paved road. At one time at a particular big river crossing, we all go out and walked along a concrete barrier across the road while Monica put her foot to the floor and crossed through the mud, spraying mud all over Sue and Margaret, narrowly missing me.