Feb 7 - Change of Plans...Again

Same plan...up at 5AM..out of camp by 7 AM. We travel about 50 miles to visit a ranger who witake us on a ride-walking tour through the desert and dunes.... his company is called SOSSUS-on-Foot.

What a great 3 hours...we jump on a Toyota truck equipped to handle 12 people...off we go. We travel down streams, up dunes, across the desert...stopping to learn about the environment, creatures that exist in this harsh environment and the people that make a living here. Here it goes:

Desert - little to no water, creatures live under the sand, nostrils small enough to filter out the sand and breathe air...too much water is bad ...compresses sand, makes it difficult to dig.....the current rains are the worst that he has experienced and he is 50 years-old.

Animals - wilda-beast, zebras, ostriches, springbok, oryx, leopard, jackal, hyenas...leopard makes a kill..eats and leaves...jackal eat the leftover meat...hyenas devour the bones.

People - originally the aboriginal bushman hunted this barren landscape. Today, tourism is the largest industry for adventurers who like to camp and trek the Namib Desert.
 

Seed Pod



Safari Briefing by Ranger Busman



  





Desert Panorama

Desert Tutorial



Lonely Sentinel



Class Valedictorian

Camel-Torn tree - roots go down 250+ feet to find water. ..small leaves to minimize evaporation. Ranger Busman took a dried seed pod from a plant and sprinkled on a couple drops of water...immediately the pod opened and seeds began to extend shots...all within one minute...after about another minute without water..the pod shrunk to its original state.......since we have had so much rain the sand is now covered with a green carpet of grass shots and flowers.

After the tour, we have lunch and get to the truck and head out. We head north toward a pass that will put us within a 3 hour drive to Swakopmund beach town. We stop at the Tropic of Capricorn for a photo shot before proceeding northward. The weather changes from sunny to cloudy to rain and rain it does; hard and harder.

Threatening Rain





Crossing Tropic of Capricorn



 

Desert Rain



Home for the Night - Solitaire

Once again our plans are changed. We reach the pass and the once dormant stream is now a raging river...there is no way to cross. We are locked into Western Namibia by water which has eroded roads and changed dormant streams to rivers. We retrace the day's travel, pass the Tropic of Capricorn sign and hope to find a place to camp. We spend the night in a no-name cross-roads town called, appropriately, Solitaire. I stay in the truck again because it is threatening rain and it did rain again. Same routine... beer, dinner..read..go to bed..nite!!