Hiking Through Namibia's Desert Mountains

After several weeks away, I’ve just returned from an amazing trip hiking the Naukluft Mountains in Namibia.  The Naukluft Mountains are in the Namib-Naukluft National Park in the Namib Desert, Africa’s oldest desert.  The journey to the hike took me through the Kalahari Desert in Botswana and tons of great adventures.

 

3 days travel from Pretoria, through the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, more desert to Windhoek, Namibia and south into the Namib Desert. 

Traveling Day 1: South Africa & the Trans-Kalahari

Three weeks ago, three South Africans who I was traveling with came to Pretoria for dinner and a place to sleep.  Early in the morning we took off for the Botswana border and the Trans-Kalahari highway. The Trans-Kalahari is a two lane paved road going straight through the desert with only a few small villages on either end.  The tiny town of Kang, which is really only a gas station lies in middle of the 1000km (600 mile) route. The Kalahari Desert is essentially the entire southern half of Botswana and most of western Namibia.

The first thing I noticed in Botswana was the number of donkeys, there seemed to be more than people.  Later after seeing donkey team driven carts, I realized that the local people use them for transport, as gas stations are almost nonexistent.

Kalahari means “Land of Great Thirst” as almost no standing water can be found in the vast expanse of sand and bush, yet the amount of animals is astounding.  All day we spotted Steenbok, Red Hartebeest, Springbok, Warthog, and Ostrich, not to mention the countless birds.

Days of open road with the only people being the occasional Bushman

After leaving Kang and watching the sun burry itself into the desert brush, we found a pull off to sleep for the night. An open sandy patch on the side of the road served as a mattress with which to lay and watch the stars. While a meteor shower in the city may offer a few shooting stars an hour, 5 minutes under the untamed sky offered 20-30.  

Sleeping on the side of the road

Traveling Day 2: The Kalahari to Windhoek, Namibia

At midnight, snug on in our sleeping bags in the open sand we awoke to the heavy and much too close roar of lions.  Hearing their bellows approaching us, we quickly made a fire and waited for them to pass.  Sleeping the rest of the night was light to saw the least, but the experience was unrivaled (especially since we woke the next morning).

Steenboks 

Ostrich family fleeing 

The next morning we hit the road early hoping to spot some predators still on the road. It took the entire day to cross into Namibia and arrive at the capital city of Windhoek. 

German church and Namibian Parliament building in Windhoek

After a quick grocery shop at the local mall, we meet up with the 5^th member of our crew who we stayed with at a mutual friend's house.  After a German dinner, lots of chocolates, laughs, and our last showers we hit the sack ready for the next desert.

Traveling Day 3: The Namib Desert

The five of us crammed in the truck, quickly got onto the dirt roads, and headed south to the Gamsberg Pass, a winding mountain road.  We drove through Gamsberg Nature Reserve and quickly stopped to explore a canyon where 2 Germans lived for 2 years to avoid the Second World War.

The terrain became less and less vegetated and more filled with sand as we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn.  With 3 ecologists and all avid photographers in the car we stopped often to explore plants and discuss the desert wildlife. We stopped for a long discussion about Fairy Circles, large circles in the desert where plants do not grow a natural mystery still to be discovered. 

Fairy Circles, from the sky they are perfect circles 

Gemsbok/Oryx 

Endless sand roads

After hours of dry desert road we hit the oasis town of Solitaire, which consisted of a gas station, a bathroom, and an amazing German bakery.  After loading up on brownies, apple tarts, and sodas we headed into the Naukluft Mountains; our playground for the next 9 days.

Abandoned car near Solitaire 

On the way we ran into a desert Black Rhino, an extremely endangered and rare sight.  Later we saw leopard cubs crossing the road.  As the sun set we finally arrived at Hikers Haven, the starting point for the hike.

Desert adapted Black Rhino - Great horn! 

Hike Day 1 – Putte Shelter

Leaving Hiker’s Haven, an old farmhouse strewn with daunting messages on the walls about the hike, we set off into the river valley.  Throughout the day we hiked higher into the mountains, spotting mountain zebra, kudo, black eagles, auger buzzards, and rock hyrax. Walking on jagged elephant skin dolomite rock, our feet took a beating.

Nick and myself (blue bag) starting to traverse (Photo Credit: W. Matthews)

Hike Day 2 – Ubusis Kloof

The next days hike took us along an escarpement with amazing views and then through what seemed like endless dried river canyons. The remainder of the day was spent hiking through Cathedral Fountain and Ubusis Kloof, a massive river canyon that took us down several large dried waterfalls on chains. 

           

Me (my arms up in the cave) at Cathedral Fountain

Chains going down a waterfall

Our team moving down the first waterfall

 That night we slept in the river valley, using the dried river gravel as a bedspread. After a quick swim, a hot meal, and a roaring fire we slept in the shelter of the canyon with the stars overhead. 

Hike Day 3 – Alderhorst Shelter

Only a half day of hiking, the entire time we walked on black rhino trails were rhino tracks and dung was in huge quanities.  We a half day's rest at the shelter, I quickly devised a stone bowling alley and the First Annual Naukluft 8-Pin Rock Bowling Championship was started (even when all you have is rocks you can still have fun). With a chance to muck around, get a bucket shower, and repair our gear, we spent the evening watching the sunset over the rolling hills. 

Hike Day 4 – Tsam Ost

The first half of the day was spent going there more river valleys, where lush green grass lined crystal clear pools.  It felt very tropical at the head of the valley, but before lunch the valley was dry as a bone and we climbed high into the mountains again.  Of course only to come straight down to the bottom of another waterfall.  The rest of the day was spent following a river, were we encountered warthogs and walked through another black rhino territory.  Reaching the shelter at dusk, we had reached our restocking shelter where we blew up party balloons and had a beer. Unfortunately this was not the half way point and the next four days were going to be harder, longer, and steeper than the previous four combined. 

Everyday the sky got bluer and blue and not a single cloud was seen

Hike Day 5 – Die Valle

Starting with an immediate 350 meter straight ascent, all morning was spent going up one mountain only to come down the other side, it was glorious.  The wind was harsh that day, blowing us over and all around every time we reach a ridge or peak. We frequently encountered mountain zebra, springboks, klipspringers, and hyrax. Lunch was spent at an old windmill where we stockpiled water from the well in preparation for a 4 hour walk across Die Valle "Death Valley".  The trek across Die Valle was flat open and without shade.  Surrounded by mountains, all out of our reach and with nothing to focus on by the jagged rock path, 4 hours of 20 questions, riddles, and really lame jokes ensued.  We were hiking in the coldest week of the year and still Death Valley was hot.  Apparently if you do it in summer, you run from tree to tree for the shade. Reaching the shelter at sundown, we slept in the shadow of a massive waterfall and it's surrounding cliffs.  The wind was whipping that night, so much that all our gear had to be tired down or put into our hanging sacks.  My nightly 3am bathroom break was a literal piss in the wind. 

Trail conditions - not the most pleasant to walk on

Die Valle

Sunset on the mountains

Hike Day 6 – Tufa Shelter 

Another straight ascent up to the massive waterfall that morning with the wind still whipping at our backs.  Once at the top we stopped to stand at the very edge of the waterfall, a 200+ meter (600') drop overlooking the mountains and in the far off distance the endless sea of sand dunes that stretched to the ocean.  It was an amazing moment to stand at the top of that waterfall and know we had climbed up there and then to piss of it. :) 

Nick holding on for dear life on the ascent (Photo Credit: W. Matthews)

Looking out over the waterfall, sea of dunes to the right

Standing on the edge of the waterfall. Photo Credit: W. Matthews

All day we hiked up and up and up only to reach a flat barren top where herds of springbok ran past us.  Then a death march through an old rock blasted path encountering tons of zebra and kudu to the shelter.  

That night I worried all night as the next day we had to climb straight up a waterfall using chains, it was the only part of the trip I wasn't thrilled about as it is often slippery and the site of numerous deaths. 

Hike Day 7 – The waterfall and Kapokvlakte

Setting off with the feeling of dread I quickly killed the poisonous feeling and focused on the climb.  Climbing high into a canyon around boulders the size of houses, using chains and climbing holds to continue upwards we eventually reached the waterfall.  Once I saw it, I immediately felt 100 times better and extremely confident.  Using a chain we climbed up 6 meters (18') to the first ledge, from there continued on the chain another 5 meters (15') up and transported out bags to the guy at the top. From there 15 meters (45') feet to the top of the chain in vertical ascent. It was actually a ton of fun, but if you're scared of heights it would have been a nightmare. 

Chain going up part of the waterfall

The rest of the day we hiked up to a plateau and the highest point on the hike called world view.  It was a view that made you sit and stare, even ponder. A view that made you realize how isolated you were from the rest of the world.  

Preparing the group picture. Photo Credit: W. Matthews

Kubu Team 2013 at World View

That night we stayed on the open rock plateau called Kapokvlakte, which means "light snow or flurries" really there isn't an English word, but it's called that because of how cold it get (for the desert).  That evening we watched an amazing sunset with a simultaneous moonrise, something I have only ever witnessed once before. 

Me and Francois. Photo Credit: W. Matthews

Feels like being on another planet

Hike Day 8 – Back to Hiker’s Haven

Hiking off the plateau, we walked through endless river valleys where we encountered troops of baboons and gorgeous pools of water.  After swimming for a bit we continued through the lush valley of fig trees to the point from which we started. 

The next three days were spent heading back the way we came, me in the back of a enclosed pickup listening to Namibian country music, and trying to annoy border guards.  Namibia reminded me a lot of central Wyoming, only the cowboys were darker. 

The park claims that the hike is 130 km, we clocked over 150km (95 miles) on the GPS.  The Naukluft is considered the most challenging adventure hike in Southern Africa.  This not just because of the distance, the boot-breaking terrain, or even the steep ascents. The challenge is in the remoteness, lack of water, and challenges of climbing waterfalls using chains.  If you get injured on the hike, there is no rescue other than your team. A broken leg or a fall can spell disaster for a crew.  

All seasoned hikers our team was only the second to finish this year.  All the other teams had hiked out at turn arounds or waited for help at the restocking point. 

I was far from bored! Photo Credit: W. Matthews

Looking back this was an absolutely amazing trip.  Every night we did a best and worst of the day and every night there were too many bests and only funny worsts. Being in the desert mountains away from any other people, worries, or technology is something few people experience.  Removing yourself from the world for a bit, can be an almost spiritual journey as you have so much time for inwardly reflect and outwardly observe nature.  Still everyday was not stop jokes, laughs, constant threats of lawsuits (a joke pointed at me, the American).  

Two Worlds in One

The other day I had an everyday, yet enlightening experience.  The country of South Africa has the greatest wealth gap among all the nations in the world.  It is most realized in the cities where slums are sometimes on the other side of a wall from gated communities where houses rival the grandeur of many in the U.S. (even the area I’m from).  However it is also around national parks and private game reserves that the magnitude of lifestyles is truly black and white.  Wealthy South Africans and foreign tourists spend upwards in the thousands of US dollars to stay at fancy resorts or rent gorgeous cottages with gorgeous views of wildlife and scenery.Yet just outside the guarded gates and electric fences (intended for both man and beast) local people are living the most basic of lives, most absent of income or employment.  

Living here you would think it would be hard to forget about the majority of the country living beside you in such poverty, a lifestyle none of us can imagine. However, admittedly it is easy to put that reality out of your mind and continue with your own life and troubles. 

 

The Soweto slum outside Johannesburg

The other day my friend and I pulled out of the cobblestone lined driveway rot ironed guarded gate of his timeshare to go to Kruger National Park, the music was blasting, the sunglasses were on, and life seemed euphoric.  So when the group of 4 young black boys, not older than 7-8 years old standing on the corner all gave us the finger and shouted Swati swears at us, our immediate response was astonishment and irritation.  My friend said a few things about them and then I had a moment of clairvoyance.

I don’t blame the kids.  I am the epitome of their envy.  Everything I have in my life is everything they desire and will most probably never have. 

I have more than one shirt, pants, and pair of shoes. I went to a school that I didn’t have to walk 5 miles to in the early morning and when I got there, there was a competent teacher and books to use.  I own a bicycle. If I get sick I can afford to see a doctor and receive surgery or basic medicine.  I had more money in my pocket than they may ever earn in their lifetime.  The list goes on and on. 

 

Boys in a slum I visited 3 years ago

But perhaps the saddest thing for me to consider was that these boys had probably never seen an elephant, which on the other side of the wall they stood next to there were some 17,000.  They likely would never get a chance to go into the park they lived next to and see the amazing natural beauty that they were born into. And because of that, why should they care about that world of exclusive entrance and magnificence.  Why should they not poach or be concerned with the wildlife issues that they are in the midst of.  Their whole lives a Garden of Eden and a land of plenty lay beyond an electric fence and a locked gate, to which they did not and would not have to the key to.

It’s a depressing reality that the world will likely never be a fair and equal place.  Where the happenstance of where one is born would not hinder ones experiences and quality of life.  However, the wealth gap in Southern Africa and most other countries around the world is only growing and with it rifts of misunderstanding, prejudice, and racism.  

Those boys did not chirp us because we were white, they did so because life isn’t fair, because they were born in a hut made of cardboard and stones and I in a top notch Yale New England hospital in Greenwich, Connecticut.  

It is experiences like this that few living in the modern world get to experience and the few who do likely will not carry with them everyday.  However I know I carry those boys with me in my mind.  While I may forget them from time to time, they remind me not to take two servings when I will only eat one and not to waste what could be used for something else. But most importantly I’m reminded that not matter how bad my life is, I will always have more than them and therefore I have no reason to be unthankful or entitled or upset….I am humbled by their existence and appreciative of every experience I have.

The Big 5 in 24 hours

Yesterday I returned from a week in the Mpumalagna province of South Africa.  Similar to 2 weeks ago, I was staying with my friend Graeme and his family in Nelspruit for a few days, however afterwards traveled north to Kruger National Park.  We were in Nelspruit this time because of an Afrikaans festival called Innibos, which means "In the bush".  Innibos is a music and arts festival that mostly a festival for Afrikaans to celebrate their culture, food, and as all good Afrikaans people do, have a few too many beers. However for my friend Graeme, it marks the winter university break when all his friends come back from school to catch up and have a reunion.  For me it was the largest gathering of Caucasians I've seen since leaving JFK airport!

Innibos beer tent...lots of Afrikaans men

Innibos was a great time where I met a lot of people and listened to a lot of live bands.  Since being in South Africa I have learned some Afrikaans, but my pronunciation of execution of many words puts me as a dead ringer as a foreigner. The issue is at Innibos, everyone speaks Afrikaans.  An interesting encounter I had in the rest room involved 3 men speaking to me in Afrikaans across a urinal in hostile voices.  Luckily my use of the words I knew and could pronounce quelled the tension and we all urinated in peace.

During the day we would go to the local driving range.  I'm not a golfer at all, however this was definitely the most beautiful setting I've seen a driving ranger in (far better than the Bronx Golf Center off Gun Hill Rd. adjacent to I-95 in NYC). Interestingly there are no ball collecting lawnmowers, just a group of 5 black laborers out there picking them up by hand.  So when you hit a long drive near them you have to shout out to them.  $1 for a quart of beer at the counter and the old woman asks you "are you just gonna open it with your eye or do I have to go get an opener?"

Gooch and Simon hitting some balls

The other interesting part of being in Nelspruit was staying with my friend's family.  It's been awhile since I have been in a family setting and I have to admit it was very pleasant reminder of those I love back home.

On Saturday we all traveled to a time share on the southern border of Kruger National Park, just shy of the Mozambique border to stay with Graeme's aunt and uncle.  The complex was very nice and their apartment has a veranda that overlooks the Crocodile River in the park.  When we arrive there were 2 elephants in the river and a buffalo just across the way.  After an amazing sunset, a fire, a lot of wine-driven conversation we woke up the next morning to enter the park.

Ele in Crocodile River

Sun rise the next morning

The Wolfard family watching the wildlife and scenery on their deck

Graeme and I drove 5 hours through the park to meet up with our other friends, one of whom has a house inside the park where we stayed the night.  Kruger is South Africa's largest park, it would take you 18 hours to drive from the bottom to the top at the speed limit.  It is the most amazing park with animals literally around every corner, elephant randomly walking across the road, and gorgeous scenery.

Big croc in Kruger

A large pod of hippos and crocodiles 

Male Kudo at a watering hole

A group of warthogs 

Just after entering the park we saw 2 large male lions relaxing in the distance and saw countless other animals including hippos, crocs, eles, buffalo, and more. The park was 34 degrees (95) which seems ridiculous considering it is the middle of winter!

Buffalo, hippos, and impala 

White rhino

Gooch and I at Stevenson-Hamilton, a koppie overlooking the park

Meeting up with our mates, we relaxed on the top of a dam to watch the sun set as pods of hippos made echoing bellows across the lake. For some reason all sunsets in Africa are amazingly beautiful and seem to last forever.

The chaps at the dam

Just after the sun set, a large cat emerged from the bushes next to the dam in between our cars.  Fearing it was a lion we all quickly got into the cars and watched as a young leopard walked along the dam.  At night a leopard is just as scary as a lion, as they will stalk you and leap from up to 30 feet away to wrap their claws around your neck.  This meant that we had seen the Big 5 within 8 hours of being in the park.  The Big 5 are the 5 most dangerous animals in reference to hunting, but are known as the most notable mammals; Elephant, Rhino, Leopard, Lion, & Buffalo. 

Leopard taking a crap

That night as 12 of us sat around the fire, large bush babies (a koala sized primate that comes out at night) and greater spotted genets (a large cat looking animal) jumped around the trees overhead, as lions roared in the distance and hyena howled just around the corner.  Nights in the bush are spectacular! The next morning we packed up and came back to Pretoria.

It was a very short trip with only 2 days in the bush, but there is still much work to be done on the academic front.  Also in 2 weeks I am leaving for Namibia, so it's about time I started getting aggressive with my exercising if I don't want to get stuck in the desert mountains.