0800
Walking with Lucy
1100
Edge of the Namib
1300
An oryx stands vigil in the shade of a thorn tree near it's dead mate lying to the far right of the picture.
1600
Out of the blue a small rain has come. Unexpected and serendipitous as we arrive at Duwisib.
Heading south into the Namib Desert yesterday we came down from the central plateau through the Spreetshoogte Pass and onto the desert plain. The landscapes are brightly coloured canvases of deep blue and ochre and our rustic camp lies on the edge of one of the cauldron valleys scattered about this part of Namibia. Last night and tonight we spend at Camp Gecko which lies some 60 km NE of the great sand dunes at Soussesvlei.
There is a water hole two hundred yards from the camp and yesterday evening Sophie saw her first Warthog, tail in the air, running at full tilt for a drink. It’s general demeanour resembled a small armoured tank going into battle doing a full Henry V at Agincourt.
I want to say a few words about the Soil Fertility Project. When we first arrived in Windhoek much of the first five days was taken up with various meetings with stakeholders, such Dr Simon Angombe, Dean of the Agricultural and Environmental Faculty at the University of Namibia, who I am delighted to report is setting up a new department this year to study biochar, it’s uses and application in Namibia. He has asked me to give a lecture and demonstration on the 10th November at the new Biochar centre. Help, where are the slides when you need them!
As serendipity would have it, Robbin Uatoka from Porus was also in Windhoek and we were able to come up with a plan to develop the biochar garden on his land. At the moment they are digging the well which will supply water to the experimental garden. This will be finished in about six weeks time, ready for planting a new crop of tomatoes, chilli and water melons. This has proved to be a difficult task, because the last experimental crop was destroyed by elephant. So we have to build a bigger and stronger defence. We also started the transport of charcoal dust to the site. This too requires a committed logistical effort. The roads, tracks and riverbeds leading to Porus are getting worn and are very rough, making travel hazardous and expensive.
I look forward to returning there when the work has progressed further.
In the meantime Sophie and I head south in search of the Southern Cross.
Below is a picture of our Camp Gecko lodge which as Sophie said looks like a beach hut in the desert.
Don't forget to follow Sophie's log on www.sophiefriese-greene.com
This image was taken when Sophie and I went for a walk in the bush around sunset.
This image shows the design for a solar powered water pump Robbin is going to install in the Porus water bore hole.
Thank you so much for your comments. You have inspired us to do more. Sophie has been filming but we don't have the bandwidth or know how to post them. Will keep trying.
Lovely weather here, very hot, at 1500 today it was above 50 deg C in the sun, about 42 in the shade! Will try frying egg on Tilly's bonnet when we get back to camp after posting this. DFG special tonight for supper - corned beef tomato hash with pineapple chunks and Worcestershire sauce, followed by prunes - just in case!
It’s a few days since our last log entry and we have had a few adventures since then. When we left Albrechtshohe Farm we headed west across the desert to Swakupmund on the Skeleton Coast.
However many times I have made this journey it never ceases to inspire a sense of foreboding. The desert here is bleak, never ending and hot. And as the Atlantic Ocean gets nearer the air becomes salt stiff with ghosts of storms and the merging of these two elemental forces creates a shimmering, like a transition between two worlds. People can change in this place.
We arrived and drove straight to the sea.
First job was to find Sophie a pair of tough trousers which was followed by a coffee and search for a place to stay the night. The Desert Backpackers was perfect and having set up camp in a shared living room we went to one of the best seafood restaurants in the world. It took determination and a little patience to get a table but the fish was fabulous. A short stroll home with an cold sea breeze at our backs ended our short day by the sea. Next morning early we filled the diesel and water tanks and headed north with the sea on our left and desert on our right.
About forty miles on we found the wreck of the …… and turned off the road to get a better view.
On the beach near the wreck were four people fishing with very long rods. We approached them to say hello and ask them what they were fishing for (a question that can be taken one of two ways!).
These fishermen were not so concerned with the finer points of the English language and promptly told us with great excitement that they loved our Land Rover and that they had just caught a shark.
It turned out they were Russian and were on holiday from Volgagrad. Saying farewell we climbed aboard Tilly, dropped into four wheel drive, low ratio, diff lock and majestically drove out off the soft sand I had inadvertently driven into, providing an awe inspiring spectacle for two coach loads of just arrived tourists. I love Land Rovers.
Headed then inland we did - to Uis, a one horse town with a fantastic cactus and coffee, shop stop,
We spent the night at a campsite near the Brandberg mountain and following a team conference we decided unanimously to head south.
The Russian fishermen
The wreck of the Zeila which ran aground in a storm in 2008
Our campsite at Brandberg
This image begins a series of 'Spot the...........'. In this case it is 'Spot the Ostrich'.
Heading South by Sophie
A big hello from me! Its Saussi, Sophocles, Soph, Saucisson, Snozzy here. As you can tell from how few the blog posts have been so far, wifi signal is pretty hard to come by and when you do it is sooo slow. Unfortunately photos are the hardest things to upload, and I have so many I want to share with you.
Its been a great adventure so far. I have now started to settle into the hot-dry climate and the extraordinary vastness of the landscape. We have been on a few bush walks on the Albrechtshohe farm and I have seen the most beautiful African sunsets. As anyone who knows me well will know, I am of quite a nervous disposition, so challenging my fears has been doubly rewarding. One thing that I really wanted to challenge here was my fears about camping, and I am pleased and proud to say that I have spent a grand total of three nights in the top Land-Rover tent, absolutely no problem-o.
As mentioned here in previous blogs, our plan was initially to head up north to Purros, where PFG is working on the Soil Fertility Project. However, our plans have now changed, as, although I now know I CAN camp, I would prefer to stay in self-catering lodges, and to do that we must head south. After spending a good day re-arranging the itinerary and booking accommodation, we are on our way southwards, to the dunes at Sossusvlei and the red-sands of the Namib desert.
Love from us both.
Forgot to tell you about shopping in Windhoek for food and stuff. It took some time and a few coffee's but we got everything I think. Lots of tined vegetables curry, rice, pasta and dried milk.
As you can see Soph made sure we had enough sun oil.
Above is a picture in the famous Joe's Bar where we had a wonderful meal before leaving Windy. Note the huge fire extinguisher on the wall to the right!
Well hello. It’s taken a while to post the first log but here we are after a very busy five days in Windhoek, meeting old friends, getting Tilly ready and preparing the way forward for the SFP biochar project in Puros. We have spent the last two nights at Albrechtshohe, a farm I first visited about three years ago to set up a small biochar research project.
Since we arrived in Windhoek on Friday last, Sophie has been full time on the ‘Africa for beginners course’ and has passed with flying colours the daytime “I can’t believe it’s so hot” experience to the “dad where’s the emergency space blanket, I’m so cold” three in the morning experience. It has to be said that the last few nights have been exceptionally cold and when Soph had her first Tilly Top Tent night it was bitter and at about three she finally called out to dad to get more blankets. Dad was having his own challenges sleeping on the back seat of Tilly after having forgotten to pick up his tent from Jens at the Safari Drive office. And believe it or not when he went to pick it up the next day he forgot the camp bed - so had to spend another uncomfortable night in the tent but sleeping on the hard cold ground! Hey ho.
Sophie in the meantime despite having a pretty rough first night was determined and we went to Bushwackers safari store to get some new equipment in the form of a -7 degree sub polar cover the ears super insulated thermal 200 tog factor sleeping bag. Yippee and that night Soph had a much different experience and is now a seasoned TTT (Tilly Top Tent) camper. Dad also got his act together and decided to get the lightest, easiest to erect tent ever produced along with a super self inflating mattress. Bliss. The tent literally takes 3 seconds, yes 3 seconds folks to build. Just take it out of the bag and let go! Pictures will be forthcoming I will need to set the shutter to very fast, to capture the action.
After lots of ‘digeredo' organising a biochar shipment up to Puros which will hopefully arrive at about the same time we do, we set of north and west to Albrechtshohe.
Yesterday Soph and I went for a ‘short’ early morning walk in the bush, for fun and as part of the intermediary ‘Africa for beginners’ course. We got up at 0500 just as dawn broke and after a coffee started our walk into the hills behind the farm. We returned at 1100 hrs both a bit weary having had a great morning, walking along bush trails and river beds. At one point we climbed a high ridge and were able to see quite a long way. Still no sign of any game but then Soph, who was scanning the bush with the binoculars said very quietly, “I think there’s a zebra on the hill over there” and sure enough it was a zebra which was shortly joined by another. Sophie’s first Zebra.
Later on we saw two Klipspringer, a small antelope, who bounded away when we surprised them in the river bed we were following to return to the farm. When we saw the farm in the distance Sophie and I spontaneously broke into singing ‘Oh You’ll Never Go To Heaven’, as all good explorers do.
Paul and Ingrid, the farm owners were wonderful and made us very welcome and we sat down to a tasty game steak in the evening. Sophie also had a chance to use one of Paul’s .22 rifles at the range behind the house where she proved to be a natural and made three very good tight groupings on the target.
I’m writing this on the farm porch where there is a rare wifi/internet signal and after posting it, with some images if the signal holds out, we will begin our journey to Swakopmund on the Skeleton Coast. We stay there tonight then head north up the coast to Henties Bay, then inland northeast to Uis and the Brandberg Mountains to camp at White Lady. This is a reference to a beautiful rock painting drawn about 5000 years ago, that can be seen near the camp. There are sometimes Rhino in the area too.
To view our journey from a different perspective, a perspective relating more to culture, amenities such as bathroom facilities and food, please go to www.sophiefriese-greene.com
So love to everyone and hope all is going well with you. Will write again soon.
David and Sophie
We made it. Gate 44 just about to board for Addis.
It is very clear that I am electronically challenged and to write this little log entry I have discovered at least three new things I never knew you could do with a smart phone. Are there's the rub - you have to be smart to use a smart phone!
"Sophie how do I post this post?"
Hey ho
Couldn't resist it, had to tell you about Sophie's tribulation that is unfolding as I write and the wonderful little poem she wrote about it.
The plan was that Sophie was to return to the UK from her trip to Spain on Tuesday which would give her enough time to pack for a departure to Namibia on Thursday, that's tomorrow.
She and Sonia her grandmother, whom she is travelling with, arrived at the airport to find that French air traffic controllers were on strike.
The BA Blues
(A silly strike-inspired airport poem by me)
We're stuck at the airport, what a pain
The French are striking - yet again
Will there be another plane?,
I've got the BA blues .
Its a bit of a cliché, and that's French too
The staff have all got déjà-vu
We're waiting in an endless queue, we've got the BA blues.
And just to make it more like hell,
They've put us in an (O)h!tel
All Brits suppress the urge to yell - "We've got the BA blues".
Just one thing to redeem this fate,
The buffet's staying open late,
Is it meat or acetate? - a plate of BA blues.
The bus will pick us up at 9
Three minutes, we'll be back in line
To board the plane and (please God) end - this case of BA blues.
This is the first page of the first log of a new adventure in Namibia.
On Thursday 13th October Sophie and I will arrive in Windhoek to begin a five week journey exploring and working in the far Northwest. At least that's the plan!
The aim of this log is to tell you about our journey and I hope give you some insight into this beautiful country.
For anyone reading this who do not know Sophie and her papa, I will Post a picture below.
Needless to say one glance at the pictures will tell you everything you need to know.
David, Jessica and Sophie
Jess couldn't come on this journey because she is on another adventure but she is with us in spirit and we with her.
Unbelievable number of little logistical things to be done. Two days ago I felt a toothy tingle pain so thought I'd better have it checked out. One of the most distressing things to get in a wild place is toothache, nothing quite like it. Called friendly dentist and amazingly, due to a cancellation a few minutes before, got an appointment that afternoon. Carys, that's my dentists name, took a blow torch to the tooth in question and I new it was all up. A little, but not insignificant to me, tooth I had lived with all my life was going to have to go - on it's way out! A few minutes later I was walking in sunshine, a tooth less. A blessing in disguise I think.
Today it is money transfers to buy equipment and supplies for an elephant proof garden wall. More on that in another log. Tilly, that's our trusty Land Rover, is having a set of new tyres and a health check by some friends in Windhoek. Apparently there was some sand in the fuel line but it's clear now.
Sophie has been busy reading up on the history of Namibia and finding a mosquito repellent that doesn't have deet in it. I have to say it's the little things that can make the biggest difference, finding a 'please go away' mosquito spray that doesn't smell as though you've had a bath in creosote is a truly great thing.
Next thing to do is sort out the camera gear. There must be a way of having just one plug and cable that fits everything!
A gnother gnu!
Well it's been a strange few days and you find me back in Windhoek waiting for Ollie to mend Tilly. Ollie is a wonderful mechanic who specialises in Land Rovers and he kindly offered to repair Tills when a retaining spring in the clutch decided to go AWOL, just as I was about to enter Bushmanland in the far north east. So after an exciting 300 mile drive without a clutch back to Windy, I find myself in the Trans Kalahari Lodge with the best internet connection in Namibia!
Being able to download some images from my phone for the first time in six weeks, thought I'd put a few of them on the dog log.
The 'High Society' waterhole at Halali where the rhinoceros played.
Another type of watering place, growing peppers using Biochar, the plot to the right is without Biochar! It really does work.
Dr Simon Angombe from the university who is working with SFP on Biochar.
Professor Ibo Zimmerman from the technical university also working on Biochar.
The nearest other place to buy groceries is 100 miles south of here.
Water drops from Tilly's tank attract bees in the desert.
Sophie and Jess .............. This is for you, love dfpapag.
There's something about a good mud bath!
........ and a good wash afterwards.
I'm a gnu, a gnother gnu, you really ought to know, a-who's wha-ho'
I'm a gnu, spelt G N U, neither am I in the least like that dreadful Hartebeest,
Oh gno gno gno, I'm a Gnu.
From a song by Flanders and Swann circa 1955.
Having an extraordinary journey and thinking of you all. Travelling east now to visit the San bushmen.
much love dfg.
Hello, it's been a long time. I hope this finds you well and warm.
Generally speaking the internet in Namibia is as rare as a copy of Pride and Prejudice in a barber shop waiting room! Not impossible but rare. Which is also true of rhinoceroses, (or is it 'rhinoceri') given that I have been looking for one for the last six weeks. Then like 'Londinium busei' eight turn up all at once.
Four nights ago at a place called Halali in Etosha National Park as I waited with at least twenty other expectant souls, seated on a rocky outcrop overlooking a large lodge waterhole, the following events unfolded.
The scene was set and like a theatre audience we sat hushed as the sun went down and the house floodlight turned up.
Nothing, not a thing.
Every now and again a local avian chorus rustled up an overture but that was it. No exiting stage left followed by a bear - not an animated aardvark!
After half an hour of this the audience became restless and fidgeting began. It's truly amazing how many things can be done with a camera without taking a picture.
Then stage left we saw him, a fully grown, huge, old, white rhinoceros. Instantly fidgeting was transformed into focusing, as he wandered, lonely as a cloud, across the stage to the water hole and began to drink, very slowly.
The old king
The play had begun.
It was truly breathtaking, before our very eyes dreams were becoming reality. This mystical creature was there, just being, playing his role in the world and capturing our hearts and imaginations with a stage presence to die for. Then to our collective delight, enter stage right, another rhinoceros appears and approaches the bar.
It was a classic Mexican stand off as they stood facing each other across the water. The dialogue was a bit mumbled but the meaning was clear. This was the old banished king meeting his nemesis, now become master - maybe!
The young king
Cue music........ but wait a moment, from out of the thicketed wings other rhinoceri appear. The new group are females and there are now five actors on stage, distracting the two protagonists and lessening the tension. At this point the old King seeks to reinstate his authority by going for a swim!
He lies photogenically soaking as another group of two females and a young male make their entrance. As they mingle about rubbing heads and bodies together in greeting, occasionally someone's personal space is invaded and a loud snorting proceeds a rapid retreat by the offender.
And so the characters are established, each having their place and as a wise man has said: "all the worlds a stage and all men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances. And one man in his time plays many parts". I think this is as true for a rhinoceros as it is for a human being and if they are conscious, then they too are such stuff as dreams are made on, and their little life is also rounded with a sleep.
The new king quite suddenly remembers that his older rival is but a few yards away and he wades into the water to confront the old man. With a mock charge and much bellowing he steals the scene and intimidated the old one seeks the safety of dry land as the maidens look on.
Whatever the human audience feel about men behaving badly is passionately projected onto the protagonists and the tension rises again. This goes on for some time and the maidens become restless. One of them enters the water to support the younger male who now seems completely confused. Then as quickly as it started the two kings move towards the females and begin to talk in huddles, moving closely together and communicating intensely. Eventually the group disperse back into the darkness and the play is ended.
It has been an extraordinary few hours and the audience also return to their beds, humbled and blessed by what we have witnessed.
Spitzkope at dusk under a full moon.
Almost caught up and we are now in Sesfontein meeting wth Bennie and Wilbard. Anna whose small garden is part of the SFP is also there to greet us. She is experimenting with using biochar to grow tomatoes for her family. The soil is so poor that probably any intervention would increase yield but biochar could make a huge difference by increasing water retention and soil nutrients.
Anna
Anna's garden is pictured below and gives an idea of the very arid conditions found there.
Sesfontein team - Bennie, Anna, Daniel, Wilbard kneeling, Moses and William
For the last few days travelling north it seems as though the land and the light have become stronger. Time and thoughts are stretched out, leaving like the landscape, vast plains of unknown spaces. I find the light and shade of these moments a source of great peace and sometimes very occasionally I hope these words and images give a taste of that freedom.
This group of rock sculptures so moved me and I wondered if others maybe ten's of thousands of years ago also stopped and wondered here.
In the 60's there was a radio show called 'Around the Horn' and in that show was a character called Rambling Sid Rumpold. This salt of the earth, pseudo farmer philosopher would sing a ridiculous ditty and end with the catch phrase 'aargh - my Deareoes, the answer lies in the soil'. I think there are times when I come perilously close to mimicking old Sid when talking, at length, about soil fertility and biochar.
The next stop on our way north was Albrechtshohe, tucked into the landscape about 100 km to the north west of Windhoek, the farm, owned by Wanjo and his wife Birgit, had been my home for a few days when I was last in Namibia. In November last year after many weeks work and many meetings, a group of seventeen scientists, researchers, politicians, farmers and funders, came together at Albrechtshohe to discuss the future of biochar in Namibia.
We had a wild time trying out stuff and I demonstrated the first Kon Tiki pyrolysis unit. The picture below shows it in full flow and you can see the volotile pyrolysis gases burning dark orange, dancing above the wood fuel.
After the process has finished and cooled, just the clean charcoal remains and if it's put into soil we call it biochar.
You see what I mean 'rambling friese rumpold' strikes again!
Simons daughter found the whole thing fascinating though and took home some sticks of char to draw with.
I mention all this because Will's and I found that Wanjo and Birgit had used the biochar to run a small trial growing green peppers and tomatoes. The results so far are recorded below. Williams thumbs up means the plot has biochar in it.
............. thumbs down means it's the control and doesn't.
You see there is a difference. By the way you may think that Williams thumbing style is not very scientific and his body language shows bias, but the way things are going in the academic world - I think it could catch on.
I am writing this sentence in the lodge bar at Khowarib near Sesfontein....... 'but we've been here before' I hear you say and it's true but it's such a wonderful place that I couldn't resist another visit. The potato waffles are sublime! I am travelling with William who is working with me on research for the Soil Fertility Project and we are camping out here to meet with Bennie and Wilbard. They run the Sesfontein Biochar Initiative helping to introduce Biochar as a soil amendment for local communities. (Just in case you would like to know more about the project and to see a picture of William, drop in on www.sfpnamibia.com).
Sketch of mountain view from the bar ........... it's very very warm!
To go back a little in time, Will and I arrived in Windhoek on the 15th March to be greeted by trusty Tilly the transport thingy and Mike who drove her. It was love at first sight all over again and it was great to see Mike again to. Ollie the best Land Rover mechanic in the world had done a great job of maintaining said Tills and she hummed all the way back to Windy.
The next day and for the following three days we stayed at a farm near the university agricultural campus and worked with Dr Simon Angombe on developing a new Biochar research project. This by the way is FANTASTIC NEWS and it means we can begin countrywide trials .... yippee.
In between meetings and writing reports I got to visit some old new friends in Windy and prepared for the journey north. Discovered a new tent for the top of Tilly and bought lots of petroleum jelly and cotton wool to make tinder lighters for starting camp fires. Wow, never thought I'd get to write a sentence like that one!!
Moi avec Bernard et Simon dans le jardin de the universe 'griped' by William ou est tres francaise.
It was indeed a tres important sank jours (enough ed) and then we set out for Sesfontein. I forgot to tell you about our interview with the press. If you happen to come across the redoubtable publication 'Southern Africa AgriForum' please buy a copy, firstly it will increase the readership by at least 50% and you might find an article about yours truly, dog, Willhelm and Biochar.
Some sad news, I spoke to James Bruges yesterday and he told me that Marion had died. My thoughts are with you James and to Marion many blessings and thank you for being part of my life. David
After the 'last post' for the five musketeers I want to tell a another story of coming and going, of power and gentleness. I think no animal in Africa embodies these last two qualities in equal measure, more than the giraffe.
On finding one, what you usually see first, is just a small part of it!
........ a part of it!
Then, if your downwind and moving quietly you may get to see ...... another part of it!
........ another part of it!
........ they have such expressive faces.
The giraffe has the largest heart, relative to its size, of any mammal - that long neck would be a challenge for any pump.
..... and if you overstay your welcome she will eventually make her retreat.
This post was written on November 5th last year and for some reason, better known to my sub conscious, I never published it. That's true for the next post to!
PS - can somebody tell me - has should the 'to' above have two o's?
A pride of five lions known as the Musketeers were thought to have been responsible for taking the cattle at the Giribas Plain and it was reported yesterday they had all been hunted and killed. There are only 130 surviving lions freely roaming the desert around Porus and these deaths have made headline news in Namibia.
Two of the five - this picture was taken last month in Porus Canyon by scientists tracking the pride.
There are many differing points of view about the killing of lion here. The cattle farmers, including many Himba, recognise the 'value of a living lion' - the value being it attracts visitors, who spend money and help sustain the local economy. But they also understand that once a lion has killed cattle it will keep returning for more. The domesticated animal is easy prey, moves slowly and is good to eat. This creates tension and serious conflict between lion and farmer both living on the edge of survival in this arid country. From the farmers point of view the choice is survival of the lion or his family. So the lion must be hunted and killed.
How this is achieved is another matter. Some say let the wealthy tourist come and pay a lot of money to kill the trophy lion and have some of that wealth go to the community in who,s territory the lion hunts. Others want the lion removed and rehoused somewhere else. Some politicians say the lion should be conserved no matter what and must not be hunted, but they talk only and are not willing to pay for such a policy to be implemented.
Amongst the death and media misunderstanding there is life however and it goes on, each moment of now another miracle. After all in the end, love is all there is and watching a family of elephants move together across the vast savanna, you just know the truth of it.
Elephant walking from a waterhole at dusk - often where lions are, elephant are too.
The Hoaruseb river, a refuge for lion and elephant.
Dust and light dance together at the dimming of the day to create the most beautiful colours.
An architects dream of patterns and spaces formed out of stardust and wavy pointed photon thingy's.
Wow - rock on dfg and just to add to the general cosmic vibe I would like to present a tune that came past me in the desert around the old campfire near the Hoaruseb river. The words are yet to come but I live in hope!
'Sing song' campsite near the river - the night of the full moon.
Damaraland is one of the few places in the world where you have to put your hat on to make a cup of tea.
Under the noonday sun, even a proud Kudu will cosy up to the thinnest of trees to find some sparse shade. So when brewing a noon day cuppa, with no shade at all, wearing a hat is very important!
The noon day trail and time for a brew.
There is also a universal law that states: When using a 'bottled gas' cooking stove to heat water for tea, a penetrating breeze will appear from nowhere that cannot be shielded against and the kettle will never boil.
A 'fisherman's friend'
This is important because to make a satisfactory cup of Earl Grey one needs to have boiling water, near boiling just doesn't hack it.
But all is not lost because there is a solution, the 'fisherman's friend'. Designed for use on the stormy west coast of Ireland, it likes the wind, in fact the windier the better and I happen to have bought one along. The design is simplicity itself - water is contained in a jacket surrounding a chimney above a very small fire, lit in the bottom section. The only downside is that it's a bit of a falafel to get started. Firstly a handful of dry twigs must be ignited in the base, which can be tricky, hence the quick fix appeal of bottled gas, but once the FF is going, it is spectacular.........
......... and that's what I was reminded of when Robbin took me to a Himba village near Porus.
It turns out that Robbin, a qualified guide and game tracker, who I first met two years ago, is himself Himba. As the eldest son he was the only child his parents were able to send to school and on graduating at eighteen, he returned home to work on behalf of his family and community.
Robbin Uatokuja
We met for the second time in Windhoek about four weeks ago, he was undergoing some medical tests and we arranged to travel back to Porus together. On the way he told me of his plans to build a new, community run, campsite, for wanderers like me, on a piece of land he had recently leased in the Porus valley. His aim is to create local jobs and a profit that can help sustain the small community there. He also dreams of growing vegetables and we discussed the possibility of using charcoal to improve the water holding capacity in a proposed garden area, that used to be a cattle kraal.
The old kraal
There are some problems to overcome and one of them are desert elephants that wander freely along the river beds in these parts looking for garden produce! Besides being an exciting diversion for visitors, they can destroy a garden full of onions and carrots in seconds. So building an elephant proof garden wall will be a must. The combination of a one metre high, one meter wide stone wall surrounded by chilli pepper plants is probably the best defence. Apparently, once an elephant has tasted chilli, just the smell of it will dissuade any further horticultural adventures.
Of course, water is the crucial resource and it hasn't rained here for three years. But there is water, in vast underground aquifers (paradoxically Namibia has some of the world's largest water reserves) and like arteries they criss cross the land sometimes following river beds, sometimes not. As he see's it, Robbin's first task is to drill a bore hole in a section of riverbed adjoining the campsite. He's studied the land carefully and is convinced that there is water about seven metres below the surface - but it is not a certainty and if he is wrong it could cost him everything. He is a brave visionary and I like him very much.
The proposed campsite is between you and the river, which runs across the picture from right to left and is marked by lighter coloured sand. The Porus valley stretches north west to the horizon.
After a day of knocking around a few ideas together, such as marketing strategies and the design of taps. I am invited to visit some friends and family, who are living in a traditional Himba village a few miles away. We arrived early the next morning to find ten people gathered around a small smouldering fire. Two, well used, cast iron pots containing the remains of a maize porridge breakfast stood nearby. Seeing no water on the boil, I offered to make tea and coffee for everyone and went to fetch my 'fisherman's friend'. A piece of Irish technology never before used in these parts.
After the predictable falafel it got going and provided a thoughtful topic of animated conversation. Then, as the water started to bubble, out of nowhere ten assorted drinking vessels appeared. Including an empty tin can, an old ceramic mug, metal mugs, plastic cups and sawn off plastic water bottles. I rummaged around in Tilly's supply boxes , found the tea and coffee and made a fair distribution in the assorted hardware. I also found some 'Juice Master' health bars (my high energy emergency rations) which were sliced up and passed around - the children especially loved these. A search party was sent out around the huts to find some sugar, which I didn't have and we all sat around chatting and enjoying our hot drinks. After awhile it was time to leave and I asked if I could take a family portrait. It had been a grand meeting and we all shook hands in the traditional manner. This involves a firm but gentle hand grasp that swings down, then on the rise the grasp dissolves into linked thumbs, then down again to a single handshake and release. Easy when you know how and much appreciated if you do it.
I like this form of greeting very much because you have to think about it a bit and it has a recognised beginning, middle and end. It is simple, respectful and elegant, all at once.
On our way to Porus earlier that week, Robbin and I had taken a different route north from Sesfontein because I wanted to go across the Giribis Plain and through Fearless Pass, which lies to the south of the main track. This is a very beautiful and wild place.
The people who live here are mostly Himba and are devoted to their cattle that provide nourishment and are a symbol of wealth.
Visible wealth - a current account!
Soon after we saw the cattle, a lone figure appeared, who turned out to be another member of the extended family - Joshua, he was on a sweet water run, going to a nearby well, 8 km away, to fetch good drinking water. He also told us that, that morning a pride of five lions had raided a kraal 10km into the mountains and taken two cattle. They thought the pride was headed for Fearless Pass and an armed hunter was on their trail.
The water run
An hour later we came upon the cattle camp and the story was confirmed. Evidence of the raid was all around us and many lion tracks could be seen.
The camp where the cattle were taken
dfg map of places mentioned in he text. Click on the map to view expanded image.
We did not see any more signs of lion or hunter but to be sure they were there and probably saw us. The ability of things to disappear from sight, in this country, is remarkable. Fearless Pass lived up to it's name and we arrived in Puros, four hours later, dusty, dazzled and done in - a wonderful day.
Unfortunately before starting out I had forgotten to take three very ripe avocado's out of the 'floor bolted' fridge, that's in the back of the Land Rover. As everyone knows a small fridge attached firmly to the chassis of a moving 4x4, travelling over very rough ground, behaves very much like a kitchen blender and if 9 tins of "you know who's" tonic water are also confined in that space, the whole caboodle is like having a herd of elephants trapped in the garden shed. Three ripe avocados didn't stand a chance and the fact that they were cold made no difference at all!
When fishing around for a well earned drink at the end of the day I was confronted with the results of a six hour blending session. A finer mess you never saw!
First camp at the new Puros campsite. The fire place is in-between the tent and Tilly. It was a very starry night.
I hope that these words find you well and in fine spirits. That the days to come are blessed with serendipity and that your heart is open to see it.
David
I AM TRYING TO STAY COOL.
It is hot, very hot, in fact 45 deg C yesterday, one would expect a little heat but this is Aga territory, and you can't switch it off or even turn it down! There's a heat wave for heavens sake - in Namibia, the whole of it. Even the old weather beaten Germanswithgunsandusedtotheheat think it's VERY hot.
People are feeling suicidal already and the official month for that feeling is December!
Up until now Tilly and I have been charging about the countryside blissfully unaware of any heat wave, we just thought it was always like this. Now we've been TOLD that it's OFFICIALLY very hot, it feels unbelievably HOT.
The only answer is to ignore it. That's it - ignore it.
This is what the Etosh salt pan looks like from the edge of it. The thin light coloured line on the horizon is the beginning. It stretches for 100 km further north and 200 km east to west. No trees no plants no nothing! On the edge of it many things survive but on it - it is HOT .................bother, there I go again!!
Where is all this going? I hear you ask. The point is that I'm really here in Namibia to develop the use of charcoal, Biochar, as a soil amendment, to help improve soil quality and hopefully increase food production. There I've said it, mentioned the big 'B' word .... And it's still VERY HOT!!!!!!!
think of something else .........
Juliet and Constance
When I first arrived in Windhoek, it was cooler .... no, just don't take any notice ....... I met two lovely people as they prepared my breakfast, in the fabulously cool air conditioned guest house........ enough already ........... anyway we got talking and after discussing the culinary implications of 'easy over eggs' on toast, Juliet the lady on the left told me a story about how Africans see the British and their rather complicated language, which of course they have to learn because it is officially Namibia's first language. The story went something like this ......
Two dogs were having a conversation about names in a kennel and the French poodle, who's name was Fifi said to the English hound "My names Fifi and in French it's spelt F.I.F.I. How do you spell your name Fido?
"P.H.Y.D.O.E"
The original aboriginal - meaning from the earliest time - in southern Africa was the San, otherwise known as bushman of the Kalahari. Only within the last three centuries have other tribes, including our own, migrated with extreme prejudice into their homeland.
For tens of thousands of years, before this 'need for space' invasion, this resilient and resourceful people had navigated the landscape and named it's features with a vivid imagination. They carved time with names and rock with stone, and told stories of meaning with great humour and wisdom.
Many names have been lost but many have survived and still mark important and sacred places.
I think the San knew well that names, have power, in that they evoke an essence, an archetype, a spirit of the named in our imagination. I speak the name and it is created. Maybe our culture has forgotten this connection between thought and the material world. I say this because we name things without really understanding what we are doing, but now and again we are reminded. Serendipity is good at that.
Hermann with Tilly - just before preparing a wonderful breakfast.
I was reminded in an unusual way two weeks ago when travelling north to Etosha. Tilly and I were invited to stay with a friend of a friend named Hermann, who has a farm just south of a mountain called Etjo in the central highlands. Etjo means 'refuge' in Khoisan, the group of languages spoken by San. Interestingly in April 1989 Mt Etjo was chosen by a United Nations commission for a meeting between combatants in the Namibian war of independence. Representatives from Cuba, South Africa, Angola, Botswana and Namibia were all in attendance needless to say the San were not included.
So, Mount Etjo to the north and to the south of the farm are two, now extinct, volcanic cones, that together are called Omataka, which loosely translated means 'posterior' or bottom to you and me. I guess it's all in the shape and in my defence, the sketch was done before I new what the name meant!
Whatever the original meaning the name has certainly made me think about it. Maybe in a refuge thats what you do, sit on your bum and meditate for a bit.
Omatako mountains - morning light
To find Hermann's farm we were told to go through a gate, 13 kms from the tarred road, that marked the entrance, which was itself 7 km from the farm house. Hermann said it would not be padlocked, and told me to make sure the gate was closed again after I had gone through.
Well I arrived and saw the following - now I think that looks well locked up, so rather than checking it properly, I assumed I had the wrong gate and travelled further on. Little did I know that the next farm entrance was about 15 miles down the track and after 5 miles I decided to phone Hermann. He gently chuckled and told me that the gate might appear locked up - but that was to fool anyone looking to get through it. I said that it had really worked and that I was 5 miles away and would be with him soon. We had a great evening meal that couldn't be beat and I stayed for two days swapping stories, eating his cattle and sketching.
One of Hermann's stories was of a time he worked on a film called Hatari in the 1960's and the films name came up again, in a brochure I was reading at a game lodge a week later.......
.......reading brochures that have been translated into English can be great fun and this is what I read whilst sitting in the shade drinking a "you know who's" Indian Tonic Water with loads of ice looking out into the Kalahari as per the picture below.
This panorama shows the view from Waterberg Plateau Lodge looking east into the Kalahari.
" .......during 1960, while working for Paramount in Hollywood, he [the original owner of the aforementioned lodge] captured and transported all the animals for the film 'Hatari' starring John Wayne and many more famous actors." It depends how you read it of course but I love the way our language throws googley's all over the place.
I first saw the film Hatari, which means danger in Swahili, when I was 12 in a cinema in Bristol, in fact it was the first film I paid for and went to on my own. I soooo wanted to see it, I had a plastic Airfix cheetah's head on my bedroom wall and Africa was definitely were it was at.
The film made a huge impression on me and to a boy dreaming of adventures in the wilderness it seemed like the African savannah depicted in the film, was heaven on earth.
Great grand papa, William FG, one of the pioneers of moving pictures, once said that his dream was to create, through the moving image, a universal language that would inspire people and bring them closer together.
For me he achieved his dream - that afternoon, more than half a century ago and 4000 miles from the Serengeti, in a Bristol movie theatre.
Thanks William.
There he was 'ancient of days' moving softly down the road.
Switching Tilly's engine off and being respectfully still we waited for him...........
..........and as he passed swinging his trunk and spreading his ears in syncopated time - he swayed, ever so gently from side to side. In that moment I saw my grandfather wandering down the garden path to his beloved garden shed and I loved him more than any words can tell.
As always, the ever loyal, slightly down but wise Eeyore, looking for thistles and Pooh and Christopher Robin!
Forgive the briefness of this post and thank you for the messages you have sent.
Promise to be back soon.
david