May 10

Naukluft NP

We woke up to another lovely day in Namibia, this time in the mountains with a fresh water stream gurgling along nearby, a lone baboon on watch for any  carelessness on our part, plus wonderful birds in the trees, all watched over by an eagle on a rocky cliff high above us.

We made off for a hike along the Olive Trail, so named because of the wild olive tress that grow here.  Essentially it goes up some 500 meters to a plateau, then back down a narrow canyon.  This differed from our past two weeks in that there was little wildlife to view,  although we were briefly led away from the suggested path by a group of mountain Zebra. 

The trail went first along and up the side of hillside, then rose steeply above a dry creek bed, continued across the top of a high plateau, then plunged down into a deep, narrow canyon where the route followed a rough, rocky, dry river channel.  

  In one section a chain has been set up along the side of a steep ravine above a deep pool of water. In some sections we had to clamber over high boulders.  In others we balanced on fields of smaller boulders. The scenery, the red and orange striped rocks, and the desert  plants were great.  Most of all we loved the high, steep canyon walls and the colourful, twisted strata.  

We were told the hike would take 4 hours but Charlotte and Devon were done in about 3 hours while Al and I took dawdled and took closer to 5 hours.  We were all very happy to be hiking (most of the NP require visitors to remain safely in their cars).   Although we were concerned about the heat, we found much of the trail was either in the shade, or in a breeze, so the usually intense heat of the day was not oppressive.  

There are other appealing hikes in the area, some multi-day adventures which we would all have enjoyed given more time and the appropriate gear.  Certainly we could happily spend a full week hiking around in this mountain park. 

Unfortunately, we were only there for an introductory visit and by early afternoon it was time to drive south and east to our next camp.  After a couple of hours on quiet, gravel road we arrived at sunset  in a quiet campsite beside a castle surrounded by open grasslands and hills.  

The castle ?  Something to visit in the morning....

We prepared a campfire and another tasty meal, set up our tents, enjoyed a hot shower, then turned in for a welcome sleep in our lovely, quiet surroundings.