Namibia 2014

After our short visit to the Cape Cross seals, here we are on the tracks of Damaraland.

And here is the post that hides the forest...

Yes, yes, the ground with my feet again...  

Here we are facing the eastern flanks of the Brandberg mountains. It is in this massif that Namibia's highest peak, Königstein, with its 2,573 meters, is located.

The White Lady Lodge Campsite where we will spend a night. This campsite has the particularity of hosting passing elephants who take advantage of the vegetation to feed. So you have to be wary if they get too close to the camps... But we still hope to cross paths with them! For now, not a trunk in sight...

In the absence of elephants, it is donkeys (Equus africanus asinus) that enjoy the shade of the large acacias.

After lunch, we go to see the White Lady... The Brandberg is full of rock paintings, including this famous White Lady. A 20-minute drive from the campsite, we reach the starting point of the short hike where a guide takes us through the Brandberg mountains to the painted walls.

We cross paths with a large lizard (Matobosaurus validus) and a rock hyrax (Procavia capensis).

We even meet a fierce feline! At least, this big rock that looks like a lion's head...

After 45 minutes of walking, we arrive at the site. Don't expect something huge, you will only see an isolated fresco in the hollow of a rock face. Nevertheless, this painting is still a testimony that has crossed 2000 years of history! (according to the most plausible hypotheses...)

The White Lady would actually be a shaman man, who is traditionally depicted with a painted body and carrying a bow and a goblet. The painting would thus represent a ritual dance or a hunting scene amidst animals.

Guess the "White Lady" located to the right of the photo...

Oryx. You can also find wildebeest, gazelles...

And this animal no longer roams the plains of our planet. It is a quagga (Equus quagga quagga), a zebra subspecies that disappeared in 1883. It had the particularity of having its stripes fading towards the rear.

Here is the White Lady, the shaman mistaken for a White Lady, in the photo on the left. As you can see, I didn't try very hard to get correct photos... Photo on the right, a woman and her jewels?

A Waller's gazelle (Litocranius walleri), also known as gerenuk, giraffe antelope.

A little further on, the dry bed of the Ugab River waterfalls.

We take the path in reverse and cross paths again with our warm-blooded and cold-blooded friends, as well as a mountain wheatear (Myrmecocichla monticola).

To end the day, we enjoy the campsite's pool, beautifully placed amidst the rocky hills facing the setting sun.

Then a wash is necessary in the open-air showers heated by wood placed in the cistern...

Here now, a small demonstration of our tent setup on our Toyota Hilux! The video has been sped up 8 times.

Star photo at dusk. Here with the constellation Scorpio, its main star Antares, and the planet Mars. Back home in France, Scorpio is visible stretched out full length above the horizon. Here, it has rotated a quarter turn to the right and is upside down.

I'll let you find the constellation in the photo with the help of the diagram...

Thursday9October

In the early morning, as promised, we have a visit from a small group of elephants, barely time to take a quick photo... These are still our first Namibian pachyderms!