Namibia 2014

After visiting the Himba village, we return to the campsite in the shade of the Egyptian doum palms (Hyphaene thebaica)...

And in the palm tree, its fruits, and a Rosy-faced Lovebird (Agapornis roseicollis)...

Then someone signals us to come about ten meters from our spot and points their finger towards our "friendly" neighbor sunbathing in the simplest attire... It's a young Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus)... We'll think about inviting him for evening drinks sometime...  

A little further on, a colorful male Red-headed Rock Agama (Agama planiceps) is still hesitating about where to spend the night...

A short walk to get a closer look at the famous Epupa waterfalls.

Baobabs, or could they be bottle trees?

The site is threatened by the construction of a future dam whose reservoir would cover the entire area... NGOs are fighting the project, particularly to support the Himbas who would be severely affected by the flooding (especially burial sites © Wikipedia).

The falls are 37 meters high.

Leaning on this African baobab (Adansonia digitata), how many centuries am I touching?

You can even swim at the top of the falls...

Back at the campsite where we see the cloud rising from Epupa Falls. The Himbas also call it 'smoking water'...

Ultimately, we didn't invite the crocodile because another guest took its place in front of the barbecue...

Barbecue at the neighbors' too...

Tuesday14October

After driving north for a good part of the journey, the end of the itinerary will lead us south again towards the capital Windhoek. So we leave Epupa Falls and, as on the way there, we pass through Opuwo again to stock up on provisions...

We encounter one of the ethnic groups related to the Himbas, the Hereros. They are easily recognizable by their colorful traditional clothes and their flattened headdresses called 'hererotracht'.

Originally, the Hereros had a lifestyle similar to that of the Himbas, particularly in terms of clothing, meaning rather unclothed. In the 19th century, German colonial missionaries, finding this indecent, taught them to make these 'Victorian' dresses. Despite the oppression and genocide undertaken in 1904 to make them disappear, Herero women still preserved the costume...

So, we continue our journey and reach what is considered the highlight of Namibia: the Etosha National Park, where we are sure to encounter most of the savanna animals!