Naukluft Tiras Trip May 2012

2012 May Naukluft Tiras Trip

Day 1: Monday 30^th April

Christof writes:

This date constellation with May Day falling on a Tuesday and Cassinga Day falling on a Friday gives an employee the wonderful opportunity of taking 3 days’ leave and getting a total of 9 days. It is also the first week of a 4 week school holiday for Beatrice. Alex is in Germany with his Eco-Club on a fully sponsored exposure trip to Wolfsburg, after which he will be visiting friends and family in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. So it’s just the 3 of us: Cathy, me and Beatrice on this trip. All our usual friends had other plans for this week.

The reason we did not leave on Friday afternoon, as is common with our trips, is that Beatrice first had her Landesjugendtreffen (Annual Church youth camp) near Okahandja. She came back by Monday lunchtime, as planned.

Then it was hurry, hurry to get to Naukluft NWR camp before 5 o’clock, when they close the office there. We went the straightest route via Rehoboth, Klein Aub and Buellspoort. Just after Buellspoort I noticed a tyre puncture, luckily before the tyre shredded. First puncture ever on the ‘new’ Kombi after some 25,000 km. Struggled a bit to get enough ground clearance, fully loaded. Beatrice positively surprised me by REALLY taking charge of the operation. With this delay we arrived slightly delayed at the campsite and thus had to make do with the ‘campsite’ that was clearly a last resort campsite … no braai, no concrete table and stools and the tent place sloping.

I cooked, Beatrice still had a terrible sleep deficit from her church camp (!) and almost fell asleep at the table, so we had slightly undercooked food. To bed early.

Day 2; 1^st May – May Day!

(Cathy) - Pinch and a punch it’s the first of the month! Today I am legitimately on holiday! Ok the rest of the week I am on leave but somehow it feels better to know that nobody is at work anyway.

I didn’t sleep well last night – two reasons really, firstly the tent was on a slight slope and secondly I drank too much Windhoek Light. At least I wasn’t drunk but I SNORED – too embarrassing! And I woke myself up from snoring oh goodness! And then of course I had to go to the loo 4 times in the night due to … well that’s what happens with beer – even when its light!

But this morning was lovely. Beatrice was the last up due to catching up on her zzzd’s and we had breakfast and chatted to the farmer family who were camped next to us. They had been to Sossusvlei and were on the way home today – farms can’t be left for too long. After a leisurely breakfast we moved camp to number 3 where the farmers had been and then drove to the office, which had been closed when we arrived yesterday, to pay our fees. The people there told us all sorts of ghastly stories about the baboons so obviously things have not improved in the past 20 years or so since we were last here. On the way back to the camp a klipspringer couple lingered for a while by the car before gambolling off over the rocks. After battening down the hatches and baboon proofing the camp we took a wonderful walk along the Naukluft river for a few blissful hours. Gosh its beautiful! There has clearly been good rain here and everything is blooming. Bushes that one normally passes without a second glance have sprouted delicate pastel coloured flowers. The grass is high. The trees are all in full leaf; even the Moringas, normally so ratty looking, are luscious and the Quiver trees are flowering. The walk took us through tunnels of reeds, over boulders smoothed by eons of fierce rushes of water, across the river at various places where the stepping stones were dubious and up hillsides thick with grass and other vegetation. Beatrice and Chris helped me up, over, around and across the obstacles. I was never good at boulders. The path was marked by yellow ‘footsteps’ which appeared from time to time in improbable places. The full trail is a 7 hour circuit that takes you from the river valley, across the mountains and down again to the river. We walked for an hour and a half until the trial left the river and then turned back. Dappled shade is so much nicer than burning sun. When we returned to the camp it was already lunchtime and so we polished off Chris’ lamb stew from last night and doodled around the camp in the heat of the day, reading resting and sleeping. In the afternoon we walked the latter part of the trail to the point where the end of the trail leaves the hills and joins the river. Also very beautiful. The sights in the late afternoon sun were augmented by the smells of the aromatic plants that we brushed past; some lemony some a little too pungent and some smelling just like lineament. We met a Dutch couple from the camp who had done the whole trail and were very tired and fed up with searching for the yellow footprints which become scarcer as the trail progresses and the man with the paint pot either lost enthusiasm or ran out of paint. The few footprints there were had a decidedly sketchy character compared with the carefully painted ones at the start.

We were nicely tired but not too tired as we settled down to a glass of wine and Beatrice prepared to cook. A middle aged Portuguese party of 8 arrived with much fuss and bother and set up camp next to us with a revving of engines and a creaking of roof tents. It was interesting to watch the ways in which the men tried to adopt the alpha position and have their way with the organisation. Like a herd of antelope really.

Supper was rice and chicken, very tasty, thank you Beatrice – my go tomorrow.

Day 3, 2^nd of May (Beatrice writes)

I woke up with the sound of my parents trying to wake me up, so eventually I did. We had breakfast and then Daddy drove off, to get the tyre fixed in the next town. Meanwhile Mummy and I read our books. Mummy of course was worrying nonstop whether it would be the last time she ever saw her husband (yes, I am exaggerating…a bit) and was getting more and more annoyed, that there was no cell phone coverage. So when Daddy appeared she leaped up and all was well again. We had leftover lunch with a salad.
Alex is now in Brandenburg with the Meier-Ewerts, and is fine- we know this since Daddy received an sms when he was in town.
Around 3 we set off for a walk, the same way as last afternoon. It was a nice walk and we saw a Kudu about 20m away from us. My aim for the walk was to come back with dry feet-did it work? No! We walked further than yesterday and therefore saw new streams and trees, which Mummy took hundreds of pics of.
On the way back Daddy felt the urge to ‘explore’ even though it was obvious it was going the wrong way. After we walked until the path reached houses we turned around to walk the exact way back.
We got to our campsite and Mummy started cooking. While that was happening the baboons where going crazy and making such a racket (someone said that there had been a leopard).
When it was campers-midnight (aka half hast 8!!!) I went to bed and read some more.

Thursday 3^rd May  (Christof writes)

Our aim on this trip is to stay over for 3 nights a time – makes setting up camp really worthwhile … and then two mornings with no hassle of packing. Today we have to drive all the way to the Tiras Mountains, some 360km on dust roads. Therefore we are getting up relatively early and on the road by 9. At one stage Cathy and Beatrice stand next to each other, both without shoes arguing who is the taller. I take the walking stick from the car and put it on their heads, almost level but tilting up slightly to Beatrice’s side. This is the day Beatrice was finally taller than her mother! (She reminded me to write it in the diary!!!)

First we have the Naukluft mountains on our right, then over the Tsauchab river (which flows into the Sossus vlei) and further south with the Tsaris mountains to our left. We are driving through the Namib rand private nature reserve and within a stone’s throw of the family hideout, where we have stayed so often. This has been the third exceptionally good rainy season in a row … the grass is standing high and still quite green … springbok and guinea fowls especially with many young. As planned we arrive in Helmeringhausen just before lunchtime and it’s time for the obligatory circular sms, with many responses. Alex is in Potsdam, but has decided that walking all the way to Sans Souçis is not really called for. Tonight he will be at Eckart and Kerstin in FFO. After this no cell phone cover till Sunday morning in Aus.

The local hotel, which Cathy and me remember as particularly ‘authentic’ from our Dec 1991 repatriation trip, has now been tarted up for tourist buses and lost all its character. By authentic what we mean is that the bar was the attraction for all the local crusties who would prop it up through the day calling for the occasional top up. Apparently these characters were not compatible with tourists and if you want to get rid of the bar flies the solution is simple. Rip out the bar. Cathy was very concerned about where they have all ended up getting their regular ‘dop’. But we have a light lunch before we go shopping … this is a one-shop-town. I had ordered some blocks of ice by phone from Windhoek, which they had promised to make for me … to be picked up Thursday lunchtime …   We were delighted that they had the ice ready for us, but due to the cold nights and moderate daytime temperatures, our 2 big blocks of ice from Windhoek had hardly started melting yet, so we can only take a bit of the ice. I offer to pay for all the ice, but they refuse, saying that no doubt some overlanders would have a need for it too. But then a really bizarre bit of coincidence happened: Amongst the ‘goodies’ that Wilfried had just brought from Paris was a Belgian Lindt chocolate which was layered and had big squares, therefore only 10. We had rationed this chocolate to one square each per night … lovely!! The night before only one square was left and we had shared it too. I had jokingly said, “we can always buy some more at the Helmeringhausen farm store tomorrow”. And, we could not believe it, amongst all the junk and trinkets and 50kg mealie meal bags they had the same type of Lindt chocolate on a shelf … naturally we had to buy a bar of it (Beatrice had not announced the price and only later she told me it had been N$51 (!). But it tasted as good as Wilfried’s original.)

After that, the last hour to the farm ‘Gunsbewys’ next to the Tiras mountains. We had been here almost exactly 10 years ago with the Muellers, the Brueckners and Nicky Marais. The sprightly (must now be getting close to 80) Gertrud Graebner, still her old self, she remembered us well and drew my attention to the Namibian Satellite photo map she had mounted on the wall … 10 years ago they were fresh off the press at the Ministry of Agriculture and I had given her one. I had forgotten it. The campsite was almost unaltered, but she has built some ‘rooms’ in the meantime. Also solar hot water for the morning shower.

Lighted the fire for the braai and watched the spectacular sunset with all the different colours changing over the Tiras mountains and the silky grass plains leading up to them. By 6 pm its properly dark except for the soon to be full moon. While I’m finalising the meal it’s getting colder and colder and I get the thermometer from the car. It is 16 degrees but an hour later it is down to 10 degrees. When I get up at 01:00 for a leak it is 2 degrees. Fortunately we are well armed and suffer no adverse consequences.

Friday May 4^th

Cathy again; such a beautiful place and so quiet. We wake up to the sound of birdsong but stay in the tent until the sun is high enough to have taken the chill off the morning. By the time we emerge it is 16 degrees and we move the table to the shade for breakfast. Frau Gräbner has set up a small museum since we were last here and has been taking groups of children on eco weekends – she’s such an energetic woman! Her husband’s books are placed in a special corner of the museum. He seems to have been a biologist. After reading through the information we see that a trip to the ‘schlucht’ where we were before is still a possibility. This is on another farm ‘Numis’ about 20km from here. The farmer and Frau Gräbner have and arrangement where a key to the farm gate is under a stone except it isn’t. Fortunately she gave us a spare ‘in case’. We drive through a stand of lovely camelthorn trees, park the car and head up to the split in the mountain that harbours a small stream rushing through the boulders and creating pools that step down the mountainside. The rock is red granite and so the surfaces mostly have purchase except where the water has worn them smooth. I seem to remember the climb was more difficult than it is today, maybe because ten years ago Alex and Beatrice were small and I was worried about them, particularly Alex with his experimental approach to climbing. Today Beatrice is totally capable and I can just enjoy the surroundings. Once we reach sufficient altitude the view back over the desert is spectacular. Framed between the red granite rocks the red dunes in the distance are lapped by a sea of milky green grass almost to their peaks. The colours are bleached to pastel shades in the midday sun. We climb up past several rock pools and Beatrice regrets not having her swimming stuff with her. After a very enjoyable time clambering over and around the rocks we return to the car for lunch. There is a concrete bench under a tree and Chris drives the car into the shade so that we can eat our sandwiches in the cool; Beatrice still regretting not having swum in the pools. Every place here reminds us of the time that we spent ten years ago when everyone’s kids were smaller and delighted in simple things. Good times but we’ve all moved on, some people’s kids have long left home and others are on the brink and itching for independence. We are lucky still to have Beatrice with us. In the early afternoon we return to the camp and relax until the heat of the day has passed. The contrast in temperature between night and day is from 1 degree at night to 28 or so in the day – the plants and animals that live here have to be tough!

Later in the Afternoon we are about to make tea when Frau Gräbner appears and offers to drive us up to the dunes where we had been planning to have a sundowner. We eagerly agree and get ourselves together quickly. We jump on the back of her bakkie, Beatrice keeps her company in the cab and she zooms us up to the dunes. Then we have lots of energy to climb to the fourth row of dunes which gives us a wonderful view over the farm and the mountains as the sun is setting. We crack open our bottles and munch a couple of peanuts and watch the colours of the mountains and dunes change in the fading light. The red and green of the dunes becomes very intense and the mountains fade in lilacs and blues and the grass sways like a huge wheat field in the breeze. Barking geckos start to call and flocks of birds search for safe places to roost in the grass. There are thousands of birds here of all types and dimensions taking advantage of the grass seeds and the bonanza of insects. We can see from pictures in the museum that in some years there is no grass here at all so we have been lucky on both of our visits.

Beatrice cooks Spaghetti Bolognaise for supper and we watch the thermometer fall alarmingly fast. Pretty soon it is campers’ midnight (8pm) and soon after that we retreat to the tent to warm up under the blankets. Minimum drinking for me this evening – going out of the tent in 1 degree of cold is not to my taste!

Day 6, 5^th of May (Beatrice writes)

Today I woke up at 5.15am!! to go with Frau Graebner and the Swiss couple on a dune tour at 5,30 am. So I got up in the freezing cold and then we were off. It was a nice walk over the dunes stopping occasionally so Frau Graebner could show us something interesting. At 6.30 or so we sat down and had provitas with coffee (I am not a coffee drinker, but if it’s that or nothing!) while the sun came over the furthest mountain and put everything into a beautiful light. We all chatted nicely and set off for the highest peak. Frau Graebner is especially interested in the different types of grass, so we learnt a lot about that!
Around 9am we came back. I ate breakfast with the parents, who were just getting up, had a shower and went to sleep! If you can’t sleep in the holidays when can you??
When I woke up it was lunchtime and we ate bread with a nice salad. Afterwards we read a bit and waited for the temperature to be cooler.
At about 3.30pm we then drove to a place where bushmen had lived. The directions were a bit…complicated? E.g. park your car and walk down the riverbed for 200m in brackets left. But the riverbed went straight ahead! Anyway we walked (straight) through the high grass. Saw ‘rubbing stones’ and ‘singing stones’ (which actually were really cool, because when you hit the flat rock it makes a loud sound and the further you hit into the centre, the deeper the sound- like a drum.) 
Then we walked to the big social weavers nest. A part of the nest had fallen from the dead tree. I walked to the one side and saw what I thought was a branch move. Well, I can assure you, it was not a branch! That is unless you have seen branches eat baby weaver bird and well, move! It was massive, fat and black. Probably a black Mamba or a Cobra.
We didn’t stick around to see it’s facial markings, that is for sure!
Afterwards we still saw other bushmen’s objects but I was too conscious about what I was walking on and chose paths without much grass.
We drove on and found a nice spot for a sun downer. And the moon that rose was round and enormous!!
We went back to the camp and it was Mummy’s go to cook, yet we all helped. The moon was really bright and the parents (more Daddy but still.) where almost obsessing about it as if they were going to turn into werewolves or something- luckily for me, they didn’t. And so we enjoyed the meal and went to bed.

Day 7: Sunday 6th May (Christof)

Really the driving-home day. On the road by 9.00. Later, on the tar road, we get a second puncture. Fortunately we have 2 spares and by now we are  a routined tyre-changing team, with Beatrice doing the most. Lunch at the Cañon Hotel in Keetmanshoop and then the last 500km up to Windhoek, where we arrive just after dark. Was a really good, relaxing trip – happy to be home. Both Cathy and me have a full working week ahead of us. Fuel consumption under 9l/100km!

Next trip: Trans-Kalaghadi Transfrontier Park – we are only going to the undeveloped Botswana side, together with the Brueckners, Corhubs and le Roux’s in 10 days time.