Namibia, Land of Endless Space

April 21/Flight to Namibia and the Namib Desert

We flew from Cape Town over the southwestern coast of Africa and soon were looking down on miles and miles of desert. The loveliness of Cape Town, it seemed, was being replaced by the unrelenting harshness of an inhospitable environment. It only seemed that way, however, until gradually we were introduced to a different kind of beauty and a country that is one of the most unusual we've ever visited. Arriving at the Walvis Bay Airport, I looked around at miles of nothing and asked Tony, only half-kidding, "Where in the world have you taken us?" The word "Namib," in fact, means "nothing."

We began our four days in Namibia with local guide and proud Namibian Freddie Bester.

At Walvis Bay (a Dutch word for whales) I took a birthday photo with Jerry and one of the thousands of flamingos that reside there.

We drove past an enclave on Long Beach that was famous for a time as the hideaway of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie when they were expecting their first child, Shiloh. (Some of you, we know, are really interested in this.) By the way, she didn't deliver the baby at home, as was suspected, but in the hospital in the thriving coastal German town of Swakopmund where we spent two nights.

We stayed at the Swakopmund Hotel, built as a replica of the Railway Station in Hamburg for those who were missing their home country. The Germans arrived in the late 1800's and created a protectorate here. Very strange to see German architecture and to hear German spoken by all the residents, including the African street vendors. Even though Germany left the country to its own devices during World War II and Namibia was granted independence from South Africa in 1990, the country retains many of its cultural ties to Germany. Does the beach front remind you of anything familiar?

April 22/Swakopmund, Damaraland, Spitzkopp

It's "Earth Day," and what better way to celebrate than explore this "Land of Endless Space"? Spitzkopp is called the Matterhorn of Namibia. You can see why.

On the way to the mountains we stopped at the Skeleton Coast to view one of many shipwrecks that litter the shore. Later, a bathroom stop at Hentie's Bay gives us an opportunity to see a golf course with more sand traps than greens.

Jerry and Freddie examine rocks on the side of the road. Most of our finds are mica, nicknamed "the baboon's mirror."

Spitzkopp is part of an area known as Damaraland where ancestors of the Damara tribe lived for thousands of years. Eddie, one of the Damaras, shows us Rock Art that's two thousand years old that was part of the communication system of the people. He also demonstrates the language which is one that involves the "clicking" sound that became famous in the movie The Gods Must be Crazy. Can you see the rhino on the wall?After stopping for a short climb to the Arch Rock, Freddie

takes us deeper into the mountains to find a nice place to

stop for lunch. "What, you didn't bring lunch with you?"

he jokes. "Then what shall we eat?"

The answer is found behind one of the larger rock formations where a pavilion has been set up by a tree, and a tasty buffet awaits us. Isn't this how everyone dines in the desert?

Eddie briefly demonstrating the Damara clicking language.