We are staying the night at the Namtib Desert Lodge which is 12 km from the main road and is a working farm with a few guesthouses. The road is one track, sandy and rutted which makes for different sets of worries. What happens if we meet someone, what happens if we get stuck, what happens if our wheels fall off? In the end all is well and the road brings us close to the mountains where the farm sits in a secluded valley.
The farm looks rustic but it has all modern comforts except Wifi but that would be a stretch that far from civilization. We park and find the reception and the friendly hostess and farm owner gives us a tour of the area and shows us to our bungalow. Moving the bags to the room is fun with a hand pulled cart, no porters here which is great news for us.
There is a nice succulent garden, no native cacti here but for us succulent=cacti most of the time, a large quiver tree in the middle of the courtyard and a few hiking trails through the mountains which was one of the reasons why we chose the accomodation.
There are about 5 guest rooms in a row and all of them have bathrooms that are separated from the main room by an interior courtyard. It is the first time that we see this setup in our travels and we assume that each guesthouse might have been the 2 houses of the hired help previously that were rebuilt so that one is the bedroom and one in the bathroom. The interior of the bedroom is interesting with a German theme as we would have expected given that the majority of tourists in the area are from Germany.
For the afternoon we decide to hike the botanical loop trail. The major reason for this is that it is supposedly clearly marked with numbers that are linked to a large binder with botanical information that the hostess gave us and we are interested to learn more about the flora and fauna of the area. As we make our way to the trailhead we walk along the edge of the farm and have an occasion to spot different fowl raised on the farm especially chicken and geese.
The trail starts with a sharp climb but it is well laid out with great views of the mountains and the farm. As we rest we see the goats coming in for the evening which is quite a sight, almost a stampede with purpose.
We miss the initial number in the botanical trail guidebook but then we find the majority of highlighted plants and the information about the uses and dangers of the individual plants is really interesting for us. The sun is also falling towards the horizon and highlights the red rocks quite nicely.
There are even a few flowers on the trail, it is easy to forget that while for the northern hemisphere it is the end of summer here it is the beginning of spring. The trail after climbing to the ridge is following it back towards the dry wash and it is without major altitude changes while skirting or going through rocky areas with beautiful formations.
Birds are flying all around us however we concentrate on the trail as it winds over the rocky terrain. We see mostly red eyed bulbuls which are quite common in the area and few other birds, at least that we can capture with a camera.
The views are spectacular in the falling sun and we continue to be captivated by the information about the local plants contained in the folder.
After passing the wash we look back and see some movement. Taking out the camera which doubles also as binoculars we notice that there are a few antelopes that are interacting on the top of the opposite mountain. We identify them as klipspringers, a new antelope for us.
They observe us but don’t appear to care as they decide to descend towards the wash. We track them as they descend first surefooted and then more hesitant on the steep rock but they get down much faster than we could.
It is likely that they were going towards the maintained water catchment that we passed by or that there are pools of water further up. Later we find out that this year was one of the few years that they have seen the river flow for a few days so certainly there is no lack of water yet in the area. The trail continues through the rocky terrain and we are happy that it is well marked as even so we make a few bad turns and have to return to the trail before getting hopelessly lost. At least we have a GPS so little to no chance of that, we hope.
Suddenly the mountains give way to the plains and the trail becomes more defined. We can see horses in the distance and the views are still beautiful but different. We find a huge area of scat, likely klipspringers, which is interesting, do they all come here whenever they need to do their business?
The plant mix has changed also at this point and we are suprised at the number of poisonous plants in the area some being invasive to the Namibian desert.
The views of the mountains around us remains spectacular especially with the windmill in the foreground. It is the golden hour and we really enjoy the views and take lots of photos as we continue on the trail.
As we enter the wash and walk back through it towards the farm we notice an interesting collection of beat up cars. We examine them a bit more closely and wonder how the river didn’t sweep them away when it was flowing a few weeks back.
The sun has almost reached the horizon and rocks look like they are burning, for us this looks more like a Burnt Mountain than the one near Twyfelfontein.
As we arrive back at the farm in the twilight we walk to the lounge area which is on a smaller hill and allows us a view of the area that the sun has set. There is a small cave nearby and to our surprise it is inhabited.
The colors at the horizon are beautiful and we sit down in the chaise lounge relaxing until it is almost time for dinner. The area is lighted by tens of candlelights which while bright in the immediate area let us sit in the darkness with our portable planetarium to gaze at what appears to be an infinity of stars.
Dinner is a personal affair here and is relatively late at 8 pm. We eat with the host family; the food is great with the main course being an oryx gulash. The discussion gravitates towards schooling and land owner rights in Namibia.
One thing that we were curious about and find out is that there are no school buses in Namibia and most children who live on the farms are driven to the nearby villages and cities at the beginning of the school year and stay there for the duration of the school semester. Also provisions that are not grown on the farm are hard to come by and they have to make a trip per week to the nearby village to buy stuff and to pick up any accumulated deliveries.
After dinner as it is late already we crash in our beds tired after the hike through the area. After a good night sleep we wake up and there is still time till breakfast so we decide to take a short hike up the closest mountain to get a better view of the farm and the surrounding area.
We see the goats again, this time cooped up in an enclosure, we are too early even for the goats to be out.
The mountains are illuminated beautifully by the sunrise as we watch from high above. There are birds waking up and chirping in the bushes and we see our first sunbird, a dusky sunbird.
The breakfast is buffet style and quite good and then we leave going south. However before leaving the farm we pay a closer visit to the goats and take a few close up pictures and then we are on the road again.
