Bariar waited for me on the crest of the dune. We were there because he wanted to show me his favorite place in Sossusvlei (Home of The Oldest Desert in The World!). As I fought back my approaching vertigo, Bariar, my desert guide, coaxed me up “Big Mama”. With the temperature in the low 100s, we had spent the past 48 hours tracking gemsbok, trekking through gorges, and climbing over dunes.
When I reached the top, I sat down next to him to catch my breath. Gesturing towards the vast vista of red sand and sky in front of us, he explained that this was his television. We sat together in silence and watched the sun start its descent. The desert was casting its magic spell, as the dunes changed from orange to golden brown. And then I heard it, the stillness of the desert.
Three days earlier, I arrived in Namibia exhausted. I was nearing the end of my journey. I had been on the road for 45 days, circumnavigating the globe. Africa was the last destination of my larger sojourn to walk on seven continents in one year. My journey had included the ultimate destinations of travel: Patagonia, Antarctica, Mount Everest, Angkor Wat and the Great Barrier Reef. Exploring the northern coast of Namibia, I saw shipwrecks as I flew over Skeleton Coast, watched crocodiles resting along the Kunene River shore waiting for their next meal. I met the Himba people who have thrived in the desert for centuries.
But the greatest surprise of my journey in Namibia was meeting the silence of the desert.
I read a poem once that said, “Nobody returns from the Namibia unchanged”. Now, I know that this is true. It’s been five months since I sat on top of that dune, appreciating the stillness and realizing for that one magical moment, my thoughts had become still as well. When my life becomes chaotic, I simply recall that stillness, take a deep breath and move forward with a renewed sense of peace.
Thank you to the staffs of Journeys Unforgettable and Wilderness Safaris for making my discovery of this far away land possible. There is no better crew to take you to the silent ends of the earth in Africa and once there, help you find yourself.
After the two and a half weeks with eight hour work days hammering,hauling bricks, and slapping on mortar in Katete,Zambia I took my rest and relaxation with Wilderness Safaris planned by Journeys Unforgettable in Namibia! A Perfect Ending!
My journey started in the Skeleton Coast, where I traveled alone. Magical is the only word to describe my guide Jonathan’s explanations of the desert and its inner workings. A full moon in the desert, a rainbow over the dunes, sitting high above the dunes watching the sunset, walking through quicksand, watching elephants in mating, spotting a lizard in the middle of a dune and watching Jonathan run up and get it for us to look at are just some of the highlights. Because we were a small group of only two guests, our intimate circumstances meant that we had a lot of one to one time with the staff and at dinner we were able to learn and share our cultures and life stories. This beautiful but stark environment could be a little desolate for some, but the feeling created by the staff was incredible and so warm and welcoming no one wanted to leave this “moonscape”.
When it was time to go, off to Ongava Tented Camp,in Etosha, for a another different but equally magical experience. I was the only guest at Camp and in short time I would feel like “Elaine at the Plaza” but it was “Elaine at Ongava” ! As soon as I arrived, I requested a walk and within an hour we ran into a huge Rhino who “mock” charged ! It was the perfect thrill to start my stay! When I returned to camp the dinner table was set for two at the water hole. I kindly asked the camp manager that we should really invite more of the staff to join us, and our dinner turned into a safari party!! Everyone coming around the table, pulling up chairs, talking and laughing was a night I will never forget. I asked my guide if we could go for a night drive and learned that none of the staff had ever been on a night drive. We recruited everyone…kitchen staff,waiters and all who were in camp that night and piled into the truck for this adventure. The staff were like children for the first visit to Disney World. They were intrigued by the experience and “fought” over who got to hold the spotting lamp and who was best at doing it. Many laughs were shared by all. We were equally awed by two male lions and several females we came upon, but after twenty minutes the staff wanted to see more! The rare brown hyena came to give us a special welcome and my guide Wilhelm would later exclaim to all “we saw a brown hyena, and he even made time for us!”.
Wilderness Safari Camps are beautiful but the thing that makes them so magical is the staff! I am lucky to have had Journeys Unforgettable help me plan and add these wonderful experiences to my travel journals.
All the Best,
Elaine T.
Please contact Journeys Unforgettable to learn more about these incredible Habitat for Humanity projects in Africa and other conservation programs such as The Wilderness Trust.
