We were driving North with our guide, Charles, from the Hoanib River area to the Kaokoland area (now also called Kunene for the Kunene River). This area is most famous for the Himba and Herero tribes, which we would be visiting. Compared to the rest of the country, this area is less developed as the dry climate and the vast mountains make it difficult to cultivate. And as we drove, we marveled yet again at how different the terrain was. And how beautiful.
April 21, 2018
Since we hadn’t gone searching for the black rhino yesterday, we had to get up very early today as it would be a long drive and we had to end up further north. We woke up at about 5:00 AM. Ronnie heated water for our shower and we got dressed, all in the dark, using our headlamps. Charles wanted to be on the road by 5:30 AM. Gerhard had prepared homemade chocolate chip croissants, on the campfire. Amazing. And he prepared breakfast sandwiches and a picnic lunch for us to take along. We hugged and said our goodbyes, loaded the car and headed off. It was pitch black with a canopy of a million stars.
April 18-21, 2018
The Hoanib River is one of the 12 seasonal rivers in the west of Namibia, bordering the northern part of Damaraland and Kaokoland. This area is considered one of the last true wilderness areas in Namibia. It is also the one of last settlements of the desert elephant. The Murdorib flows off the Hoanib, at about 600 feet above sea level, and it is on the dry bed of the Mudorib that we would be camping for the next two nights.
Camping. Me? Those that know me know that camping is not my usual MO. How did this happen? When we met with Chris at Piper and Heath to plan our Wilderness Safari trip, the Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp was full. But we wanted to stay in this area, so Chris suggested we camp. He promised a hot shower, a toilet and someone to cook for us. So I said, “Actually sounds like fun. Why not?!” So here we were.
April 17-18, 2018, Tuesday and Wednesday
After breakfast today we hit the road heading north to the Skeleton Coast. We were driving in Dorob National Park, a protected area in this region of Erongo. It is 990 miles long and covers 41,500 square miles, from the Kuiseb Delta, just south of Walvis Bay, to the Ugab River, where we were heading. There are about 75 species of birds that live here and it feels like we saw many of them.
The road was paved, but grooved and rough, at least for a while. We were surrounded on both sides by sand. Sand, sand and more sand. And to our left, on the west side, on the other side of the sand, was the Atlantic Ocean. Other than that, there was not much to see.
April 16, 2018
We flew from Sossusvlei to Swakopmund, to keep from having to drive for six hours and to get the view of the dunes and the coastline from up above (see the Namibia Chapter 1. Sossusvlei post). As we approached the city, we could see Walvis Bay with its fishing boats and then suddenly the desert began being filled with homes. It was sort of amusing to see houses with sand in their yards. No lawns. Just sand. City or not, this is still the desert. But there were straight paved streets, a park or two, and as we got closer to the airport, what looked like a township (what we in America call a shanty town or a slum). This was Mondesa, a suburb of Swakopmund that was once a township for the Black people of Swakopmund and is still the poorest part of town with a high rate of unemployment. And you could tell all that from just looking at the houses, made of tin if they were lucky.
April 13, 2018
Namibia was my reason for coming to Africa. It was the top of my bucket list. I had heard about its beauty, and it was time to see it for myself. We had just spent two weeks in Cape Town, Johannesburg (Joburg), Botswana and Zambia (please see those posts), and now, finally, we were on our way to Namibia.
We found ourselves in Buffalo for a few days for business, so we thought, “What a great opportunity to visit Niagara Falls,” a place known for its beauty and power. If you follow my blog, you know we were in Iguazu Falls in October, so now we could add another fabulously famous fall to our bucket list. Both Andy and I have been here before, but as young children, so we had little memory of it. My only memory came from a photograph of me in a raincoat and hat on the Maiden of the Mist.
But this is winter, so there would be no chance to replicate that pose.
March 2-5, 2018
Buffalo is the second largest city in New York, after NYC. It was originally inhabited by the Native American Iroquois tribe and then by French settlers. Immigration, the construction of the Erie Canal, the building of railroads and the closeness of Lake Erie all led to an increase in the population. The city relied on the grain, steel and automobile industries (hosting the car builders Pierce Arrow and the Seven Little Buffaloes, a 7hp High Wheeler manufactured in Buffalo by De Schaum) during the 20th century, but as those industries moved, the population of Buffalo decreased. Today the main industries are healthcare, research and higher education, a bit change for the days of the service industries. Now you might ask, what is a 7hp High Wheeler? I had no idea and had to look it up.
Nov 6-7, 2017
Our two days at sea were quiet. The ship rocked again. We were again crossing the Southern Ocean. The days were spent with a few more lectures, catching up on writing and editing this blog, and, unfortunately, packing. There was a guest slide show with all our best photos. The Captain had a farewell cocktail party. And mostly, we were just sad. This was one trip I did not want to see end. We had dinner with Gianluca Colla, a wonderful photographer and teacher who we had to say good-by to. We went up to the deck and realized we were already back in Stanley. Instead of darkness in the horizon, we were back in civilization.
Nov 8, 2017
We docked early in the morning, back at our same spot in Stanley. This time it was to say goodbye. They called us by cabin numbers this time, instead of 
zodiac groups. Our luggage was placed outside our cabin doors to be taken straight to our plane.
We were bused over to town, where after a quick cup of coffee and some cookies at the Malvinas Hotel, we were taken on an hour drive to the Mount Pleasant International Airport which is on the British Forces South Atlantic Islands Mount Pleasant Complex, i.e., the military base. Our private charter was given special permission to land for one hour (not a moment more) to drop off the next group of guests and take us back to Santiago. (Remember, we came from Buenos Aires, but you can’t fly from the Falklands to Argentina. You now know why). And then we reached the base. It immediately looked different as it had a fence of trees, trees on an island that has almost none. And all the trees were bent with the wind.
We went inside the terminal, stood on line to check in, and then waited for 
the plane to arrive. When it finally did, we stood by the window and waved at all the people that were coming to take our place. They were excited. We were jealous.
South Georgia is a truly wild, majestic, beautiful, complicated island. It is an island of extreme nature. Some days, we saw all the moods of weather within two hours. Sun. Snow. Sleet. Wind. More snow. More wind.
Often the weather gets bad about every four days. But we were lucky. We were able to land in three places where the largest colonies of King penguins live. St. Andrews. Gold Harbor. Salisbury. Luck. Plain luck.
My heart just soared as I watched. The interactions between the chicks. Between the adults. Between the chicks and the adults. The faces. The eyes. The birds soaring. The birds floating in the wind. The sounds which went right through me. And as loud as they were, they were almost soothing as they were only the sounds of nature.
Gianluca told us that magic happened at least twice on this trip. The morning we got up before the sun and watched the golden glow was magic. The moment of wonder being surrounded by penguins and chicks. It was almost overwhelming to take pictures because no picture can bring justice to the experience. And of course he was so right.
And you can’t be in South Georgia and not think about Shackleton. Sitting early in the morning in my cabin, watching the tall waves hit the window and the isolated bird flying around. I couldn’t help but think of him. On the Southern Sea, the Scotia sea. Roughest waters in the world. We have the comfort of warm beds, good food, GPS, radar, medicine for seasickness. They had nothing but the determination and will to keep going in order to save lives. And that is the story of South Georgia.
November 5, 2017
Salisbury Plain lies on the north coast of South Georgia. We started out here, when we first arrived, looking out at the field of penguins from the deck of the ship, and now we return for our last zodiac landing on South Georgia. The great American ornithologist, Robert Cushman Murphy, did much of his research here in 1912-1913 and named one of the many glaciers here after his wife, Grace. The other glacier we can see from our windows is the Lucas Glacier.
The hills are covered in tussock grass which houses one of the largest King penguin colonies in South Georgia, with 70,000-100,000 pairs. PAIRS!
We woke up early, eagerly lifted our blinds and looked out our window. The scene was one of white on white with a few black dots. It had snowed here since we stood here a week ago. After yesterday’s high winds, we were not sure what we would find here, and whether we would be able to go ashore. But while the temperature was low, the wind howling, it was only about 12 degrees F with the wind chill factor. Doable, as long as we again put on every piece of clothing we had brought along!
I put on my jacket and went to the top deck to take it all in. The sky was blue, the sun was coming out and began reflecting on the glaciers. The plain was covered in snow and the penguins were huddled in groups at the shoreline, reflecting in the calm water. There were a few elephant seals bellowing, but not as many as on other beaches in other parts of South Georgia.
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