16 May 2010

On the road ... Namibia's magic south

Oh dear, I badly neglected this blog. So much has happened since the previous post went online that I don't know where to start really. So I choose one of the most enjoyable experiences in recent months - a 5-day tour through the deep south of Namibia with two of my friends from Germany. Far too little time to visit every place worthwhile seeing but neither was this our first trip to the Karas Region nor do we expect it to be our last. The drives from and back to Windhoek through the Hardap Region will be ignored here, as we did not stop anywhere en route except for re-fuelling. If you are interested in learning more about both these southern regions of Namibia, please visit the links provided.

For our short trip, we selected only three major highlights connected by roads none of us had travelled before:
Fish River Canyon to Gariep River (previously known as Orange River), west along the river through the Namibian part of the Richtersveld Transfrontier Park to Sendelingsdrift, and via Rosh Pinah to Aus.
Since a few photos can better tell the story of what we experienced than any description, I hope you will enjoy the following selection as much as we enjoyed taking them.
(Please note: All rights reserved on images by the owner of www.namibia-unlimited.com)
 
Above: Fish River Canyon


Right: Gariep River Valley


Below: Klein-Aus Vista's Eagles Nest at the foot of the Aus Mountains

Right: A picture-perfect Namibian sunset complete with photogenic quiver trees

Below: The feral horses of the Namib Desert - southern Namib-Naukluft-Park, near Aus


Right: Only our presence prevented this visitor of Klein-Aus Vista to grab a quick meal of striped mouse ... a cute little creature as depicted in the photo at the page top of this blog. But I guess their breeding habits do need some control...

Below: Our farewell present on the way home - a herd of oryx antelope next to the road just north of Aus

And thus a few wonderful days came to an end.

Next time, we'll have to watch our timing to catch the Nama Karoo and the Succulent Karoo in full bloom. We only got a brief taste, just outside Rosh Pinah, of how beautiful they must look like when covered in a myriad of tiny bright-coloured flowers.

Until we meet again, take care.
P.S. Please kindly do respect my copyright on all images!