I’m very excited to announce one of my Namibia photos, The Blue Room, was The Best of Nikonians – 2008 Images – October Winner. It will now go on to the finals with the other monthly winners at the end of the year. This contest is judged by professional and amateur photographers from around the world and it is a huge honour to receive this recognition. Click the photo to see a larger version. More information regarding the contest can be found here.

The group had breakfast together, then we said our goodbyes to the dutchies as they left to continue for another week in Estosha National Park. Chris, Glenda and myself left the hotel at 10am, to start our 42 hour journey back home. I was sad to leave, but I enjoyed my two weeks in Namibia.

The flights home were uneventful – everything went smoothly, however 42 hours in transit is very exhausting. Would I do the trip again? You bet! But maybe next time I can win the lotto and fly in the luxury of first class…

Eight of us went on an early morning hike up a different rock formation to photograph the sunrise (we left at 5am!). It was an interesting hike, with an excellent view. A troop of baboons even joined us to watch the sunrise (from a distance, of course).

Breakfast was after the hike, then we packed our bags onto the bus and headed back towards Windhoek. We arrived at our hotel, Villa Verdi, which was right near the city centre. I used the afternoon to re-pack my bags (so everything would fit) and wrap up loose ends.

We had a special wrap-up dinner at NICE (Namibian Institute of Culinary Education) which was very nice (pun intended). NICE is a very groovy restaurant with excellent meals prepared by student chefs. The presentation was spectacular and was a wonderful setting to wrap-up a two week journey through Namibia.

The earliest start of the trip – 3am, we loaded the bus and departed for Spitzkoppe. We arrived before sunrise, and since the gate was easy to open, we just drove in. Spitzkoppe has many fascinating rock formations and even some arches. We stayed until 10am (it was getting really hot!), then departed. On the way out, Daniella payed the entry fee – were the rangers ever surprised to see a bus drive out of the park (but they were glad we didn’t wake them at 5am)!

We continued on to the Erongo Wilderness Lodge, with a stop on the way for lunch. The lodge is situated in the mountains, with tented chalets on stilts on the sides of the rock formations. Most tents had an excellent view, but I had a mediocre view as I was near the bottom. Most participants were tired, but I trudged on and joined the sundowner hike to the top of a nearby outcrop. It was a very stunning spot to enjoy a beer and watch the sunset.

Dinner was in the lodge, with some wildlife visible outside, near the watering hole. Marsel conducted an image critique session after dinner. Chris and I setup the cameras on his balcony to attempt another shot at the star trails. The moon got in the way – too bad we didn’t have another night at Erongo to try again.

We started the morning at 8am with the Living Desert tour. Finally, a day to sleep in! The Living Desert tour was held in the desert (obviously!), just on the outskirts of Swakopmund. We barely travelled more than 500 meters in the first two hours – there was that much to see. Our guide was excellent in identifying tracks left in the sand by the different creatures and then tracking them down. The tour gave us an appreciation of the abundance of life in the desert and how easily it can be destroyed. The vehicles are only to drive on the dunes, as the wind erases the tracks, but off the dunes, tracks stay forever. Once our tour of the desert got underway, it was almost a roller-coaster ride through the dunes (and we had to laugh when the other vehicle got stuck and they had to walk up the dune!).

The afternoon was free time, which I filled by going quad-biking. It was a lot of fun, up and down the dunes (lead by a guide of course). There are designated areas for quad-biking on the dunes, however, some break the rules and drive outside of the designated areas (and are destroying the desert).

After the dunes, I was finally able to get Internet access. Dinner followed shortly, then off to bed, as tomorrow would be the earliest morning of trip.

Today we left for Cape Cross at 7am – I actually got up after sunrise today! It was a 1.5 hour drive from Swakopmund to Cape Cross, where there is a very large colony of seals.

The seals are very smelly, and even though you get accustomed to the odour, it is not very pleasant. We photographed the seals until noon, then had lunch at the nearby Cape Cross Lodge .

Everyone slept on the drive back (except of course Dirk, the bus driver), had a quick shower to get rid of the seal smell, then Marsel presented a workshop on image processing. Even in the evening my camera gear and bag still smelled of seals.

Supper was at The Tug, which is another popular restaurant in Swakopmund. It is actually an old tug boat that was converted into a restaurant. I had the Kingklip fish, a local catch, which was very good.

Note: This will be my last post until I get home. I’ll update the final days at that time. Internet access has been difficult to come by (down in 3 or more of the places we should have had it), as well, I’m behind in processing and sorting my photos – hence nothing to show. Check back next week for the final days – thanks for reading!

Update: Added photos when I got home!

Today was a traveling day (and hence no photos to post). We left the Sossus Dune Lodge shortly after 10am, then drove towards the coastal town of Swakopmund (again on gravel roads). We got there around 5pm and checked into the Brigadon guesthouses.

Dinner was at The Lighthouse restaurant, which is on the waterfront, just down from our guesthouses. Swakopmund is definitely a tourist town, with shops and restaurants everywhere.

We left in the open vehicle at 4am for the drive to Sossusvlei, arriving before sunrise at around 5:30am. As the first ones there, we had the place to ourselves. In fact, by staying at the lodge, we are actually inside the park, which allows us to come and go as we please, whereas the campground guests can only enter an hour before sunrise and the main gates only open at sunrise. This is very helpful, as we were basically done shooting by the time most tourists arrive at Sossusvlei.

Hayo and myself climbed up the back way to the top of the dune (instead of climbing on the ridge), which was definitely the more difficult way up! Marsel has some photos of us climbing, which I’ll have to get.

After the drive back, it was lunch followed by an afternoon siesta. It was a scorching hot day (must have been 35 degrees Celsius or hotter). A quick dip in the pool, then off to a canyon (this time in golf carts), as it was only five minutes from the lodge. Down in the canyon the cool air was refreshing, with very interesting rock formations and layers. I’ve never seen anything like it.

Hartebeest (an african grassland antelope, named for it’s horns which form a heart) was the main course for dinner (excellent again), I took a few night shots, setup a star trail, then off to bed. Some of the group is returning to Deadvlei the next morning, but I decided I was too tired and had better sleep in if I’m to survive the rest of the trip. We joke that “I can’t believe I’m paying to be tortured” with all the really early mornings and late nights.

Another early morning (noticing a pattern yet?) starting at 5am to go Micro-lighting. Diego, Hayo, Maartje, and myself were in the first group to go. We drove out to the landing strip located in the park and our pilot, Heiko met us at the strip.

I was the fourth to fly and I loved it! A micro-light is like a hang-glider but with an engine, which means you basically float in the air. Flying over the dunes gives you a very different perspective then is possible from the ground.

We returned to the lodge for lunch (Ostrich burger), then prepared for the afternoon trip to Deadvlei. As it was very hot out, we took the air-conditioned bus to the 4×4 departure point (this also allowed for an hour of sleep!). The 4×4 transported us for 5km and then we hiked the last km, arriving at 3pm. We had two full hours of light for photos before the sun dipped behind a dune. Deadvlei is such a cool place, hidden in the dunes, each time you go you find something different to photograph.

Unfortunately, it was back to the lodge in the open 4×4 (glad I brought my toque!), then it was Kudu for dinner (another delectable game) and off to bed.

I finally got to sleep in this morning – up at only 6:30! A lot of early mornings on this trip – certainly not the trip to take if you want to catch up on your sleep. We left Hotel Helmeringhausen and drove on gravel roads to Namib Naukluft Park, driving through a private reserve on the way. There we saw springbok and an oryx along the side of the road.

We arrived at the the Sossus Dune Lodge, which will be our base for the next 3 days. After lunch, it was into a 4×4 open-top game vehicle for an 1.5 hour drive to Deadvlei. Most of the drive is on tar roads, with the exception of the last 5 kms that was definitely 4×4 country – driving in loose sand between the dunes. Then it’s a 1 km hike from the vehicle over the dunes to Deadvlei. We arrived just in time to catch the last hour of light on the dead trees.

After sunset, we had a sundowner (drinks and snacks) on a dune, before heading back to the vehicle. It was a cold drive back with the wind in your ears – I was glad I brought my toque! Back at the lodge, dinner was Namibian Eland, which was excellent.

We checked out of the hotel at 6am and headed to Kolmanskuppe . It was a very foggy morning and it lingered till long after sunrise. After a full morning of photographing the ghost town, we had lunch in the restaurant then hit the road to Helmeringhausen. Helmeringhausen is our mid-point stop enroute to Namib Naukluft Park. Like an outpost, Helmeringhausen is in the middle of nowhere, located 4 hours from anything else. We stayed at the comfortable Hotel Helmeringhausen and enjoyed a tasty Oryx steak for dinner, followed by a campfire.

Namibia has two types of roads – two-lane tarred roads (main) and gravel roads (secondary). There are no four-lane highways and even the tarred roads have no shoulders. For the next few days all our travel will be on gravel roads. There is fencing along all the roads to keep the wildlife off.

You get to view interesting landscape driving through the country on these roads. There are numerous dried up rivers and creeks that crisscross the roads with no bridges where the road crosses the waterway. Every once in a while there actually is water, which thank goodness, was always just a small trickle so the bus didn’t get stuck!

We started the morning at 5am to get some sunrise and early morning shots in the Giants Playground. Half the group stayed back to get cheetah shots from the resident felines, but since I already have cheetah shots, I opted to go to the Giants Playground.

After an 8am breakfast, the bus headed for Luderitz. We arrived at the Bay View Hotel around lunch time and after a quick bite to eat, it was off to Kolmanskuppe, a diamond mining ghost town. A special permit had been arranged allowing us entry to the ghost town outside of regular tourist hours. We literally had a ghost town that we could photograph until after sunset. This ghost town, which at the height of the diamond trade housed a thousand people, was spectacular with all the sand filled buildings.

Dinner was at a local restaurant on the waterfront and we celebrated Daniella’s and Marcel’s birthdays. Back to the hotel and finally some internet access (which is slow in comparison to what we are used to in Canada) to update my blog and read my email. Early to bed as we are leaving at 5:45am to spend Thursday morning  shooting at Kolmanskuppe.

Started the day at 4:30am – off to the Quiver Tree Forest. We photographed the trees from before sunrise until around 8:30am, when it was time for breakfast. The soft morning light brings out the golden hue of the trees.

Following breakfast, Marsel critiqued our photographs, which I found to be very informative as he identified many areas for improvement. Everyone has taken some very remarkable photos thus far. It is very interesting to observe how everyone’s perspective differs on the same subject.

After a short rest, we headed into town (Keetmanshoop) for lunch, followed by a lecture on composition. With all this new information, we were off to the Giants Playground to shoot until after sunset. The Giants Playground is basically rocks, in piles and odd forms which goes on for miles. It is difficult to believe all these rocks are naturally placed.

We planned to shoot star trails tonight, so before returning for dinner, our cameras were setup to allow for scene composition while it is still somewhat light. After dinner we returned and captured some wonderful night shots. The night sky is spectacular in Namibia, with very little light pollution. To put it into perspective – think of a night sky in rural Manitoba, then multiply the number of visible stars by 100. We are definitely going to attempt more night shots and stars trails later in the trip.

An early start this morning. We are traveling on a 35 passenger highway coach to Keetmanshoop. The coach will be our primary mode of transportation for the next two weeks and comes equipped with a drink cooler, air conditioning and a rest room. With twelve in our group, we all have ample room to spread out and be comfortable.

Namibia is the second least densely populated country in the world (2.5 inhabitants per square km), with an area of approximately 825 000 square kilometers (or about 25% more area than Manitoba) . I spot hardly any development along the two lane highway we’re traveling. Occasionally I’ll see and animal or two (baboons, horses and sheep so far), but after seven hours it all begins to look the same.

We arrived at the Quiver Tree Forest guesthouse mid afternoon and then drove to the forest to photograph the quiver trees in the warm light of late afternoon and sunset. The results are below. Tomorrow, we’ll return to the forest prior to sunrise – that means up at 4:30am, so I’m off!

Caught the 10:55am flight from Jo’burg to Windhoek – arrived without incident. Prior to boarding, I met four of the other photographers joining the trip (Hayo, Maartje, Kees and Marcel. Note: There is Marsel with an ’s’, who is leading the group, and Marcel with a ‘c’ who is a participant). Once in Windhoek, Marsel and Daniella met the group at the airport. After a short delay while Hayo and Maartje searched for their missing luggage (it’s since been found), we departed for the GocheGanas Nature Reserve.

The GocheGanas is a wellness lodge, offering a variety of spa treatments. However, I’m not here for the spa, so after a quick lunch, we headed out on a game drive in the reserve. No where near the photo opportunities I got in South Africa (in 2006), but still an excellent start to the trip.

After a wonderful dinner, it was early to bed as breakfast is at 7am, and we’re leaving at 7:30am for Keetmanshoop and the Quiver Tree Forest.

Note: Looks like internet access is going to be somewhat questionable. Two places that should have had access were down. Africa may have internet, but that doesn’t mean it works. Posts will probably be in bursts, the next time I have internet access.