One perfectly normal Wednesday morning when my Zambia suitcase was barely unpacked and the travel washing done & the ironing folded, another siren call landed in my inbox....would I like to do a flying safari up Namibia's famous Skeleton Coast....what a silly question....in two ticks I've reserved return flights to Windhoek, sorted out a nights accommodation at the lovely Olive Grove Guest House on either side of the flying safari and Windhoek airport transfers. On Friday morning at six thirty I'm all checked in & ready to fly....my luggage weighs just 8.9 kilos (a personal best) & is trussed up like a Christmas turkey due to the ministrations of chaps at the bag wrapping service!! Later that afternoon I meet up with two of my fellow passengers, Paul Steyn (based in Cape Town) & Amanda Mitchell (based in Harare), at the Olive Grove.
On Saturday, we have an early breakfast & then it's off to Windhoek's Eros Airport to meet our Skeleton Coast Safaris pilot & guide & Duane, the last member of the group. Introductions over, a last visit to the ladies, then the luggage is stowed in the plane & we plug ourselves into the communication system so we can all hear & speak to each other. Clearance from Eros tower and we are off on our big adventure across the desert....
Up front on the controls is Andre Schoeman, one of four Schoeman brothers who own & operate the company which was started by their father, Louw Schoeman....I've taken the back seat which I share with the coolbox so I've got both windows to take photo's from as I have a feeling this trip could lead to a marathon of picture taking....things are quite compact in the six seater plane.... We say goodbye to Windhoek - you only realise how large the city when you see it from the air set as it is amongst the hills so from the ground you never see the city all in one go....
We swing west and fly over the Khomas Hochland conservancy, an area with a combination of game / hunting & cattle farms...
Slowly, what is to become the theme of this Namibian trip emerges....patterns....
The Hochland gradually gives way to the Kuiseb Canyon, one of the many linear oases that run in an east west direction linking the ocean with the interior. Andre tells us that the canyon, formed by the Kuiseb River, over many thousands of years was home to two German geologists - Henno Martin & Hermann Korn - for two years as they tried to avoid internment during the Second World War. Henno Martin wrote a book about their experiences called 'The Sheltering Desert' and I make a mental note to self to try and get hold of a copy on my return. It seems like pretty unforgiving terrain but we can see water in the river and some pools on the plains so there has been rain here recently..
Contrary to expectations, we do see quite a few small herds of zebra & springbok dotted out on the plains..And then suddenly the scenery below us changes....just like that....a definite boundary between two very different landscapes....the colour is amazing...
Andre banks to give us one more look at the contrast...
We are definitely over the dune fields now...waves & waves of them....every scene through the lens is a beautiful one....the finger keeps clicking....the dark streaks on the dunes is due to the iron ore that is lighter than the other elements in the dune....As we head towards the coast & Conception Bay the colour of the dunes gets lighter & lighter....
And then suddenly we hit the coast....beautiful aqua blue water and an isolated Cape fur seal colony...
Andre turns on the wing so we get a good shot of the seals....it has to be said that this trip is not for those who struggle to keep their breakfast down on a car trip....I, however, am in my element & love, love, love it.... We come to our first wreck and Andre does a lovely little twirl over it so we get a birds eye view...
Then we straighten out and head further up the coast....Paul is Africa Geographic magazine's Digimag (online version of AG but doesn't have the same content) editor...This short video featuring our trip is a preview of his full feature scheduled for the April edition of the digimag.' Looking forward to seeing the full version....even though I was there!
And this is my photo of the Langewande as we swooped in low to get an idea of how fast the plane was actually travelling.... More seals frolicking in the ice cold waters of the Benguela current.....
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