Day 25- Skeleton Coast and Desert Rhino Camp
After breakfast, the staff (and a black-backed jackal) wished
us goodbye with song and dance. I’m not
sure if they were doing this because they like to sing and dance or they were just
so happy to see us go.
Eric drove us to the dirt
airstrip for the 1st of several flights today that would take us north along the Skeleton
Coast to Swakopmund (with my new found “fluency” in German, this means mouth of
the Swakop River), then eventually to
Desert Rhino Camp.
 |
| Big Daddy that we climbed 2 days ago and Deadflie |
Technically, the Skeleton
Coast is the Atlantic coastline of Namibia from Angola to the Swakp River, but
generally the term implies the entire Atlantic Coast of Namibia. Dense fog is
the norm here due to the cold, upwelling Benguela Current from Antarctica
smacking into the hot Namib Desert sands.
This along with strong currents and heavy surf have led to hundreds of
shipwrecks in the area. In addition, the
beaches were, in the past, strewn with bones from whaling and sealing , thus
gaining the moniker, Skeleton Coast. The Bushmen of the Namibian
interior called the region "The Land God Made in Anger", while
Portuguese sailors once referred to it as "The Gates of Hell".
From the air, it was
impressive to see the surf meeting the miles and miles of sand dunes, and not a
hotel in sight. Apparently, some
German entrepreneur tried to build a
resort community south of Swakopmund, but within a few years, sandstorms
reclaimed it for the desert. An abysmal
failure.
We were exceptionally lucky
to have no fog almost up to Swakopmund.
We were able to see 2 othe many wrecks that littered the coast. The first was a relatively recent wreck that
the pilot told us was a result of the captain intentionally grounding his ship
in a hurricane to prevent loss of life.
I have not been able to find any other information on this wreck.
The other is the most well
known wreck in Namibia, the Edouard Bohlen. This was a German cargo ship that ran aground
on a run from Swakopmund to Capetown in 1907.
It is found, amazingly, more than a quarter-mile from shore, inland! After it got stranded, wind and surf reshaped
the coastline and it now is surrounded by sand 1640 feet from shore.
There was also an area of
marsh that is home to hundreds of shore birds in cluding flocks of flamingoes
(which we could see, but to far to photograph from a bumpy plane). As we approached Swakopmund, we were afforded
a view of the fog that everyone talks about.
It was very low lying, which gave us a haunting perspective of a
lighthouse and oil rig that seemed to float in mid-air.
From Swakomund, we flew to
Wilderness Air’s “hub”, Damarland, where you can transfer to even smaller planes
for transport to more remote camps. The
hub had 2 flush toilets and a 1st (and only )class lounge with
drinks and snacks, and African air-conditioning. More importantly, they had fuel for the
planes.
To get to Desert Rhino Camp,
we had to fly through the highest mountain range in Namibia, Brandberg Mountain
at 8,442 ft. The mountain tops began to look like
southwestern U.S. mesas, which were created by wind and water erosion of soft
limestone deposits leaving the flat-topped granite base intact.
After
several take-offs and landings, we arrived at Desert Rhino. The final 2 flights had me flying
copilot. Good thing I’ve had a lot of
experience in Bruce’s plane, I know what NOT to touch.
It
was about a 30 minute drive from the air strip to Desert Rhino Camp. As we approached we saw what appeared to be a
new runway no more than 5 minutes from the camp. It was to become operational in 2-3 weeks. Timing is everything.
Deseert
Rhino Camp sits in a large conservancy,(Palmwag Concession, 935 acres), and
closely works with the Save the Rhino Trust to collect data on Black Rhinos
indigenous to this area. This trust’s
mission is “protect the desert-adapted
black rhino in order to ensure security for these and other wildlife species, a
protected habitat, and a sustainable future for local communities long into the
future.” The Palmwag Concession
is home to the largest black rhino population in Africa. On a daily basis, three trackers go out into
one of 4 zones of the conservancy and locate, observe , and generate data on
the rhino population. Once the trackers
have found the rhinos (which is not an easy matter), they radio to the camp, to
allow guests help find the rhinos (on foot) and observe them. There are no published numbers as to
population size, and much of the data collected is unavailable to the public to
reduce the risk of poaching.
At the camp, we met our guide, Herunga. He was a cross between Chris Rock and Eddie
Murphy sans the foul mouths. He was extremely
funny, bright, knowledgeable, and unlike Rock and Murphy, a perfect
gentleman.
Instead
of going out for a drive, he suggested a walk near the camp to “get acquainted
with” the desert. He really opened our
eyes to some of the smaller, less sexy, “game”.
These
grasses had a seed attached to a feathery frond. When the seed lands, the feather, when blown
by the wind, spins the seed, augering it into the ground.
Beetles
whose color changes from juvenile to adult,
giant
crickets that are adapted to the desert by catching the water droplets from fog
on their underbellies that run into their mouths.
We
also found a tiny nest of the Rüppel’s koorhaan which lays only a single egg
(talk about putting all your eggs in one basket)
And a
Damara thread snake.
Back
to beautiful sunsets with gorgeous scenery.
Tomorrow,
Desert Rhino tracking.
Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention we were in the furthest tent yet again.
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