Real Namibia: The Namib Desert

“Aside from a few explorers who got lost on a professional basis, the most interesting is the story of Hermann Korn and Henno Martin, two German geologists, who hid in the Namib Desert to avoid internment during WW II.”

The aptly named moon landscape. Can you spot the astronauts? If you can it could be delirium brought on by dehydration. Drink some water.
Photo courtesy of Neil Gould
at stock.xchng

The Namib Desert is a place where you can lose yourself, and a couple of people have. Aside from a few explorers who got lost on a professional basis, the most interesting is the story of Hermann Korn and Henno Martin, two German geologists, who hid in the Namib Desert to avoid internment during World War 2.

Being German, and geologists, they were particularly well suited to the challenge. Not knowing what was ‘just not possible’, they even managed to set up a small fish farm in the Kuiseb Canyon. Technically, they weren’t lost. They were only lost from the English point of view.

The harsh conditions and poor health got the better of them in the end, but they were able to survive well for a very long time before they had to give themselves in. Their story is told in Henno Martin’s book, “The Sheltering Desert” and the film of the same name.

Henno Martin and Herman Korn were not particularly unique except in that they were of European stock, and one of them wrote a book about his experiences. In fact, earlier Namibian groups made a home of the Namib for centuries. Europeans have also adapted to farming in the Namib, but nowadays they mostly farm tourists on ‘guest farms’, conservancies and private nature reserves.

Although the Namib is not the largest desert, it is big enough to lose yourself. The immediate impression is of silence and what can be an uncomfortable amount of personal space, especially if your idea of comfort and pleasure is to get on a crowded tube train at the end of a hard day and head off for home.

The silence forces people to find something to do with their heads, and this can be very disconcerting. As one recent traveler put it, “I was forced to think about myself, and what I saw did not please me.” Fortunately, unlike other notables who have spent long periods in the desert, she did not emerge with an idea for a globe-spanning religious movement.

On the other hand, the silence and the massive amount of space is the greatest pleasure that the desert has to offer. The scenery can be breathtaking, especially if you find the right lodge, usually one with very effective air conditioning.

If you are not a desert researcher, there are three obvious parts to the Namib: the first is the pro-Namib, an area of low, scrubby bush and grass plains. The second is the vast plains and rolling hills of the Namib and the third is the dunes which you can read about here.

Most people come to see the dunes, but once the charm of sand between your toes and in your underwear and socks has worn off, it is worth making a trip to the plains and just admiring the scenery and enjoying the silence. If you want to, you can enhance the pleasure by sitting next to a complete and utter chatterbox until you reach the desert. This will make the silence even more welcome.

You don’t have to fear the desert as even a few hundred meters’ walk from whatever lodge or campsite you are visiting will remove you from the noise and the bustle. However, when traveling in the desert, you should lather yourself in sunscreen lotion and carry water.

If you are driving, always carry water. One of the most telling stories is of a Namibian who had problems with his car on one of the quiet back roads, and didn’t have enough water. After drinking the radiator water, dehydration set in. On the second day, a car passed him and apparently the occupants mistook him for a drunkard. It was only on the third day that a car stopped and rescued him.

Don’t expect to see much wildlife, but you will quite likely see Oryx and ostriches. Keep an eye out for the smaller wildlife, particularly mice, beetles and lizards. The adaptations that they have undergone is interesting. If you are walking barefoot, you may wish to emulate the barking gecko and stand first on one leg, then the other.

Most of the flora has also adapted. There are a number of dwarf trees that have survived just by being small. Other plants store their water, and resemble giant water barrels. Yet others have very fleshy leaves that store water. This may be of some help if you did forget to stock water and have car problems, but don’t take my word for it.

The one thing that every piece of marketing mentions is the welwitschia mirabilis. This is a plant that lives for up to five hundred years in the desert. Although its tenacity and longevity are remarkable, the fact that it has the appearance of a heap of garden refuse means that on viewing you should concentrate on the ‘five hundred years’ bit and not expect an earth-shattering visual experience.

The Namib is reported to be the ‘oldest’ desert on earth, although there is some scientific debate on the claim that is being brushed aside. This means that if you want to see ‘the desert’, you should visit the Namib. If you want to see ‘a desert’, you might as well go and look at one of the younger pretenders such as the Sahara or the Gobi, or enlist in the US army and seek a posting in Iraq.

Although the Sahara may be larger and the Gobi may be more isolated, the Namib Desert has hundreds of thousands of years in which to practice, so you can expect probably the best desert experience of your life.