Mountains and Rock Art (3-28)

Last Monday evening I left Oshakati for Windhoek on the night bus. It’s a comfortable bus with cushioned seats that recline a little. The bus left at 7:00 and arrived at 4:30. After picking up all the passengers in Oshakati, Ongwediva, and Ondagwa, the welcome video was played. It started with a prayer for a safe journey. After the announcements, a very Christian movie was played. Since I was sitting near a screen, I listened to it while I read. The bus stopped for half an hour at 1:00. Between the movie and the stop and after the stop, I managed to sleep for several hours.

When I arrived at the guesthouse, I slept more on the couch. Then I walked around and did a little shopping. I was excited to find a pan for cooking in the oven. Last month I finally figured out how to light the oven. There’s a small cover that swings out to expose the hole into which you drop a match. I had looked at the stores here and couldn’t find any baking trays or pans. Both stores I went to in Windhoek have them. I realized that most people in the villages do not have an oven; so such pans aren’t needed here in many homes. I also bought a 100% cotton sheet to replace the mostly polyester one I had to buy here. I think that shop is the only one in Namibia that sells 100% cotton sheets. After walking around the mall, I found the shops that sell crafts and enjoyed looking at their goods. Most are rather expensive. I liked one necklace that was $40, which is not a bad price for it, but I realized that I wouldn’t feel comfortable wearing something so expensive here because other teachers can’t afford it.

Wednesday I found the craft center where there are stalls at which various groups sell their crafts. Each stall has a poster telling about the group and how the profits are used. I enjoyed walking around and looking at everything for a couple hours. I picked up a couple ostrich shell necklaces that I will enjoy wearing to school. I also had a nice lunch at the café there.

Thursday morning Rachel picked me up for our three-day road trip. When she was here for her observation, she had asked if I had plans. Since my plan had fallen through and I had not yet made a new one, she offered to travel with me because she likes the area I was planning to go to. It worked out well. We rented a car which she drove because she couldn’t add me as a driver without my physical license. Since I haven’t driven a stick shift for over twenty years and have no experience driving on the left, that worked out well.

Thursday’s destination was Spitzkoppe, a mountain known for its red rocks. As do many rock formations in the Southwest, Spitzkoppe juts out of the desert and is visible for many kilometers. Being there reminded me a lot of the parks in southern Utah. 

We walked up to a rock pool that Rachel hadn’t been to before. 

Then we ate lunch under an arch. 

After lunch we hired a guide to take us to a section of the park that can only be visited with a guide. It was Rachel’s first time to do this, and it was nice to be able to do some things that were new for her. First he took us to Small Bushman’s Paradise, a small cave with rock paintings that are 2000-4000 years old. The paintings were made with ochre, animal blood and a white poisonous plant. 

They feature men hunting and several animals—lion, elephant, eagle, ostrich, rhino. 

Outside the gate to the next area, the guide pointed out leopard paw prints in the sand. 

On the way to our destination, we saw three zebras. The red rocks made a stunning background for them. 

We stopped at a rock pool to enjoy the water and the view. 

The final stop was a cave in which we saw the Golden Snake, a painting of a snake and a man. Both are missing their heads because the medicine man had been ill and then was cured; so the heads were scratched off.

I loved being in the park with its rocks and desert. Rachel had been there several times before, as it’s a good place for rock climbing, her hobby. I learned a lot about rock climbing as she shared her enthusiasm. 

And I loved riding through the desert on the way there and back.

We spent the night in Uis, a very small town. Friday we went to Brandberg Mountain to see the rock paintings. 

At 2573 meters/8442 feet, Brandberg is Namibia’s highest mountain. The paintings are in a shelter that takes 45 minutes to walk to with a guide. 

On the way, I enjoyed the trees and plants and was introduced to the beautiful Shepherd’s tree.  

We also saw a number of rock hyraxes, called rock gusties here. 

Our guide pointed out a couple trees with elephant damage. 

Namibia’s most famous rock painting—the white lady— is here. 

The painting is actually a medicine man but was mistaken to be a woman by the European who discovered it, and the name has stuck. It is about 5000 years old. 

The surrounding paintings, mostly animals, are 2000-5000 years old and were made with ochre, blood, and a poisonous white plant.

After finishing at Brandberg, we drove to Twyfelfontein, a site famous for its petroglyphs. I had read about it and knew I would have to find a way to get there; so it worked out well that Rachel was willing to go there again. At the junction to go there, children stand by the road holding out empty water bottles to ask for water. Having been there before, Rachel was prepared. On the way back we gave the remainder of our bread to a boy.

Twyfelontein has about 2000 rock pictures, mostly animals, that are 2000-2500 years old. 

One rock features animals and their tracks. It was used to teach children about tracking, an important skill for the ancient bushmen. 

One has a dolphin and penguin. These would have been seen by people who traveled to the coast, returned and drew pictures to show everyone what they saw. 

At the end of the tour, one of the other men asked if there are any paintings at the site. When the guide said there are only a few, he asked if we could see them. They were only a couple minutes away; so we go to walk there and see the paintings, which was pretty special.

After a second night in Uis, we headed back to Windhoek on Saturday. In one town we stopped at a café Rachel had been to that often has carrot cake. That was lunch. Across the street there are market stalls; so we walked around them for a short time. I bought a PCV piping bracelet. I’d seen them in Windhoek as was fascinated by them. This one cost N$100, which seemed like a lot, but he had reduced the price from N$150; so I agreed to it. At the craft center in Windhoek, they sell for N$30. So that man knew he had a naïve tourist and made a good profit. I figure he needs the money more than I do. And I like the bracelet.

Since the return bus on Sunday was also a night bus, I returned to the craft center to buy some dolls. Then I relaxed at the hostel until it was time to go to the bus. Leokadia called to ask me to take a bag of food to Kamongwa; so she met me at the bus station. She gave me a small present—two caps to cover my hair at night. I guess women wear them here. Since I was taking the bag to Kamongwa, Leokadia said she would ask him to ask someone to drive me to the village. His idea was that I could wait until 6:30 or so and then it would be easy to get a hike because many people would be going to the funeral in Ompundja. Since the bus arrived at 5:00, I wasn’t enthused about this plan, as I would have to wait in the shop if they let me or outside if they didn’t allow me to sit inside for over an hour. Fortunately, when I got off the bus, the woman I’d met in line who had said she would help me found me and took me to her house to sleep for a while. I had a good sleep for two hours and read while she slept two more hours. Kamilia and her husband are Egyptian and have been here for 26 years. He teaches at the university, and she is an architect working for the government. He prepared an Egyptian breakfast—tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and fava beans with Egyptian seasoning. After eating, we chatted for over an hour until I needed to return home. It was really nice to meet them. A nice finish to the holiday except that their dog got into my bag when I went to get some water and met the husband and started talking. When I was leaving and wanted my eye drops, I realized that the dog had removed that small bag. We found it in the yard—emptied. All was fine except the camera battery which was chewed beyond recognition. I’ll have to buy a new one before the next holiday.