Namibia: Damaraland Sites

Other Posts: Trip Overview, Little Kulala Lodge, Sossusvlei and Deadvlei, Sesriem Canyon And Scenic Flight, Swakopmund Sandboarding, Walvis Bay Dune & Sea Tour, Doro Nawas Camp

Choosing Doro Nawas Logde over other camps was Dave's decision because he wanted to visit Twyfelfontein. Doro Nawas was the only Wilderness Safaris camp close enough to the site to offer the visit as a camp activity. Who wants to have a chance to see rhinos when you can see one of the largest concentrations of cave art in the world? Other attractions we'd visit during the day would be Organ Pipes and Burnt Mountain, Damara Living Museum, and the Petrified Forest.

The ride to the sites would be about an hour. On the way we saw a group of baboons grazing. They were too far for decent shots (or Dave's lens wasn't big enough) but their black fur against the dry grass provided some interesting shots.

Twyfelfontein (Afrikaans for "uncertain spring") is Namibia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site. It's situated in a pretty little valley of red rocks with pockets of greenery. The area was inhabited because water was sometimes available from a spring. The estimated 2,500 carvings were likely created 2,000+ years ago. The site is about 180 miles from the sea, yet some of the carvings depict flamingos, seals, and penguins. Circular carvings depicted water, leading experts to believe some of the petroglyphs were maps of the area.

We checked in at the Welcome Center that housed a small museum, shop, bathrooms, and snack bar. The rock-walled building blended in with the sourrounding area and featured fencing made from 55 gallon drum lids. All touring of the area is conducted by guide and we were grouped with 14 early-retiring aged Canadians traveling together for 2 weeks by bus. 45 minutes with them was enough for us. They were nice, just too big a group to herd. By the end of the tour we were even yelling at John to stop dilly-dallying.

The site was definitely impressive and Holly enjoyed looking at rocks more than she thought she would.

Our next stop was Burnt Mountain. William gave us some explanation about how the mountain forming had to do with the continental drift but we were just lost. Our takeaway was some stuff erupted and left this black dirt.

The Organ Pipes were in the same area. Same major geological event caused their creation. The eruptive forces pushed the ground straight up creating columns of rock with cool rectangular shapes.

The final stop of the morning was the Damara Living Museum. It's sorta like Colonial Williamsburg but much, much smaller. The employees/volunteers wore traditional clothing while demonstrating facets of indigenous life in that area. Our teenage guide escorted us to different stations where someone else would demo a different craft such as medicine making, jewelry design, beer making (looked awful), tool work, and fire building. After groups of guests are routed through the stations the entire village comes together to perform a song and dance routine. Our entire experience here maybe lasted 40 minutes.

Here is where a little conversation with William would have paid off in dividends. We knew we were going to see the Petrified Forest for our evening event. We were just minutes from the forest while at the museum. Why would we drive all the way back here again? We figured we'd have other guests with us or there was another planned activity along with the forest so we didn't ask. Turned out we were the only guests going with William that afternoon. We drove to the "forest", saw it, and went back to camp. He could have had the evening off if we visited the forest in the morning. We would have been happy with drinks at the pool.

 

We don't want to be insulting to a national monument, but the Petrified Forest was probably our least favorite activity in this area. We were guided by a park employee along a path as he pointed out a couple of plants, including welwitschia (Namibia's national plant) and a red ochre tree, before we stopped to look at dead tree trunks. These fossilized trees are estimated to be 280 millions years old and arrived in Namibia from the north after a flood during the Ice Age. This was before the continental drift so these may have been from Europe.

Welwitschia - some of these plants are 1,500 years old

Sundowners were had back at camp on the verandah. Sunset was a bit haze-filled that night but still very nice. The next morning we were entertained by two hornbills while we packed up our things in preparation for our trip north. Our next camp, Hoanib Skeleton Coast, would offer game viewing and a trip to the coast.

 

Namibia: Doro Nawas Camp and Game Drive

Other Posts: Trip Overview, Little Kulala Lodge, Sossusvlei and Deadvlei, Sesriem Canyon And Scenic Flight, Swakopmund Sandboarding, Walvis Bay Dune & Sea Tour

We left sandy Swakopmund mid-morning on a very overcast day. Our plane was going to be delayed a bit due to weather, but luckily we would be able to fly out of this airport vs. having to be driven 50km away to the alternative landing site.

Our flight to the Damaraland region of Namibia was around one hour. The terrain up here consisted of small mountains and rocky outcrops. No more seas of sand. Our camp, Doro Nawas, was near a river-bed (dry) so there was some lush foliage in the area. The Doro Nawas airstrip is the hub of the Air Wilderness system. There was a large tent that served as a sun shelter with some camp chairs and a cooler filled with beverages. Flights would bring passengers here to connect with other planes north/south to camps or back to Windhoek. Airplane sizes still ranged between 6-12 seats.

The airstrip was a very short drive from camp. This was one of the more unique camp setups we've seen: the main building of camp was up on a mound with the 16 units (concrete buildings; not tents) circling the building on lower ground. The main building roofline was jagged to mimic the nearby mountainside.

The routines at this camp was a bit different from others. Our typical Wilderness Safaris experience is an all-inclusive price for lodging, activities, food, and drink. At Doro Nawas you could opt for an a-la-carte pricing model. Many people self-drive in this area and set their own schedule. Lunch was usually quiet since self-drivers were out-and-about and we ate breakfast alone both days.

A manager gave us a tour of our room. We had a great view of some mountains from our patio. The room was large enough with a bed on wheels for sleeping outdoors, dual vanity sink, writing area, chairs, nice showers (indoor and out) and private toilet area. No A/C, wi-fi, or plunge pool.

Camp common areas were very nice. The pool overlooked the valley and was a welcome refresher after hot days in the desert. The wrap-around porch was perfect for dining and relaxing with sundowners. The firepit was surrounded by funky bean bag chairs in the courtyard. The roof of the building was an observation deck giving guests a 360 degree view of the area. One night the camp served dinner on the roof and we were placed in a more private area of the deck to help us celebrate our anniversary. It was freezing on our side of the deck and blankets were passed out.

The first of our two nights at this camp we rolled the bed onto the patio and slept outdoors. Temperatures were maybe in the 30's. As long as you were under the covers you were fine, but the condensation made all the bedding wet. We actually stayed out the whole evening, which surprised us because we are wimps about things like this. We both woke up about the same time at 2:30am and were amazed by the sky. Stars everywhere and a visible Milky Way. The next night Dave set the alarm to go outside to take his first night sky photos.

Sunsets were equally amazing.

Our first activity at Doro Nawas was an afternoon game drive. Our guide, William, took us and a newlywed couple from France a few miles from camp into the riverbed. We were pretty certain we'd be viewing elephants. We definitely saw elephants, but we lucked into a very quick glimpse of three cheetahs - very rare in this area. They quickly ran towards the hills and the terrain was too thick with brush for us to traverse.

We spent at least an hour watching a herd of 15-20 elephants, including one or two juveniles. They were slowly grazing along the dried-up riverbed while on their way to the man-made watering hole. William did spook a few of the elephants and at times we were charged. Always exciting.

Once the elephants were done with us William drove us to the top of a hill with a wonderful view across 360 degrees. We enjoyed cocktails and taking in the scenery of Damaraland, which was vastly different from our experience a few days before in the south.

Once back at camp, we enjoyed sunset from the main level porch and the rooftop deck. After dinner we grabbed some bean bags by the fire and got to listen to some of the camp staff sing a few songs. The next morning had an action-pack agenda in-store including cave carvings, a living museum, and pipe organs.

March Charity of the Month: St. Jude Heros

Charity of the Month is a way Team Tizzel is helping to support some very worthy organizations. As part of this program, we will dedicate a post to a charity that we will sponsor through the month by donating Holly's training run money.

February: In February we sponsored German Sheperd Dog Rescue in memory of one of our favorite dogs, Dakota. We will donate $125 to GSDR in hopes that they can place some great dogs in loving homes.

March's Charity:

St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital / St. Jude Heros

This is not the first time we have supported St. Jude. Sometimes we find inspiration from our friends that take on a fundraising challenge to determine our Charity of the Month. We've found many testimonies of the great work performed at St. Jude and can see why they are supported so passionately.

Our friend Michael Miller, whom you've met in many of our race reports, is fundraising on behalf of St. Jude and joining a team of other Heros in running the NYC Marathon this fall. He will be running in honor of his cousin's son AJ whom passed away at age 20 while battling leukemia. AJ was a St. Jude patient.

From Michael's Hero Page:

For those that know me...I love to run. It's part of who I am and it's allows me to experience the world around me. Beyond the physical nature of this experience, there are emotional aspects as well. In this case I am dedicated to using my running to make an impact on behalf of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

St. Jude personally impacted our family by working tirelessly to help my cousin's son (who called me Uncle Mike) in his hard fought battle with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). Unfortunately his battle ended February 2014 amongst family and his friends at St. Jude.

St. Jude is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Thanks to YOUR donations and efforts:

Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food — because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.

Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to more than 80% since it opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude won't stop until no child dies from cancer.

To learn more about AJ and his positive legacy go to http://www.slyestrong6foundation.org/about-us/meet-aj-slye/

Thank you for donating and helping me reach my goal for the kids of St. Jude and in Honor of AJ Slye!!!

To support Michael's efforts for St. Jude please click this link.