Spitzkoppe is in the middle of the desert & reminiscent of Uluru & the Olgas area of Australia. We are camping at the base of a huge rock. I thought it was going to be glamping… oops not. Still, we have generator power for a few hours in the morning & evening (so lights in the tents then) and each have our own little bucket shower at the back door of the tent. The bucket hold 20 litres so in camping terms that's pretty good. The staff put hot water into it when you want a hot shower - but given that it's either very hot or incredibly hot I've just opted for cold. The loos are on a mobile trailer & flushed - albeit ink blue water. The catering has been superb & I've been eating far too much. We can walk all over here and are out before sunrise & back for breakfast at 8am. We are not able to do star trails here as we cannot leave our gear out all night as there are lots of other people wandering all over the park. The middle of the day is either dozing, editing images, or scouting out locations for the following night/morning shoot. Then it's back out around 4.45pm shoot sunset and then stars & back for dinner at 8pm. And then we've gone back out and photographed star scapes until 11.30/12. I initially posted some star scapes but they are very dark and need more editing than I have time for at present.
I don't know what the official temperature was but I'm guesstimating 38-40 during the middle of the day. I think I drank more water in one afternoon than I did in 3 days at Walvis bay.
William & I are back in Windhoek now. Power + wifi = happy people. The downside is that it's quite a hike to the shops & restaurants from here or a cab ride, so the on tap catering at the camp was good!
You cannot wander around the city with a camera around your neck like you can out in the desert. Even in Swakopmund a lady warned me to be careful. You really do forget how good we have it in NZ.
We are a bit trepidatious (I think that's a made up word) about travelling on our own in SA; I got our guide Shapaka to teach me some swear words in Afrikaans - it had the staff in fits of laughter. The plan is to speak familiarly like a local Afrikaner so people won't mark us as a soft tourist target. We have a rest day tomorrow to catch our breath and then it's off to the airport at 4.30am Monday. That will be a big day as we catch a train from JB airport to Pretoria and then pick up our rental. Then it's a bit of a dash to get to Lydenburg before dark. I have no idea what the wifi situ will be. Often these smaller B&B places advertise as having it, but it's often sporadic and difficult to actually get a connection (and stay connected).
These images are from Spitzkoppe...
I don't know what the official temperature was but I'm guesstimating 38-40 during the middle of the day. I think I drank more water in one afternoon than I did in 3 days at Walvis bay.
William & I are back in Windhoek now. Power + wifi = happy people. The downside is that it's quite a hike to the shops & restaurants from here or a cab ride, so the on tap catering at the camp was good!
You cannot wander around the city with a camera around your neck like you can out in the desert. Even in Swakopmund a lady warned me to be careful. You really do forget how good we have it in NZ.
We are a bit trepidatious (I think that's a made up word) about travelling on our own in SA; I got our guide Shapaka to teach me some swear words in Afrikaans - it had the staff in fits of laughter. The plan is to speak familiarly like a local Afrikaner so people won't mark us as a soft tourist target. We have a rest day tomorrow to catch our breath and then it's off to the airport at 4.30am Monday. That will be a big day as we catch a train from JB airport to Pretoria and then pick up our rental. Then it's a bit of a dash to get to Lydenburg before dark. I have no idea what the wifi situ will be. Often these smaller B&B places advertise as having it, but it's often sporadic and difficult to actually get a connection (and stay connected).
These images are from Spitzkoppe...
A rock dassie that came in to watch us photograph. He was in the crack at the base of the plinth in the top photo
It was threatening rain as we left Spitzkoppe
RSS Feed