Two Girls From Texas in a Car: NORTHERN NAMIBIA - DAMARALAND & DESERT RHINO

Where are we going now??

The Kunene Region incorporate one of Aftrica's last wildernesses. Namibia's least inhabited area, it stretches from the coasal deseret plain in the northwest and rises slowly into a wild and rugged landscape. Because of the low population in the northern pars of this region, and the successful Community Game Guard scheme, there are good populations of game here, living beyond the boundries of any national park. This is one of the last refuges for the black rhino, which still survive (and thrive) here by rangning wide and knowing where the seasonal plants grow.

It is also home to the famous desert elephants.

This is alot of work for a bite to eat!!

Some naturalists have cited their apparently long legs and proven ability to withstand drought as evidence that they are actually a subspecies of the African elephant. Though this is not now thought to be the case, these remarkable animals are adept at surviving in the driest of areas, using their amazing knowledge of the few water sources that do exist.

Let's get moving....someone's watching us......

UIS

The discovery of tin deposits in the Uis area was made early in the 20th century, but it was not until 1924 that even small-scale extraction was carried out. This continued for over three decades until the end of the 1950's.

Camping, not "Glamping".....

This was one time the world's largest hard-rock tin-mining operation. Some 84,000 tons of tin were extracted over the years - much low grade ore. By 1990 the business was rapidly losing money. The cost of productions, together with a downwardspiral in the market price of tin, finally led to the closure of the mine in 1990. Around 2,000 jobs were lost, and the samll town was left destitute .

BRANDBERG

Measuring about 18 miles by 13 miles and 6,200 feet high at its highest point, this ravine-split massif of granite is Namibia's highest mountain.

TWYELFONTEIN ROCK ENGRAVINGS

"Doubtful spring" by the first European farmer to occupy the land - a reference to the failings of a perennial spring of water which wells up near the base of the valley. At one time there was a spring of water which wells up near the base of the valley. It attracted huge herds of game from the sparse plains around. This is why the slopes amid flat-topped mountains typical of Damaraland, conceal one of Africa's greates concentrations of rock art.

These date to 2,000 BC

The boulders that litter these slopes are dotted with thousands of paintings and ancient engravings. This was named a World Heritage Site in 2007.

My guide in the rock paintings - Salvadores

Shepherd'sTree

ORGAN PIPES AND BURNT MOUNTAIN

Organ Pipes - hundreds of angular colums of dolorite in a most unusual formation. They were formed about 120 million years ago when the dolorite shrank as it cooled.

Burnt Mountain- hundreds of years ago a great lava flow formed this black shale near dominant sandstone. When the sun catches the mountain in the late afternoon, it glows with a startling rainbow of colours, as if it's on fire.

SAVE THE RHINO TRUST

Driving to Desert Rhino Camp....

This is a local chairity founded by the late Blythe and Rudi Loutit in 1982, grew out of the slaughter of the region's wildlife that was taking place during the 1970's-1980's when 95% of all rhino in Africa were lost to poaching.

Tracking the rhino....

This warmed our seats for the morning game drive at 6:00AM

I think you look like your father.......

As these rhino numbers shank to near extinction, they started a pressure group to sto indiscriminate hunting in the area.

Tracking with our cameras......

Both the front and the back foot of the rhino....great tracks to follow.....

Once the hunting was stopped, the locals knew the tricks of the rhino's and laid the foundations for the successful community conservation programs that now operate in this region.

Greeting us with a song when we arrived......

I stayed at Desert Rhino Camp - There are about 25 rhino's in this conservancy, and there are a total of 400 in this region. Many of the rhino's have had their horns removed in this area, to save them from being poached. Sad, but it actually preserves the rhino's lives.

Damara Language - Along with the bushman, the Damara are presumed to be the original inhabitants of Namibia. They speak an ancient "click language", which is fascinating to hear...the click's have four distinct sounds and are written- / // ! # they can be before a word, in the middle of a word, but never at the end of a sentence.

NAMIBIAN STATE FLOWER - WELWITSCHIA

Very interesting plant, a rarity among rarities, it is a swarf conifer that grows only in the Namib. They are calssified with cycads and pines as cone-bearing plants, they are at the sametime thought to represent an evolutionary link to flowering plants.

They live some possibly 2,000 years. Half of the trunk remains below ground.