No Fixed Abode: Shipwrecks in the sand

Tue 28 Jun 2016 - Travel to Uis

For the previous two mornings we have accepted Ruxana’s offer of eggs for breakfast but the vast number of eggs she scrambled and the cheese she added, while tasty, had overfilled us for the day so this morning it was back to our beloved porridge. Once packed we said a lengthy goodbye to Ruxana (there was never anything quick about her conversations) then got underway. Today we travel up the Skeleton Coast then across the desert to Uis.

The Skeleton Coast is so named for the shipwrecks that litter the beaches. The strong currents, hidden rocks and frequent mists from the cold sea conspire to make this one of the most hazardous places for ships and if by chance anyone made it ashore there is only miles of desert. Chances of survival are slim.

We passed through Swakopmund, Namibia’s largest seaside resort, stopping briefly to buy some provisions, then headed north along the coast road, which is made of salt and is amazingly smooth. We had expected the road to nestle between the sea and towering dunes so we were very surprised to find the sea a few hundred metres to our side and inland an endless desert plain. In this region Namibia very gentle fades into the sea.

The road runs for several hundred km up the coast (luckily, we only needed to travel the first 70km) and every now again we would pass a beach or small isolated settlement labelled just as Mile 15 or Mile 33: a legacy from Namibia’s colonial past. Yesterday our friend Victor, from the Yacht Club, told us the grey lichen, which we’d sought fruitlessly the day before, could be found along this road and his description of the steel wired fence was perfect. The lichen is special for its reaction to moisture, typically the prevalent fogs. When dry it looks a drab, almost dead plant put show it some water and within seconds it begins to turn green and bushy - right in front of your eyes. Apparently it was featured on David Attenborough’s ‘Life of Plants’.

A short while later we spotted a sign for the wreck of the Zeila and turned off to take a look. It was stranded in the early morning hours of 25 August 2008. A fishing trawler, it was sold as scrap metal to an Indian company but became stranded after it broke loose from its towing line while underway to Bombay, India. There were some suspicious characters lurking at the car park so we only pulled in to take a photo then promptly left.

The rather peculiar town of Henties Bay marked the end of our coastal journey. Built around the mouth of the part time, or perennial, to use the Namibian term, river Omaruru the town seems prosperous enough with a small mall and many large houses but the streets are just packed sand with no pavements, although, rather oddly, street lights. We drove around the empty streets for a while exploring and concluded it must be a seaside town of predominantly second homes, as there seemed no visible signs of employment.

Just out of town we turned away from the coast and headed east, back inland, through the bleakest, most empty, barren, desert landscape we’ve so far seen. Dead flat, plantless sand as far as the horizon. We prayed the repaired puncture would hold - this was not the place to break down. After many kms the vague form of mountains became visible and the popping of our ears indicated we were steadily, although visually imperceivably, climbing and eventually the vast form of the Brandberg mountain, our next objective, came into view. The highest mountain in Namibia, Brandberg is home to some famous cave paintings we hope to visit tomorrow.

Mid afternoon we arrived in the town of Uis and found the Brandberg Rest Camp, our home for the next three nights. Learning the mains water was off and only salty bore hole water available, Glenn wandered over the road to the well stocked minimarket to buy a 6l bottle of spring water while Yvonne settled into our spacious apartment. We then checked the latest Brexit news before dining and bed.