TransNamib: Dimensions of a Desert. Gabi Christa
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Название: TransNamib: Dimensions of a Desert
Автор: Gabi Christa
Издательство: Автор
Жанр: Книги о Путешествиях
isbn: 9783939792093
isbn:
While exploring its dimensions, the authors quickly learn: the Namib is not empty, but has many fascinating faces. It was a challenge to choose which of their many experiences to write about. The oldest desert on earth can boast of uniqueness, geological and historical. Witness to the splitting apart of the ancient continent of Gondwana, the Namib forms a tiny strip along the Atlantic coast line. It is known as the foggy desert, influenced by Atlantic currents. Bordering the succulent Karoo to the south, it is host to a hotspot for species. It fizzles out into the barren ocean of red sands, sporting the highest dunes on earth. In between, you find islands of mountains with endemic flora and fauna, as well as dry rivers which trace their ways to the coast. It is home to laughing geckos and golden moles, but also desert elephants and desert lions. In the north of the Skeleton Coast, wrecks of stranded ships bear witness to European expansions. Desolate Portuguese trading posts and slave houses as well as scars from the civil war in Angola line the way travelled by the authors. They visit exploited diamond fields in the high-security Sperrgebiet – a huge open air museum of German colonial history. Even the present-day gold rush atmosphere in young Namibia, evoked by the renaissance of uranium mining, as well as the related grievances of the indigenous peoples and ecologists do not go unnoticed…
It is not easy to me to stop here. The dimensions are vast.
Should you feel tempted to venture out yourself, you’ll find the appendix with Roadbook and waypoints serving as an extensive basis for planning – with one finger on the map or both hands on the wheel.
Holger Vollbrecht
EduVentures, Windhoek
Part 1
South Africa
The first part of our journey extends from the Cape of Good Hope to the southernmost extensions of the Namib Desert in the South African Northern Cape to the Orange River, which forms the border with Namibia.
From Cape of Good Hope to the Orange River
The desire to traverse the Namib Desert was awoken during our first visit in 1999. At that time, the civil war in Angola and the high-security status of the diamond mining zone (“Sperrgebiet”) made it impossible to travel through the arid part along the Atlantic coast. This situation has now significantly changed. The Angolan civil war was terminated in 2002 and, a short time afterwards, Sperrgebiet 2 was opened to a concession holder. Even parts of Sperrgebiet 1 have been open to visitors since 2004. Thus, “TransNamib” could be realised and an old dream could be made real.
All preparations for the journey have been completed. I’ve only got to wait for the passports from the Angolan consulate, then I’ll be on my way to trace a way through the Namib Desert. A desert is exciting, and, as with human life, it incorporates both all beauty and all horror. The specific feature of the Namib Desert is its fascinating diversity. This desert is not even just one landscape. On the one hand, it comprises areas with a rich diversity of flora and fauna, on the other hand it presents extreme living conditions for humans, animals and plants alike. Its southernmost fringes are to be found in the South African province of Northern Cape. From here, it extends 1.600km north into southern Angola to the town of Namibe. Namibe translates into “empty space” or “a place where there is nothing”. However, the dimensions of the desert host many small treasures, to be discovered and unearthed during the TransNamib.
This journey is about encountering the desert as a whole and a way to make this happen will be outlined. Since the planned route in Angola is very remote and the “Killing Zone” along the coast is not recommended for single vehicles, the journey is undertaken by two vehicles.
Cape Town – Mother City
The travel destination South Africa – promoted worldwide in high-gloss brochures – also has a tough working day face. The sun is just about to rise but, since summer is still reluctant to come, a cold north-westerly blows the clouds, heavy with rain, across Table Mountain. A day like any other – to everyone. Even to those who live under the bridges, in the ditches, in the slums of Cape Town. A day like any other, full of worn-out hopes and revolving disappointments. In Milnerton suburb the weekly garbage collection is on. Have-nots browse the dustbins of the haves, looking for something useful, even edibles. The houses around don’t rise high, and you can spot Table Mountain even from far away. This panoramic view of Table Bay and the mountain is free to all. But who can look upon and rejoice, when reduced, at 6 a.m., to eke out a survival from dustbins?
Those who are better off, people of all skin colours, are driving to their jobs in polished cars, walking their dogs to the beach or jogging for fitness. The divide between rich and poor is large, but the different skin colours are losing their significance. In between you find more and more average people, inconspicuously being like everybody else. In front of the detached houses, perfectly trimmed lawns extend up to the respective garden walls. Enraged dogs bark behind the high perimeters, topped by electric fences. They evoke the Wailing Wall, mutely expressing the fears and concerns of their owners, for their lives and their belongings.
Over and over again, between the shrubs alongside the highway, clapboard huts keep emerging. The police come to remove these desperate dwellings, the residents of which are outsiders, with neither money nor jobs. The newcomers from up-country or refugees from other African countries haven’t yet been able to establish themselves in proper housing areas. They left behind dire living conditions in their home villages and ventured out, hoping for a better life.
On behalf of Portugal’s King John II, Bartolomeu Dias embarked on a journey and, in 1488, rounded the Cape of Good Hope. He sailed on until dropping anchor off Mossel Bay. Vasco da Gama, nine years later, followed in his wake on his way to India. Focused on the legendary riches of the Orient, no one gave it a thought to anchor in this bay below the distinctive mountain and to explore the surroundings. This happened, nevertheless, when, in 1647, the Dutch vessel “Nieuw Haarlem” was wrecked in Table Bay. The castaway newcomers explored the area, discovered fresh water and bartered with the local Khoikhoi. Survival of the Dutch was ensured by the meat supply from the cattle breeders. Today, about 2.400 members of this indigenous group still live in the Cape Region, no longer cattle breeders, however.
For an entire year, the castaways waited for rescue, while erecting a makeshift settlement. Once they were back in the Netherlands, they praised the advantages of the Cape. The Dutch East-India Company was convinced by their descriptions of the virtues of a post in the pristine conditions at the Cape. On 6 April 1652, the first ships dropped anchor in Table Bay. Under the leadership of Jan van Riebeeck eight women and 82 men disembarked. They started setting up a provisioning post, thus laying the foundation for European settlement.
Tenderly, Cape Town is called the Mother City, but in lurid headlines also Cape of Fear. At the same time, South Africa is described as “One World in One Country”. This reflects the huge diversity of this country and is underpinned by the term Rainbow Nation, a term heavily exploited by the tourism industry. Everybody has seen a rainbow. The term refers to a spectrum of many colours underneath one sky, jointly shining as something unique. In South Africa, it means the different nations, tribes, skin complexions, traditions and cultures, after Apartheid and under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, peacefully standing for the new South Africa. Mandela devoted all his life to this vision and it became reality. Mandela’s struggle of a lifetime, his total commitment to his principles and the circumstances of his СКАЧАТЬ