Images of Namibia

 Kalahari desert

 birds nests, hundreds of birds live in this "condo"  They can only use certain trees which are strong enough to hold the weight the nest, a big one can weigh up to a tonne when soaking wet.  We saw several on the ground as the branch had broken.

 female cheetah

 rock hyrax posing

lizard sunning himself on the balancing rocks

 thunderstorm moving in, it looked like a nuclear explosion.  We got caught in the rain, it was so heavy that we could not see 1 metre in front of us, the road became a river, it was pretty scary, but thanks to Dan's great driving, we made it.

 the landscape goes on forever, this is southern Namibia

African thunderstorm and rainbow.  Fortunately we were parked when this one it, it was a flash flood in the desert, they only had 9mm of rain this year until this storm hit,  15mm fell.  There were rivers everywhere, a car got stuck in the laneway and had to be towed out.  Most of the water had soaked in within 1 hour.  I have never seen rain come down that hard.

Namibia is a country of changing landscapes, drive for a 15 minutes and it changes, turn a corner and it changes.  It is a beautiful and rugged country.  Many times, we are the only people on the road.  You can see clouds of dust in the distance before you can see the vehicle that is making it.  Often there are oryx, the national animal of Namibia, on the side of the road.
The people are so friendly, they wave from the side of road, adults and kids.
They have young men who guard your car for you when you park it.  They wave you into a spot and watch your vehicle so no one can break into it.  They carry your groceries and will stop traffic so you can back out.  They are not employed by anyone but are official.  It helps stop theft and employs people.  You pay they whatever you think, 50 cents.  We give them $10 Namibian dollars (1 Cdn) and they are over the moon.  Its the same in the gas stations, they pump your gas, clean your windows and check your tire pressure, all for whatever you give them.  They are not employed by the service station, but are sanctioned by them.  The security guard in one of the liquor stores, got cold ciders for me, carried them to the cash and out to the car.

Cheers
Kim and Dan

Luderitz and Kolmanskop

We travelled south then north from Ai-Ais along the South African border, along the Fish River, fortunately it was not flooded.  It was stunning scenery with the mountains and the river, which had water in it.
Luderitz, which was a very important port in the 1800's was bought for 100pounds and 200 rifles.  They then found diamonds lying on top of the sand and the boom began.  At first, they crawled along the sand (commando crawl)  and picked up the diamonds.  Then they had to dig for them.  Between 1908 and 1914, they removed over 5 million carats of diamonds.   Now they "dive for diamonds"  where they suck up the ocean floor and sieve for the diamonds.  They built a town, Kolmaskop in the middle of the desert.  They had grand houses, a bowling alley, butcher, ice making shop, dry goods store, a 220 bed hospital with an Xray machine and a theatre which had acts brought in from Germany.
There was  large dining room, champagne bar for the ladies and smoking room for the men.  There was a school.  It had electricity and a train line was built in 10 months.  There was a seawater swimming pool (the water was pumped from the ocean 35km away).
There were a lot of bachelors working there and they would take pictures of the palm trees in Swakopmund.  They would send them to their girlfriends in Germany enticing them to come.  The ladies would show up in fur coats, having no idea how harsh the climate was.  The men would pay the ships captain to drop them off in the dark, so they could not see how desolate it was.  Most of the ladies went back to Germany.  It was almost abandoned when they found a richer diamond deposit on the Orange River in the 1920's.  The last 3 families finally moved out in 1959.
Now the desert is taking it back, it is really eerie to walk through the buildings that still have fancy woodwork and floors, but are being buried in sand.
Luderitz has to be one of the windiest places on earth.  It is quite cool, had to wear a coat in the evening.  It serves as a port, mostly for fishing and the diamond boats.
Cheers Kim and Dan

 Kolmanskop, one of the houses slowly being buried in sand

 jelly fish, dozens are washed up on the beach every day

 George Haus built by one of the men who made a lot of money in diamonds, he and his wife only lived here for 2 years, the view is stunning

grand staircase in one of the houses, the woodwork was amazing, very detailed.  The wood floors are still there under all the sand

Pictures from our game drive on the Kalahari

Some pictures from our game drive on the Kalahari

 Springbok grazing in the early morning

 Giraffes, all males, looking for the ladies

 oryx, the national animal of Namibia

Blue wildebeest, have very poor eyesight, so they usually hang out with zebras who can spot danger and warn them

Fish River Canyon

Sorry its taken so long for my next post, but a combination of dependable WiFi and my woefully inadequate tech skills have made it difficult.
Right now I am sitting by the pool in the Namib desert, where it is raining all around us but not here, guess that's why its the desert!
We headed from the Kalahari to an overnight stop at the Quiver tree forest and cheetah sanctuary.  It's a really cool spot with a menagerie of orphaned animals that have been given to the owners as they are real animal lovers.  3 cheetahs, which we got to watch being fed and pet, yes, I still have both my hands and all my fingers, 1 adult warthog and 3 babies, 10 dogs, a large lizard, meerkats and lot of birds.  It's run by an Namibian couple who are very helpful and friendly.
Just up the hill from the campsite is the quiver tree forest, it is unusual to have this many trees all in one place.  They are a desert tree, actually a member of the aloe family, and usually grow alone on the side of rocky slopes.  They can survive in very dry climates and drop their "leaves" to preserve water.   They got their name as the San made the quivers for their arrows from the tree.
We then headed to Fish River Canyon which is the second largest canyon in Africa, 1000m deep and up to 20km at its widest.  It is a canyon within in a canyon.  It was formed when with a fracture in the earth's crust, which was deepened by glaciers.  Later more faults and erosion formed the canyon within the canyon.  It is really deep and hot, it can reach 50 deg C in the base.  The Fish River runs through it, it is amazing there is any water as its so dry and hot.  The rocks are made of layers with many colours.
There is a lovely campsite there but you have to watch out for the baboons, they will steal your food if you are not nearby.  One lady had to chase it out of her car with a chair!  We brought a squirt gun but so far, have not had to use it.
We then headed to Ai-Ais hot springs, meaning hot water which is in the southern tip of Namibia, close to the South African border.  The hot springs are 65degC which is not very appealing when it 38deg.  They mix the water with cool water to fill the huge pool, so its about 28deg, which is Dan temperature.  This is where the Fish River Canyon ends.
cheers Kim and Dan

Cheetah having her dinner

 Ground squirrel checking out the scenery

 Quiver tree forest at sunset, stunning

Fish River Canyon

Kalahari Desert

After what seemed like days traveling, we finally made it to Namibia.  KLM business class was excellent, one of the best flights we have had for service.  The captain even stopped to chat with us and when he found out about our travel plans, he sent us a special message from the flight deck.
We are definitely not roughing it, our camper has a big bed, fridge, microwave and A/C (which is a must as it was 35 deg in the desert today).
We are staying over in the Kalahari Desert tonight.  The Kalahari is not a true desert, it receives too much rainfall to be a "real" desert.  Right now it is green and lush, with a magnificent contrast between the red sand and the green vegetation.  It is so green now as it is the rainy season, which means its sunny in the morning and tends to cloud over in the afternoon with a spectacular thunderstorm, then tends to clear overnight.  It is so fresh after the rain, although a bit humid.  There is a gentle breeze blowing now as the sun sets over the desert.  We are enjoying it with some great and inexpensive (read cheap) South African wine.  Alcohol is cheap here, we bought 24 beer (large cans), 12 bottles of cider and 6 bottles of wine for $100 Canadian.  Petrol (gas) is about the same price as at home, I think I prefer the cheaper alcohol!
The Africans' have some great names for their business, they are quite literal.  We saw a psychologist whose business was called "Let's Talk",  the Dove Life Insurance next to the Dove funeral home.
I am going to try to get pictures of all the interesting business names.
So far we have seen impala, meerkats,  and baboons just driving along the main highway. The landscape has gone from hilly to flat, green to brown then green and red.  It looks a lot like parts of Australia, which is not surprising as they were once joined.
We dine under the stars tonight in the desert and then a game drive tomorrow.

impala grazing on the lush grass in the Kalahari, in a few months, it will be brown

rolling red dunes of the Kalahari

our camper, most campsites in Namibia have shades or trees for shade

Happy Travels

Kim and Dan

Don't try this at home folks! from the streets of Phnom Penh

 these were taken from the balcony of out hotel room in Phnom Penh

Tuol Sleng museum and the Killing Fields

Phnom Pehn is a large noisy busy city and the capital of Cambodia.  The Royal Palace dates back to the 15th century and has beautiful grounds.  The current king lives here but behind the public areas.  he is 53, has not married and does not have Cambodian blood (his mother is Vietnamese and father Italian).
 Most people come to the city to see Tuol Sleng prison or S21.  It was one of many prisons where people were brought to be tortured.  It was once a high school, but since Pol Pot took over the country, schools, hospitals and any educational centre was banned.  Anyone who was suspected of being a threat to his new society were tortured and executed.  If they survived S21 they were then taken to the Killing Fields.   They were bound and blindfolded and executed and dumped in mass graves.  The Khmer Rouge did not shoot them, bullets were too scarce, they hit them with hoes, machetes or decapitated them saw palms. Children were murdered also as they could not work in the fields.  Not everyone was dead when they were pushed into the mass graves, so DDT was then spread on them to dampen the smell and kill anyone who was not dead.  Loudspeakers played music to drown out the screams as this killing field was next to farms and a town.  There were dozens of prisons and killing fields throughout the country.  Over 3 million Cambodians were murdered between 1975 to 1979, anyone who was educated or thought to be a threat to Pol Pot.  They openly admitted to killing anyone they thought may be  threat, no proof needed.  The rest of the population from cities and towns were forced into the country to build dams, grow rice and other perform other menial labour.  It was a dismal failure as they were given not instructions and most knew nothing about farming.  Many
starved and were worked to death as there was not enough food.  Pol Pot also traded 3 bags of rice for a gun with China depleting the food supply even further.
The Vietnamese forced Pol Pot (short for Political Potential named by the Chinese) from power but the misery for the Cambodians was not to end.  Families were reunited but most of the men from the towns were forced to harvest timber which was sold to China, Vietnam and Thailand.  This was dangerous work as the areas were full of landminds and many died or were maimed by them.  It is sad to see the men missing limbs who cannot work and there is not public welfare so they often have to depend on the generosity of tourists.
There was no education between the early 1970's to 1993 so a large portion of the population cannot read or write. 

Royal Palace

Throne room, no pictures allowed

the killing fields, bones and bits of clothing migrate to the surface from the shallow graves

Tuol Sleng prison

the classrooms were divided into cells which were less than 1 metre wide, the prisoners were removed from their cells to be tortured