We woke in darkness, as the lights were out at the Villa Margherita from 6-10 this morning. Nevertheless, the kitchen whipped up a scrumptious hot breakfast to provide energy for the long drive to Twyfelfontain.
We passed a pelican parade and another impressive shipwreck on the beach
as we headed north along the seashore. The drive inland included ostrich, springbok, and a wide variety of LBBs (little brown birds) scattered in long stretches of dry plains, dotted with small villages. At our petrol stop, we were serviced by six immigrants from the exit to the Willis Avenue Bridge in NYC, who were washing our windshields before we had a chance to say, “No thanks.”
The flat barren landscape turned into rocky hillsides as we entered Damaraland, with our lovely lodge, Camp Kipwe, well-camouflaged amongst a heap of red rocks. After checking in, Anne, Nancy, and Rick left to explore the bushmen rock carvings at Twyfelfontain in glow of sunset. Meanwhile Dan, feeling a bit sedentary, embarked on a “128 hours” hike among the rocks and down to the riverside, where we were warned to stay away from the elephants.
We picked up a local guide, Desiree, at the entrance to the rocky hillsides of Twyfelfontain. Between 3,500 and 6,000 years ago, bushmen carved 2,000 petroglyphs and engravings into the rocks. The late afternoon sun brought out the best of the artists’ renderings of ostriches, elephants, giraffes, oryx, and rhinos.
For global warming advocates, images of seals and penguins indicated that the ocean was a lot closer to Twyfelfontain a few millennia ago. A pre-historic Stephen Spielberg apparently created Africa’s first motion picture—an ostrich body, with a neck and head that appeared to move from upright to ground-pecking position.
Rand and McNally’s ancestors also paid a visit here, as large rocks, with images of water holes, were used as early bush maps.
The highlight of the natural collection was “lion man,” a lion with human hands and feet, and a right angle tail, whose tale has something to do with a shaman.
Remarkably, Anne and Nancy were unperturbed by the scurrying of a little Jimmy Cagney (as the dirty desert rat) and Dustin Hoffman (as the dassi rat-so rizzo). And, they were good sports, posing for a photo in the mouth of a snake rock,
before we drove to two other Twyfelfontain spots--Burnt Mountain and the Organ Pipes—both of which sounded a lot better than they looked.
We arrived back at Camp Kipwe just as Dan wandered in from his hike, ogled a colorful gecko very unlikely to sell much insurance,
observed a bird fighting its reflection in a mirror, and glanced at the swarm of cute birdies scattered among the trees, bushes, cacti, and rocks that provide the lovely backdrop for the camp.
Before dinner, we ascended 100 steps behind the main lodge for hors d’oerves, cocktails, and a 360° scenic overlook of the rosy, rocky hillsides surrounding the camp. Fortunately, Dan and Rick saved room for the Alas-Poor-Oryx fillet at dinner. Then, after dinner, Rick requested his camera from the shower, for the closing shot of the day.
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