Basti and Lyn

Meeting the Damara People

Damaraland is a scenic area in Namibia with its huge, untamed, ruggedly beautiful landscape. Its named after the Damara people which are presumed to be the original inhabitants of Namibia, speaking a 'click' language which is really fascinating to hear. 

After a few hundred kilometers on gravel road, our GPS told us to turn right towards our lodge. Apparently, it was right here, but Bastian and I couldn't see it. The only thing we saw was a mount of massive red-colored boulders. A moment later, a man appeared in the distance and waved us towards the boulders. We realized that THIS would be the accommodation for the night... 

The accommodation turned out to be really nice and we felt a little bit like the Flintstones in their stone houses. Despite the 40 degrees Celsius outside, the inside was not air-conditioned, but the stone walls provided a natural cooling effect and we had a good rest at night. 

After breakfast we met the Damara people in a village. They performed a traditional dance for the two of us. We also learned about their lives and it was really amazing to see how the people here were able to adapt and to survive the inconceivably tough conditions in Damaraland.

We had dinner at our lodge and enjoyed a sunset drink on top of the mount that represented out lodge. We had fun with the shadows on the boulders and Bastian tried to move some of them. 

That stone in particular was scary for me. It was pointing down to the stone houses and if it would have moved, some of the lodge would have been toast... 

Before leaving to Swakopmund, we stopped by the rock paintings which are engravings that bushman several thousand years ago drew in the rocks. The paintings indicated maps of the area with animals and waterholes and are still visible today. 

We left the gravel roads behind and were ready for a little bit of civilization in Swakopmund at the east coast of Namibia with 40,000 inhabitants.