06/16/2002:
We spent a marvellous weekend among new friends: the Mbanderu - a part of the Herero-people celebrated their "Green Flag Procession". On that day, thousands of Hereros gather to honor their former chief Kahimemua Nguvauva who was executed by the german Schutztruppe on 06/13/1896.
That for there is not only a colourfull procession to the grave, but also there are competitions in horse-riding, troops and traditional dances between the different regional goups of Hereros.
We have been introduced ritually to the people and have been welcomed to join the whole weekend. To tell you more about that, we made this extra page. |
06/14/2002:
The Namib - one of the oldes deserts in the world - extends over some hundreds of kilometers along the atlantic coast of Namibia. Here we find the biggest Dunes in the world - some up to 450 meters! We spend two days in this magical world and climb the dunes and are quite surprised about the fauna: everywhere small bushes and even trees grow in the sand because of the intensive rains during the last wet season...
And we forfill ourselves a dream: a flight on board a balloon over the desert! A 6:30 am we take of and the wind takes us slowly and quitely over the dunes. The sun rises and the first rays of light change the colors of the desert every minute. Too soon we start to descend, glide once again over a dune to a group of Oryx and - land in the golden grass. The following champagne-breakfast makes us forget, that the time of the flight has passed far too fast ... |
06/11/2002:
Today we had our first flat tire!! |
06/11/2002:
It took us two hours to reach the summit of the volcano Brukkaros. It became extinct bevor about 80 million years, but it's still very impressive: with a diameter of about 3 km its wall climb up to 650 meters above the surrounding area. Above, a little sign tells us that we have reached the "View of the World". |
06/09/2002:
The ghost town Kolmannskuppe - east of Luderitz - is a highlight. The small city was buildt when first diamonds were found in this area at the beginning of the 20st century. 1956, when no more of these precious stones were found, it was abandoned and left to the desert. Since then the wind has taken the dunes right into and through the houses.
Since 1978 the city is opened to the public as a museum altought it's within the restriced area. In the last years some houses have been rebuildt and here we can assume, which luxury was spoilt here, in former days. |
06/08/2002:
After the very dry landscapes of Southern Namibia, we discover the town of Lüderitz at the Altlantic Ocean. Its ocean wind, the architechture of its houses and its lighthouse remind of the atlantic coast of some european Countries. This town is placed between the forbidden Diamond Area in the South and the big Namib desert in the North.
It has been the first place to be bought by a german man in 1883 and symbolises the beginning of the german colonisation in Namibia. The greatest time of Lüderitz was at the beginning of the twentieth century wenn diamonds have been found in the area. Nowdays the town has no big business activities anymore but remains a very nice place with feeling of the years 1900. |
