o We have left Namibia after a fabulous week, and are now in Cape Town, the last leg of this incredible journey. The change in temperature is dramatic, from very dry and hot in Namibia, to cool, rainy, and blustery here in Cape Town. During the course of our journey, we have done more than 60 hours of game drives. In many ways, the Namibian leg of our journey was the highlight of the entire African safari. The colours, the contrasts, the diversity and an infinite sense of space leaves one in a perpetual state of breathlessness. The colours, the space, and the silence are particularly powerful and magical.
o For both of us, Namibia was a life-altering experience. Our fantastic and experienced tour operator and guide, Andre Blaauw of Foxtrot Tours (with Eleanor, right), was our driver and a great travelling companion for the entire week and the 2500 kilometres we covered around the
country. We never would have attempted the drive ourselves.......driving on the left, dealing with the bumpy, unpaved gravel roads (a great African massage!), locating the animals in their habitats, identifying the various birds and plants we saw en route, knowing where to find the points of interests in each area, and of course, knowing the great restaurants and being introduced to Namibian Tafel beer....the best beer in the world. He shared his incredible knowledge of Namibian wildlife, geography and insight into its indigenous peoples with us and his ability to speak the various 
languages certainly simplified every step of the trip. We travelled through arid desert, high mountain areas, Atlantic coastline, the dunes, and the cities. We visited a petrified forest and saw rock art made by the bushmen thousands of years ago. Thank you, Andre, for the experience of a lifetime. We WILL be back!o One of the highlights of the trip was our assault of Dune 45, the most 
frequently photographed sand dune in the world. It is 750 feet high- a beautiful windswept cone of reddish-brown sand with a 50-55 degree slope. The original plan was for both of us to climb it, but after a 15 minute slippery climb, Eleanor made the mistake of looking down. Far below, a toy bus was discharging tiny ant-sized tourists. At that point, she decided it was time to slide back down...slowly! Richard heartlesslessly waved goodbye, leaving her to descend alone while he carried on for another 45-60 minutes, and completed the 1 1/2 mile trek to the top. He says it was beautiful and well-worth the climb. Eleanor isn't convinced. The view from the ground was much safer! Below are two of the photos she took of him after she reached the bottom. In the first, he's the tiny speck rounding the curve at the centre of the photo. In the next one, he's a little further along that same curve.
o We were both overwhelmed by the colours of the Namib desert. Its hues range from a pale beige and pink, to a purple blue, to a dazzling rust. The tones and gradations of colour are infinite and change as the light changes. The Namib desert and Etosha pan are awe-inspiring. The complete and utter silence is incredible. o In the bushveld it is said that every lodge is worth one pound of additional weight. Alas, it is true, and we visited over a dozen lodges. The meals have been fabulous and although we always meant to restrict ourselves to fruit for breakfast and a salad for lunch, one look at the other dishes offered was enough to make us change our minds. Richard says he feels 4 months pregnant. Eleanor is planning her shopping trip for size extra, extra, extra large. For the next few months, it'll have to be nothing but tuna and cottage cheese. Maybe.
o At Cape Cross, we visited a huge seal colony. 200,000-300,000 seals! The smell and the sound were unbelievable. Almost as far as we could see, there were black dots splashing and diving in the waves. On the shore, seals were sunning, barking, fighting, climbing over each other, and otherwise entertaining themselves, ignoring the tourists walking past. Definitely a sight worth seeing. Apparently, the herd grows even more during mating season in December, but this size was impressive enough.
o Windhoek and Swakopmund, the 2 Namibian cities we visited, were both modern, beautifully maintained cities, with a strong European atmosphere and a great deal of German-inspired architecture. We'd love to return and spend a warm winter vacation here.o Every country has a hidden history and Namibia is no exception. The 1904 German-Herero-Nam War resulted in the extermination of 2/3 of the Herero tribe, when they were driven into the Kalahari desert to die of thirst. The 1985 UN Whitaker Report called the Herero genicide by the Germans the first genocide of the 20th century.
o SWAPO, the liberation movement which subsequently came to power in 1990, seems directionless in terms of its economic development strategy, notwithstanding the generous royalty cut from various mineral companies. A thin and uneven distribution of population, compounded by arid terrain and a severe shortage of fresh water, retards economic and social programming.o Economic facts: Namibia has an unemployment rate of 35%, not counting those who have chosen to live in their traditional tribal ways; inflation is at 11% and a housing mortgage is 15.5%.
o Social services, especially public education and medical care, seem to have a bad reputation, but the U/Namibia in Windhoek, with a student population of about 15,000, seems modern and well-cared for, much like Trent U. In reality, there is a 2-track delivery system for education and health care: private services for those who can afford it (mostly whites) and public for those (mostly Black) who can't.
o Demographically, the population is 90% black and Catholic; 10% are white Dutch Reform or other protestant denominations. As well, there seems to be a small, fairly high profile and prosperous Jewish community.o This will be our last blog from Africa. Here in Cape Town we plan some R&R- a city tour and an all-day wine tour. Strange, maybe, that we need R&R after a month-long holiday, but there have been so many new experiences and sights that we'll need some time to digest all we've seen and mull things over.
o On our return we hope to post some of our photos and add a final installment summarizing our feelings and conclusions about our African Odyssey.
Richard and Eleanor
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