TransNamib

People living in lush Europe, in general have only a vague idea about travelling in the desert. The word conjures up visions of monotony, adventure and tragedy. Or it is understood that you send someone "into the desert", in order to punish, eliminate or to humble them. That's what happened to the scapegoat in the Old Testament. So, why are some folks still attracted to these regions so hostile to man? When I "travelled" the deserts for the first time, my trip took place in my kid's room back home in Germany. In the novel, "Through the Desert", I read about the adventures of Kara Ben Nemsi, aka Karl May. The author conveys the above-mentioned pictures. Meanwhile, though, we all know the tale was a product of good old Karl May's imagination. It was only well after the publication of his works that he visited the scenes of his stories. This book does not tell a fictitious story. Nevertheless there is no lack of thrill or the personal touch. It is authentic. Before you go on safari, the deserts you have to traverse seem to be difficult obstacles. But when you ask a traveller afterwards what geographic regions were the most impressive, quite often you learn it was the trip through the desert which enthralled them the most. Repeatedly, you hear words like "journey to yourself. into the empire of wide spaces and tranquility". That is just what Gabi and Uwe describe in an impressive way. This longing drove them, again and again, to venture towards this "space of emptiness", better known as the Namib. While exploring its dimensions, the authors quickly learn: the Namib is not empty, but has many fascinating faces. It was a challenge to choose which of their many experiences to write about. The oldest desert on earth can boast of uniqueness, geological and historical. Witness to the splitting apart of the ancient continent of Gondwana, the Namib forms a tiny strip along the Atlantic coast line. It is known as the foggy desert, influenced by Atlantic currents. Bordering the succulent Karoo to the south, it is host to a hotspot for species. It fizzles out into the barren ocean of red sands, sporting the highest dunes on earth. In between, you find islands of mountains with endemic flora and fauna, as well as dry rivers which trace their ways to the coast. It is home to laughing geckos and golden moles, but also desert elephants and desert lions. In the north of the Skeleton Coast, wrecks of stranded ships bear witness to European expansions. Desolate Portuguese trading posts and slave houses as well as scars from the civil war in Angola line the way travelled by the authors. They visit exploited diamond fields in the high-security Sperrgebiet - a huge open air museum of German colonial history. Even the present-day gold rush atmosphere in young Namibia, evoked by the renaissance of uranium mining, as well as the related grievances of the indigenous peoples and ecologists do not go unnoticed. It is not easy to me to stop here. The dimensions are vast. Should you feel tempted to venture out yourself, you'll find the appendix with Roadbook and waypoints serving as an extensive basis for planning - with one finger on the map or both hands on the wheel. Holger Vollbrecht