Tuesday, May 31, 2011

A Trip Through The Gamsberg Pass - C26

After meeting Meg in Windhoek, we traveled to Sossusvlei via the C26 gravel road through the Gamsberg Pass.


A donkey cart in the hills before the Pass.

Donkeys are amazing creatures - I've seen them easily pull a cart up a gradient which I thought impossible.



There are some beautiful farms along the route - many of them cater to guests and campers.


A sign at the start of the Pass warning Truckers of the steep decline and sharp bends ahead.


This area has spectacular scenery, too much for one blog post.


The flat-topped Gamsberg Mountain is the dominant feature.

There seem to be quite a few Astronomical Observatories around here. I gleaned some info from this Source:

"The Gamsberg has been identified as one of the most suitable sites for an observatory in Southern Africa.
It is a table-mountain 120 km south west of Windhoek above the Namib desert at an altitude of 2350 m above sea level.

It experiences a large number of cloudless nights, a dark sky, excellent atmospheric transparency and low humidity. Comparative test measurements have demonstrated that it is of just as good quality as the well-known astronomical sites in Chile."



Who needs a Rollercoaster?


Namibia has just had a record-breaking Rain Season and most of the usually bone-dry riverbeds still had water in them.


A troop of Baboons at a river - I was surprised that they allowed me to photograph them.

Most Baboons I encounter run as soon as I approach or point my camera at them.

They can become pests on farms and are often shot at.


I love this Leopard design at a farm entrance ... or is it a Cheetah? ... :)


And then we were out of the mountains, on flat ground approaching the desert ...

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19 comments:

  1. Amazing photographs, to me it is so beautiful all around there and a second table mountain!!! I think that sign is very definitely leopard. I would like to visit that horse stud..... Diane

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  2. Thanks Diane - are you a horse person? ... there are quite a few horse farms and riding clubs in Nam.

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  3. The last pic is the loveliest I think. But I can't help smiling when I see donkeys. As a child I used to think 'oh how cute with their long floppy ears', and then I learned what complex personalities they are and how easily they get cross. And a cross donkey is so comical (as long as you're clear). I've seen one in the saddle room, furious for some reason , knock the saddle off the log, stamp on it and pee copiously, while braying at the top of his lungs. Phew.
    Caroline

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  4. Graham, I have lived and worked with horses all my life. It is only in the last 10 years that I have not had much to do with them as we have been in the UK and it is too expensive. I have been offered a ride from one of the bloggers in France when I return so I am looking forward to getting back in the saddle again :-) Diane

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  5. Thanks Caroline - I recall how, as a child, my cousin got too close to the rear-end of a donkey and ened up with a horrible looking black-eye ...

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  6. Thanks Dave - are you and Hazel back home yet? ... or are you still living it up in the sticks?

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  7. ... aw gee Diane ... you must really miss horses and riding then ... I think I've mentioned before that, despite my best efforts, horses just don't like me at all ...

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  8. I am sure it is not that horses don't like you, I think they pick up some vibes from you and they get their own back :-))))) Diane

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  9. Donkeys are the best, not only are they tough, they are also so very kind hearted. I live next door to a donkey rescue and I just love these animals. Your trip was very interesting and the photos amazing. Does it get cold up there? That guy seems really well dressed in his cap and jacket.

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  10. Wonderful photos! So engrossing! Thank you for posting them. There is a side road in the fourth photo down... makes me wonder where it leads... I don't see a house. A magical land.

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  11. Hehe ... I'm sure you're right Diane ... but why pick on me to get their own back on? ... :)

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  12. Thanks Inger - yes, it's winter here and the nights do get freezing cold, especially in the mountains ... some places have even recorded light snowfalls ...

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  13. Thanks Callie - a magical land indeed!

    The road you mention is just an access road to a viewpoint ...

    I don't recall seeing any farm houses in the Pass itself but there are quite a few farms in the area.

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  14. Astronomical stuff - always interesting to me. You are lucky to have a very dark sky. Not so here with the light pollution of the city.
    Here's a site I just discovered

    http://www.skysurvey.org/

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  15. Thanks for the link lisleman - yes, the night-sky is sometimes overwhelming here in the desert ...

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  16. back again with a message -
    You don't need to be a clown to play.
    I put your blog into play.
    Come over and try the game.
    i didn't ask for this

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  17. Hello Graham, I was waiting for your new post and thought there were still so many of your post that I had missed. This must be a beautiful trip to be with your daughter, going through such beautiful and remote countryside. It reminded me of being in Wyoming and I did not like it. When you mentioned Gamsberg Pass, I thought of Khyber Pass, not that I had been there but my cousin was in the late 70s. He had quite an adventure travelling to Europe from India on foot, I mean, by bus and hitchhiking.

    Are you still slouching into blogylon:) Soon you will leave again for North.

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  18. Hi Fazlisa - uhmmm yeah, I've been struggling to create another post ... hope fully I'll think of something soon ...

    I want to go to Namaqualand this weekend to see the wild flowers and then I must return to the North around the end of the month ...

    thanks for taking the time out to check out some of my older posts ... :)

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