We are at the ends of the earth

Namibia. A country in southern African whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean (thank you, Google). It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana, to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa in1990, following the Namibian War of Independence. Its capital and largest city is Windhoek, where we will be in three days. Did I mention it is a favorite paparazzi-free zone of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie? We are in Swakopmund, where their daughter Shiloh was born. They last vacationed here a year ago at Christmastime, and their affinity for the area has raised the price of real estate.

Namibia is home to the Namib Desert, the oldest desert in the world. Flying up from Cape Town yesterday, we follow the coastline all the way. See the photo showing the Atlantic on the upper left meeting the Namib Desert. And this goes on for 1,000 miles. The sand is unbelievable. Our 70-passenger jet landed on a runway in the middle of the desert. In the middle of nowhere. You see the grader pictured nearby as we came to the end of the runway. As graders remove the snow in North Dakota, here they remove the constantly-moving sand from roads and I presume the runway. En route to the town of Swakopmund, about 30 minutes away, we again followed the coastline of dunes. This must be the most desolate place on earth.

Today we drove up the Skeleton Coast, where shipwrecks (see photo) dot the wild Atlantic coastline, then east into the granite formations called Spitzkoppe Mountains. If it sounds German, it is because it became a German Imperial protectorate in 1884 and remained a German colony until the end of World War I. In 1920, the League of Nations mandated the country to South Africa. Namibia obtained independence from South Africa in 1990. However, the German influence remains, informing the food, architecture, language and most other things one can think of.

Namibia has a population of 2.1 million people. The primary industry is agriculture, herding (our modern Mercedes Benz coach stopped for goats along our route today), tourism and mining. They mine salt, uranium, gold, silver and semi-precious gemstones, among other goodies under the earth. Today we saw a salt mine and uranium mine from the road.

Hawkers approach us at every stop, selling large uncut and unpolished gemstones they find. And craft stands with more rough gemstones and simple jewelry pop up along the paved and unpaved roads as we toured today. I bought a beaded necklace from a roadside craft stand from the woman who made it. (She is pictured holding my necklace).

I learned that, after Mongolia, Namibia is the second least densely populated country in the world. Approximately half the population live below the poverty line, and the nation has suffered heavily from the effects of HIV/AIDS, with 15percent of the adult population infected with HIV in 2007.
So why are we here? We have come to see the dunes of Sossuslvei, where we will be tomorrow. It is another journey by coach from Swakopmund to the Naukluft National Park. We will be two nights at Sossusvlei Lodge.

Enjoy today's pix! Am unsure of Internet service at Sossuslvei.