Serra Cafema—Day Six
We leave Ongava today and head for Serra Cafema. We need to make a pit stop for fuel, so we will be visiting Save the Rhino Trust at Palmwag. There is a camp and safari location as well, but we are just passing through. I just love the thought that goes into the simplest things here. Most airstrips have open-air facilities for people (nice fat bushes for your personal privacy). But a couple locations have really nice bathrooms set up by the airstrip. This one has a huge picture window for animal viewing. There is also a real sink with running water.
Save the Rhino Trust has an interpretive center that we had time to tour while the pilot refueled the plane. They’ve got maps, photos, history and some rhino skulls. Rhino have really huge fat teeth for grinding up their food. There’s a link in the left column if you’d like more information about Save the Rhino Trust.
The palm trees around Palmwag were planted by the elephants. Their digestive system weakens the outside shell of the palm nut. The elephant droppings provide fertilizer for the new growing plants.
The second leg of the flight took us out to the Skeleton Coast. We flew over the Skeleton Coast Camp; and it really was out there in the middle of no where. I can’t imagine how hot it must get out there in the summer time. We could see some old boat wrecks (just the masts sticking up) and a few seal colonies along the coast. I was hoping to see some whales along the shore, but it was the wrong season for that. The Kunene River empties out into the ocean and marks the boundary between Namibia and Angola. We flew along the river toward the camp; and the landscape was amazing. Once we were inland a few miles it was interesting to see sand dunes on the Namibian side and very old ragged dark gray rock mountains on the Angola side. I wouldn’t have expected them to look so distinctly different.
The airstrip is about an hour away from the camp. This is because you need level, fairly hard-packed land without too many small rocks in it for optimal safe landings. The landscape is just so totally different here and just stunning. The dunes are tinted a pale ocher and the sky is so big and blue. We take our time exploring on the way to camp. There aren’t as many large animals here. The beauty is in the small plants and animals, the birds, and the land.
Serra Cafema Camp is a great choice as our last stop. It is a perfectly peaceful oasis in the desert. The camp is located right on the river. There are birds singing all day long. All the camps are architecturally interesting, but this one has a great mix of elegance and whimsy. The whole camp is elevated so that when the river rises it goes under the camp. There is a pool at the entrance and stairs off the lounge area that go to a boat launch area.
We are all excited that we can walk around the camp unescorted at any time of day at Serra Cafema. But don’t go in the river! There are crocodiles, and some of them are quite big. We split up the group for the afternoon activities; Scott and I join Sanjayand and Teresa for a boat ride. Clement is our guide; he does a great job showing us the sights along the Kunene river. We see a great heron, crocodile, purple morning glories, monitor lizard, cormorants, Egyptian goose and more.
The native people are called Himba. They live on both sides of the river. We passed a very primitive but effective water system. The farmers dig a hole in the bank of the river. The hole is deep enough to allow water to fill the hole. Then they set up a bucket and lever system to dip the bucket into the water. This allows them to get water without getting close to the crocodiles.