Hi, Im back!(the last pics added, at last)

[alisonb]

Arrived back this weekend from Namibia. Had an absolutlely awesome time. A land full of contrasts. We travelled 5962km according to the GPS. There are approximately the same amount of photos :shock: so I will have to sort through them over the weekend when I have more time and then post. Here are two pics in the meantime.

Kokerboom (Quiver tree)-An aloe (succulent)

 

[Jogeephus]

Interesting tree. Neat pics.

 

[larryshoat]

Nice pics Alison .

Larry

 

[chrisy]

Glad to here you had a good time...Is that the tree that the Bushmen of Namaqualand use for Quivers for their poisoned arrows.?
like the photo's very nice you never said where or what name the rock has. It looks a bit like Uluru but the wrong Country. :help:

 

[ga.prime]

There's some people here don't know where you went. Tell 'em or don't- your call.

 

[ga.prime]

you never said where or what name the rock has. It looks a bit like Uluru but the wrong Country. :help:

That looks like a big sandpile, not a rock.

 

[alisonb]

Thanks all, I will post some more.

There's some people here don't know where you went.

Original post now edited to read Namibia

Chrisy, yes, the bushmen did use the Quiver tree to make quivers. They did not obtain the poison from them though.

That looks like a big sandpile, not a rock.

:nod: :nod:
What makes Namibia so interesting is it has five different geological areas- Kalahari Desert, Central plateau, Bushveld, Namib Desert and the Great Escarpment.

 

[ga.prime]

Very interesting, ali. Did you ever see that movie "Sands of the Kalahari"? Did you encounter any crazy baboons?

 

[bigbull338]

those are some nice pics.

 

[alisonb]

Thanks bbull and ga.prime. No, ga, I never saw the movie but on googling it it seems that one would have been more scared of the character Brian than the baboons :shock: .We did see baboons but none that were overly crazy. I did get some pics of the desert elephants, what an impressive sight(will post soon). Here is a pic of the Crimson Breasted Shrike, as I said, a land full of contrasts right down to the bird life.

 

[andybob]

Glad to have you back Alison, pleased you had a good tour. We lived in Namibia when we first left Zim, the in laws owned Rugby farm in Okahanja, most of it is now under the Omatako dam. It was a great place to live, slow pace of life etc, but no facilities for our disabled sons back in those days!

 

[alisonb]

Thanks Andybob, I hear the dam is only about 2,8% full . I managed to go through some pics this weekend so here are a few. The majority of them are on a memory stick somewhere but i am sure to find them soon.

We nearly stood on this little chameleon.

Bat eared fox.

Gemsbuck, just before we crossed the border.

Suricates(meerkat).

Kudu

Baby elephant, sorry the others are cut off by photobucket.

Spitzkoppe.

Spitzkoppe again.

 

[farmwriter]

Awesome! Very impressive pics.

 

[MO_cows]

Great pics!! Thanks for showing me something I will likely never see with my own eyes.

 

[john250]

I hope you find this interesting.
In the USA, somewhere between 8 and 12 yrs old, I had a textbook which taught me that an African elephant has ears like the elephants in your picture and an Indian elephant has much smaller ears. This is the first time in 50 years I have called upon that bit of education.
Very good photos. That country appears heavily volcanic.

 

[chrisy]

Alison those are some fantastic photo's. I just love those little Meerkats, shame they are so aggresive. We have a few adverts on TV at the moment featuring Meerkats that are quite funny.
Baby Elephants are so adoreable, in Sri Lanka we went to an Elephant orphanage and feed the baby elephants milk, then on to see them taking a bath in the river, and finished with a ride on a Mother Elephant it was so high up, I thought at one point I was going to fall but thankfully didn't. We did see wild ones to on our journey.

 

[vclavin]

Alison,
Beautiful pics. Thank you so much for sharing. Like the others, this is the only way I'd ever see these beauties of nature. Thanks again
Valerie

 

[F350]

Great pics Alison,

The Spitzkoppe rock formations remind me of the rock formations in Moab National Park (Utah, USA).

Thanks for sharing. Any cows pictures from Namibia???

 

[Dylan Biggs]

alison,

Very interesting pics. Love the shrike and the other wildlife shots.

Thank you for posting, looks like you had a very interesting trip! :cboy:

 

[alisonb]

Thanks for the nice comments everyone .
We headed north towards Grootfontein and water!. The vegetation greens up, the odd boabab tree is sighted and the wild life is profuse. We even fished at Kavango and nearly throttled each other when the first fish 'got away' (I didn't realise I had murder tendencies) .
As soon as I find the memory stick I will post some more pics.

This is the first time in 50 years I have called upon that bit of education.

You just never know when you need that education, great memory - 50yrs is a looong time ;-) . There is evidence of volcanic matter everwhere, here is a link if you are interested in reading more about it.
http://www.orusovo.com/guidebook/content16.htm

Baby Elephants are so adoreable

I have to agree, and highly intelligent as well as naughty. This little guy gave his mother quite a rev. He wanted to investigate the vehicle and she was having none of that.

rock formations in Moab National Park (Utah, USA).

F350 - I had to google Utah first but I sure see the resembelance. I do think however that although Namibia has its beauty, Utah may outshine it. As for the cows :shock: , I saw plenty of mixed breeds (Brahman, Nguni, Afrikaaner etc) and lots of goats (no pics ).

Love the shrike and the other wildlife shots.

I will post some more for you. Thanks for sharing your pics with us by the way, love the sunsets.