Namibia, into the wilderness.

Deadvlei - a dead lake. The clay-pan is surrounded by the highest sand dunes in the world and the only remnants are the skeletons of twisted Acacia trees. These trees are about 900 years old, they don’t decompose because it is so dry here. The oryxes, the national animal, are seen scattered in the landscape. It is so biblically picturesque - it feels like the end of the world. A word of advice: If your guide suggests that you climb up a dune without seeing any other people around, ask yourself why aren't there other people? Pumped, I imagined myself storming up the top like when Moses climbed Mount Sinai and saw the promised land. Boy, was I a fool!!! It is hot and sweaty and rough - i wouldn't have made it without the help of my guide and a walking stick. While still catching my breath with sand falling from my body, like frosting falls off a Mexican wedding cake - I stand there and as far as my eyes can see are dead Acacia trees contrasted against the white pan floor. I feel like I landed on Mars. Later, lunch is served on white linen tablecloths with selections of fine wines, while a jackal circled our table looking for a quick bite. In the afternoon, our guide Enos, tracks a dancing white lady spider in the sand. Prior to the mating season, the male spider find the female's burrows and make vibrations on the sand with their legs. This serves as a signal to the female. After mating, the female spider eats the male - what can really be described as "La femme fatal".

The Skeleton Coast.

From our small plane's bird 's-eye point of view, leaving the sea of endless dunes behind, onwards towards the place where the Atlantic ocean and the Namib desert meet. The blue horizon is becoming thick with fog before our eyes until we can barely see the coast at all. The Skeleton Coast is one of the driest places on earth. Warm winds blowing over Africa combined with the cold current coming from Antarctica create extreme climatic conditions. Stretching 500 kilometers between the old German colonial town of Swakopmund and the Angolan border, the coast is virtually untamed. Wild, unpredictable, hostile. Named for the whale bones and skeletal remains of the hundreds of shipwrecks caught by offshore rocks, shifting sandbars and fog. The sailors who were able to make it to the land did not stand a chance of survival along this inhospitable coast and died of thirst. I have had nightmares thinking of all those who lost their lives here. Alas, if I imagine hearing the lost souls calling, all I can hear is the wind blowing.

Twyfelfontein, Damaralnd.

I lay awake, in my lodge, between the sand and the night, looking at the thousands of stars, observing the passage of time. Those same stars, six thousand years ago In Twyfelfontein ( the fountain of doubt ) shone over Stone age hunters who settled by the perennial fountain and created rock engravings and paintings. This is an extensive record of ritual practices relating to hunter-gatherer communities in Africa. Driving up to our camp on top of a pile of huge boulders, the radio is blasting local Nama Damara music, Click, click, they click with their tongue. Turns out, our driver explains, that they have four clicking consonant sounds in their language - how authentically interesting. Damaraland, is the habitat of the legendary elusive wild roaming elephants - one of earth's extraordinary creatures. Water is sparse and they go looking for water. We look around but they are not to be found. Our guide tells us to be patient, or as he jokingly puts it: "You have the watches, we have the time". When we finally spot them under the trees they seem so majestically prehistoric. Elephants endure long lives and have enormous brains, they are known for their exceptionally good memory. Looking at them close -up, evokes such an emotional connection between us - it is hard to describe. I just love those elephants..

Etosha national park.

It is not even eight o’clock in the morning and we already have encountered our first lioness resting under a tree after she made her kill. We are at Etosha National Park, a large game preserve with abundant wildlife in the northeast corner of Namibia.  A jackal is circling the area, looking for an opening the lioness might have left to have a piece of the pie.  In another watering hole, a different lioness moves with cat's grace towards the water. At a distance, hundreds of springboks, oryxes, zebras, warthogs, wildebeests and impalas stand still, watching, waiting for the mighty lioness to finish drinking so they can have their turn. Animal hierarchy or maybe, just not getting into trouble.

Our very early morning game drive is dark, windy and cold. We are bundled with every piece of clothing we possess and then a poncho. My hair is messed up beyond repair, I give up fighting - I no longer care. Looking through my binoculars, I spot an African wild cat, a rarity. I look it straight in the eyes and I can swear it looks back at me and it resembles our beloved cat Dido. A pang of longing, until the Kudos (spiral-horned antelopes) scared it away and the moment is... poof! Gone. We are tracking the roaming ground of the rhinoceros. This area holds one of the largest rhino custodianships in Namibia as the anti-poaching unit is very active here and poaching (for the horns, desired by the Chinese) is considered a serious crime. That is when our guide suggests we leave the safety of our vehicle and go for a nature walk. Am I crazy? I am not sure I am getting a thrill out of being too close to those two ton/ two-horned creatures, especially since I hear they have poor vision and their big front horn looks like it is pointing at me...

Settling into our luxury tented camp, a herd of adorable elephants of all sizes marched towards the camp’s watering hole, practically two meters away from our veranda. Later that evening, one of the elephants decided to approach our human - swimming - pool and drink from it. I was walking backwards towards it in order to get this exceptional photo opportunity and oops, I almost fell in the water. While celebrating the passing of another memorable day with a drink, three white Rhinos storm in the waterhole, then a black rhino, the more rare-one joins in. A rotating animal show right at our door. This is Namibia. This is Africa.