Untouched Epupa...Eccentric Opuwo

Herero Lady

Kaokoland scenery

The road up north to Epupa was a gravel road in decent condition with several dips through sandy dry river beds. The river beds in certain places were reinforced with concrete and it seemed as though this was a recent development. Without these reinforcements my VW Polo didn’t stand a chance and probably explains why until recently only 4WD could get there. Infact all through my journey to Epupa and then back I didn’t encounter another 2WD. I certainly felt as though I was bucking the trend!

Kavango lady who accompanied
in my car

Solitary mud dwelling

The ride through the undulating hills of Kaokoland was interesting by itself but was made more enjoyable by the people who accompanied me in the car. The first person to hitchhike was a Himba man. I knew more of the Himba language than he did English so our conversation was pretty much limited to the word ‘Nawa’ which meant ‘fine’, and was the only word that I could recollect from the lessons the previous night. Where the Himba man got down, another one got on and I was doing a good impression of a taxi driver except the fact that my service was free with no tips :)

Epupa Falls

Hares were a surprisingly
common roadkill

The second guy actually spoke good English since he was a teacher at a government run school near Epupa; he got a free ride and I got free lessons on Himba culture in return. The truth is that the road to Epupa is seldom traveled with low traffic and no public transport; anyone waiting for a ride could easily be waiting for a few hours or more. I was traveling solo and had enough space in the car to spare so surely I could lead a helping hand to a fellow traveler in need.

Upon getting to Epupa, I pitched my tent under the shade of makalani palms on the bank of the tranquil Kunene River with the waterfalls a further 25 or so meters downstream. Late afternoon I wandered for a leisurely hike around the hills by the river. It was bizarre to see plentiful water in this extremely arid region of Namibia while amazingly, 2013 was officially a drought hit year across Namibia and just a few kilometer away from this river cattle were dying and the herders and their likes were struggling to eek our a living. All this waster was due to the highlands of Angola that keep the waters of Kunene flowing perennially.

Sunrise at Epupa

As night fell, I took full advantage of the plentiful water to get a clean bath after a few days. As I lay down in the tent I wondered how awesome camping in Namibia was…the previous night I camped with the Himba and that night I dozed off staring at stars and listening to the roaring sound of the falls.

This amazing region of Namibia is still fairly untouched but probably not for too long. I would have loved to have stayed and explored it more but I couldn’t in my 2WD. Moreover, I had to get moving…this was the farthest point north I would go in Namibia. I had seen and done what I had intended to in Kaokoland it was time to turn south.

The tranquil water of Kunene

Dimba (Mundimba girl)

The way back was the same road passing through Opuwo and this time I spent a little more time than just a few minutes. The impression I had after reading a couple of posts on the internet was that Opuwo was a depressing little town but I thought it was rather quirky if I could call it something. If tar roads, concrete buildings, supermarkets, gas stations and several convenience stores made it feel like any other town, seeing the semi clad Himba shopping in a super market seemed surreal.

Left: Dimba boy with beadwork
Center: A semi-clad Dimba street vendor in Opuwo
Right: A Dimba girl

A lone ostrich

Throw in the Victorian inspired dresses of the Herero, the colorfully Kavango and Owambo, refueling travelers in their pastoral cargos, and aid workers all made Opuwo the most eccentric and contrasting town I have ever seen. I can’t quite explain the feeling… it just felt like two completely different worlds, one an ancient traditional order and the other a modern contemporary one merging in this seemingly nondescript town.

Oryx...the desert specialist

Giraffe

Herd of Springboks

There was one particular group of people who stood out (other than the Himba of course). After checking around, I found that they were the Dimba people. Although some of them were semi-clad they stood out more due to the colorful beadwork that was worn around their neck and belly and braided into their hair. Almost all of them were street vendors and it was a mystery as to why it was only the Dimba who were doing it. Now as I am writing this blog back from Liberia, the mystery is coming to light albeit slightly.

Watching out for the giants!

Sharing the road to Damaraland with springboks

Landscape as I enter Damaraland

My guidebook had no reference of these people and even a search on Google was inconclusive and that says a lot about the anonymity of these people in today’s information overloaded internet age. Eventually I found out that these people are called the Mundimba and their homeland is actually southwest Angola on the other side of the Kunene River. Even then there is no Wikipedia page or anything about these people so I hypothesize that the Mundimba I encountered in Opuwo must have migrated south of the border during the Angolan civil war and that probably explains why most of them were struggling street vendors.

Herero kids and woman

Damaraland sunset 

Giraffe crossing the road at night

After Opuwo, I kept moving south through more gravel roads towards the region called as Damaraland, the traditional homeland of the Damara people. The scenery was spectacular, the wildlife was free ranging and the people who rode with me were fascinating. The wildlife I encountered included Ostrich, Oryx, Springbok, and the rare Hartmann’s mountain Zebra.

Springbok sikhouette

African Rock Python

I was glad I was traveling solo as I could take my own time driving, stop wherever I wanted and as long as I wanted. This however meant that I was still driving well past nightfall to get to my campsite. Technically, I was not supposed to be driving past sunset as my rental car contract clearly stated that my insurance who be void. Was that a silly thing to do…perhaps, but was it worth seeing the sun set across the mountains with a few springboks forming a perfect silhouette; slamming my bakes as a few giraffes cross the road; driving with the anticipating of seeing lions, leopards or elephants at night…..Absolutely!

I had one last adventure in store for than night. I got to my campsite tired from the long journey and intended to relieve myself and quickly retire for the night. A python curled behind the commode had slightly other ideas though and was a startling (pun intended) reminder I was in the bush. Had I not had my headlamp, I could easily have pulled the snake as the lever of the flush in the dark. I am just glad that I saw it after using the commode and not before! :)

After spending a few minutes admiring it I dropped it off in the bush and returned to my tent. Luckily there were no more adventures for the night other than distant trumpets of elephants…Ah…the joys of camping!