Southern Magic - a Travelogue: Detlef Palm

From Lilongwe to the Smoke that Thunders, on to the fierce Skeleton Coast into the Namib Desert. Crossing the Kalahari and into the swamps of the Okavango Delta, through elephant country and to the ancient Great Zimbabwe. A family overland adventure off the beaten track, to some very special places, during 1994. (Note: Clicking or tapping on a picture will enlarge it to the size of your screeen).

More than six weeks on the road, crossing Malawi, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, the a car loaded with camping equipment and four children.

Long before one reaches the falls, one will see The Smoke that Thunders, or – as the Lozi say – Mosi-oa-Tunya. This is the offical name of the Victoria Falls. The spray rises like a cloud of smoke, and the thunder is deafening. Zambezi means the ‘Great River’. It is the fourth-longest river in Africa.

We approached the falls from the Zambian side. Tobias was not impressed.

View of Mosi-oa-Tunya from the Zambian side to the Zimbabwe side

The boat glides silently over the Kwando River. Darkness comes quickly – it is not the moon over Caprivi, but the setting sun which enchants everything. Birds flutter, hippos grunt. 

This is the rarest picture of them all – the only picture in existence, where Detlef appears without his beard.  Maryan, Tobias, Christina, Josi, Gabi and Detlef in the Caprivi strip, which is an artefact of colonial whim.

Fort Namutomi, in the Etosha pan. At dusk, Namibia, Land of the Brave sounds from the boom box, while the guard brings in the Namibia flag. The hymn is only three years old, the ambience is solemn and we are very much moved. Namibia gained its independence on 21 March 1990.

Crossing the Etosha Pan. The 'Great White Place' is Namibia's second-largest wildlife park, covering 22,000 square kiometres. The pan is mostly dry but after a heavy rain it will acquire a thin layer of water, which is heavily salted by the mineral deposits on the surface.

We came from Malawi, one of the most densely populated countries of Africa. In contrast, Namibia remains one of the least populated places, distances are enormous and one will drive hundreds of miles on and off the roads, without meeting anyone. Puncture in Damaraland: hot, dry, rocky, endless.

Approaching the dunes of the Skeleton coast, the going is hard...

...and the silence of desert can be deafening, too.

We have reached the Skeleton Coast. 

We have crossed Africa from Mombasa at the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic, by going overland. 

The coast is littered with shipwrecks.

 Ships still run aground at the Skeleton Coast until todate.

We dress in pullovers and wind jackets. It is very cold at the Skeleton Coast; the upwelling of the cold Benguela Current gives rise to dense ocean fogs for much of the year. The winds blow from land to sea, rainfall rarely exceeds 10 millimetres annually and the climate is highly inhospitable. Tini and Josi are studying what we assumed to be the rib bone of a whale.

The Spitzkoppe is also called the Matterhorn of Africa. We undertook a (feeble) attempt to climb it; but abandoned it wisely. The beauty of the peak unfolds by sunset.

The Welwitschia mirabilis is endemic to parts of the Namib Desert. They can live for more than 1000 years, and some examples are thought to be 2000 years old. They survive with almost zero rainfall. It doesn’t look like it, but the Welwischia consists of only two leaves, which under favourable conditions can grow 0.35 mm a day. The shown Welwitschia has been estimated to be 1500 years old.

The old Jetty in Swakopmund – nowadays the adventure capital of Namibia. You can also get Black Forest Cherry Gates.

At Walvis Bay – Namibia’s main port.

Exercise at the Vogelfederberg (literally: bird’s feather peak), along the long way to the Namib desert.

The Namib desert, one of the most beautiful landscapes on earth. 

Sossusvlei is a favourite spot for visitors. It is a long climb to the top of the highest dunes.

Lost in the sand

At the top, a little refreshment

The pans (called vlei) sometimes fill with water. View towards the Dead Vlei.

We camped most of the time. Here in the Naukluft park, one of our favourite sites. 

The kitchen

The Naukluft Park has wonderful, crystal clear ponds - and nobody is there.

Social housing. The communal nest of the sociable weaver birds provides some shade during our hikes. 

Gravel roads eat tires. Another flat tire on the Trans-Kalahari, between Ghanzi and Maun. Since then the road has been paved.

The Quelea is the most common bird on earth, with an estimated 1.3 billion individuals. It is also a weaver bird, and is often referred to as the ‘locust-bird’, as it can destroy a complete harvest. Farmers in southern Africa kill 200 million Queleas every year, to protect their crops. It doesn't affect the population. 

A blue starling is watching.

We stayed a while in the Moremi Park, in the middle of the Okavango Delta. It is a significant phenomenon, as all the water reaching the delta ultimately evaporates and does not flow into any sea or ocean. Seasonal flooding creates grassy plains, which provide an ideal habitat to an abundance of wildlife. Some argue – and we tend to agree – that it is one of the most interesting wildlife sanctuaries in Africa.

A lone buffalo

We took a leisurely safari in a dugout (called mokoro). The waters tend to be rather shallow, and the risk of drowining is small compared to the risk of being eaten.

The abundance of water allowed a good wash of the car. Safari from the rooftop.

Near Linyanti, we entered prime elephant country. We collected elephant droppings around our tent every morning, and also developed a variation of Boule (fr: Pétanque). 

Sundowner at Linyanti ...

... and a visitor at the site. 

We couldn’t stay forever; packing up our tent, which was of little interest to the wildlife.

Chobe Park with Chobe River

The hippopotamus is responsible for most injuries caused by wild animals to people in Africa, by a wide margin. Hippos can easily outrun men, and they are rather unpredictable. 

From Chobe we travelled through Hwange to Great Zimbabwe.  The Great Zimbabwe ruins are the largest collection of ruins in Africa south of the Sahara. Built between the 11th and 15th centuries, they are testament to a culture of great wealth and architectural skill.

The conical tower inside the Great Enclosure at Great Zimbabwe. 

From Great Zimbabwe, we still had to go through the Tete Province in Mozambique into southern Malawi and back to Lilongwe, completing a journey of more than 8000 kilometres. 

(All photographs were taken on slide film with a regular analogue camera, and recently digitized).

Other photo-stories by Detlef:

• Lunae Montes - a journey to the source of the Nile, in 1980
• The Somalia Experience
• Operation Lifeline Sudan, the first years in pictures
• The Door to Hell and the Path to Health (Turkmenistan)
• Rudaki, a Wedding and Proto-Urban Sarazm (Tajikistan)
• A Walk on the Wild Side (New York)
• Into the Midnight Sun (Journey to the North Cape)
• Top of Mexico
• Azhdahak (from Germany to Armenia, by road)
• At the edge of the bog - where we live

Detlef can be contacted via detlefpalm55@gmail.com