This day included another bit of travel (Namibia is big) to get to the NamibRand Nature Reserve. I found the Namibian concept of farms to be interesting. Their farms typically are large and relatively dry grasslands and rocky soil with scrub plants. In North America we would normally call these ranches.

The drive took us through some mountainous terrain and then finally along a dirt road to the headquarters of the Tok Tokkie Trails experience. There we had a nice light lunch and introduction, meeting our excellent trail guide, Sebastiaan Kazimbu. We threw our luggage onto the vehicle that would take it to each night’s camp, donned our day packs and then drove to the trail head (see the short video clip below).

Off on foot we headed for our first camp site. The weather wasn’t too hot yet so the hiking was very pleasant. Hiking across the sand wasn’t much trouble either. Much of the sand was covered in short grasses while the open areas tended to not be too loose. The air was fresh, the colors and textures were a feast, and the variety of scenery was wonderful.

Our guide, Sebastian, was very friendly and always had information at hand. I suspect that we would not have been able to come up with a question he could not answer! Except for what made the fairy circles among the grasses. But it turns out no one seems to know - just theories.

When we got to our campsite, it was really well setup. As you can see in the pictures we had a nice table spread for dinner and our cots had bedrolls ready to go along with a small table and canvas water bag to rinse off with. They had a full outdoor kitchen preparing the food and even ‘showers’ (basically a bag filled with heated water with a rope to pull to release the water over our heads. Very comfortable and the food, amazing!

Before dinner of course we had the rapidly becoming traditional sundowner as we watched the sun drop and the shadows extending across the valley below.

There was one experience which I doubt any of us will ever forget. There was a cute little dinner guest which we called ‘Teddy Bear Beetles’ (real name: African Woolly Chafer). These little guys seemed to love candles and lanterns. They were not the best fliers and even worse at landing. For both nights on the trail at the dinner table the little Teddy Bear Beetles provided tons of laugher while crashing around and falling over - and over. Free comedic entertainment just for us! Except for the occasional times when one would fly (using that word loosely) into someone’s lap or face. {photo below complements of iNaturalist}