The Skeleton Coast

the skeleton coast by harry cunningham

A gap year exploration trip to namibia, and the infamous skeleton coast. sketches and writings from my personal journal...

“That morning we crossed the Namibian border and headed for the c19 toward Sossusvlei.�

Dry landscape, 2014

“After several hours of driving we reached the Sossusvlei gate. The man at the gate looked at our car in a strange way, then continued on to peel off a small bird from the front of the vehicle before letting us into the national park�

Sossusvlei, 2014

Dune, 2015

Dune Shapes, 2014 “The drive in was amazing, we were surrounded by Springbok, Gemsbok and herds of Zebra on an open rocky plain with sunburnt dunes on the horizon.�

Ghemsbok, 2014

Rocky Outcrop, 2014

Horned Adder (Bitis caudalis) Dassie Rat (Petromus typicus)

“We then headed to Gobabeb, a research station a few hours from Solitair.

On the way we stopped at a huge rocky outcrop in the middle of nowhere. Here we heard a strange faint screeching noise. We looked to find a dassie rat being constricted by a horned adder.�

Big Rock, 2014

Kangua, 2014

“We reached the Gobabeb research station and met Gillian (who runs the place), Tristan; her son, and his friend Kangua�

Ladies Man, 2014

Gobabeb Boulders, 2014

“Dad, Pete and I walked across the riverbed and into the dunes. We saw tracks from a series of animals including a butcher bird, cape fox and a sidewinder snake.”

Pete, 2014

“During the next morning I found a Giant Namib Gecko.

It made for a good sketch”

Welwitchia top view, 2014

Welwitschia mirabilis Weird, peculiar, wonderful, strange, bizarre, fascinating, and of course, unique, are the kind of words that are used to describe the welwitschia. It is one of the few things on Earth that can truly claim to be one of a kind.

There really is nothing like it.

Description An adult welwitschia consists of two leaves, a stem base and roots. That is all! Its two permanent leaves are unique in the plant kingdom. They are the original leaves from when the plant was a seedling, and they just continue to grow and are never shed.

Carbon dating tells us that on average, welwitschias are 500-600 years old, although some of the larger specimens are thought to be 2000 years old.

Notten. A. (2003)

“At 5:30am we drove out into the desert to find the Welwichia, a rare plant which lives in harsh conditions and has a life span of over a thousand years. They took a while to find as there were no real landmarks, but we eventually found them on an ancient riverbed in a small rocky valley�

“After a quick supply stop at Walvis Bay we headed for Spitzkoppe.

Our arrival was met with an endless african plain surrounded by beautiful Inselberg rock mounds.

This place was just asking to be explored.”

Spitzkoppe view, 2014

Curved shapes, 2014

Top of the Inselburg, 2014

“The climb up was fairly easy, but we didn’t think about coming down, which was a mission. And scary. This wasn’t a normal rocky surface, it was almost like a wall made of mini polished granite pebbles, so it was slippery and there weren’t many foot holes.

Darkness was approaching, so we had to get down fast or risk staying up there the whole night in the cold. Not fun. Luckily Jakob was there to show me some climbing etiquette so I managed to get down safely. Unfortunately Pete slipped and was lucky to only leave with cuts to his back and a scare. He could have easily broken his leg or worse. Not many local hospitals around here...”

The Bridge, 2014

Namibian Matterhorn, 2014

“We left Spitzkoppe and headed for Orupembe, a remote area 100km from the Angolan border, in the Kaokoveld region. As we stopped to fuel up we met a couple and exchanged details about our journey. They gave us a sincere warning about the track we were heading for. This was the fastest way to Orupembe, but on a terrible road . They said their friends had recently travelled along it and got 3 flat tires. Unfortunately we only had one spare.�

Namibian Rock Agama, 2014 (Agama planiceps)

“About three quarters of the way through the desert, we came across a sign that said “Shop 1 - Ice Cold Drinks”. As we followed the road we eventually found a small 5x4m building. The drinks were room temperature, but it tasted ice cold to me.”

Jakob looking, 2014

“We reached Orupembe without puncturing any tires. During the day at the orupembe hill camp Jakob and I were observing the landscape below, we could see a few villages on the horizon. He was looking through the binos when he spotted two young local boys, looking at him, cupping their hands over their eyes as if they too had binoculars. These guys were definitely over a km away and could see us easily with their naked eye. We could just manage to see them with the binoculars. Jakob put his right hand up and they both copied, he put his hand on his head and they copied, soon enough they were copying a whole dance routine.

It was hilarious. Their eye sight was amazing. Dad reckons it’s because their not looking at an iphone all day”

Opuwa Supermarker, 2014

Opuwa church, 2014

Opuwa dog, 2014 “We left Orupembe and started heading South again. On the way we travlled through a small town called Opuwa. Most of the Himba people in the town wore modern clothing but in their traditional way, so it might look strange for someone who doesn’t know what’s going on. The men wore skirts and had shaved heads except for a single thick dreadlock-like-ponytail that waves off the back of their head and the women didn’t wear tops.”

Bull’s Party, 2014 “Later we entered the Erongo mountain campsite ‘Ameib’ which is also a rhino sanctuary. We set up camp and drove to a place called ‘Bull’s Party’ which had lots of rock pools and boulders surrounding a river bed”

“The early rise was definitely worth it as it provided great light for photos. Pete climbed the front of the cliff face and discovered a pool on the top of the highest inselberg peak.�

Erongo Landscape, 2014

Boulder, 2014

Inselburg, 2014

“We sat in the bushmen’s cave and observed their 4000 year old artwork.”

Bushman painting, 2014 “There were many interesting paintings including an interpretation of a Shaman’s transitions into becoming an animal”

Shaman Transition, 2014

“On the last morning we climbed up the cliff face to see the pool Pete was talking about. It was about a 30 minute climb to the top.

And there it was, a small pool at the top of the inselberg with a great view�

Thanks.

harrycunningham.com