African Wings: Part 3 - Damaraland & the Skeleton Coast

AFRICAN WINGS: PART 3: DAMARALAND & THE SKELETON COAST

Join us on a 6500km flying adventure through Namibia starting at Rundu on the Angolan border and ending at Oranjemund;  the quirky mining town of the Sperrgebiet

 Our tanks were on empty but luckily our Jabiru 430 can take petrol (Mogas) and Avgas which makes it a perfect aircraft for flying in Africa. We had gone into Etosha the previous day and filled up our Jerry cans with petrol and after syphoning it into the wings with an old hose pipe we took off into a crisp golden dawn so typical of a Namib winter.

The dense bush of the Kunene slowly gave way to semi-desert and then to the ruggedly beautiful terracotta hills, mountains and valleys of Damaraland. The Damaraland is home to the famed Desert Elephant whom have adapted to survive the sun-baked and waterless wastes.

Leaving behind the bushveld of the Etosha and the Northern Kunene

The terracotta landscapes of the Damaraland

As we travelled south the imposing Brandberg or “the fire mountain” reared up out of the desert pavement below. Rising 2573m above sea level the Brandberg is a monolithic site and a place of great mystery and magic. Revered by the San for thousands of years this mountain and surrounding kopies have been lovingly painted with over 45 000 bushman paintings including the famous “white lady”

The Brandwag or "Fire Mountain"

Some say that Namibia is porn for geologists and when flying over the Damaraland and the sandy wastes of the Skeleton coast one can certainly see why. Quite abruptly the mountains and ridges of the Damaraland end and are replaced by what looks like a battlefield. The earth looked like it had been lashed with a cat o’ nine tails in punishment by some enraged God. The buckled and bent landscape melts into a flat empty expanse crisscrossed with prehistoric rivers stretching unbroken to the icy crashing waves of the Atlantic and the famed Skeleton Coast.

Prehistoric rivers snake across the desert

Namibia has been said to be porn for geologists

The entire coastline of Namibia was formerly called the Skeleton Coast but today it refers only to the Skeleton Coast National Park. Dense fog caused by the cold Benguela current meeting with the extreme heat of the desert shores characterise the early mornings and late afternoons along this enchanted coastline.

The Bushmen called the Skeleton coast “The Land God Made in Anger” and the Portuguese knew it as The Gates of Hell. Whatever you choose to call it, ever since European navigators first discovered it, ships have met their demise on this treacherous coast.

Flying over the sandy wastes is indeed a humbling experience and it was with relief that we spotted the sapphire blue sea which signalled that “civilisation” was not far ahead. We reached the coast at Terrace Bay and followed the coast south to Henties Bay where we planned to stay at a friends house for a couple of days.

The icy Atlantic crashing against inhospitable shores

The fascinating brine pans of the Skeleton Coast

The luminous colours and shapes of the brine pans

Flamingo flock in their thousands to the Brine Pans on the Namib coast

The enormous seal colony of Cape Cross

Henties Bay, a tiny desert village came into view and looked ludicrously isolated and fragile on the edge of such a savage coastline. We had to circle a couple of times before we located the airstrip which was virtually indistinguishable from the endless desert pavement surrounding it. We landed in a shimmering haze and taxied to the hangars, parked the plane on the leeward side and called Magda, a friend and local estate agent for a lift into town.

Sunset over the misty Henties Bay coastline

EZP parked next to a hangar at the Henties Bay "air-field"

Henties has the feel of a frontier town. Dirt roads, one petrol station, a couple of pubs, general dealers and a seafood restaurant or two are more or less what you’ll find on the main drag. One can see straight away that Henties is all about fishing and only about fishing!

We did a little grocery shopping, unloaded the supplies and went for a walk on the beach. The mist was just coming in and as we walked we couldn’t help but breathe the salty sea air in giant greedy gulps. After working up an appetite we headed off to the local restaurant and ordered a deep fried Kabeljou fillet with a large Tafel beer and spent the evening chatting to the local fishermen about this unusual place that they call home….

A lone fisherman in the ethereal afternoon mist at Henties Bay

Sunset over the Atlantic