From: Colin Rennison Subject: Barefoot in Namibia Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 11:52:01 +0100 Hi all, I've recently returned from my latest stint travelling barefoot in Namibia. I arrived in Windhoek to find the weather hot and sunny, so wasted no time grabbing my camera and walking from my hostel into the city centre. It was a Sunday, so there were few people about initially, though things got busier later on, especially in the two parks. The city centre is quite compact, so after about 3/4 of a day I had covered the main sites including a lot of German colonial architectural gems (the cathedral, Christuskirche is the most well known), a couple of museums, the parks and gardens, the Gibeon meteorites and the Cape Dutch style railway station. My feet had enjoyed various tarmac, concrete and gravel surfaces which had started off feeling cool but were getting quite hot by mid afternoon, though not hot enough to trouble my soles at all. It was, nevertheless, very pleasant to feel to grass of Zoo Park whilst enjoying an ice cream. The following day met up with the rest of the tour group and we travelled to Sesriem to see the red sand dunes for which Namibia is most famous. A "comfort break" at the roadside along the way introduced me to one of Namibia's barefoot hazards - thorns. Africa is, of course, well known for the acacia tree and its associated long and sharp thorns - but they are usually easy to spot so pose only a minor hazard 0- though it does pay to check carefully for them, especially as the acacia tree provides the most shade. But there are others, specifically what seems to be a well-protected seed pod of a ground-hugging plant that is sand-coloured (so impossible to see) and always seems to have a thorn sticking upwards. They are not dangerous for tough soles, but they do hurt and there are lots of them! We arrived at Sesriem, erected our tents, and made for the pool (a swimming pool in the middle of the desert - what decadence) and the bar. I was pleased to see I wasn't the only barefoot person in the bar at least. The following morning we rose early to drive to Sossusvlei to see the red sand dunes at sunrise. these are fantastic - the size, the colours the shapes, the shadows that change as the sun rises, and the razor sharp ridges formed by the wind - truly a natural wonder. And, of course, climbing them and running down them is a barefoot delight (but hard work!). Most people freed their feet to enjoy the sensations. By 10.30, though, the sand was getting too hot to walk on (it can reach 70 degrees C on the surface) so it's really not possible to be barefoot here all the time. Our next stop was further north at Swakopmund, a charming town with wonderful colonial architecture and quite a cold climate due to the cold currents in the Atlantic that are responsible for the Namib Desert. Maybe because there is so little rain (just a damp drizzle for much of the time) but for some reason Swakopmund is superb for getting black soles - and my soles stayed black for several days afterwards - even sand and damp grass did not clean them. Swakopmund is Namibia's adrenaline capital - with sand boarding, quad biking in the dunes, and sky diving the most popular activities. sand boarding is done either standing up using snow boards (so, proper boots and bindings) and/or lying down where one runs gives a down-dune speed of 60mph! When lying down, bare feet are fine (and make climbing back up the dune much easier - climbing and dunes in snow boarding boots is hard work). For quad biking, shoes are required - this was the only time in Namibia that bare feet were not allowed. Don't know about the skydiving, didn't have time to try it! From Swakopmund, it's a short drive to Cape Cross to se the fur seal colony, and not too far to see the rock engravings at Twyfelfontein and the petrified Forest. The rock engravings are seen following, with a guide, a rocky trail - lots of rocks and gravel, but well-conditioned soles wouldn't have a problem. he Petrified Forest is a fascinating collection of tree trunks and logs that have been petrified - turned to stone by silica and vast pressures. It's a hot site, so that makes the rough, stony surface hard work after a while - but I was determined not to give in, so my soles had a good workout there! We then drove up to Etosha, the main game viewing park, where the scenery and vegetation is much more "African" and a lot less desert - not that it's possible to escape the sand, which by this time had got everywhere. The rainy season seemed to be running a bit late, so we had a fair amount of rain, including a cracking thunderstorm and downpour one evening whilst out on a game drive. Back at the very wet camp site, some of us adjourned to the bar (seemed the best option) while others went to see if their tents had floated away. Our cook, meanwhile, performed magic and had dinner ready on time - cooked on an open fire! It was very easy to distinguish between Namibians/South Africans and Germans/French/English visitors. The visitors were trying to stay dry and tip-toeing around puddles in their boots - the locals (and me!) found it much easier to splash through the mud and puddles in our bare feet! Our final stop was at Waterberg - a real "Lost World" plateau that has some nice walks. Snakes are a big threat here, including the Black Mamba, s I wasn't sure whether to abandon bare feet or not, but our guide didn't mention anything so barefoot went. We walked through forest trails (avoiding the thorns!) and scrambled over rocks - all good fun. In the afternoon we visited the local town, sampling afternoon tea with termites rather than cucumber sandwiches - they are actually rather good! Our Afrikaans driver (we had an overland truck for the trip) was always barefoot, telling me that all kids still attend primary school with bare feet and agreeing that shoes were really best avoided. Which they can be in Namibia - nobody will take any notice at all - but, safety on the hot sand does mean a totally barefoot experience is not possible. Colin -- Colin Rennison Deddington, Oxfordshire, England URL: www.renni.demon.co.uk