Naukluft & Brandberg (Namibia) Jul 2006

At 06:30 Saturday morning I picked Gordon up from his place. We left for Kempton Park where we picked George up and then also Pam in Primrose before meeting Eddy, Shirley and Ingrid at Eddy’s place in Bruma. We left Bruma at 08:00 and drove without incident to Upington, where we spent the night at Die Eiland. The next morning (18 Jun), we hurried off to Sesriem, hoping to catch the gates open. Just before we got to Sesriem, our rear right tyre burst and we had to change it right there. When we made it to Sesriem, we enquired about a new tyre, which they could arrange to be collected at Solitaire. We booked and paid (an exorbitant amount) and made it to the campsite with a few minutes to spare before sunset – I ran off and took a whole bunch of really nice pictures before we settled down for the night. We rose very early the next morning to be at the gate to Sossusvlei when it opened at 05:45. We drove the 63km to the parking which we reached before sunrise. I took another bunch of pictures of the trees surrounding the parking area before we started walking to the dunes. It was hard walking through the heavy sand but the surreal greenery in the desert distracted us completely. I was in front when we approached Sossusvlei and although I knew it rained a lot earlier in the year I didn’t expect to see what I did. In the distance there was a tiny reflection of water in the pan. I took some more pictures and when the others arrived we walked up to the top of the dune. Eddy tried to dune board with a piece of PVC but it was not rigid enough. I had some fun running down the dune and after all of us had our shoes back on, we walked back to the parking lot. We still had more than enough time in the day so we quickly visited Sesriem canyon and then left for Solitaire where we hoped to find a new tyre. At Solitaire we discovered the power was out and people were queuing for petrol. Luckily our tyre was there and by the time it was on the rim, the power had come on too and we were able to fill up. We then drove to Naukluft where we booked in shortly before sunset. The rest of the evening was spent sorting out all we needed for the trail and we finally went to bed by 21:00.

Day 1 (20 June): Though a bit chilly when we got up, it was a beautiful day. Eddy drove the packs down to the office from where we started, after having our picture taken by one of the OICs. The trail started winding through the river bed towards the east and I took a lot of pictures. At some point I realized I was going to run out of space on my memory card. Asking Gordon for the 512MB card he had with him, he suddenly remembered that he didn’t take it out. With a little persuasion, the rest of us waited while he jogged back to go and fetch it – we did about 2.5km at that point. All of us waited for a while at a nice river crossing, spotting some Cape buntings and a few other birds. The rest of the group got a bit bored and decided to leave while I waited for Gordon. When he showed up, about 50 minutes after he left, we carried on immediately. Soon we discovered however, that the footprints were few and far between, especially in the riverbed, and we got a bit confused as to where we should go. However, we stuck to the riverbed and soon enough spotted footprints finally leading up a spur. Halfway up the spur I spotted the rest of the group and knew we were back on track. When the track got to the top of Panorama hill we all took a break and sat watching the yellow grass waving in the wind. From here the trail continued on a reasonable contour but the path was very indistinct with many rocks and boulders making walking very difficult. In a shallow valley we sat beneath a rock for lunch before moving higher up in the valley from where the path climbed steeply again to gain a higher contour. At around 13:30 we sat for a nice break under the shade of a small tree. From here I continued ahead on my own, speeding up a bit. The trail was a bit longer than we anticipated, carrying up higher into the mountains before Putte shelter could finally be seen on a small plateau. My feet were sore and I gladly sat down and took my boots off when I arrived. George arrived not long after me and together we walked up to the water point where we had to turn a big wheel to pump the water from the wells. We had a quick wash and collected water before walking back. Eventually everyone came in with Gordon bringing up the back about half an hour after we arrived. It was a nice day’s hiking but it was characterized by hard walking on an indistinct trail that was very difficult to find over the last 2km. For dinner Gordon and I had soup and bread I bought in Upington with custard and cake for dessert. As soon as the sun had set, we settled down. Gordon and I still read for a while before also turning in.

Day 2 (21 June): The start of the day’s trail was very hard to find as a footprint pointed in the general direction of a ridge behind the shelter but there was no track to speak of. Walking higher up the ridge we eventually came across the track and then made our way along it. Having spent a lot of time the previous day taking grass seeds and burs out of our socks, Eddie and I decided to fashion our own gaiters from plastics bags – these worked very well. The trail continued steadily on with beautiful vistas of the hills and plateaus high in the Naukluft mountains, until we finally came past Bergpos and knew we were going to drop into Ubusis kloof soon. We made our way to the top of Ubusis kloof indicated by a large cross painted on a rock. Just beyond this point, before we descended into the shadows, we sat for lunch. After lunch we walked for about 15 minutes, scrambling over boulders and walking through sand, before reaching the first chain that skirted the edge of a lovely pool of running water. George and I waited for the rest, thinking that some may need some help down. The next chain was considerably taller, climbing down a large section of tufa, but it was still pretty easy going. The third chain traversed across the side of a large pool below a very narrow gully in the kloof. Getting there we discovered that getting across was impossible and we had to look for another way. I climbed higher up around the corner and discovered that there was actually a path with footprints going over the top with another chain leading down a steep granite slab. At the bottom of this chain we saw a large black stain on the roof of an overhanging slab. This is where the local rangers smoked out a huge beehive that was responsible for the death of a guy a few years back. Although progress was slow we kept moving and soon found ourselves at the last chain – a tall one with a few steps, leading down a sharp tufa ridge. We could see the rest of the canyon curving towards the right and below the chain I went on ahead. I walked for another 2km or so before finally spotting a windmill in the distance and realizing I must be getting close to the end of the day. Even so, it took another 15 minutes of walking to get to Ubusis hut which was hidden beneath a canopy of trees next to the stream emerging from the kloof. The hut was in a state of disrepair but after dropping my pack I took a very welcome shower. Unfortunately the shower was in an even poorer state than the hut itself and the drain was also blocked. After George arrived and showered as well, Eddy had to unblock the drains of both the shower and the basin before the hut’s “facilities” became usable at all. Before dusk, we started cooking. Our dinner this time consisted of pasta with a wine and mushroom sauce. To this I added dried mushrooms and fried bacon before completing the meal with a couple of cheese squeeze tubes. Enjoying our meal outside, we were sitting on a large concrete slab which seemed to be the foundation for another hut. Thinking that the inside of the hut was not in the best of conditions, I decided to sleep outside on the concrete slab. I was joined by Gordon, Ingrid, Shirley and Eddy. The stars were wonderful but it got a bit chilly during the night.

Day 3 (22 June): We got an early start walking back up Ubusis kloof. A cold wind was blowing down the kloof so when everyone was at the top of the first chain, we immediately moved on. Up the chains proved to be easier than down. Past the last chain I sat down in the early morning sun, realizing that the others walked much slower than I did up the kloof. Shirley was however already with me, having carried on from the first stop in the kloof. She was having trouble with her ankle and hobbling along slower than the rest and didn’t want to keep us waiting. The rest arrived one by one and worrying a bit about Shirley going ahead on her own, I sped off to make sure she was still on the right track. I only caught up with her beyond the kloof where the track already ascended to a high ridge. At the saddle we both sat down to take a short break but before the rest arrived Shirley was off again. About and hour later we found a nice shady lunch tree. George and Pam were a bit further back and had lunch on their own. When they caught up to us we had almost finished lunch as well and we followed them closely. It was a fast hour’s walk to Adlerhorst shelter, a round one, built on the back of a little east-west ridge. This time we used an Archimedes screw type pump to get water to the top. Using my small plastic basin, I had a good wash before relaxing for the rest of the afternoon. A westerly breeze was blowing cold across the high plateau and we dressed warm earlier than previous evenings. Dinner this time consisted of Rob’s recipe of fried onion, green pepper and bully beef with Smash. To make it even better I added a cube of garlic flavouring and dried mushrooms. During the night the wind increased so that when we woke up it was very cold and unpleasant.

Day 4 (23 June): Most of us dressed warmly for the day. Cirrus clouds predicted the tip of a cold front pushing through. Shirley’s ankle demanded a fair amount of attention. She complained about a rib in the boot putting pressure on her ankle bone, causing pain. The first kilometre or so, we constantly stopped for Shirley to put in extra padding or adjust the boot. It was painful enough that she considered stopping at Tsams Ost, our destination for the day. We were getting a bit desperate when we tried our last option: using one of Pam’s Rockys instead of the boot. Although now Shirley didn’t have any ankle support, there was no pressure on her ankle and the relief was almost instantaneous. The path wandered through beautiful hills and the gradient and path quality made the walking very enjoyable despite the wind. After about an hour and a half we got to Zebra kloof. It was an interesting kloof and a little different from Ubusis. Shirley, Gordon and I chased down a small bird which we eventually identified as a Pririt batis – a lifer for me! We got to another chain down a large chock stone boulder. The chain was wedged under a lot of sand at the bottom and turned out to be of little use. I managed to slide down most of the boulder and jump the last two meters into the soft sand. The rest were less inclined to jump and it took us a while to pass backpacks down the boulder and climb down. Not long after passing this obstacle we had to steeply climb out of the kloof and go around to the top. Although the kloof looked very doable from where we were standing, Eddy reminded us that there was a huge waterfall lower down. After the exhausting climb the path dropped down steeply again to a thin gully where we sat for lunch. We still had a lot to do for the day so it wasn’t long before we packed up and carried on down. The path then went straight back down to the riverbed. The mountain scenery around us was spectacular but the path so steep and full of dangerously loose shale, that no-one really noticed. The descent was bone-jarring but when we got to the bottom a sign indicated that the pool at the bottom of the huge tufa waterfall was only 300m away. We dropped our packs and walked over. A big pool collected at the bottom and the tufa was littered with Rosy-faced lovebirds that nested there in their thousands. Ingrid was very brave and took a quick dip in the pool. We didn’t stay very long and back at the packs I quickly set the pace. We walked past a large moringa where George posed for perspective. The rest of the way was typical riverbed walking until we walked out onto a road that apparently led all the way to Tsams Ost shelter. Hitting the road I sped up. We walked on this road for about 2km before reaching the turn-off to the hut, where I very happily took off my boots. Most of us took advantage of a large water tank about 100m away from the hut to take a very welcome shower. The rest of the afternoon we relaxed and tried to identify a female sunbird flitting around in a tree close to the shelter. The food cupboard was rather bare and there was nothing interesting in the “For Taking” box. This time our dinner was to be spaghetti bolognaise with dried mince, onion and tomato relish mix, green pepper and garlic flavouring and parmesan cheese. Unfortunately I didn’t soak the dried mince quite long enough so it wasn’t quite up to the same standard as what we had so far. Luckily the wind calmed down significantly during the afternoon and we had a pleasant sleep that night.

Day 5 (24 Jun): It was a bit chilly when we left Tsams Ost but at least the wind was dead quite when we left. We started climbing almost immediately up into the valley behind Tsams Ost for about 200m. At the top we sat basking in the early rays of the sun before descending into Euphorbia kloof. This was a very pleasant walk and we were lucky to spot a perched Verreaux's eagle that conveniently waited until all of us saw it before it flew off. Climbing out of Euphorbia kloof proved to be pleasant as well with a gradient that was perfect for slow but very steady walking. At the top we sat for another break while I took some pictures of the quiver trees around us. The track from here carried on flat over the hills and then descended again into a confusion of smaller kloofs. Ascending back out of one of these we lost the trail completely and it took Eddy to stand on the opposite side to spot the trail higher up on the hill. Back on track we descended steeply to another windmill. We were descending slowly next to a river bed, but regularly taking the high road crossing over the spurs of the inside bends of the river. Finally we got out on the Melkbos plain where we stopped on a slight rise for lunch. It seemed everyone was keen to get to the hut because we barely sat down when they got up again to start moving. George, Gordon and I sat a little longer but then also packed up to go. I caught up and passed everyone over the flat expanse. The path was difficult to follow here and I lost it completely at some point but carried on, following my nose. At the end of the valley it was obvious I had to cross the stream bed and here I managed to latch onto the path again. I walked hard and fast but my feet started to hurt on the hard surface. Eventually I got out on another dirt road with footprints pointing the way. I carried on with the road but stopped twice to give my feet a break. Before 2pm I was at Die Valle shelter and was amazed at the magnificent waterfalls we could see towering higher up in the valley. George, Pam and Ingrid were not far behind and while we waited for the rest, George and I had another plastic basin bath. Shirley, Eddy and Gordon arrived only about 45 minutes later after they got a bit lost on the plains. We again relaxed most of the afternoon. While we prepared dinner, tuna, mussels, pasta and sauce, dried mushrooms, peaches and evaporated milk, the sun turned some cliffs in the distance to a very bright red. We went to bed at the usual time but got some entertainment when a little mouse decided to scamper around, looking for food.

Day 6 (25 June): I left slightly earlier than the rest, planning to walk up to the bottom of the massif waterfall we could see in the distance. Gordon followed behind with the same intention. Unfortunately the fall is so massif that it’s impossible to get a good picture of it without a wide-angle lens. We quickly walked back to our packs after seeing the waterfall. From where the path split to the waterfall, there is a very steep climb up a narrow valley with many slabs of solid and loose rock – some sandstone, some shale. The climb was steep and within half an hour we gained over 200m. I passed most people on the way and eventually joined George where he was also waiting for the rest. The path contoured a bit up and down from here until it came out at the top of the waterfall we just visited from the bottom. We stopped for a break and managed with the help of a chain to get right to the lip of the waterfall. The path continued up the kloof through some very interesting rocks and boulders. The kloof narrowed higher up and another chain had to be used to cross a deep pool at the bottom of a narrow section. We eventually got to a tufa cave from where the path branched out of the kloof to pass around a massif block of tufa before descending down to the river bed again. The path carried on in the river bed and being fairly fast on the rocks, I built up a decent lead on the rest of the group. In fact, I was so far in front when lunch time came that I decided to carry on walking and have lunch later on. At 12:30 I decided to have lunch on my own. The footprints got increasingly harder to find as the shallow river bed was clogged with thick bushes and occasional large boulders. Finally, the trail emerged onto a high plateau, but because the plateau was almost devoid of grass, I immediately lost the path. It took me 10 minutes of walking around, looking for prints to get back on track. Then I carried on with a steady pace. The path slowly rose across the plateau and I just started to see the valley I was about to drop into when a large kudu came trotting towards me on the track I was walking on. The breeze was in my face so the kudu didn’t notice me at all. Only when it was about 30m away did it suddenly see me and stopped dead. I already had my camera ready and managed to get in a shot just as it decided to sprint away. Shortly I was at the highest point and saw a lovely valley with distant mountains dropping below me. The path followed a natural descending rock band and was easy to follow and excellent to walk on. I enjoyed this section very much and slowed down slightly. After about an hour’s walk I arrived at the hut, neatly tucked away beneath some acacia trees. I went for a basin bath at the water pump down by the river bed and when I returned, George and Pam had just arrived. The others soon followed and agreed that the walk down was much nicer than the endless walk upwards in the canyon. When Gordon got there I immediately boiled the mince we were going to eat that night so that it could reconstitute better than our spaghetti bolognaise attempt. Today was to be curry and rice. When it came to cooking time, the mince had reconstituted well and I added the curry spices, dried corgettes and mushrooms, garlic and onion flavour, dried minced peaches and boiled the rice separately. It turned into the best meal for the hike!

Day 7 (26 Jun): We were up and away early as usual. The walk across to the bottom of the huge kloof we had to ascend didn’t take too long, despite losing the footprints once. When we got into the kloof it was the usual thing: scrambling across large boulders with very little walking in between. George, Gordon and I were leading when, about a third of the way up we came to the waterfall that we all dreaded. Before we left the rangers told us that this chain would be nasty because the waterfall was wet, and when we saw it, it certainly looked exactly that. Originally the chain had apparently gone straight up the waterfall but to avoid the bottom wet, slippery rock, the chain was fastened to a thin tree, a third of the way up. Climbing up this first section to the tree was fine, but the next section found my heart beating very hard in my throat. The chain followed a section of the running waterfall and I had to step into some of the pockets in the rock and almost hold on for dear life on the chain. Above the lip of the fall, the chain continued around a very steep corner to a tree hidden in a hole formed by an overhanging rock. Although safer at the tree it was pretty interesting climbing out of this hole with a pack on. Getting to the top my knees were shaking and the adrenalin pumping. Gordon and George took their time coming up. Gordon managed to slip at the bottom and got a nasty gash on his knee for his efforts. George said he didn’t know how Pam was going to get to the top but he was definitely not going back to fetch packs. I climbed down again to help the others. All the way down, my knees were shaking and I was breathing hard. It was not a fun bit to do at all. Eddy got to the top, albeit very slowly. He was followed by Ingrid who also huffed and puffed her way up. I then took Pam’s pack so she could climb more freely. Pam made good work of the chain and Shirley came up behind her, also carrying her pack. I came last with Pam’s pack and although I must admit it was slightly easier the second time round, it was still terribly dangerous. We thought that someone was going to get seriously injured at this chain one of these days. From the top of the chain the path carried on in the river bed but unlike the previous day, it steeply climbed out, just when I got tired of it. At the top I stopped for a break and the rest joined me a few minutes later. The wind was blowing reasonably hard at the top and sitting around we got cold. The view was pretty good so we decided to sit for lunch as soon as we got to World’s View, but we had to walk slightly downhill to get some wind shade. After lunch I wanted to get out of the wind so I got away from the group very quickly. The path was a bit hard to find through the rocky terrain but eventually it climbed up to Bakenkop where I took a picture before heading over Kapokvlakte to the hut. Here the path was very poorly marked and I lost the trail at least once. But spotting a big tree in the distance and the toilet next to it, I knew I didn’t have too far to go. Close to the hut, I was very lucky to spot a black-backed jackal eyeing me. I was able to get a picture just before he disappeared. Kapokvlakte shelter was hidden behind the solitary tree which provided welcome shelter from the wind. The rest arrived not long after. After resting for a short while, I decided to go plot at least 2km of the next morning’s route since we planned to walk before dawn to get back early to Hiker's Haven. I ended up walking about 2.5km of the next day’s route, plotting a few waypoints as I went along. Back at the hut I relaxed a while reading before starting dinner around 5pm. This time I made pasta and sauce with dried mushrooms and added a packet of shredded biltong – this turned out to be just as good as all the other dinners! Sunset provided us with some spectacular photo opportunities and we clicked away as the sun dipped below the horizon.

Day 8 (27 Jun): The wind didn’t really stop during the night and when we got up it was very cold. Today was Shirley’s birthday so while getting dressed we quickly sang happy birthday to her. We left about half an hour before sunrise and walked with our torches. For the first 20 minutes or so I walked mainly on GPS but the path was just distinct enough so we could actually walk without it. As it got lighter I started taking some silhouette pictures of trees as well as the group. Pretty soon we were able to spot the footprints without trouble and I decided to start walking ahead. We discussed earlier that if I was to get to the hut first I would go and collect the combi, switch the gas geyser on, and have a shower so that we could get on the road as soon as possible. There were patches where the tall grass made finding the path very difficult. The zebra tracks were more often than not better to walk on than trying to find the footprints and in the process I lost the footprints twice. Being in front though I was able to spot a few herds of zebra and one lonely oryx. The never-ending hills really kept on going for a long time but at least it made for pretty easy hiking. At last the path started descending into a kloof. The wind howled through the kloof and in the shady parts it was bitterly cold. Although the footprints were spaced few and far between I managed to keep on track and after about 40 minutes in the kloof, I emerged into a larger wet kloof which I suspected must be the one that runs all the way to the campsite. According to the GPS, Hiker’s Haven was less than 2km away but obviously I had to follow the flow of the river. At least the path was slightly better here since the trail ran in the opposite direction. Even so, I missed a high shortcut once past some beautiful tufa and found myself scrambling up the slope before getting back on track again. At last, I saw a footprint leading up to a saddle beyond which the hut must surely lie. Heading up the hill, my feet were sore and I was looking forward to a shower and starting the drive to Brandberg. The path emerged onto the road, about 150m behind the hut. At the hut I dropped my pack and walked down to the office to fetch the hut keys and the combi. The combi took a while to start but did eventually. Back at the hut I struggled fruitlessly to get the gas geyser going. I didn’t see how Eddy got it started and gave up after 20 minutes of trying. Then I made some Clifton and had lunch while waiting for the others. Walking around outside at one point I spotted Ingrid, Shirley, Pam and Eddy walking up to me. I was rather surprised that George and Gordon didn’t show up first and when I asked them where they were, they were shocked, expecting George and Gordon to have been long back because they were between them and myself. Despite the surprise we thought they might have gone down to the campsite first so we waited. Eddy got the geyser going and made a birthday cake for Shirley while each of us took a turn having a very nice shower. When neither George nor Gordon showed up an hour and a half after Eddy’s group arrived, we started getting worried. Eddy and I packed a bag and decided to go look for them. We agreed that we would walk for exactly an hour and then return even if we haven’t found them yet. If they were not back at the hut by then, we would notify authorities. Walking back along the path, Eddy and I went separate routes where the river allowed and whistled every now and again. Almost an hour into our search we got to the dry river’s junction where we exited into the wet canyon. We walked up this canyon for about 100m before deciding to turn around – we haven’t found a sight or sound of them. Walking back we speculated as to what might have happened, but when we walked up to the hut, 16:00 in the afternoon, Shirley came running up to us and told us they had arrived. Apparently they lost the white footprints somewhere in the dry canyon, and instead of going back they kept going, expecting to catch up to the white footprints soon. Instead, they entered the wet canyon somewhere else than where we did and saw yellow footprints leading in the opposite direction. Thinking the yellow prints must lead home, they kept going on these, little knowing that they would end up doing an extra 8km of the daywalk. The group decided in the meantime that they were going to sleep at Hikers Haven and only drive through to Brandberg the next day. George had trouble with his foot and Ingrid and Pam felt that they would keep the group back on Brandberg. Consequently, the four of them decided not to do Brandberg anymore. Discussing the issue during the evening, Shirley decided she would not make up her mind yet, but wait until we could get to Brandberg to find out what the water situation was.

The next morning Eddy had also decided not to do Brandberg anymore and Shirley soon joined him. Leaving Naukluft at 05:00, we navigated in the dark towards Rehoboth. The sun rose magnificently as we drove and from Rehoboth we only had 90km to go to Windhoek. In Windhoek we scattered to visit the AA, do some shopping and get some decent food in. Gordon and I went together and got some rolls, salami and Clifton at the Pick & Pay before having a Wimpy breakfast. I also bought some woodcarvings on the way back. All of us met back at the combi at 10:00 where Eddy told us that AA said we needed the registration papers to return via Botswana and the road was apparently pretty bad too. Therefore we were resigned to coming back via Upington again. We left Windhoek and made good time to Okahandja where we filled up. Then we went to Karibib, Omaruru and Uis. At Uis we found Brandberg Rest camp and I was relieved to hear that this was Basil Calitz’s place – the guy I made contact with before we left, regarding Brandberg. Brandberg of course, was a prominent feature visible from Uis. Basil wasn’t present at the time so we set up camp and had a nice swim in their swimming pool. I was sorting out food for Brandberg when Basil showed up and took me to his office where we chatted a while about Brandberg. He gave me some coordinates for water and showed me pictures taken earlier the year when it was raining in Brandberg. Later that afternoon he invited us for a sun-downer cruise on which we only had to pay for the drinks. He showed us around the old tin mines and then drove up to the top of a minedump from where we could see Brandberg beautifully. The sun was setting nicely behind the mountain when we heard and saw a microlight fly past. He eventually came in to land and chatted a bit. When it later transpired that the pilot can take you for a flight when you buy an expensive loaf of bread from him, I caught on to the very neat set-up between Basil and the pilot (Nico). Nico took off again but came back before we left and offered Ingrid a flight. It was obvious he wanted Ingrid to come back and tell everyone how fantastic it was. Back at camp, George, Pam and Shirley also wanted to go flying the next morning and made plans for an early rise.

Day 1 (29 Jun): When the first people started to make noise quite a while before sunrise, Gordon and I also got up. I pitched the tent in the middle of the previous night when mosquitoes bothered us relentlessly. Eddy took Shirley to the aerodrome to start her flight, then came back to fetch Pam and George. Then he returned with Shirley and picked up me and Gordon. The drive to the bottom of Ga’aseb took slightly longer than I expected, but the directions we got from Basil was reasonably good: we followed the road out of Uis towards Hentiesbay. After about 15km we got to a sideroad with a D number. We turned onto this road and drove until another track turned off to the road at a white marker next to the road, sunning between two granite koppies. This track was followed until we got the signpost where Basil said we would then know we’ve gone too far. We turned around and got onto a track 500m back. Following this for a while we eventually got the idea that it traversed the bottom of Brandberg and when we found yet another track leading in the general direction of Ga’aseb, we followed it. This one went all the way to the bottom where we could see the formidable granite slabs going up the middle of Ga’aseb. At the parking spot we got off. A strong wind was blowing across the grassy fields below Brandberg but it wasn’t particularly cold. The route certainly looked spectacular and Shirley mentioned she was glad she wasn’t doing it. Our packs were reasonably light: we left any and all unnecessary things and carried only 3 litres of water each. But the Uis water was terrible. We only found out later that Uis meant bad water and it sure was. We were hoping to get to better water at Longipools. Luckily I was still carrying about a litre of Naukluft water. Leaving Eddy and Shirley to drive back, Gordon and I started walking. The entrance to Ga’aseb seemed to be protected by two spurs, curved around like bull horns – it was one of the most awesome approaches I’ve ever had to a mountain! We started right away. It was a pretty easy walk up into the bottom of the “kloof” but there were plenty of large granite boulders around and every now and again we had to scramble to get around them. Once inside the protection of the bull horn spurs, the wind was less of an irritation and we could take our jackets off. Every now and again we picked up a little path with a few cairns. But we didn’t follow it too closely – the going wasn’t too hard. The first 2km we gained little height, but when we picked up the path again through a large boulder field, it got a little steeper. Eventually we got onto the huge granite slabs we could see from the bottom. We followed the cairns virtually all the way and although the slabs were steep (30 degrees), the going was good and we gained altitude fast. We noticed that the vegetation was completely different to that of Naukluft. There was almost no grass whatsoever and the shrubs around us had a fynbos look and feel to them. We were also fascinated by what we initially called funny trees but later found out they were butter trees. Having gained just over 1100m in altitude in the morning, we sat on a huge pile of boulders for lunch. We did well up to then and could see the saddle we were aiming for, just about 50m higher and 300m distant from us. The Uis water was really quite appalling and it probably made us drink less than what we should’ve. After lunch we climbed up past the saddle and found ourselves in a small little bowl with a very flat bottom surrounded by granite boulders and rocky outcrops. Their was a huge cairn packed in this bowl and a very distinct path led on. We followed the path which climbed over another low ridge. When we got to the top of this one we realized it was finally the top. We were struck by a spectacular sight: below us we could see the path snaking through a patch of grass waving in the breeze. A surreal valley framed by enormous granite slabs and rocky outcrops all over the place turned out to be Longipools. The fantasy world we had before us reminded me terribly of the Cedarberg and I couldn’t stop commenting on it! We could already see from a distance that there was water – now it was just a question to find out whether it was drinkable. Just before the actual stream there was a pretty good-looking campsite and we dropped the packs on a big granite slab to collect water. We walked about 50m downstream and found a nice large pool with cool, sweet water. We filled our drom bags and made some Clifton before resting until 14:00, basking in the sun. Then we packed up again and followed the cairned track up towards the Wasserfalflache. We were grateful for the bit of path there was because it was obvious that without it, the going would be exceptionally tough. The entire Brandberg consists of massive slabs and boulders of granite interspersed with a very dense fynbos. There was virtually no sand and the little grass that did occur, came in small patches. At the top of a saddle, looking down into another small bowl, we decided to camp for the night. The wind we had during the morning had calmed down and it was a beautiful afternoon. Although I had intentions of climbing Orabes Kopf and Hungurob Spitze, I decided to rather take it easy and get to our main goal, Konigstein. We spent the rest of the afternoon reading in the sun, and lazing around. As the sun started setting we got beautiful dusk photographs while making dinner of soup and bread. After dinner we still read for a while before going to bed. The stars were spectacular and I was still gazing up at them at 21:00. Around midnight the wind picked up again and kept us awake most of the night.

Day 2 (30 Jun): When we got up the wind was still blowing strong and it was very cold. We had breakfast and waited for the sun to get up. We were walking before the rays hit us. We managed to follow the track down to another stream on the Wasserfalflache from where it turned east and walked straight into the rising sun. We were confronted with many granite slabs and boulders, climbing out of a shallow valley, and following cairns looking into the sun was difficult. We got onto a plateau but here the track turned in a northwesterly direction. So far I was walking on GPS and the direction indicated northeast. Turning back into the sun we started climbing diagonally up a ridge towards a saddle we could see in the distance. This turned out to be very hard work. Granite boulders the size of houses were scattered haphazardly all over the place and interspersed with the fynbos type vegetation. Getting to the saddle proved to be rather difficult but when we got there, a flatter plateau leading to a narrowing ridge stretched before us. We carried on to this ridge and eventually found ourselves on the ridge composed almost entirely of a granite slab. Finally we were able to see Konigstein peak for the first time: a prominent peak topped by a radio mast and trig beacon. Unfortunately we had to climb down the ridge again and skirt a very steep pile of boulders. I was ahead at this point and kept to the southern side of the rocky outcrop. But the going was very hard and it took me almost 20 minutes to go the 400m from the ridge to just below the final climb to the top. I took a break while waiting for Gordon but when he didn’t show up in 10 minutes I started getting worried. I looked all round for him and then decided he must have gone the other way. I started going up towards Konigstein (without my pack) but when I still couldn’t spot Gordon, I turned back to go and find him. I was just about to round a corner on the way back to the ridge when I heard Gordon shouting. I turned around and spotted him on the saddle below Konigstein. Very relieved he wasn’t hurt, I turned back. When I got to him, he explained that he tried to climb over the top of the rocky outcrop but had to almost go all the way back before he could skirt the outcrop to the north. The wind was still blowing hard and we took just over three hours to do the 4km to the bottom of Konigstein. We picked up the path again when we started climbing to the top and finally reached it. We took our pictures sitting on the beacon and also a few pictures of the surrounding mountains and the flat stretching into eternity beyond. We could see where Tsisab gorge descended and since we sumitted at 10:50, we still had a lot to do. We didn’t stay at the summit long but got down to our packs and started walking in the direction of the gorge. However, here the going started to get very hard. There was no path whatsoever and the boulders and vegetation was so dense we could only make about 0.5km an hour. At 11:30, just 200m below the summit, we were so exhausted from hard work all morning, I decided to have an early lunch. After lunch we carried on. It was very frustrating to feel like you’re not making any progress. At least twice we got “trapped” by piles of huge boulders on the way down. But we knew we had to get to the gorge floor to find a flat spot to sleep on. We figured we still had enough water to make it through the night and even the next day if we didn’t find any water. At about 1700m we could see the gorge floor below us. We got into a narrow valley leading down. The valley consisted mostly of granite slabs and it seemed like it would be a slightly better way to get down. Climbing into the valley we found a small stream of water and rested for a while, making Clifton. We followed the granite bed down to the start of Tsisab gorge. It was after 4pm already and we were both very tired. But we had to find a spot to sleep. However, Tsisab gorge was tremendously cluttered with huge boulders making flat spots very hard to come by. With the sun already going down, and the valley sloping north east, it was getting dark quickly. About 400m downstream from where we entered the gorge I came across a large flat slab of granite, protected by overhanging slabs. It was ideal for our overnight spot despite not having water anywhere in sight. It was 16:30 when we settled down – neither of us could really walk any further. To save some water we decided to have tea only with our bread rolls for dinner so we wouldn’t need wash up water for soup-stained cups. I calculated a coordinate for the parking we were hoping to be picked up at the next day and discovered it was 11.8km distant as the crow flies. Figuring that we probably had stretches of similar hard terrain ahead, we decided to leave earlier the next day – although we had enough food to last a fourth day and had plans to back us up, neither of us really wanted to spend a third night on Brandberg. We were sleeping at 1530m. We dropped just over 1000m since sumitting Konigstein but we were only about 2km from the summit – a distance and height covered in five and a half hours.

Day 3 (1 Jul): Getting up at 6am, we were walking by 06:40. We calculated that we should advance at no less than 1km per hour to make it to the bottom in time. Although this sounds pretty easy, we immediately encountered problems. Although we didn’t have the thick vegetation like when we descended into Tsisab, the massive granite boulders in the bottom of the gorge made life very hard. When we only managed 400m in the first 20 minutes I realized it was going to be a very long day. After about an hour of struggling through very tough terrain, and without a break, we managed only 1.2km. However, now we got onto a fairly level plain covered in the same soft grass we saw higher up. Over this stretch, which was easily visible on the map, we made better time. After two hours of walking, I decided to break for the first time, having completed just over a third of the total distance we had to go. However, we only dropped about 250m – we still had 750 to go – and we realized that sooner or later the terrain will get hard again. If only we knew how true that was going to be... About 10 minutes after leaving our first break we ran into some very serious terrain. A valley from the true right deposited massive boulders, some as large as 4-storey buildings, into the gorge. Getting around these boulders proved to be exceptionally difficult. Time and time again we had to backtrack, climb out the sides, try a new route, slide, slip and jump from rock to rock. A few times we actually got stranded when we slid down rocks and couldn’t find our way down the next set of boulders. It was frustrating beyond belief and when I calculated we were making about 0.5km per hour at one stage I thought we were going to spend another night on Brandberg. But we kept going, not resting at all. Luckily our packs were reasonably light and we drank from the river which we crossed occasionally. The morning wore on and got hotter. At 12:35 I decided to have lunch in the shade of a tree, just after getting past a particularly hard section. We were exhausted. But we knew we had to get down the gorge. Twenty minutes of lunch saw us get up and going on again. After spending almost 3 hours going through this very hard terrain we were expecting it to ease up at some point. But what was probably worse to deal with than navigating the actual terrain, was the fact that it didn’t let up. Around every bend we came, the boulders just carried on and on and on. Boulders grew larger as we got lower down. With water and reeds of 3m tall in between, walking became impossible. At one point we were confronted with drops below boulders of up to 15m. We then came upon a stream flanked by two massive boulders. The only way to cross the stream was to jump to a rock about 2.5m into the stream and then again to the sand on the opposite side. Unfortunately the rock wasn’t large enough to jump to it, stop, and jump again – you had to make a triple jump effort. Feeling tired and frustrated and just wanting to get down, I went for it. The moment I landed on the rock with the heel of my right foot, I felt a stab of pain. Gordon was just behind me and I told him to find a different way. I just kept on walking with a grimace on my face. About half an hour later we saw something that looked like a track – we couldn’t believe it and I told Gordon to not get excited. But when we finally stood on the concrete enforced track, we were ecstatic! We knew we found the path running in from the White Lady and that the hard times were now officially over – it was 15:30 – we had done 9.5km in 8 hours 50 minutes, resting 40 minutes in total. Figuring that the concrete path goes somewhere, Gordon went upstream to investigate. According to the GPS I expected the White Lady to be lower down, but the concrete path obviously meant something. Gordon then called out and I walked up with our cameras. Although it wasn’t the White Lady, a small frieze of Bushman paintings greeted us. Back at our packs we carried on with the path until I spotted the little roof shelter where the White Lady was. We dropped our packs again and made a quick detour. There was no-one else around so we took pictures and left again. From here it was finally easy to follow the tracks in the sand and between the rocks and we made good progress. The 2.5km we had left, we did in about 40 minutes, emerging from the gorge at the car park at 16:30. We were greeted by the locals as well as the rest of our group who had just arrived. We drove back to Uis and on the way I spotted five cheetahs right next to the road. We stopped and took some pictures before going on. Back in Uis we took a very welcome shower before Gordon and I went to the bar to have a shandy. After the rest of the group visited the White Lady the next morning, we made our way back home via Upington.