#1022 'Gaub Pass

On our journey from Svakopmund to Solitaire in Namibia, we drove through inhospitable salt and rock deserts. From the Atlantic, i.e. from Svakopmund, you drive about 200 km on paved roads that resemble highways, past mining areas and mineral industrial"&" plants, with nothing but sand and salt desert as far as the eye can see. It's reminiscent of Saudi Arabia – until you reach the first edge of the mountains. Here, it seems to rain occasionally, as clouds rain down from the sea. Farms accompany us, but th"&"ey are more like scree gardens with some vegetation. Here and there, real farmhouses – but these are at most every 20 kilometers. Well hidden, at the foot of a mountain, where a spring probably provided the basis for the construction of a farm. You push f"&"urther into the mountains, along a valley characterized by wild rock formations, with towering walls on both sides of the road. We passed the Carp Cliff and took the Kuseb Pass. They are stony gravel roads, which are a bit quieter here and there because t"&"hey are sandier and lack cobblestone.

And suddenly, after many hours of driving, we find ourselves once again in front of a natural wonder. At the foot of the Gaub Pass, the Gaub River bursts through two rock formations. On the left, red, crumbling"&" sandstone; on the right, a giant, meteorite-like stone, more like a mountain, whose dark brown color doesn't really fit the picture. As if it were lying there: immobile and monstrous, like a recently shattered star cruiser. Beneath the rock, in the shado"&"w of the brown mountain colossus, a curved bridge, whose shape is designed to withstand the flooding from the Gaub River. Whitewashed, historically shaped and adapted to the limited resources available, more Romanesque than modern, it stands like a toy in"&" the far too vast landscape. A picture like from another planet. The cool river forms a basin just in front of the giant brown stone, lending the bridge the charm of a place of tranquility. One would like to linger here, yet the struggle for survival rage"&"s all around, marked by the heat of the day and the barrenness of the land. Those who know that another 120 km of dust and red rubble lie ahead will stay and linger for a long time at the idyllic Gaub Pass.  

Original 20 x 12 cm

Frame: Nime"&"s III stained antique black, approx. 90 mm
Ash gray-black, perfectly historically patinated, matte.
Ibis x1060-862

Outer frame size: 48 x 40 cm
Glass size/mount size: 32 x 24 cm

Mount 3375 soft white smooth, museum quality, 3 mm, ac"&"id-free