#1029 Damaraland

Namibia is a rough country. The lanes are divided into grades from A to D. C are country roads that lead to each other from places that are sometimes as much as 200 or 300 km apart, but one of which places is not of great importance for traffic. Category D refers to roads that are definitely rarely used and are therefore only of small-regional importance.

The watercolor depicts our journey between Twyffelfontein and the entrance to the Skeleton Coast National Park. Here we cross Damaraland, where Twyffelfontein is located. The view shows the category C road, an easily passable gravel road that was well leveled in many places. Livestock breeding was originally possible in Damaraland. However, the persistent drought of the last two decades has robbed the country of any predictable fertility. On the approximately 260 km we passed countless abandoned farms and communities. You saw lonely people here and there. All seemed to starve rather than live.

What was bizarre about this trip was that it had just rained - even on the days we were in Damaraland. Somewhere in the vastness of this part of the country, a powerful thunderstorm must have descended over the mountains and the rainwater shot unhindered down the eroded slopes in numerous drifts in the direction of the low-lying river valleys - which, however, had dried out for years, or until now resembled rivulets. In the painting you can see that a drift, a river crossing without a bridge, is muddy and therefore dark in color in front of us. News of destroyed bridges and flooded drifts made us change our original route plans.

On our day trip through Damaraland we crossed two rivers with high water, i.e. with a wading depth of about 50 to 60 cm. Water that had just formed the night before in the higher mountains. Many other drifts were like the one shown in the watercolor, so they weren't affected as badly by the rain and were probably quite passable. The "probably" in the last sentence characterizes the adventure that Luk and I experienced again and again. You experience everything for the first time in Africa at some point. So we were lucky enough to find the right ford at about 30 drifts and the two rivers.

The picture shows the beautiful landscape of Damaraland. Curvy up and down it goes from 400 to 800 m altitude, always looking at the big chunks of gravel, which can also make the day a bad one. The mountains were archaically shaped and in many hundreds of colors they reflected the rain of the past few days. At every curve there was another, new life. Flowers and meadows, grasses and plants, each of which deserves a stop.

In the late afternoon of this beautiful day trip we ran out of luck. Shortly before the Gaubriver Gate, at the end of the Skeleton Coast National Park, we took the wrong track and sank 80 cm deep in concrete-like mud. With the help of two local youths, we dug out "Regina", our beloved Ford Ranger, for over an hour and a half - and continued the journey to great rejoicing. A cheer as if we had just won an important game. The fresh hyena tracks all around us also allowed us to work quickly on the excavation project.

Luk and I hugged and we generously thanked the two incredibly nice guys who rushed to our aid. Another box that we "ticked" during this holiday, I've never gotten stuck anywhere. This story also secured us the last available hotel room on the Skeleton Coast. What a blessing.

Regina was brown from the edge of the window to the floor. A real hero car. What a day - what a drive through Damaraland.

original 42 x 30 cm,

Frame: Nimes III antique black stained, approx. 90 mm
ash-grey-black, perfectly historically patinated, matt.
Ibis x1060-862

External format of the frame: 74 x 62 cm
Glass format/passepartout format: 56 x 44 cm

Passepartout 3375 soft white smooth museum quality, 3 mm, acid-free Original 42 x 30 cm