Namibia Desert
Namibia Desert
Namibia Desert: Cavalcade on the highest and most ancient dunes in the world, a challenge a few can face.
The highest and most ancient dunes of the world are here, defiant, inviting those who dare cross the paths under the sun, the aridity, the loneliness. At night, the only light is the fire lit in the camp, the same fire that for a million years have been lit by the men who wanted to survive the inclemency of Namibia.
- Location
- Namibia
- Duration
- 11 Days / 10 Nights
- Season
- April; June; August; September
- Horses
- Warmblood x Arab mare and Quarter horse Stallion cross. And Boerperde (local African breed).
- The Riding
- 4 – 7 hours per day
Day by Day
Day 1. We get physical and mentally ready.
We land in Windhoek’s Hosea Kutako, where we take a ride that will lead us to the first accommodation. We get ready for the adventure: going around the most ancient desert of the world, in which dinosaurs moved around 65 million years ago. We are imparted a safety talk and we go to bed with the certainty that our life has already begun to transform.
Day 2. Entering the immensity of Namibia.
We head to the desert, into nothing. Namibia has a surface of 81 thousand square kilometres, no wander Namibia means “huge”. No wander we want to go into the deep of this desert: we want to be part of this hostile greatness. The first excursion is in the Sossusvlei dunes. Namibia possess the highest dunes in the planet, a challenge that any horse rider that identify as such must face at least once in his or her lifetime.
Days 3 and 4. We parade in the heat and under the sun of the desert.
We go forward into the sand, at the edge of the sea, in search for the tracks of those who came before us, leaving our own. How many have left their tracks in the same place we are leaving ours all along millions of years? The most ancient desert reminds us that we are no more than a grain of sand in time. We cook over charcoal, in a way is not strange to the way humankind cooked in this same area all along history. In a dark night, the only light is that of the fire that summons us and keep us company.
Days 5, 6 and 7. The Gaub and Kuiseb Canyons are not for everybody.
We go along gorges. First the little Gaub, then the Kuiseb Canyon. Those who like adventures will require an ideal mental and physical state.
Days 7 to 10. Searching for the Swakop river.
We go along the Namibia plains until we reach the Swakop river. We speed up, defying our limits and we endure in spite of the sun, the dust, the tiredness, aware that at the end of the path there is always an oasis waiting for us. Our last night, we stay at Swakop before riding towards the Swakopmund beach.
Day 11. Space and time, and Namibia are leaving us. Farewell.
We leave the desert behind, or rather, the dessert leaves us. We have made our way through this challenge, we have become someone else, we have become one with our horses, and lastly, we have become part of the desert and we will never be our old selves again. The take-off is from the Windhoek airport after 3 pm.
