Sesriem Campsite

After several more hours of driving through barren landscapes with little sign of life apart from a few farmed oryx and kudu, and a couple more bushy bushy stops, we finally arrived at our campsite at Sesriem, which is within the Namib desert national park. Whilst we waited to be allocated our pitch, Laban told us about the huge weaver bird nest hanging in the tree by reception. Tiny weaver birds nest in groups of between 25 and 40. I remember seeing a lot of these nests when we were in Kenya many years ago. He also showed us a desert date tree. These trees are all over this area. They don’t have fruit, but they do have large crescent-shaped seed pods which fall off in spring. The seeds are poisonous both to humans and to animals.

Once we had been given our pitch, we quickly put up our tents and went to get a drink from the bar. We took them to an area behind the swimming pool where Laban had told us we would get the best views of the sunset. It was lovely to relax with a cold drink after such a long driving day. We sat with a number of our group, chatting mainly about the places we’ve been and those we still want to go to! When the sunset happened, it wasn’t spectacular as there were absolutely no clouds in the sky, but we still got some lovely photos. Back at our camp, Henry had made a potato soup followed by spaghetti with chicken and vegetables in a tomato sauce. It was as good as usual.

After dinner, we contemplated the stars for a while. With zero light pollution, the night sky looked amazing! None of us stayed up late as we have another early start tomorrow.Read more