Sunday 24 November: Shipwreck Lodge

 After a delicious breakfast we head off with Whereto up the river bed into the sand dunes. We see Egyptian Geese, Augur Buzzards, 3 collared plover, Cape Wagtail, baboons, springbok and oryx. Lots of elephant poo but no elephants… yet! We have coffee overlooking the spectacular scenery and learn a lot of things about Namibia, its wildlife , ecology and political situation. The riverbed becomes greener in parts with wild tobacco plants and thorn bushes and tamarisk. We have a surprise lunch on the beach in the sunshine on the pink garnet filled sand. We walk back to the lodge and sit in the sunshine for a bit and relax in the cool of our room. Then Simon has decided he wants to try sandboarding so we head off on quad bikes. I’m now doing what I said I wouldn’t do but infact it’s fun! Simon enjoys a few gentle runs. The sand has got too soft for faster routes but maybe that’s just as well. We learn that a member of staff has fallen ill and is unconscious so I confess that I’m a doctor and am taken to the staff quarters. She is alert but in distress and it makes me feel quite uncomfortable comparing their conditions to ours and it’s all rather sobering. 

We are the only ones here for supper tonight in this extraordinary place in the wilderness.