Our Dune Trip – by Zeke

Early this morning we set off on a high speed quad bike tour of the desert, and the guide forced a bit more cotton wool out of our heads.  If I was to wear a crash helmet on our quad bike tour of the desert, my unruly hair would cover my eyes – so I started my day with a hair-cut.  

Our guide Fanni picked us up at 8:30 and took us to the starting point of the tour.  At his office Fanni gave us a brief history of the past 2,000 years of the local area. He told us an oasis had existed due to the fact that a river ran down from the rocky plateau to the north of Walvis Bay.  This river supplying the water to the oasis created an incredible natural barrier holding the desert back. This oasis filled with animals of every kind ranging from lions and leopards to moles and rats and also a tribe called the Topnaars who lived off the sea.

Science can tell us that around a thousand years a go the water that came down from the highlands stopped, and also the wind that drove the desert north stopped.  As a consequence the oasis dried up leaving a desert of sand dunes.  Most of the animals left and a few humans remained to live off the dessert and the sea.

Now that we were up to date on the history of the area we went outside where Fanni explained the workings of the quad bikes before heading out on to the desert where the oasis had flourished two thousand years ago (guess what? no helmets).

Dad and Nina who can just be seen coming down a well worn slip face.

Dune beetles who collect there water from fog that comes in from the sea.

Fanni giving us pointers for the next bit where you drive down a rather steep bit then have to go fast up the a dune only a short way in front.

The view from the top of a dune. 

Semi-fossilized foot prints left by a Topnaars when the rain made the dirt turn into mud which then hardens. 

A fossil animal track made by an elephant.

Fossilised hyena foot prints.

Our steeds wait patiently inline.

This insect fertilizes one of the few dessert plants by carrying pollen between the male and female plants. This plant also makes an edible fruit that the Topnaars eat

A Topnaar midden.

A knife made from bone.

A Topnaar skull preserved by the mud.

This skull is not as normal as it seems, it does not have any seams where the bone has knitted after birth.

A clay pot which was used by the Topnaars for cooking.

An impala. 

Coming down a slip face. This face is called a slip face because it is so steep the sand just slides right down it after being blown up the far side.

Me having a good roaring along.

Me shifting my weight to one side to avoid rolling as I drive along the sand dunes

From closest to furthest. Mum, Me and Fanni

Moments later in the same order.

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