“Hallou hoe gaan dit?” is Afrikaans for “hello how are you?”. Learning a bit of Afrikaans and dusting off my German language skills are just two of the many things I have on my to-do list before my next photography odyssey which, in exactly two months time from now, sees me embark for the magical deserts of Namibia, as seen in this David Attenborough narrated BBC video.
Namibia is mostly desert and extremely dry. Home to the world’s oldest desert with the world’s largest sand dunes and the least people (least densely populated country in the world). It appears to be the perfect conditions for me and I am seriously concerned already about becoming obsessed with two continents! After Namibia I am jumping across the Indian Ocean to be part of a photo tour (if it runs, if enough people book) in Kimberley, Western Australia, and the route Denmark-Namibia-Australia is not the easiest nor cheapest to fly!
Winter in Denmark means a completely grey, dull and overcast sky, some rain, almost no snow, the sun and all light fighting a loosing battle and the result is Winter depression rules. Every day, every second is like deja-vu all over again (a great Yogi Berra quote). How different, wonderful and revitalising it will be to touch down in the dry desolate and warm deserts of Namibia:
This will be the first serious road test of my Canon 5D Mk II and I look forward to capturing 21 megapixel desert shots day and night! I am fortunate to be staying with a Namibian friend and family in the town of Swakopmund, right on the coast and next to the dunes. My favourite science fiction book is Dune and I will be working on my ‘Fremen’ skills every day as I capture my own version of Dune.
See ya’ in the desert and “totsiens!” (means goodbye). T minus 58 days.
Photos courtesy of Namibia Tourism Board – http://www.namibiatourism.com.na
15 Comments on “Next stop Namibia”
Gaaaaaahhhhh. I'm so jealous!!!
great choice of destination Flemming !
Good luck on your adventure Flemming, I am sure you will love being there and getting some awesome images. Look forward to seeing the photos when you get back.
Thanks very much everyone! T minus 57 days!
looks like an interesting destination , the mark II will work a treat with night shots there
Kirk, yeah I'm sure it will, hoping it'll work pretty good at daytime too 🙂
Nice to see you are getting excited!!! It's certainly a lovely country you chose… 🙂
Hehe, see ya in Windhoek airport and in the desert Gudrun 😀
i look forward to any trip you do Flem!
means plenty of new images and heaps of great posts 🙂
i think i know why you really want to go to a desert in Namibia though….
you know there is no chance of getting suckered in to taking a beautiful waterfall shot!! :-p
Thanks Stephen!!! And yeah, you're absolutely right – I would be slightly surprised to run into a waterfall in the Namib desert! Then again, Elephants of all animals actually live in the desert in Northern Namibia (so-called Desert Adapted Elephants) so you never know, waterfalls might live there as well!
Sound like a good plan, check out Virgin Blue as I heard they have plans to fly from Jo`burg to Perth.. might be a cheaper option but I`m not sure when they are starting that route. Or just spend longer in God`s country and skip Namibia!
Beautiful photography! Good luck in Namibia!
Jason
(wildlife artist)
Thanks very much Jason!
I had a look at your site and your blog….wauv! I am speechless. Love your work. That is incredibly stunning work mate, fantastic paintings! Detail is fantastic. I will add a link to your blog on my blogroll.
Just discovered your blog – you have some amazing work. I am really enjoying a browse through your gallery.
Thanks very much Mark !