5: Getting Down With The Locals & The Wildlife.

Our next stop is an area of privately owned land where the fences have been removed in order to promote the free movement of wildlife. We stay at the Erongo Rocks Guest Farm which is lovely.

Based on land mass, Namibia is the fifth least densely populated country on earth, but its people are diverse - it has 12 major ethnic groups, one of which is the San.

Nearby to our next campsite in the Erongo Mountain Nature Conservancy is a Living Museum of the San which we pay a visit to. We are pleasantly surprised, it is a simpler, less commercialised set up than we expect.

The children come running out to meet us and they are fascinated to watch Nick sharpening with his knife the pencils we have brought as presents for them. Between them they make up a song!

Two of the San men demonstrate their fire-lighting, rope-making and guinea fowl trapping skills. They explain that they are actually from the Kalahari region of Namibia and that a group comes from their village, stays for a few months working at the museum and then returns home to be replaced by another group.

For us there's always a conflict when visiting this sort of tourist attraction. On the one hand it seems like a dreadful invasion of privacy coupled with the uncomfortable feeling that we're being a bit voyeuristic but on the other hand, we're genuinely interested to meet and talk to these people about their way of life.

It somehow makes it better for us to know that they are here on a temporary basis doing a job from which they will return to their permanent homes and their private lives.

It's nice to be on the road early the next day. We’re treated to seeing three giraffe at close quarters en route. The town of Omaruru isn't too far away and it's on our route. We need to get some laundry done, get some cash and stock up on food. Rocky has a slow puncture… the culprit - a small shard of metal!

The rough roads here have taken their toll and a bolt holding on the roof rack needs replacing as it has sheared off.

Omaruru can cater for all our needs; the laundry is taken away to be processed, the cash and groceries are obtained and Rocky is restored to health and we even treat him to a shampoo!

We're back in business but these chores have taken all day and we feel in need of some pampering. Janette has read good things about the White Lady Lodge and we decide to make an impromptu stop here and to stay in one of their chalets tonight, it turns out to be a great choice.

The veranda of the chalet overlooks Brandberg (Fire Mountain) which at 2,573 metres is Namibia's highest mountain.

We sit and enjoy the sunset and a well earned G&T!

After dinner we're treated to a performance by a local ladies choir… and even some of the kitchen staff. They're really good and full of enthusiasm.

It's an early start this morning as we've opted to go on a game drive in search of the critically endangered desert-adapted elephants.

A plus, and it's a big plus, of our early start is that we get to see Brandberg at sunrise and realise why it's got its name. The mountain is bathed in the intense, red glow of the rising sun, it's magical and we are speechless, neither of us has ever seen anything quite like it. Inevitably the sun rises, day breaks and the spell is broken but it's a sight we will never forget.

These elephants can only be found in two places - here in this area of Namibia and in Mali, they are not a separate species of elephant but rather a sub-species Their numbers are very low, in Namibia there are only about 150 left. They have found the going very tough as there hasn't been any sensible rain in Namibia for some years and of the last eight calves to be born, only one has survived.

As is so often the way, the elephants elude us and as time ticks on we start to lose hope of seeing them. Our guide Kelvin, in his 59 year old Mercedes truck is a diamond and he suggests that we try one, last location before calling it a day.

We strike gold! First we come across the former dominant male of the herd. He cuts a forlorn figure who now lives alone having been replaced by a young rival and cast out from the herd about six months ago.

Desert elephants have bigger feet than their savannah-dwelling counterparts to enable them to walk more easily in the sand and they dig for water in dry riverbeds with their trunks, feet and tusks. They also dust-bathe using dust to protect their skin from the sun and from insects.

We drive to a dry river bed and there we find the herd standing in the shade. It's fantastic to see these majestic animals; so powerful and yet so vulnerable, they may not be around for much longer and if that happens it will be a tragedy.

We watch the elephants for a while and although there are several other vehicles here, it's not like the frenzy that so often accompanies rare animal sightings in game reserves. The elephants seem unfazed by our presence and we even get up close to Fabio, the dominant male.

There is hope for the future of these elephants, the recent rains in Namibia have meant that there is plenty for them to eat and drink and this will mean the mothers of any young will be in better shape to feed their calves and get them through the all-important early weeks of life.

We feel honoured to have seen these mighty animals and we return to the lodge weary but delighted - thanks Kelvin, you're a star!

We would like to linger at White Lady Lodge but we've already delayed getting to our next campsite by a day and we need to move on and meet up again with Claire and Jonathan.

The roads on this leg of the journey are horrible - rough and corrugated - and we don't enjoy the drive at all.

Our camp for the night is Madisa and it's a gem - quirky and very hospitable with a bar, a restaurant and a pool. We opt to eat in the restaurant and the meal is a delicious beef stew cooked by chef Philomena, who graciously agrees to give Janette her recipe, it's definitely one to try at home.

The drive today couldn't be more different; the roads aren't too bad and the scenery is magnificent! We are travelling through the Etendeka mountain range.

Early on in the drive we stop off at the Petrified Forest which is a national monument.

We're also really pleased that this area boasts specimens of the Welwitschia, the national plant of Namibia which is only found in the Namib desert and is known as a living fossil because these plants can live to great ages; it is thought that some are over 2,000 years old!

The name of the place is a bit misleading as it isn't actually a forest at all but rather a number of enormous tree trunks that were washed down to this spot from Central Africa about 280 million years ago by a massive flood which occurred when one of the many Ice Ages on the former Gondwana super-continent ended.

 The tree trunks were covered by sand and mud which formed an air-tight cover and so they didn't decay but instead, due to the immense pressure of material on top of them, gradually petrified. They were discovered by two farmers back in the 1940s and now visitors can wander around the area with a guide and marvel at the sight of what looks like wood but is actually stone.

A couple of the tree trunks measure around 35 metres! You can see the age rings, the bark and the knots where branches would have been, it's an extraordinary sight.

As we travel onwards the scenery becomes ever more spectacular with cone-shaped hills and flat-topped mountains which make up the Etendeka Plateau. This was formed around 132 million years ago from what is believed to have been the largest volcanic eruption ever.

The area is really green and breathtakingly beautiful. We wonder what it looks like most of the time, everywhere in Namibia is transformed by the recent, heavy rains. We vow to look up images of what it usually looks like when we get home although we feel honoured to have seen the land so verdant.

We arrive at a campsite that Janette has particularly wanted to visit as it sounded so nice when she was doing her research back home.

It doesn't disappoint, it is simple but truly charming and the views from the sundeck when the sun goes down are to die for. We are welcomed warmly and are delighted to be told that we will have hot water twice a day, morning and evening as someone will come to light a fire under the geyser!

The only negative? …the flies! There are hundreds, and they’re a real nuisance- but ‘Never fear, Nick is here’… with his new line in anti-fly/mosquito clothing. Not sure it’ll catch on!

Our next stop? We're off to Etosha National Park - at 2227 square kilometers, it's the largest game reserve in Namibia. Our chance to immerse ourselves in the huge variety of wildlife that this country has to offer.