During our short time in Spain we had to choose some cities, always at the expense of others, no less beautiful or grand. We decided it would be best to stay in the southern region, saving Jaen, Madrid, Toledo and Barcelona, which we had already visited, for another trip. We also had bold plans to take part in a section of the pilgrims’ trail – Camino de Santiago but knee problems meant putting that off. It was wisely suggested that the Camino has been around long enough it’d be there when we are ready.

So we chose Sevilla, Granada and Cordoba and experiencing these masterpieces made us hanker for more.

Sevilla is the capital of Spain’s Andalusia region and famous for flamenco dancing and several historic landmarks going back to the Moorish Almohad dynasty and exquisite Gothic architecture. Sevilla Cathedral is also the home of the tomb of Christopher Columbus. Arabic and Moorish influence on architecture is found everywhere contributing to the vast variety of architectural styles. In late April and May the city is flooded with the purple haze of ornamental Jacaranda and the gardens and freeways leading to Sevilla groan with pink, red and white Oleander bushes. It is quite a site.

Here is our collection of images of this beautiful city.

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Continue reading “Spain – The magic of Sevilla!” →

Sitting on the bottom edge of the Spanish mainland lies a small piece of land called Gibraltar. It is a British Overseas Territory – official term – dominated by the Rock of Gibraltar, a 420 metre high limestone ridge. It was first settled by the Moors in the Middle Ages, then ruled by Spain, later the Dutch and then ceded to Great Britain in 1713 under the Treaty of Utrecht. Although the official language is English, Spanish is also common as is Llanito, a mixture of Andalusian Spanish and English with other words and dialects from Mediterranean languages.

Fortifications and siege tunnels abound, some of which were also used and enlarged in WW2. The Rock, due to its strategic position, has been the subject of almost continuous claims of sovereignty, most recently by Spain.

During WW2 the Royal Navy used it to control the sea lanes into the Mediterranean. Operation Torch, the allied invasion of North Africa during WW2 was conducted here. Today it is equally important as half the world’s shipping trade sails through the 16km strait between mainland Europe and Africa.

One of the ‘coolest’ things about Gibraltar is when you drive into the territory they have to close the main airport runway so you may drive across it – otherwise it’s very difficult to get into town! It’s worth mentioning that the airport is not busy.

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Only a day was spent in Gibraltar and we left feeling we’d have liked to learn more about this ‘special’ place relatively unknown to most people. Simon visited the territory in 1966 as an 11 year old while a passenger on a Union Castle mail ship so was keen to take another look.

It is so full of history and one could go on for ages. We discovered that Gibraltar survived a four year siege from 1779 to 1783 by the French and Spanish! The stories of how the small garrison of 5000 survived are incredulous but survive they did – and in no small part to the Royal Navy.

It is also famous for its tailless apes which inhabit the nature reserve. The Barbary Macaques, of which there are over 200, originated from Morocco and are the only monkeys living in Europe.

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An hour or so in the car back for our last night in Arcos de la Frontera before heading east to two of the most beautiful cities we have seen; Granada and Cordoba. See next post,,,,,,,

Given our limited time due to the constraints on Nicky’s visa – thanks again EU, we only expected to get a small taste of Spain. But we were wrong. Having settled on seeing the Andalusia area in the south and the Balearic island of Mallorca off the east coast, we soon found out that Spain is just overflowing in scenic beauty, interesting people, exquisite towns and cities and it appears, from our limited exposure to the Spanish, they spend all their time partying not to mention that nearly everything closes from 1 – 4pm each day and they only go out to dinner after 9!

The challenge was, where do we start and what do we leave out? We obtained some good advice from friends and started off by taking an ALSA bus from Lisbon to Sevilla’s Santa Justa station which was cheap and comfortable and half the hassle of a flight. We rented a car in Sevilla and drove down south to a magical place called Arcos de la Frontera, a white walled town in Andalusia built on the side of a rock near a lake. What more could you want?

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We found ourselves at a 15th century hacienda, now operating as a small hotel near the lake thinking ” wow what an introduction to Spain!!”

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The following day we drove to Jerez, which we knew as a place for Moto GP and that was about all. It so happened that the fair was in town – La Feria. This is a feast of vibrant colour, music, dance, food and drink where the Spanish show off their rich history and culture. There is probably a lot more to it than that but I’m not giving a history lesson.

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A drive through Andalusia took us along back roads through small white walled villages ” Pueblos Blancos” and towns such as Bornos and Ronda – where surprise surprise La Feria was in town.

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Ronda was particularly beautiful – dating back to Moorish times, it is perched on the side of a sheer granite cliff above a deep gorge overlooking valleys of olive groves and sunflowers. It was picture perfect!

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La Feria in Ronda was a huge affair with all surrounding towns joining a long parade of song and dance through the narrow streets. Everyone was out and about in the barmy evening twilight in a celebration of local culture. Here is a collage of images from that evening

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We still had some time in Spain so decided to pay a visit to a place Simon went to when on a Union Castle Mail ship from London to Beira in Mocambique way back in 1966 when he was 11. This is Gibraltar, the tiny British protectorate on the southern tip of Spain often known as “The Rock”. We were quite amazed at the history of this small but significant outpost of the old empire. More in our next Post!

A friend of mine said “Lisbon is my favourite city” and I can easily see why. The moment we stepped out of our apartment in the Bairro Alta area of the city we felt comfortable.

When going to a foreign country where I speak almost none of its language I make myself a “cheat sheet” – a small piece of paper with key words of greeting and salutations, just to break that ice and get rid of the nerves. The Lisboans are pretty friendly, not hung up about speaking a bit of English when they see your Portuguese is hopeless. The food is delicious and relatively inexpensive for a capital city. When you sit down at a street cafe (which are as common as street lamps) and have a glass of red and a pint of very good beer for less than 5 Euro, it must be a good place.

But to crown it all, in my humble opinion, the Portuguese have created one of the yummiest pastries on this planet. It is called the Pasteis de Nata – a delicately baked custard encased in light puff pastry which just melts on your tongue – and that is why it is the title image of this post.

Apart from its gastronomic delights, Lisbon is also a feast for the eyes with glorious architecture and weather to go with it. We spent only three magical days here.

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Most people know that Portuguese explorer Magellan was the first to circumnavigate the earth in the 1590s and Vasco Da Gama was the first to reach India by sea. But when you tour Lisbon the achievements of the Portuguese in the discoveries of ‘the new world’ become all the more impressive. The Portuguese monopolised the trade routes to the east for decades. Lisbon honours these and so many other explorers. This is nearly as impressive as the Pasteis de Nata.

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Lisbon though is best described in pictures. Here are some from our short visit to this stunning city……..

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We also had a short stop in Faro, Portugal’s south coast holiday mecca in the Algarve. The old town and the coastline is worth a visit although graffiti adorns far too many of the old buildings in Faro. This is the place where thousands of northern Europeans spend their summer holidays. German sausage and English breakfasts are available everywhere with higher prices so the the locals tend to avoid it.

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Next stop is Sevilla in Spain. We took the train from Faro to Sevilla – Santa Justa station for a two week stay in Portugal’s neighbour.

A chilly wind was coming off the North Sea across the low countryside as we arrived in Amsterdam after a painless 7 hour train journey from Nuernberg via Hanover. We were met by Anthony who lead us to the nearest tram stop. Before long the efficient Dutch public transport system had us at Ant and Michelle’s apartment in Ijmeer right on the water north east from the city. No sooner was a Heineken in hand.

There was a stark drop in temperature from the relatively pleasant conditions in Germany. But as they say ” there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing” we rugged up and made ourselves comfortable for the next 3 days. The fairly grey weather was not helping photography but Amsterdam still had plenty of distractions and attractions along with a myriad of quirky points of interest.

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As Cannabis is legalised to some extent in Amsterdam we saw it everywhere. Its scent is also picked up anywhere as is its marketing – some of which is quite humorous such as the Cannabis College and your Cannabis Starter Kit. A “coffee shop” is not a cafe as we know it but a place where people gather for a smoke or whatever. We of course took the mandatory stroll through the famous Red Light district which we found very quiet at midday as one might expect.

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Amsterdam’s renowned tulips were unfortunately just past their best but the flower market still had all types, including wooden ones and lots of other stuff too. Amsterdam always surprises……..

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Outside the city just a 45 minute bus ride away is a place called Zaanse Schans near Zaandam. Historic windmills and distinctive green wooden houses were relocated here to recreate the look of an 18th/19th-century village to preserve a way of life long gone . The Museum has regional costumes, model windmills and interactive exhibits on chocolate making. As you step out of the bus you are hit with the wonderful smell of chocolate – and it is good too. Demonstrations of age old crafts such as wooden clog carving, barrel making and pewter casting can be seen. The whole area has the appearance of a working village within a nature reserve.

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A visit to the Van Gogh Museum (next to the Rijks Museum) to see the master’s works was terrific. It is a complete story of the man’s life and if you’ve ever listened to the words of Don Maclean’s famous song ‘Vincent’, a visit to this museum will surely make you understand them.

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Finally a stroll along the waterfront at Ijmeer to watch the yachts taking advantage of flat water and decent wind.

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So after a rapid four days in Holland’s most famous city with Ant & Michelle, Nicky and I are off to Portugal. A direct flight to Faro in the Algarve and then a train to Lisbon – coming next

It has been a few weeks since the end of our Namibia adventure. We had some important family duties to attend to and then some well earned R&R at Mt Edgecombe in Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa playing golf, tennis and just recharging our batteries before our “assault” on Europe, the main destination of our “gap year”. We were as usual perfectly looked after by David, Nicky and Amy plus dogs Riley and Katie.

A Lufthansa loyalty points ticket (from the legacy of Simon being a Miles and More member from his travelling days at Siemens ) took us from Durban via Johannesburg, on to Frankfurt and then a short hop to Nuernberg in southern Germany. The sparkling new Lufthansa 747-8 displayed the worst economy class seats we’ve ever encountered in a “top” airline. Rather than make more comfort for its passengers, Lufthansa is changing its colour scheme from the classic white, yellow and blue to just white and an almost black/blue.

We were greeted at Nuernberg airport (sans luggage which remained in FRA which LH to its credit delivered to us that afternoon) by good friends Heino & Elena, also from our Siemens’ days. We knew the next few days would be relaxing and we would be plied with superb food by our hosts. They did not disappoint.

In the Franken area around this time a local ‘delicacy’ is Spargel. This is white asparagus which, when picked, peeled and cooked the same day and served with ham, salmon or hot butter and potatoes and if you like, sauce hollandaise, makes for a really fine meal. A local white wine complements it perfectly. We had Spargel a few more times…..including once for “Fruehschoppen”.

We spent time in a quiet village quite close to the Fraenkischeschweiz (Franconian Swiss) near the town of Erlangen, half an hour north of Nuernberg and had some lovely relaxing walks in the surrounding nature, including a walk to the local volunteer fire fighters fund raising ‘Grill’ and naturally beer and some delectable locally made cakes .

We visited a nearby town, Kulmbach for a light show where different parts of the town were lit up.

Over the next couple of days we visited nearby towns and villages, Prichsenstatt, Volkach and Dettelbach. A highlight was an impromptu stop at the edge of the River Main near Volkach for some local delicacies and a very nice Silvaner white wine.

After a lovely few days or wonderful hospitality, our next stop was Amsterdam for a catch up with Nicky’s brother Anthony & Michelle. After a relaxing train journey on the ICE from Nuernberg to Hanover and then on to Amsterdam we arrived still fresh late afternoon.

After seeing Kolmannskuppe we felt we’d reached the pinnacle of our visit to Namibia. For many of us that remained so. However, we still had some more beauty to discover on our dusty way back to our start point in South Africa three weeks ago.

After a walk around Luederitz we set off in the direction of Aus and Koiimassis in the Tirasberge, the area famous for its herds of wild horses. We stopped off in the quaint desert town of Aus for Kaffe und Kuchen at the Bahnhofhotel. As the name depicts, it was just a little bit German. The hotel had some wonderful framed photographs of early days when it was the ‘end of the line’ of the railway to Luederitz, the tracks finally succumbing to the Namib desert sands.

We booked into a privately run campsite, at the base of the Tiras mountain range on an ostrich farm – Ranch Koiimassis . It was here I had my first real experience in stellar photography.

The Namibian night sky has to be seen to be believed. When you look up, straining your neck and marvelling at what you see, it’s hard to comprehend how that came to be. It is quite overwhelming. The word “awesome” is used so loosely today it has lost its real meaning – but to describe this sky as awesome is an understatement. We therefore decided to try and capture the essence of this beauty from our campsite.

Under the patient tutelage of one Dave Mullin, we embarked on a multiple exposure image by pointing the camera just south of the Southern Cross – to be precise 4.5 times the length of its north – south axis. On a tripod, the camera was set up fully open on F2.8, ISO 200 and we took 60 x 30 second exposures – a total of 30 minutes. During one of the exposures we spread some light on the quiver tree with a torch. The camera captured this brief addition of light and then combined all the exposures into one image. Every little line you see in this image is a star or planet – their movement, or rather the earth’s, frozen on the camera’s sensor.

Our campsite was quite special. It was in a sheltered area below a rocky outcrop with the Tirasberge not too far away. The showers were built around the shiny rocks and a resident family of Rock Hyrax kept watch over you. We only had time for one night as we needed to return the rental 4×4 in two days, so next day we headed off towards the South Africa / Namibia border at Sendlingsdrif to catch the motorised pont across the Orange River.

After several hours on tough dusty roads we reached the Namibian border post. As with all African border establishments, there are the usual formalities to go through and patience is required. We presented our passports and filled in the paperwork and got all the stamps.

But it was not all done. When walking back to our vehicles, the Namibian police decided they’d conduct a vehicle check under the pretext of “smuggled diamonds!’ Our warning antennas were not on full alert as our “friendly” Namibian policeman, while searching the cabin of our vehicle, proceeded from under our noses to steal GBP250 cash from my back pack. I realised this immediately as he showed me the open zip lock bag of pounds sterling – clearly some brand new fifty pound notes missing. Shocked and a fear of a nasty confrontation I decided at that time not to pursue the issue. If the Namibian police are going to steal from you, you might not be treated justly had I raised the issue. Once across the border I reported it to the South African authorities, who could do nothing except give me contact details of the station commander at Rosh Pinah in Namibia. After discussing the matter with them I filed a formal complaint but as expected I have heard nothing. When telling my story locally, most people have the standard throw away line ……” that’s Africa”.

We proceeded on to the Richtersveld still seething at what had happened. Unfortunately we did not spend time here as our moods were quite subdued. The money was one thing, the sheer brazen theft another, but above all it left a sour taste at the end of what was with out doubt one of the best trips we (I certainly) have ever done.

It was time to leave. The Richtersveld can wait.

The last image taken on this trip. A lone heron on the Orange River at sunrise.

This is the final post of our time in Namibia. We hope you have enjoyed the images and stories. Our next post will be from Europe…….soon.

Simon & Nicky

In 1908 worker Zacharias Lewala found a diamond at Kolmannskuppe (Colemans Head), named after a transport driver who abandoned his ox wagon during a sandstorm.

He showed it to his boss, railway inspector August Stauch. Following this find, German settlers started moving here recognising the area was rich in diamonds. Soon afterwards the German Empire declared a “Sperrgebiet” or restricted area for the exploitation of the diamond fields. The “Sperrgebiet” still exists.

These events resulted in a town springing up in the desert only 10km inland from Luederitz. The wealth created from the rich diamond deposits allowed it to be modelled on a typical German town with Kegelbahn, a school, casino, ice machine and other amenities. With a population of over 300 German settlers and several hundred migrant workers, it had the first tram in Africa and the first X-ray machine in the southern hemisphere – not however for the diagnosis of illness but to control the illegal smuggling of diamonds! The old Siemens electrical switchboard and telephone are still in place but the warranty has long expired and it didn’t look as though a long term service contract was negotiated.

Shortly after WW1, the town began to decline when the diamond field started to deplete. Other rich discoveries at Oranjemund 250 km away meant the residents of the town left to follow the promise of new riches. By the mid 1950s Kolmannskuppe had more or less been abandoned and the glacier-like motion of the desert sands eventually took their toll.

That is more or less how that once bustling product of mining industry became a ghost town.

For $30 we obtained a photographer’s permit which allowed us to enter the town at 06h00, two hours before it opened to the public. The light and the eerie feel of the place at this time was incredible and we were able to obtain some images that hopefully represent the mood we felt that early morning. Here is my own ‘study’ of Kolmannskuppe, with special thanks to to Dave and Joy Mullin for their guidance in using amazing the Olympus OMD EM MkII & 12-40mm F2.8 Zuiko pro lens.

The final stage of our 6500 km journey through this amazing country took us from Luederitz to the Tirasberg, Kooiimasis and south back over the Orange River into the Richtersveld in South Africa.

This is Deadvlei, near Sossusvlei about 60km from Sesriem. A thousand years ago the encroaching sand cut off water supplied by the Tsauchab River and these camel thorn trees and this vlei (or marsh) just dried up. The title image is what the floor of this vlei looks like. These trees have seen no water other than occasional rain water for centuries. Because the climate is so dry they have not decomposed. The vlei is surrounded by spectacular dunes which are constantly moving and changing shape and colour. We arrived shortly after sunrise to get the most of the stunning morning light and before the bus loads of visitors arrive. It is magical and magnificent, strange and alien.

After taking our fill of Deadvlei, Sossusvlei and Sesriem, we drove the short hop to Luederitzbucht on the Atlantic coast. Another town completely surrounded by sand, Luederitz, with its strong German influence, rose mainly out of the alluvial diamond industry which Namibia is so well know for. But just outside Luederitz, we were to find something quite extraordinary which had a rather haunting but fascinating history….Kolmannskoppe.

We departed Spitzkoppe at 7am after coffee and more of the seemingly endless supply of Joy’s home made rusks as we had a long day’s drive ahead on mainly corrugated dusty roads. There was little wind causing the leading vehicle’s dust trail to hang in the air. Dust was starting to get into everything and we had to be especially careful with the cameras. Our initial destination was Swakopmund on the Atlantic coast two hundred or so km in the Namib desert. The town, established by German settlers in 1892 is completely surrounded by sand and virtually all its water is supplied by a desalination plant.

The road to “Swakop” as the locals call it, passes through an extraordinary piece of terrain known as “Moon Landscape” and the oasis of Goanikontes dating back 160 years where we stopped for breakfast.

We stopped off at Swakop and then had fish and chips in Walvis Bay just down the road, which was pretty good. The last long stretch mainly on dirt hammered the vehicles but it was worth the wait……..the next couple of days was quite amazing:

Our next few days was for most of us the highlight of Namibia, although it is sometimes hard to pick a favourite such is the scenic wonder of the country. The next post covers the Sesriem, Deadvlei and the dunes of the oldest desert in the world, the Namib.