There really wasn’t much difference in the scenery driving inland from the Skeleton Coast. Lots and lots of remote desolation, sand, and very foggy, misty air.

Eventually the air got drier and warmer and I was able to stop and wipe the coating of brine off the windows. I haven’t been able to see out the side windows or the mirrors in a few days. Yuck!

Brandberg is actually a small mountain range in a part of Namibia known as Damaraland, named after the Damara people who traditionally inhabited these parts. It’s still desolate, but I slowly began to see some small signs of life after about a hundred miles inland. That was some long monotonous driving!

Supposedly, there are elephants roaming around Damaraland too, though I didn’t see any while I was here.

After a few hours of driving I made a couple of stops on my way to Brandberg. First was Twyfelfontein, which means “doubtful spring”. In the late 19th century a European farmer that settled here named it that after the nearby spring which sometimes had water, but mostly didn’t.

What Twyfelfontein is really famous for however, is the superb collection of 5000-6000 year old bushman rock carvings in the area. So off I went on a short hike with my compulsory guide.

I found out giraffes were a really big deal to the bushmen. It was thought that with their super long necks they were more in touch with the heavens and could bring the rains. They were quite revered.

There was also a carving of a penguin and a seal! Not only did the bushmen obviously travel to the coast, it’s also a sign that there was much more life to be found in this area back then.

Not too far from Twyfelfontein are the Organ Pipes. They’re actually what happens when magma comes into contact with cool water. Now it’s just some really cool rock formations on the shore of this ancient riverbed.

Now it was time to finish my drive. I got some great views of the Brandberg range on the way.

Finally I arrived at the White Lady Lodge, though I’ll be staying in the campground. And this, kids, is where things go a little sideways. After getting to my campsite, tired from the drive and hungry, I discovered that one of my jars of spaghetti sauce broke thanks to the horribly rough Damaraland roads. So I had to spend the rest of my daylight cleaning spaghetti sauce off of everything in the bin and then cleaning the bin itself.

Now dark, it was time to cook up some dinner, but wait, the lighter I bought to light the stove is nowhere to be found. I turned everything in that car inside out and searched all around the camp, but couldn’t find it anywhere. So it was a ham sandwich for dinner and off to bed, a little grumpy. Below is my nifty 4X4 with the rooftop tent that I’ll be living in for the next two weeks.

The main attractions in Brandberg are the thousands of bushman rock paintings in the area. With a guide you’re allowed to go explore some of them. Most people just go to the one really famous rock which we’ll get to in a minute, but I wanted to go further up and explore more.

The sites further up are referred to as the Jockman sites, since European Jan Jockman was kind enough to carve his name and the year, 1909, REALLY big into a nearby rock. People never change. Along the way I saw a few of these cool looking rock agamas.

In total, I saw four separate sites, not including the main event. There are reportedly hundreds of individual sites in Brandberg though.

All of the Jockman sites are in Tsisab Canyon. On the way down I got some pretty incredible views.

Brandberg, which means fire mountain, is also home to Namibias tallest peak, Konigstein, at 8,442ft. It seems very odd that the tallest peak in the country would sit right in the middle of such a vast flat desert, but there it is. In the pic below, it’s the peak waaay in the background kind of on the right.

The main reason people come here is to see the white lady of Brandberg. When Europeans “discovered” the site, it was speculated that it was a depiction of a white lady holding a flower and a bow and arrow. Nevermind that that makes absolutely zero sense in this super remote part of Africa thousands of years ago, but whatever.

In actuality, the white lady is actually a shaman covered with white clay caring a bow and arrow. And the flower is actually an ostrich egg on a stick, kind of like a wine glass that shamans carried medicines in. In any case, it’s the most visited rock art site in all of Africa and I think it’s pretty amazing.

My next intention was to drive way out to the Messum Crater, a supposedly beautiful volcanic remnant with amazing views. About a third of the way there I gave up. There was so much sand and driving in it was so stressful. The area is also so remote that I had visions of getting stuck and not being found for days. So, I played it smart, stopped and had lunch in the middle of all that sand and gravel and then went back.

Aside from Tsisab Canyon, it’s also possible to hike Numas Canyon on the other side of the range. I was told at Tsisab that I couldn’t do it without a permit and a guide. I would’ve had to email somebody and it would’ve taken a couple of days to arrange it, so I thought I had to skip it. After turning back from Messum though, I decided to drive out to Numas and try it anyway. As luck would have it, there was no one there. Since it was late in the day already, hot as Hell, and I knew I had no chance of finding rock paintings on my own, I only hiked about a mile into the canyon. So, I sort of did it.

All in all, I only did about a third of what I intended here. While sitting in the lodge to get out of the crazy wind blowing dust everywhere for a bit, this little hyrax snuck in to say hi, though. So it wasn’t all bad.

I did see some pretty amazing things here, but in retrospect, I only needed one day here, not three. The wind was blowing so hard the last day that dust and sand was blowing everywhere. The car inside and out, the tent, my clothes, my skin, my hair, all feels and looks like it was hit with a giant powder brush. I also woke up my last morning to lightning and rain. Thankfully it didn’t last but an hour or so, but my rain making ability struck again. Have you ever tried to sleep in a rooftop tent in super high winds, lightning, and rain? Well, now I can say I have. It was kind of scary. Anyway, on to the next stop.