#2: [29-Jul-06]

23-Dec-2001 -- It is about high time that Namibia is put onto the list of countries with successfully found Confluences. With an area in excess of 820,000 km² and a population of close to 1.8 million, Namibia is (like most desert-like areas) one of the least populated countries of the world. Still, Namibia has a lot to offer from flat desert plains, bush savannah, the highest sand dunes and the second-largest canyon of the world, wild game (including Africa's Big Five) right up to unequalled serenity and tranquillity.

A number of Namibia's 73 Confluences are situated in areas with no close access by road and also in areas completely closed and sealed off to the general public (like the diamond areas in the south-western part of the country). Most Confluences, however, are on privately owned farmland. All these access difficulties and challenges makes finding Confluences an exciting project. Well, I was definitely excited when I set off to capture two Confluences in a day's trip on 23 December 2001. I had arranged the visit with the very friendly owner of farm Okatjimukuju (the farmer incidentally also owns a fishing factory at the coast). As he was absent on that specific day he arranged with his neighbour to allow us access to the Confluence.

Of course we first had to drink coffee (a lot) and get to know each other. On the large and lonely farms of Namibia some interesting persons can be found. Some farmers tend to cultivate the one or other hobby. In fact, the mother of our guide had developed a keen interest in the geology of Namibia and she is well known for her knowledge of minerals as well as precious and semi-precious stones.

After having enjoyed good conversations we finally managed to set off to visit the Confluence of latitude 22°S and longitude 16°E. What a spot: it is situated behind the farmstead right inside a cattle kraal! Even some remains of colonial history are present in the form of old German stables built from hewn marble rocks. The surrounding scenery is typical Namibian in spite of the unusual and almost pure white marble rock formations. In order to get a better impression of the surrounding scenery we climbed halfway up a nearby hill as well.

Hereafter we carried on to "conquer" the second Confluence inside the Namib desert.