We are now in Walvis Bay on the west coast of Namibia, looking at the Atlantic Ocean from the east, opposite from where I grew up.

Near Twyfelfontein, we visited a petrified forest and were introduced to the rare welwitschia plant. We found some very old welwitschias near Walvis Bay.

After the challenging and spectacular Hoanib drive, we spent the night at a community campground in Khowarib, then visited a park in the Palmwag Conservancy.

We left the Puros Community Campground and the Hoarusib River, taking the Ganamub Canyon to the Hoanib River valley, Sesfontein, and “real” roads.

The Himba are an African tribe in northwestern Namibia, nomadic cattle herders who continue to live today much as they did 100 and 1,000 years ago.

It’s a beautiful morning on the Hoarusib. We decide we’ll drive out the riverbed a ways, and if the going isn’t awful, we’ll stay here another night.