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German Nama Expedition - November 2008
Since 2002 three members, Greg, Hein and Malan have undertaken an annual expedition.
The rules are one person per vehicle and cover as much ground as possible.
2008 was no exception, however since Malan was unable to join us the groups composition
was somewhat changed with Clive Lucas and Andy Brown joining us in their Cruisers (vehicles
are limited to modified Cruisers and Land Rovers only). 2008 also saw a deviation where Philip
joined Clive as co driver and Andrew St Pierre White joined Greg as his co driver.
The purpose of this expedition was to visit the German graves and follow the routes most
probably used by them during the war.
We left Cape Town just after lunch and traveled on very quiet roads to Namibia. A coffee
break was held at Klawer and we pushed on.
Soon we passed Steinkopf and close to midnight we pulled into the customs shed at
Vioolsdrif. Smoke was pouring from Clive's Cruisers front bearing and after clearing customs
Hein stripped the wheel only to find the bearing in pieces. The bits were assembled and we made
our way to the river bank for the night. We had planned to stay on Lookout Hill but that was
not to be.
At 7am the next morning I called Johan Meyer (JB's) the most brilliant mechanic in the world
and soon I had the part numbers and then it was finding parts. The Cruiser was taken to Bennie's
farm (an old friend of mine) and while the wheel was being stripped Andy and I left for Springbok.
Through customs and back to Springbok. Most of the parts were available except the spindle which
they found in Aggenys and so off we went to Aggenys. We got back to Namibia at 4pm and while we
lurked in the river Hein and Clive re assembled the hub and by 6pm we were on our way.
As the sun started to set we approached Lookout Hill. The wind was rather strong and while
the sun started to touch the horizon we made our way down to the ancient glacier slope below.
The geologists believe that a glacier covered a large portion of southern Namibia 20 million
years ago.
I have explored these parts many times and have visited the soldiers graves many times
before and soon, driving by memory we arrived at the ruins of their fort and the soldiers
graves. This is a truly desolate place to die!
By now the sun had said goodnight and had ducked below the horizon.
We made our way to some ancient stone outcrops which would be our camp for the night. I
have found chipping tools and ostrich shell beads here and once the fire is burning you can
imagine the bushmen dancing around the fire while the silhouettes reflect off the stone mounds.
The night is silent and before the full moon rises we look at the stars through Andrew's
telescope.
We sleep under the stars.
The next morning we work our way to the entrance of a canyon that satellite photographs
show to be the most probable route that the soldiers would have used to the river. The route is
blocked with large rocks and we look for another entrance but find none. This foray had already
taken four hours and since we had already lost a day we diverted via another kloof to the
river, stopping to explore a mine and collect some Fools Gold.
The river was very low and soon the team had crawled over semi submerged rocks to the deeper
water where we watched a local fisherman tending his lines from a canoe. The sun has crossed
the sky and as it sinks below the mountains we light the fire and silently think that there is
nowhere we would rather be.
Fish eagles wake us and we pack up.
We have 700 kilometers to travel before we get home.
Our seventh expedition has just become history and we dream of next year.
Greg
From Wikipedia
The Herero and Namaqua wars
The ongoing local rebellions escalated in 1904 into
the Herero and Namaqua Wars of 1904-1908, when the Herero
attacked remote farms on the countryside, killing approximately
150 Germans.
The outbreak of rebellion was considered to be a result
of Theodor Leutwein's softer tactics, and he was replaced
by the more notorious General Lothar von Trotha.
In the beginning of the war the Herero, under the leadership
of chief Samuel Maharero had the upper hand. With good
knowledge of the terrain they had little problem in
defending themselves against the Schutztruppe (initially
numbering only 766).
Soon the Namaqua people joined the war, again under
the leadership of Hendrik Witbooi.
To cope with the situation, Germany sent 14,000 additional
troops who soon crushed the rebellion in the Battle
of Waterberg in 1905. Earlier von Trotha issued an appeal
to Herero people, denying them citizenship rights, and
ordering them to leave the country or be killed. In
order to escape, the Herero retreated into the waterless
Omaheke region, a western arm of the Kalahari Desert,
where many of them died of thirst. The German forces
guarded every water source and were given orders to
shoot any Herero on sight. Only a few Herero managed
to escape into neighbouring British territories. These
tragic events, known as the Herero Genocide, resulted
in the death of approximately 65,000 Herero (80 percent
of the total population), and 10,000 Namaqua (50 percent
of the total population).
Descendants of Walter von Trotha apologized to six chiefs
of Herero royal houses for the actions of their ancestor
on October 7, 2007.
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