Mowani Mountain Lodge is beautifully set in red rock boulders. It is in the Kaokoveld Region, in an area called Damaraland. It took us about 2 1/2 hours on gravel roads to reach. The scenery reminds us of Southern Utah Canyonlands area. We passed quite a few donkey carts on our route.
There are 12 luxury thatched roof huts at Mowani that look similar to the boulders that they are surrounded. It is beautiful, and architecturally amazing the way they have incorporated the huts into the rock. There is a complete bathroom, including toilet, sink and shower outside, but private to your own hut.
To stretch our legs and get our hearts pumping a little by hiking among the beautiful rock formations at sunset. As usual, we get back just as it is getting dark and we are a little worried about animals that might be looking for dinner.
A Guide took us out in the morning to see what Damaraland has to offer. His name was "X"Knopi (the X is a clicking sound). He is 20 years old, has 2 children, ages 5 and 3 and works for about $120.00 US dollars a month, has 30 days of work, and then 6 days off. His wife comes to see him from the village about 1 hour away every 10 days or so.
We visited a rock formation of angular columns made of Dolerite called "Organ Pipes". They were formed by ancient volcanoes. There are a lot of crystal rocks all over.
An area called Twyfelfontein has over 2400 ancient engravings that date back to prehistoric times. There were Petroglyphs in one area and Pictographs in another.
An early European settler and his family chose to settle in this area by following the elephants to a water hole that was fed by a spring. He built a small adobe home and he and his wife and 5 children lived in the area with the Himba natives for over a decade before leaving.
This area is also the ancestral home to the Himba. We visited a living museum where we witnessed their ancient way of life. They also performed a song and dance complete with topless women, in their native dress. Can you say "National Geographic"?
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| Donkey Carts were common |
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| Looks like Canyonlands |
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| Another balance rock |
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| Beautiful boulders |
There are 12 luxury thatched roof huts at Mowani that look similar to the boulders that they are surrounded. It is beautiful, and architecturally amazing the way they have incorporated the huts into the rock. There is a complete bathroom, including toilet, sink and shower outside, but private to your own hut.
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| Huts in the shape of the boulders that they are surrounded |
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| Hidden int the hillsides |
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| Our outdoor but private bathroom |
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| Shower |
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| Bedroom |
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| Dining area |
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| At Breakfast |
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| Dining area from below |
To stretch our legs and get our hearts pumping a little by hiking among the beautiful rock formations at sunset. As usual, we get back just as it is getting dark and we are a little worried about animals that might be looking for dinner.
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| Close to camp |
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| Beautiful |
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| A place to sit and watch the sunset |
A Guide took us out in the morning to see what Damaraland has to offer. His name was "X"Knopi (the X is a clicking sound). He is 20 years old, has 2 children, ages 5 and 3 and works for about $120.00 US dollars a month, has 30 days of work, and then 6 days off. His wife comes to see him from the village about 1 hour away every 10 days or so.
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| Xknopi and Barb |
We visited a rock formation of angular columns made of Dolerite called "Organ Pipes". They were formed by ancient volcanoes. There are a lot of crystal rocks all over.
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| Looks like organ pipes |
An area called Twyfelfontein has over 2400 ancient engravings that date back to prehistoric times. There were Petroglyphs in one area and Pictographs in another.
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| Hiking into the Twyfelontein area |
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| Pictograph |
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| Giraffe |
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| Area of Petroglyphs |
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| Paintings on wall of ancient peoples home |
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| Depict many different animals in the area |
An early European settler and his family chose to settle in this area by following the elephants to a water hole that was fed by a spring. He built a small adobe home and he and his wife and 5 children lived in the area with the Himba natives for over a decade before leaving.
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| Cistern he built when he found water by following the elephants |
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| His home for 7 people |
This area is also the ancestral home to the Himba. We visited a living museum where we witnessed their ancient way of life. They also performed a song and dance complete with topless women, in their native dress. Can you say "National Geographic"?
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| Barb, Xknopi, and a National Geographic beauty |
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| Barb and our 16 year old guide |
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| The village huts the Himba people lived in |
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| They performed for us |
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| 2 Himba beauties |
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| She painted my face with the natural red dye that they painted their faces with to use as a sunscreen and it made my face very soft. |
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