Land of Open Space: This is Namibia...
After pulling our bags across the hot tarmac to the Windhoek Air Terminal, we meet Ma Fiina, a woman with a generous smile and IMMIGRATION emblazoned across her back on a neon yellow vest. She whisks us through security and passport checkpoints, removing her vest to reveal a uniform polo shirt that promises CUSTOMER SERVICE…I asked how many layers of super hero costuming was she wearing to get us to our final destination. Ma is an address of respect, and Fiina Elago commands it and is, among other things, a valued member of the Namibia Film Commission Board, representing the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security.
I make the mistake of complementing her bracelet. It is immediately removed and placed around my wrist. “I cannot take this,” I protest. “You will insult me if you don’t,” she declares. And it’s done. A small piece of Africa has staked its claim. I make a point of telling her I will never again tell her she looks nice for fear that she will give me the shirt off her back. And she likely would. This is Namibia.
Years ago I was working on a remake of Wim Wenders Wings of Desire, titled City of Angels. Production designer Lily Kilvert showed me an image of a room with oversaturated blue walls filling with sand. It was poignant. Dreamlike. This was the feeling she wanted the locations and sets to evoke. The image lived in my head for decades. This was Namibia.
After speaking on a Location Management panel at FOCUS—a place of auspicious beginnings; a great hub for meeting people and planning—Andrei Tirtirau of Namibia’s Moon Valley Films, tracked me down, asking if I would consider a trip to Namibia. Consider?! I would be delighted to help plan it! And nine months later, after a lot of work and fits and starts, SLMs Janice Polley, Markus Bensch and I found ourselves in the vastness of Namibia, home to varied extreme landscapes, and one of the least populated countries on the planet, second only to Mongolia.
Midway through the trip, I got an email from a designer, trying to sort out the best possible locations in the world for dramatic visuals—a location that offered at least three different otherworldly geographies, was stable and safe (the director wanted to bring his children). I explained he just hit the trifecta, with Janice, Markus and I putting our heads together for him…Of course, our first suggestion was Namibia—extreme landscapes, perfectly safe, and the national language is English.
After acclimating to the capital city, Windhoek, we ventured out to Namib-Naukluft Park, established in 1907. 'Namib' means "open space,” and its 19,216 square miles make it the largest game park in Africa. We travel to the vast, ancient Badlands of the Valley of the Moon—an endless lunar landscape carved by the Swakop River, which only runs when it rains. Goanikontes Oasis, a farm built in the 1800s now a resort and beer garden decorated with hanging lights and weaverbird nests was the perfect lunch spot.
We continued to Swakopmund, a small town by the sea where German influence in language, architecture, and tourism prevail. We visited the sobering genocide memorial—thousands of Ovaherero and Nama victims of the former concentration camp of Swakopmund were buried in shallow graves by fellow inmates.
Namib-Naukluft Park includes Sandwich Harbor where the dunes meet the sea. With lagoons, pink salt pans, flamingos, trained seals and pelicans who hopped on the boat for fish, jackals and ostriches—there was no end to the visual curiosities of Walvis Bay… Between the dunes and the marine cruise we were treated to a braai (South African barbecue) at Pelican Point, the beach crowded with seals and flamingos…the rock lobster and local oysters were second to none.
The park encompasses part of the Namib Desert, the oldest in the world. The burnt orange color of the dunes is indicative of their age; the deeper the color from iron oxidizing in the sand, the older the dunes.
Occasionally streaked by garnet crystals, the colors are stunning. The dunes from above are a fine art exhibit…the shapes and shadows are captivating. I was also fascinated by the fairy circles, a phenomenon particular to Namibia. Curious circular barren patches of land caused by sand termites, or toxins, or simply footprints of the gods.
A touring flight over the untamed Skeleton Coast, named for the broken ships and whale bones that litter its shores, took us into a deep fog bank that occasionally revealed beached treasures to the quick eye. This took us to Sossuvlei, a salt and clay pan surrounded by ancient dunes. At first light, we were among the first to wander Deadvlei, literally, “dead marsh,” with its 900 year old trees that do not decompose because of the aridity—stark contrasts that change as the sun climbs across the sky. Big Daddy, and the slightly diminutive Big Mama are among the tallest in the world, with Big Daddy rising more than 300 meters (almost 1000 feet) above the desert floor.
As an armchair geologist, flying over the Fish River Canyon, second only to America’s Grand Canyon, was a thrill. Aided by the Ice Age and continental drift, the Fish River eroded layers of metamorphic rock. It is extreme in its beauty as well as its terrain.
The curious town of Luderitz with its gaudy Bahamian colors and colonial and art nouveau architecture was Namibia’s first port. The town was established as a trading post for guano, but in 1909 the discovery of diamonds brought immense wealth to the German colony. Nearby Kolmanskop ghost town was once the center of the first diamond rush.
The well preserved buildings are slowly being reclaimed by the Namib desert. Circling back to the evocative sand-filled room reference for City of Angels, ironically the photograph was taken by Canadian photographer Freeman Patterson, a distant relative of SLM Janice Polley. Serendipitous magic abounds. This is Namibia.
A small finger of northern Namibia extends into Angola to Zambia, touching Botswana. We navigated the Zambezi River, replete with hippopotami and crocodiles. Africa’s fourth largest river, it feeds Victoria Falls, before emptying into the Indian Ocean A Saturday afternoon visit to a local village Kalundu, found equally curious visitors and locals sharing a welcome dance.
Moving west to the center of northern Namibia, we explored film friendly Etosha, the country’s largest National Park, it did not take long to see a rhinoceros, elephants, giraffes, lions (both male and female), ostriches, zebras, oryxes, impalas, wildebeests, and springboks. I cannot recall how many times I said “wow!” This is Namibia.
During our stay we walked, climbed, travelled by helicopter, Cessna, several turbo prop planes, several passenger jets, a shuttle boat, a small cruise boat, several luxury coaches, several 4 x 4’s, and a Safari vehicle. Moon Valley Films managed to make the constantly shifting transport modes effortlessly; but we know how much work goes into a flawless itinerary—nine consecutive days without a hitch!
Film Commissioner Hertha Katjivena and Moon Valley Films acknowledge that the success of the trip was made possible, in large part, through the generous sponsorship of their partners: Gondwana Collections, Wilderness Safari, Mola Mola Tours, Swakopmund Hotel and Entertainment Centre, Ghost Town Tours, Henna Investment, Travel Uncharted, Fly Namibia, Namibia Aviation Society, and Namibia Future Media Holdings.
As for the master classes taught in Windhoek, with a full house of enthusiastic practitioners and students of film, you’ll have to add your country to our world tour so fully avail yourself of Herr Bensch’s “The Four Pillars of Film Sustainability.”
Visually stunning, relatively unseen and underpopulated, a safe and stable democracy, good infrastructure, five star hotels and food, English speaking, crews are available in neighboring South Africa; this is Namibia. But don’t take my word—go see for yourself!
Instagram for more pix: @wideworldlocations
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