I rose very early for I was adamant to see the sunrise and I also needed to relieve myself. I considered for a moment that the odds of finding a concealed and isolated bush would be in my favour if I did so while everyone was still sleeping and I was correct. I wandered off and I remembered to take my camera so that I could capture this rare moment in my life for I do not usually rise with the sun. The hues of bright orange and yellow against the back drop of a hilly landscape were breathtaking and magical. I was elated. We prepared breakfast, cleaned up and prepared for our adventure.
I couldn’t contain my excitement, here I was, a visitor from another land, experiencing this land from the perspective of a mother figure who spent all her life on this land and her son who had explored this land from his donkey carriage. Our first stop was at a bushman painting site that was a stone’s throw away from the farm, it is not a popular site, we were the only visitors. I took a few photos and we journeyed on. We drove on a gravel road for what seemed like eternity to me, I was starting to feel tired and my impatience was growing. We finally arrived at he “White Lady” camping site and to my dismay we were told that the place we seek is approximately 30 km away. I was concerned about what the petrol gauge was telling me but I decided to exercise some faith and move this car towards the sacred Brandberg mountains.
We took a mini break and I felt refreshed again, I wished I had a co-driver for my legs were starting to make themselves heard. I suspected that it was due to the 6.5 hours of driving that my legs had endured the previous day. We had barely driven 100 meters when the biscuit wheels got swallowed by sand, the car declared a rebellion against me, it simply refused to move backward or forward. My heart sank. I stepped out of the car and was happy to see a group of 5 men rushing towards us to assist in our battle of car vs. us. It only took them a few minutes to secure our victory and we high-fived like fellow soldiers who had just been told that we can return home. I couldn’t believe my fortune when one of the guys told us that he is a guide who was on his way to the Brandberg “White Lady” site and that he can DRIVE!!!!! The song “I believe in magic” rang in my head and I retired to the back seat and sat quietly to reflect and to allow the events of the morning to settle like sediment at the bottom of my still lake.
Emotions rose from within me as we were approaching the mountain. We parked and walked towards the reservation desk. We were allocated the same guide who had helped save the day and when I thought that nothing else could surprise me, I found out that this guide was my travel companion’s old friend. They were school mates during their formative years. Since they had not seen each other for a few years, the hike served as a mini reunion for them. It was 1 PM and the Namibian sun was quite unforgiving but I was determined to experience the majestic presence of this mountain range, to tread where the people of old once trod. The friendly banter helped to diminish the effects of the beating sun against my exposed skin. The boys poked fun at me for they were quite resilient; in that heat, their DNA coding was undeniably superior to mine. We walked for approximately 30 minutes along the gorge of the dry Tsisab River.
When we arrived at the White Lady site, I felt goose bumps on my skin. The paintings had been preserved well and I was glad that I could make it there. I had come full circle, a book that was suggested in the Wintershoek mountain range of Cape Town had unwittingly led me to this space in time. I took a breath and fully absorbed the moment.
Thereafter, we traveled to Uis, a small town situated approximately 30 kilometers away from Brandberg mountain range. There was not much to see in this town except for an old mine dump. We refilled the petrol tank and left soon afterwards. We decided to travel on the gravel highway instead of the route we had elected in the morning, which saw us traveling through farmland.
My new friend recounted a story about his close encounter with wild desert adapted elephants. This occurred on one fateful night, while he was traveling back home from a wedding feast. He heard a herd of elephants and immediately went into flight mode. Damaraland is barren and hiding from elephants proved unfruitful and he was soon discovered. He was trembling in fear, when one of the elephants wrapped its trunk around his leg and lifted him off the ground. Fortunately for him, the elephant meant him no harm and it landed him back on the ground. The elephants moved on to another drinking hole and he ran for dear life. This experience did not diminish his love for these beautiful creatures and he wished for me to see them as well. We drove around in search of these wild elephants, which roam around freely and I spotted them from a far distance.
We decided to retire for the day and go for another “game drive” the following morning. After breakfast, we went searching for elephants on foot. We were not very lucky for we only spotted them from a far distance. I also wished to see Welwitschia; a plant that consists of two leaves, a stem base and roots. It is amongst the top 10 most amazing and strangest plants on earth. The plant is endemic to the Namib Desert. We found a family of young plants and they did not strike me as bizarre. Nonetheless, I was happy that I could see them with my naked eye and touch them.
We left for Windhoek after my morning hike and the 7-hour drive was quite pleasant this time around since the route was a bit familiar and daylight was on our side. I went early to bed and prepared my body for the long bus ride back to Cape Town.
I was sad to leave this amazing place and my eyes welled up with tears when the bus pulled out of the driveway. I did not have the words to express my emotional state at that point in time. I knew for sure that memories of this land would stay with me for a number of lifetimes.
I did not know it at the time, but there is a crystal that is named after the Brandberg Mountains.
“Brandberg Amethyst is a stunning and unique variety of Quartz crystal found only in Namibia, Africa – a mystic blend of Amethyst, Clear and Smoky Quartz together in one exceedingly high-vibrational crystal. Formed where powerful Earth meridians cross, this mineral is imbued with remarkable phantoms, enhydros, and other rare formations and inclusions. It is a potent talisman of healing and perfection with the capacity to restore one back to their etheric blueprint, the energetic state that existed before the soul’s journey began, in order to realign with the Divine Source. Brandberg Amethyst attunes to pure consciousness and is the most versatile and multi-dimensional healing tool on the planet, unparalleled in its beauty, energy and light.”
[Hall II, 232-234][Hall Cr, 140][101 Hall, 60][www.kacha-stones.com]
One week before I decided to embark on my Namibian trip, I had a dream. In this dream, I was mining for crystals, amethyst and quartz. It was easy to acquire amethyst but quartz was difficult to locate, so I continued the search. When I woke up, I looked up the meaning of this dream. I wished to understand the combined effect of amethyst and quartz, since my dream involved both stones. I did not realise at the time that the Brandberg crystal is a blend of amethyst and quartz nor was I aware of its existence. Everything came full circle when I was back in Cape Town and I was looking up the healing properties of the crystals that I had brought back from Namibia. My heart smiled when I became aware that the webpage that was educating me about my new Brandberg crystal, had in fact been viewed exactly one week before I arrived in Namibia.
