I think I still have sand in my pores, even though I've been home for a week. Namibia is the kind of country that stays with you long after you've left. When I close my eyes, I still see the shifting dunes, and arid, rocky desert, and the wild sea.
My only excuse for not having filled a sketchbook with watercolours of the dunes and the waves is the mountain of illustration work I had to complete (over Christmas!).
Mornings in Swakopmund are always submerged in cool Atlantic mist. I'd wake early, set up on the kitchen table, and churn out as many finals as possible. Then, every afternoon, when the desert sun had burned the mist away, we'd escape the seashore, or take a drive into the dunes with a picnic.
One one occasion I came face to face with a lovely little chameleon. He was crouching in the sun, and looked so melancholy that I named him Leonard Cohen. All he needs is a cigarette, a tumbler of brandy, and a guitar, don't you think?
A desert chameleon
The Swakop "River" - a dried river bed
Welwitschia Plant - over 2000 years old
And the mist and the waves....
