Even though we traveled all over Namibia in the past year, there is always something new to discover! Just over 150 kilometers from Swakopmund, not far from Cape Cross and the famous (but smelly) seal colony, lies the Messum crater. Why haven’t we visited it yet? Maybe because we were more drawn to where the big five can be seen? And what is there to see in a crater – we probably thought so!

The drive took us along the misty coast to Hentiesbay and the seal colony. We already knew them; and so, we left them alone. At mile 108 we turned inland. Here we reduced the tire pressure to 1.8 bar to be prepared for the tracks that lay ahead of us. The fog bank in the rear-view mirror disappeared along with the coast. A deep blue sky stretched above us; before us stretched out an incredible landscape. We felt like astronauts on a reconnaissance trip with their Mars mobile. We drove through a reddish landscape; no one far and wide; far and wide no green. It must look like this or similar to that on Mars!

In the evening we camped at the foot of a cave. That we were not on Mars was shown when we also discovered the reddish shimmering Mars in the night sky!

PS. If you want to know more about this extraordinary volcano, the best place to read is here.