In just two weeks we will be packing to fly to Zurich via Dubai. However, we don’t stay there, in one of the most expensive cities in the world, for too long. (Some of my Zurich friends also think it’s the most beautiful city!) Well; after a short stop, we head to Kandersteg in the Bernese Oberland where majestic snow mountains rise into the sky.

But we are still in Swakopmund. A few days ago, we took a trip from here to the Erongo Mountains, a good two hundred kilometers away. We love this area because of its austere beauty. And after short but heavy rains it is even more beautiful here. Everything is green, which is not only pleasing to the eyes but also to the springboks, who can eat tender grass.

Brigitta had reserved a place to stay overnight at the Omandumba guest farm. (I don’t write camping because in Europe you imagine something completely different – from the farmhouse to the camp you drive twenty minutes in 4×4 mode!) Our cat accompanied us on this trip. (She is always with us when we don’t go to national parks where pets are not allowed!) And she seemed to enjoy this change of home as much as we did.

She liked it so much that she simply disappeared into the bush on the day of the return trip. Luckily Brigitta had her magic flute with her! (An Indian Flute we bought in Arizona in 2011). She then played a song which she composed herself on our trip around the world. As soon as our cat heard this melody, she came running straight towards us. (Who doesn’t think of Hammel’s Pied Piper?) The three of us drove back to Swakopmund in two and a half hours, where the temperature was ten degrees lower than in Erongo: 27° C instead of 37° C – and there are no mosquitoes here as well!

PS: If you want to know more about the Erongo Mountains and Omandumba, read here.