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MARIENFLUSS

The Marienfluss lies at the extreme north west of Namibia’s Kunene region and borders Angola. We travelled West from Okangwati along 75km of rock strewn nightmare road to Van Zyl's Pass before descending to the Marienfluss and heading north to camp on the banks of the Cunene. Thereafter we headed south again down through the Hartmann Mountains and Etendeka, following the Hoarusib river to Purros and the Purros Canyon. 

With the Baines and Zebra Mountains to the north, along which the Kunene River flows west to the Atlantic, and with the Hartmann Mountains and the desert waste of the Skeleton coast to the west, the Marienfluss is a large valley which provides grazing for the cattle and goats of the indigenous Himba population. The conservancy was registered in 2001 and covers 3,304 km2. There are a mere 340 people in the area – around one person per square kilometre. Grasslands dominate the broad, central Marienfluss and Hartmann’s Valleys, with dunes covering the western section. Wildlife includes leopard, cheetah, giraffe, duiker, steenbok, gemsbok, springbok, ostrich, mountain zebra, crocodile, kudu.