Sundowner Time

Sunset comes and the vehicle pulls up in a spot that sees the whole of the African bush roll out in front of us.

Obi unfolds a small table, spreads out the white tablecloth and starts to unpack the cool box. Gin and tonic, white wine, beer, soft drinks and some hefty canapes made by the chefs.

The kids are laughing and joking with their Dad in the background, running down the slope. He's a BBC wildlife film maker with a strong female energy and a passion for the natural world that has inspired a similarly acute enthusiasm in his children.

He slips into child-like behaviour so easily.

I love this way of being.

The setting sun is throwing shadows over the crests of little waves blown up in the sand.

The colour pink is so bright it seems to cloak everything with its touch.

I feel like I am getting another large, undeserved hug from this landscape.

I sit with Sam and discuss her new book and her commission for Conde Naste Traveller on 'Family Holidays in Namibia'.

Like her husband, she seems to have a childish wonder. She's creative, loves tenting it around Namibia and passes this happiness on to her children who are polite, questioning and bright-eyed.

Obi and Gudi are deep in conversation about something or other and tucking into the canapes.

So, another easy sundowner time passes.

It's a tradition in Africa you see.

Every day, just before 6ish, life pauses to take in the setting sun.

A time to reflect.

A time to reconnect with yourself through the strong vibration of nature.

Or a time for light conversation allowing a linking with others that only twilight facilitates. All the best conversations are had at sundowner time or later, around the roaring campfire.



I feel it is time to draw my Namibian adventures to a close. This country was just the silent and watchful backdrop that I needed.

It gave me a place to work, a place to live and a place to rest, all at the same time.

I can move on freely now, with no regret, from orange to blue, from desert to sea and from Namibia to MOZAMBIQUE.