Ron Swilling is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in travel and outdoor magazines in South Africa and Namibia. These include Country Life, Wild, Travel News Namibia, Flamingo inflight magazine, Michelangelo, Africa Geographic and Daily Maverick Life, among others. It has also been featured in books Wild Horses in the Namib Desert: An equine biography, Road Tripping Namibia, Gondwana History series, Namibia Stamps & Stories, the children’s story The World Famous Sunbeam Collector and more recently, The Stonemen: Flint & friends in Kaokoland. She is presently the wordsmith and storyteller for PadlangsNamibia website and Facebook page. Ron’s travels lead her off the beaten-track to discover diamonds in the dust, wild desert horses, unspoiled nature and freedom in never-ending landscapes.
On the golden sands of Africa's ancient Namib Desert in south-western Namibia, a small century-old population of wild desert horses fights for survival.
It was the Moonshine Express, an old Ford F250, that stands out clearly in my mind from the hazy Sunday morning in September when we drove up the tailings heap of the tin mine in Uis.
In Ruacana, northern Namibia, the Kunene thunders down in a spectacular waterfall during the rainy season and flows sleepily on its long journey to the ocean in the drier months of the year.
The diamond-mining town of Oranjemund, tucked into the south-western corner of Namibia, is brimming over with stories, colourful characters and desert charm.
"*Oooo gonnas, hier is ons*!" said my hiking companion as she squeezed out of her cocoon of a sleeping bag on the first day of the five-day Fish River Canyon trail, rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked around. The last stars melted away into the pink clouds of the canary-blue morning sky and a golden tinge fingered the crests of the great canyon walls that towered majestically above us.