Henties Bay Walking Trails

Walking Trails......
Jakkalsputz Walking Trail Omaruru River Walking Trail 1 Omaruru River Walking Trail 2
JAKKALSPUTZ WALKING TRAIL Unmarked: 18 km from the Gallows to Jakkalsputz A map is availble at the Tourist Office Feel like walking or cycling while the weather is cool and calm? Then the Jakkalsputz walking trail is the ideal route to follow. The route is unmarked, but there's no way you can get lost. Just follow the beach (or the road in case of cyclists) south towards our beautiful Solitude Bay in the direction of Jakkalsputz camp site. The best time to do this walk is at low tide when the rock pools are visible. Go as far as you want and then turn back to town through the small dunes or hummocks and see how many desert plants you can identify.
ROCKY SHORE Particularly interesting is the inter-tidal rocky shore. At low tide this fascinating, strange world is exposed for those adventurous enough to look closely and discover the many, varying forms of marine life. This is especially interesting during spring tide when the tide is at its lowest.

Animals and plants occur in five different zones between the low tide and high tide marks so species that cannot tolerate exposure occur near the bottom of the shore while hardier and fewer species live near the high tide mark. Although some of the following species are rare all of them have been photographed in these pools.

CLUSTERS OF BARNACLE	LIMPET	ANEMONE

BROWN MUSSEL	SPONGE	BY-THE-WIND-SAILOR

RED ALGAE - Gigartina bracteata	GREEN ALGAE - SEA LETTUCE	KELP
DUNE FIELD The dune field along the coast is characterized by hummocks, the gathering of sand around various species of vegetation. The following plants are typical of these coastal dunes:

Lycium cinereum - “BOKDORING”	Brownanthus kuntzei	Odyssea paucinervis - STEEKGRAS

Galenia Africana - “KRAALBOS”	Salsola nollothensis - coastal ganna/brakbos

Zygophyllum stapffii - DOLLAR BUSH	Arthraerua leubnitzia - pencil bush
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OMARURU RIVER WALKING TRAIL: First option
Unmarked: 20 km
A map is available at the Tourist Office

For those more energetic there is the Omaruru River that also offers interesting walks, though much more strenuous. Rather save this one for a cool day when it is overcast.

The trail proceeds along the beach northwards to the Omaruru River mouth and up along the river to a berm wall. Particularly interesting along the river is the terraced wall, made up of mud sediment and exposed by wind and water erosion.

The trail takes one back to Henties Bay through the desert plains. You will notice that the topsoil is soft and porous in contrast to the hard crust of calcrete further inland. This is due to the more acid coastal fogs that dissolve some of the calcrete in the soil, which then releases lime. The lime reacts with the sulphate in the fog to form gypsum. The growing, brittle gypsum crystals lift the soil and make it porous. This is a slow process that takes place over hundreds of years so that any disturbance, such as vehicle tracks, will take just as long for nature to repair.

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OMARURU RIVER WALKING TRAIL: Second option Unmarked: 70 km There is no water along the route and must be taken along.
	Hikers can carry on along the Omaruru River until they reach the big fig tree or the Omdel Dam where big trees provide plenty of space to camp for the night.
On the rare occasions when the dam has water it offers various recreational possibilities. When the dam has water the area is alive with a vast number of different bird species and forty-five species have been positively identified in the area		such as the grey heron, cape teal, dabchick, Egyptian geese, pied avocet, pelicans and flamingos. Other birds that are spotted are helmeted guinea fowl, Namaque sandgrouse, blacksmith plover, crowned plover, and the Herero chat.
The Omaruru River can be described as a linear oasis formed by dense woodland, which is supported by the periodic flood recharge of underground water along the course of the river. Trees such as giant fig trees, Ana trees and the untidy Tamarix, the dense Salvadora persica or mustard tree, wild tobacco and succulents such as Lithops, dollar bush and bushmen’s candle can be seen in the dry riverbed or on the dry riverbanks.

PADDOCKS
The paddocks are situated about 6 km downstream of the Omdel Dam wall and are one of two infiltration basins where water, released from the dam, infiltrates. Sixteen observation boreholes are situated at this basin from where water levels and water temperatures are monitored.

CABLE WAY
The cable way was constructed by Iscor in earlier years to transport supplies and diesel to the tin mine at Uis when the Omaruru River was in flood.

RETURN ROUTE
Hikers can return the same way down the river
(recommended) or along a small track running from the dam wall in a northerly direction across the desert flatlands towards the C35 (14 km) and along the C35 to Henties Bay (27 km).

Keep in mind that the Namib Desert is an arid environment and often extremely hot with no trees to provide shade.

HENTIES BAY TOURISM ASSOCIATION
P.O. Box 595, Henties Bay, NAMIBIA
e-mail: info@hentiesbaytourism.com