Sure Travel Journey Vol 4.4 Spring 2018 | Page 52

STJ 4.4
VISIONS
SPECIAL PHOTO
ISSUE
MIRABIB
LUCK & TIME BY TOAST COETZER
Much of nature – and the wildest of the
wilderness – stands still: rocks, slopes,
koppies, ridges, mountain ranges. But once
in a while a human’s path intersects with
such a stationary, wild place. We bring with
us time, movement and cameras, and so it is
that photography helps us remember these
beautiful places. Take Mirabib, for example:
it’s an outcrop (called an inselberg) on the
open, endless desert plains of Namibia’s
Namib Naukluft National Park.
Back in 2011 I camped there for the
night. I was utterly alone, possibly the only
human for 50km in every direction. I set up
“
Once in a while
a human intersects
paths with a
stationary wild place.
With us we bring
time, movement and
cameras. So it is that
photography can help
us remember these
beautiful places.
“
my camera on a tripod, set the long timer
and ran back to a spot where I figured I’d
make the best silhouette. By chance, I got
this shot. It’s one of my favourite travel
photos, because it’s such a lucky shot, but
also because it shows me having fun in the
middle of nowhere with no witnesses but
the silent rocks of magical Mirabib.
© WEG/GO MAGAZINE, MEDIA24 / TOAST COETZER
52 // MAKE MEMORIES FOR LIFE