Namibia, Botswana — desert, nature, space. Author's meeting with Robert Gondek

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Namibia, Botswana — Desert, Nature, Space” is a story about some of South Africa's most extraordinary places — countries of silence, vast distances, desert landscapes, wildlife and a space that will be remembered forever.

Robert Gondek loves to travel in Africa. He visited 26 countries on the continent, including Namibia four times and Botswana three times. He first saw Namibia in 2009, when he got there from South Africa, shortly after running the 56-kilometer Two Oceans Ultramarathon in Cape Town.It was then that he marveled at the endless, almost uninhabited areas, hundreds of kilometers of gravel roads, ocean, desert, mountains, ravines, wild animals, rippling grass and starry sky. Namibia turned out to be a place of absolute silence, tranquility and lack of haste - a country where traveling becomes an experience of space, solitude and closeness to nature.In 2015, Robert returned to Namibia and connected this trip with Botswana. As part of the project “On the way to the highest peaks of Africa” he conquered Königstein in Namibia, about 2606 m above sea level, and Otse Hill in Botswana, 1491 m above sea level. He also visited Spitzkoppe, Brandberg and Mahango.

Botswana in this story is first and foremost the Okawango Delta — one of the most beautiful natural places in Africa. Robert photographed buffaloes, elephants, hippos, antelopes, giraffes, lions, leopards and colorful birds there. He observed them from land, water and air: while crossing the Moremi Reserve, rafting mokoro down the Tamalakane River, and flying over the Okawango Delta.

In the following years, he returned to South Africa, photographing elephants, lions and leopards in Chobe National Park, the Sossusvlei dunes, the Swakopmund area, the Fish River canyon, quiver trees, Etosha National Park and many other places. In 2024, it traveled more than 5,400 kilometers through South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

During the meeting, Robert will show author photos and videos from his travels in Namibia and Botswana. He will talk about the Namib Desert, red dunes, wildlife, mountain entrances, Okawango backwaters, Chobe National Park, Etosha, nights under the African sky and moments when silence and space become the most important part of the journey.

It is a show for those who love nature, photography, long-distance travel, African landscapes and stories from places where the world seems bigger, calmer and wilder than the one we know on a daily basis.

We invite you to a meeting full of desert landscapes, wildlife, silence, space and stories from South Africa.

meeting records: 884 206 308

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