Kunene River daybreak, with musical bonus (#10 in Namibia single-image series)

 

 

Photo was taken a few hundred metres upstream of Epupa Falls.

At 6.37 am on 11 November 2022 I was standing on the Namibian side of the Kunene River.

In Angola it is the Cunene; above, you are looking at both nations…and the moon.

The Kunene and the Orange (which is the border between Namibia and South Africa) are the only two of Namibia’s rivers that “permanently” have water flowing – above ground, visible – all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.

This part of northern Namibia is mountainous, spectacularly beautiful, and culturally rich; eventually, Pelican Yoga will showcase all aspects, over several multi-image posts.

 

Musical bonus:

Lady Nothing has absolutely no direct connection to Africa, and one can safely assume that neither English guitar hero John Renbourn (1944-2015) nor his Scottish friend and occasional colleague Bert Jansch (1943-2011) ever experienced a tranquil early morning on the banks of the Kunene.

It is, however, a perfect match for such a morning.

Renbourn composed this “folk baroque” piece, which appeared as Ladye Nothinge’s Toye Puffe on his 1966 LP “Another Monday”

Arguably, Renbourn was a more “consistent”, more “reliable” musician than was Jansch.

Inarguably, however, Jansch was the genius guitarist and the more gifted songwriter.

(one Jimi – Hendrix – greatly admired Jansch, whilst a Jimmy – Page – ripped him off, unconscionably. Page did later “own up”. The long list of people upon whom Jansch had a profound influence also includes Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Neil Young)

Renbourn’s own original is merely pretty.

Jansch’s circa 1973 reworking of it is quietly jaw-dropping, utterly beautiful; it is on Bert Jansch’s album “L.A. Turnaround”, released in 1974.