National Park After Dark - Not Our War: Namib-Naukluft National Park

Episode Date: May 18, 2026

Henno Martin and Hermann Korn were two German-born geologists conducting research in present-day Namibia when World War II broke out. Instead of facing internment or being forced into a war they did not believe in, these two friends loaded up a truck with their dog Otto and some basic survival supplies and set out to escape the war by surviving off the land in the harsh Namib desert. For a full list of our sources, visit npadpodcast.com/episodes For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials: Instagram: @‌nationalparkafterdarkTikTok: @‌nationalparkafterdark Support the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page! Thank you to this week’s partners!Blueland: Get 15% off your first order at Blueland.com/NPADIQBAR: Text PARK to 64000 to get 20% off all IQBAR products, plus FREE shipping. Message and data rates may applyNutrafol: Get $10 off your first month’s subscription and freeshipping at Nutrafol.com promo code NPADKeeper: 60% off personal and family plans at http://Keepersecurity.com/NPAD Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As long as there have been wars, there have been dissidents, defectors, and deserters. During wartime, defectors are military personnel or civilians who abandon their country or cause to join the opposing side. In the United States, Benedict Arnold is perhaps the most infamous defector, dating back to the American Revolutionary War when he defected to side with the British. Then there's Desmond Doss, who, instead of avoiding war entirely, refused to carry a weapon. due to his faith during World War II. Although he still served as a medic and saved dozens of lives, his decision showed that avoiding war can sometimes mean refusing to participate in violence. More recently during the Vietnam War,

Muhammad Ali famously refused to be drafted into the U.S. military, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to the war. His stance cost him his heavyweight title and led to legal battles, but it also made him a global symbol of resistance and conscience. Over the years, countless others have evaded the draft to avoid military service, and even more have participated in anti-war protests and have shaped the course of history. In May of 1940, what started as an occasional joke between two friends quickly became a reality at the outbreak of World War II. A quiet act of defiance unfolded in the Namibian desert.

Instead of facing internment or being forced to fight a war they did not support, Heno Martin and Herman Korn would flee into the barren wilderness of the Namib Desert to try and survive. Welcome to National Park After Dark. Wow, you're doing a World War II episode and I'm so excited. That's also kind of survival. Wow. I did this for you, Cassie. Thank you.

This is like everything I could have ever dreamed of. You're welcome. Thank you. And welcome everybody to National Park After Dark. I'm Danielle. I'm Cassie. And we are going to Africa for this episode specifically to Namibia, which is gorgeous, by the way. Gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous.

I think of you a lot when I look at pictures of this country because of, I just feel like it's a photographer's dream. You know what I mean? It's just like the rich red of the desert that just kind of cascades right into the ocean. And there's just, I don't know, it's just other world. worldly looking and it feels like something that's so unique as far as landscape photography and I just feel like you would love it. Let's take our listeners there. Okay.

Let's. And also let's take them to Sococha. Remind me again. It's in Yemen. Oh my God. I remember where I was when you told me you wanted to go there. I want to go there so bad. I want to go there so bad.

And they have such cool landscapes. It's beautiful. The dragon blood trees. The sand dunes that go straight to the ocean. I mean, it looks absolutely incredible. Of course, Yemen has a lot of political turmoil there, and it's not exactly safe to go to a lot of the country. But Sokotra, they say, is really safe to travel to that has been kind of untouched by that. But the U.S. embassy websites disagree.

with that assumption. Okay. Well, there's like red warnings not to go there. We'll keep it on the list just like at the bottom. One day. Well, let's go to Namibia. The country is located in southwestern Africa, framed by the Atlantic Ocean, Angola, Botswana, and South Africa.

Popular photos of the country often capture the rolling red sands of the Namib Desert crashing into the deep blue of the Atlantic. The Namib Desert spans 1,200 miles along the coast from Angola to South Africa, so all the way straight through Namibia. The only desert in all of southern Africa, the Namib is also the oldest desert in the world, dating back over 80 million years. The landscape of the desert is both striking and barren.

Some of the world's tallest sand dunes tower over the desert plains and valleys. It's difficult to describe the otherworldly majesty of this corner of the world, the contrast of the giant rusty red sand dunes against the stark white salt plains. the ghost-like silhouettes of the bear camel thorn or skeleton trees, the incredibly clear night sky, or the rivers that sometimes wore through the canyons and dry up into nothing. Despite its harsh, oftentimes cruel environment, extreme temperatures, and tough conditions, it's home to abundant and resilient wildlife and people.

Animals like zebra, Gemsbach, Springbok, baboons, hyenas, and 348 species of birds all called the Nabib Desert Home. Native people have lived in this desert since prehistoric times, including the original Saan people known as the Bushmen, along with Koi, Bantu, Awambo, and Nama tribes. Some say that the name Namib is derived from the koi word meaning desert, while others say it means vast or there is nothing in other indigenous languages. The Namib Desert is one of the least likely places in the world where someone might seek refuge. Temperatures often plummet well below freezing at night and soar to over 100 degrees

Fahrenheit during the day. Waterholes are scarce and wildlife often ranges far and wide because of that. Apart from a few small indigenous groups, the land is mostly uninhabited by humans. So why did two men choose this place to hide out for over two and a half years? Such a good question because I feel like there are many places around the world that could have done the job. Yeah, but a better option. Yeah, and we'll get into it. Okay. So let's meet the boys. Duh, boys. Hanno Martin was born in 1910 in Freiburg, Germany. He raced through school where he studied science and then geology, completing his PhD by the age of 25. Wow. Ambitious. I feel like that's accelerated learning. Yeah. That's like people usually have their masters by that point.

Right. He dressed like a professor, always wearing his round wireframe glasses, and he was usually in a tweed suit jacket. That's cute. It does look like there's a movie that I'll talk about at the end that's based on a memoir that one of these men wrote. And how he's depicted in this movie is just super cute. You know, he just looks like he's ready to dive into a volume of books at any moment. It's like nerdy, cute. Yeah. Love it.

At university, he met Herman Korn, a fellow student at University of Bonn, who was three years older than him. If Heno was the professor type, Herman was the more rugged academic. Slouchier pants, mismatched jacket, and a thick head of hair, often seen with a cigar pipe hanging from his mouth. Born in 1907, Herman was also a science prodigy. He collected rocks avidly as a child, and at age 10, he became the youngest ever memorandum. of the Saffield Geological Society in Germany. The two became fast friends. In college and beyond, Herman struggled with bouts of depression accompanied by heavy drinking.

He was drawn to Henno's steadiness and self-discipline, and Henno admired Herman's charisma, intelligence, and sense of adventure. So they complimented each other really well and kind of was like ying to the yang type of situation. While Henno was more politically involved than Herman was, they both grew up in Germany in the aftermath of World War I, and they became increasingly troubled by German politics and the search of German nationalism

that dominated the country in the following years. By 1935, the rising tide of fanatical patriotism and authoritarianism in their home country led them to seek work abroad. Both in their mid-20s, they picked Namibia at the recommendation of Henno's college advisor and friend, Hans Kloos, who had conducted his own geological research there a few decades prior.

The two friends left Germany on a boat and emigrated to Namibia, which was then known as Southwest Africa. And just for like a tiny bit of background on this, not to get too into the weeds, but it's important for context here. In the late 1800s, present day Namibia became a German colony before falling under South African governance in 1915 following World War I. Like many colonies, the Germans valued the colony, which was then known as Southwest Africa for its natural resources, namely diamonds and uranium, amongst other things, of course, but those were the two big ones. So at the time that they arrived, the country was under South African control because South Africa invaded the country during World War I and gained control of it from its German occupation.

And it wasn't until 1990 that Namibia gained its independence. Oh, that's so interesting. That kind of reminds me of, I don't remember the exact dates, but when we were visiting Borneo, and the French had taken over, not Borneo, sorry, Madagascar. The French had taken over there, and they had just recently given them their country back. Yeah. Yeah. So on their cruise south, Herman and Hennel visited several West African countries.

countries along the way, including the Canary Islands, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Nigeria. When they arrived in present-day Namibia, they worked there as geologists doing their own field research in the Naclouf Mountains in central Namibia. Together, they were actually the first to formally document the Misan Crater in the Namib Desert, which is about 130 million years old. So it's kind of a big career accomplishment for them. I guess quick question is where they are in National Park? Yes. Okay. Yes. Yay. Wow. They also, well, not yet, but it will eventually become. But it will eventually become one. Yes. It sounded National Park like, so I just wanted to check in. Make sure. Yeah. I'm not going off. You've been off the rails recently, so I just wanted to see. Understandable for you to check. They also found evidence to bolster the

continental drift theory or Pangaea that says Africa and South America were once one land mass. They Both loved their work and for a few years it seemed that they had successfully escaped the political turmoil in their home country of Germany. But all of that changed on September 1st, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland, leading Great Britain and France to declare war on Germany. World War II had officially begun. As a former British colony, South Africa sided with Britain and declared war on Germany a few days later. So Heno and Herman worried that they would soon face interment by the South African government, which has control of Namibia at this time. Oh, gotcha.

Both men identified as pacifists and hated the war, especially this one, which they thought was showing the ugliest parts of humanity and the de-evolution of civilization. As friends and colleagues left Africa to return to Europe and fight for Germany, Heno and Herman wanted nothing to do with any of it. By the end of 1939, 77 people were interned in southwest Africa, Namibia, which increased to 96 by March of 1940. The first detainees were no Nazis, but even still, Henno and Herman had to hand over their hunting weapons

and get government permission to travel outside of a 10-mile radius of their home. The two men had long decided this war was not theirs. One night they sat on the stone steps outside of their house in the capital city of Wintock and talked about what they could do. years ago they had said to each other, kind of in a half joke like, you know, maybe if this ever happens, we're just going to, we're just going to go into the desert. You know, we work out there anyway. Like we're, we know the land.

No one's out there. They had left Europe years before to get away from the inevitable, rapidly growing war, and now it was at their doorstep, despite being thousands of miles away. By 1940, more and more Germans in the city were facing internment. Their running joke about escaping into the desert was quickly becoming their best option. By May 1940, the British were defeated in Norway and Germany had just attacked Holland and Belgium. The southwest African government began to ramp up its internment policy. And by then, Herman was set on fleeing and following their initial plan.

He's like, hey, I know we were kind of kidding, but I'm actually so for real right now. And Heno needed some convincing he wasn't on board 100% right away. But on May 25th, 1940, after securing a 10-day research permit that they had full intentions of overstaying, they fled into the wilderness of the Namib Desert. And then after 10, maybe I'm tripping ahead, but then after 10 days, they could just mysteriously go missing. Yeah, they're just like, we're not coming back. Yeah. And now it's making more sense of why they chose this location because they're kind of stuck in this area. Yeah.

Everything is being, I wouldn't say heavily patrolled, but people have eyes out and they can't just go anywhere at any time. Or fly somewhere else. Or fly somewhere else. And not that they, and I'll get into it a little bit, they don't have any sort of survival skills. It's not like they've been preparing for this in any. any way other than just mentally thinking about it. But they have had years of experience working in this environment. So they were familiar, at least to an extent. And it was the only place nearby that they felt they could truly not be found. Yeah. I have a question and maybe you don't know

this or this is never going to come up. But are they really just friends or are they also lovers? They are truly just friends. Okay. It just feels. feels like very like 1940s two men who are not married, who are like escaping society and a country at the time that is very not for gay relationships. I don't know. It's just was giving me kind of, it was just kind of giving me more intimate vibe so far. I truly didn't think about that when I was doing this research. And I will say it never came up was hinted at. I didn't feel an inkling of that when I was reading the book. But who knows? Okay. I can't say definitively, of course. And I feel like also if they were, it might have never been known also. Right. Right.

Especially during this time period. But that was just kind of the whole time we've been talking about them. I've been picturing them as like, boyfriend. Lovers. Yeah. Okay. Well, good to know. That's where your mind is at. Yeah. They just seem like they get along and they like. the same things and they're alone. They love rocks. Yeah. They hate war. Yeah. It's calming ground. Why wouldn't they be together? In addition to their travel permit that they secured, Herman left a few clues around his house to mislead authorities to the wrong area of the desert when they inevitably came looking for them because they knew they were going to oversay their permit. People are going to come searching and they wanted to just throw them off the scent a little bit.

Under the cover of night, they drove their truck off road and into the hills of the desert. They took only a truck, a radio, a pistol, a shotgun, a wind generator, and some basic supplies with them, and most importantly, Herman's loyal canine companion auto, a large black and brown mutt, and based on photos, he truly is a mutt. I don't even know how to describe him, like lab, Roddy mix. I don't know. He looks perfect boy. He looks perfect in every way.

And also I didn't realize wind generator truly is a generator powered by wind, not an old timey turn for fan. Just so you know. At first I was like, okay, I'm a little confused. A wind generator. I have one in my house. I have a few in my house wind generators. Yeah.

Fans, not whatever that. is. Yeah, they used it to power some small, like the radio and some badgers and something. I mean, that totally makes sense that they would need something like that. I don't know if anybody else was thinking that, but that's what I thought. I was not. But I see how you connected those that I bet other people were. Okay. Although they both spent extensive time in the area by doing field research for, and at that point it had been about five years or so, neither of them had any formal wilderness training or survival experience. They often camped in the desert for days at a time when they were doing their field research, but they would soon come to realize a well-prepared and finite

scientific stay was completely different from what they were about to experience. Their destination was the dry canyon of the Kauiseb River, about 130 miles west from Wintock. To be even more inconspicuous, they decided to take a wide detour to the north so they wouldn't risk being seen on the road to the river valley, which they figured was their best and maybe only hope of finding a somewhat reliable source of water in the desert. Upon arriving in the barren desert, they found a shallow pool of water in the canyon and soon discovered a very pleasant surprise. There was fish.

There were carp in the pond, likely from a broken dam during the last big rainy season six years prior. And this was good news because it meant the water hadn't dried up since then, despite the desert's notorious lack of rain. And I looked up some comparisons, just so we can all kind of put it in context, because sometimes numbers don't do it for me. So the annual precipitation, bases on location kind of varies where you're at in Namibia and in this desert, because the desert's huge. But on average, it's from 0.19 to 3 inches of rainfall a year. Wow. That's like nothing. So I looked up Burlington, Vermont.

Oh, fun. I was just thinking. I was like, it rains way more than that. Here we get that in like a week. Do you want to guess or I feel like you're going to just. I know. Just tell me. Okay.

So latest facts and figures place Burlington, Vermont's annual precipitation average at 43 inches. For year. Yeah, I think we're the second rainiest region outside of Washington. Really? Because I would bet wherever the hell we were in Hawaii. would knock both of those out of the water. We had some bad weather when we were there. Yeah, I read, I don't know if it's truly the second or it's like a close, like second or third or something,

but I read that the rain in Vermont compares to that of Washington. I mean, that makes sense. Yeah. It's crazy. Sometimes I'll be home and it'll be raining in the summer and I'll just look up my mom's house this location and it's like bluebird day, sunny, beautiful. It's raging thunderstorms here. I'm like, what the?

Yeah, every time I check in on you, you're like, I'm snowed in. It's raining. It's a lightning storm. It's a life in the mountains. Henno and Herman decided to name the area carp cliff and immediately set to work to catch fish. They cooked up their first catch on a hot flat stone that very night since they didn't bring a pot or pan, adding some branches from nearby trees for flavoring as it cooked. At Carp Cliff, they found the perfect location for their shelter and home base, an overhanging

cliff that sheltered a large patch of flat ground. Even better, there was only one way to get up into the cave so they would be able to see if anyone was coming from a distance if they were to come looking for them. Smart. They designated different quote unquote rooms in this shelter with a space for the living area, another corner for the kitchen that was protected from the wind, and two sleeping holes for their sleeping bags, which they had dug to fit each of them perfectly with special little divots for their hips and their shoulders. Cute. Their dog was probably like, what are we doing?

What are we doing? We don't live here, do we? Choska. Oh, Chosca would never. You would be so pissed. Chast's like, I'm going to go get a new family. Real quick. Have fun.

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And right now, IQ Bar is offering our special podcast listeners 20% off all IQ bar products, including the ultimate sampler pack, plus free shipping. To get your 20% off, text Park to 64,000. Text park to 64,000. That's P-A-R-K to 64,000. Message and data rates may apply C terms for details. They parked the truck in a secluded gorge a few miles north of their shelter, taking the car battery with them to power their radio. They charge the battery, of course, with a wind generator. That's not a fan and has other purposes.

Yes. Herman and Henno became even more grateful for their nearby carp as they realized how difficult hunting in the desert would be, especially without a proper rifle, because theirs had been confiscated at the start of the world. war. After a few unsuccessful attempts at hunting gazelle, Heno managed to kill a small antelope, which he and Herman then had to carry about 600 feet up to their home base in the cave. And they did have, I don't know exactly the type, I didn't write the exact type of weapon down, but it's a very small pistol-looking thing versus an actual hunting rifle. So they had a lot of trouble. Yeah, they had to have compact. Not a lot of gear on them. Because hunting was more difficult than expected, they had to closely ration their other food supplies like flour, jam, tomato

puree, and dried fruit. For breakfast, they ate half a cup of flour mixed with a bit of water to turn it into a thick paste and then topped that with a teaspoon of either jam or sugar. And unless they managed to hunt successfully, that flour paste would be all they had until dinner. Yum. Is it like, are they cooking it to be like a pancake? I don't know. Or is it truly, they're just eating? I don't know if it's like overnight oats consistency or like cake batter or pancake batter.

So I was thinking like flour and water and you could like make a pancake. I feel like they probably. I guess you don't have eggs. No, they don't. They don't make it fluff. So. They certainly don't have eggs. Probably truly is just a really nasty paste.

From the top of their hill, all they could see in every direction was miles and miles of desolate desert. even though they had spent extensive time in the NIMIB over the years, it was one thing, like we said before, to be like, this is fun. This is not like a Boy Scout trip, but it's cool to be out doing field work, knowing that there's an end in sight. Yeah, knowing that one day you're going to go get a really hot, nice meal and take a shower. And now they're doing this indefinitely. They have no idea how long they're going to be out here. Their new reality made the landscape feel harsher and less forgiving.

The hunger pangs were often debilitating and their plans for work had to be adjusted based on lower energy levels and oppressive desert heat. Just as their hunger was reaching critical levels, they got lucky again. A bull wandered near their camp and after a few mangled shots, they managed to injure it enough for Heno to close in and stab it with a knife. The bull was massive and it was nearly impossible to get the carcass up to their quote unquote kitchen, so Herman and Hennon, and of course Otto, brought their camp temporarily down to the bowl where they cooked some meat and smoked the rest to preserve it for longer, turning it into what's known as Bilting, air-dried cured meat. Before their desert adventure, neither of them knew how to cure meat in this way, so some of the

animal was wasted by trial and error. And the rest was way too salty, but they ate it anyway, knowing that the alternative was starvation. When things were good, like they were after the bowl, when they had plenty of food, there was moderate temperatures and nearby drinking water, the two men felt like they were living out a childhood fantasy as real-life Robinson Crusoe. However, their spirits fell when they tuned into the radio broadcast at night and remembered the war going on back home, their whole reason for fleeing into the desert in the first place.

The fascist propaganda was relentless whenever they listened in, and they began to feel increasingly hopeless that peace and mutual understanding would possibly prevail. As the months passed, Herman and Hennaud settled into their new life in the desert, thanks to a more predictable food supply with their smoked meat and fresh carp. In their downtime, Herman often played his violin or painted landscape scenes with his watercolors. Both men also worked on filling in their map of the area with what they could after what they found throughout their daily explorations, piecing together a more complete picture of their corner of the desert. For the most part, they got along well and coexistence was pretty peaceful.

In the early days in the desert, they talked and agreed that if they ever got into an argument, they would each take some space. When this inevitably happened, Hanno took his sleeping bag and slept elsewhere, but still nearby for a few nights until they had both cooled off. See, that sounds like a lover's quarrel to me. That sounds exactly like I'm moving my sleeping bag over here until we work things out. coming back to bed when you guys fix it. Because you have to come back eventually. He's like, hey, how y'all doing? You still mad at me?

Are we over it? After surviving on only meat for months, Hennel and Herman really began craving fruits, sweets, and above all, vegetables. So they decided to try and plant a garden near their watering hole. They planted seeds for radishes, carrots, beets, and tomatoes, but the baby garden beds were soon trampled by zebras. Herman and Henno decided that they would have to build an enclosure around it if they wanted anything to have a chance to grow,

but they were worried because any sort of fence or man-made barrier would give them away if someone happened to be passing through or passing near the watering hole. They ultimately decided the benefits outweighed the risks and fenced the garden in, which yielded a few radishes and beets in their first harvest. There's nothing like when you start a garden and actually get something that you can eat. The amount of money I spent on my vegetable garden last year to produce one green pepper and a couple of strawberries that also I think were here before I was even here. Like they're wild strawberries. I know I got two cucumbers.

I never got my zucchini stuff and going. So if you guys have any any tips about how to get good. zucchini's because they kept growing, but they would never get big. And then they would just fall off before they, while they were super tiny. So I used to bring in the house these tiny zucchini and I would chop them up. And they were like legit like that big when I cut it. And I would serve them to Al for dinner. It's like, you're going to eat this and you're going to love it. You're going to love this. I grew this twice. So my tomatoes did really good. Tomatoes, I feel like do decently well.

Yeah. Yeah. For the last two years, actually, I tried to grow. Also, I tried to grow pumpkins. I tried to grow pumpkin last year, too. And they would, they would, whatever, the vines would explode and I would get the big yellow flowers. I'm like, oh my God. It's happening.

And then it would just grow so long, grew out of where the area was for the garden, would wrap around different things. It was going so great. And nothing ever came of it. The flowers would just bloom and die. bloom and die. That happened not as much with the vine for me, but I had a lot of blooming and dying or I'd get a tiny little one that would end up falling off. And by the end of the summer, I got one pumpkin that was like this big. A little sugar pumpkin size. It was called a giant

pumpkin was the label on the thing. Don't tell people that. Just be like, this is a sugar pumpkin that is meant to be this small. Look what I created. I don't know how I feel about the, I know I'm going to garden again this summer. I just know it. I've already started. Zucchinis? No. I did. I've done onions, beets, peas, carrots. I've done a lot of root stuff. You should do. My chives went crazy.

Oh, my chives already came from last. I planted so many chives last year. They're all up. Yeah. I've been eating them. I'm like, I was my local chive dealer. I had so much chive. I'm like, somebody please take this off my hands. Okay, anyway. I use it as a companion plant and a snack while I'm in the garden. Yum. So now that they were able to think about something other than their own hunger and survival, they were able to take up their scientific research again, exploring the landscape,

identifying different geological formations, and documenting their findings. One day, the pair summited a mountain overlooking the Guab Canyon and spent the whole day up there measuring and sketching what they saw. Herman mused that it was like, quote, the first morning after the creation, of the world. Henno, reflecting on that day too, says, he experienced a, quote, indescribably reassuring feeling of belonging to the wild, beautiful, and cruel life of this vast country. It was as though the fresh wind from the south was dissipating all doubts and uncertainties, and a feeling of peace and security came over me. It was an adjustment, however,

to need to kill in order to survive, and hunts didn't always go smoothly. In addition to carp and the rare bowl, Hennow and Herman primarily hunted Jemsbock and Clispringer to eat, but neither of them had much hunting experience. And if you look up, baby Clipspringer, you're going to die. They're so cute. I'm going to look it up right now. Oh my God. How would you kill one of them?

You're hungry. I mean, if you're hungry, but it literally looks like a miniature deer slash antelope. I don't want to say gop. Antelope. It is a small antelope. So, yeah, that makes sense. It's so cute. Another tough lesson from their bull hunt was that the pistol bullets sometimes didn't have enough velocity to break through the animal's skull.

So killing required more effort and more shots from their already limited supply of ammo. Eventually, they did run out of bullets and had to make their own out of melted down lead shots. Wow. They're getting crafty. Yeah. They are scientists. And that, I forget which one, but he was the youngest. He was 10 years old when he got accepted into this, like,

geological society. They're both... A genius. They wear Tweed jackets. You know what I mean? They know what they're doing. As you can maybe imagine, this Stone Age era lifestyle left little time for their geological research and work. Even though they were literally outside in the field all of the time, most of their days was spent finding, hunting, and preparing food. In the morning after a breakfast, a flour paste and a teaspoon of jam, Herman and Heno would take auto down to the watering hole to fill up on water and to look for fresh hoof prints in the sand. Then they would head out looking for game, often splitting up to better their odds or try to funnel

the wildlife towards the other person. Assuming they were successful in finding something, they'd then need to kill it, which proved continually difficult without a rifle or even real bullets. I mean, they're using their makeshift, melted down, reassembled bullets. And once they had killed their target, they'd either take the animal back to camp or bring camp to it temporarily, depending on it. size. So they're doing like a ton of work every day just to survive. It feels like every day is all about just finding how to eat and how to drink water. Even if the days were somewhat simple and

interchangeable, they were never boring. As winter turned to summer, their carp pond dried up, killing the remaining fish and demanding they find a new water source nearby. Water levels throughout the desert were shrinking rapidly and they began to be even more conservative in their water use. After a while, really started to enjoy the slowness required by this more primitive lifestyle. He said, quote, the waiting and listening both soothed and excited me far more than a thrilling film or interesting book had ever done. And it occurred to me that probably 10,000 generations of men had lived from the chase, whereas only the last couple of hundred or so had abandoned it for cattle breeding and agriculture, thus laying the basis for our civilization, a civilization which,

in addition to films and books and a good many really marvelous things had given us horribly bloody and senseless wars. So he's really doing a lot of deep thinking and reflection out in the desert, which I feel like they're both of that mind. Of course, they're there because of that. But when you don't have much else to do other than to focus on yourself and your existence, you have a lot of big profound thoughts. Yeah, and it feels like he's saying, yes, there are good things about society, but overwhelmingly there's horrible, horrible things happening within it. And he's kind of found his own peace out here. The days in the desert passed quickly and both men felt a sense of deep reverence for what it meant to survive and live out there.

Heno was regularly reminded of and excited by the startling contrast between the dead, arid, sun-parched rock landscape all around and the swift and beautiful animals. that lived in it. Death, he said, was always at their heels, but they defied him gaily and lived their lives with obvious gusto. Even with the hardships, Herman and Henno felt a sense of peace and belonging in the desert. While they were careful to keep Otto safe and away from the hyenas, the two men didn't fear many predators out in the desert. Most of the wildlife around them were herbivores. One day, however, Herman got bitten on the palm of his hand by a large sand tick while they were taking a midday nap in the shade. The sand tampon is a soft tick found in sandy, shaded areas in Namibia, particularly under trees,

and they cause painful bites to humans and animals. But unlike typical ticks, they feed really quickly, often leading to a temporary fever or illness. And to avoid this tick, they say to avoid sitting in shaded sandy areas or, and then obviously just to use tick repellent and stuff, but it's like, you're in the desert. You want to be in shade. You need a shady area when it's 100 degrees. So this tick bites Herman and the poison quickly made him sick. He was throwing up, was unable to see, and unable to stand on his own.

Heno built a makeship camp for them there. Thankfully, they were already near one of the few remaining waterholes and they spent a few days there while Herman recovered. But despite the scare, Herman also felt a sense of. of belonging and calm in the wilderness, saying, my paleolithic soul feels at home here. One morning when they went down to check on their garden, they noticed three sets of human footprints in the sand in the canyon.

They presumed these men were native people, likely the coy, and didn't know if they were sent by police to find them or if they were on the run too. Either way, it was unsettling to see the reminders of other humans, especially so close to their camp. obviously seeing that there's people there. Right. Reluctantly, they decided it was time to move their camp.

In February of 1941, Herman, Henno, and Otto moved their camp from their cave to a site along the Nausegomb Riverbank, where they built a semi-permanent structure and water catchment system to collect rainwater. Most of the wildlife had migrated away

from carp cliff at this point to be closer to the water too. So they're building up these water tanks, but soon after finishing, Herman spotted a police patrol along the river, which led them to flee and find yet another home base. So they had just finished setting up, but had to move quite quickly again. And their third desert home was known affectionately as baboons hole due to the large amount of baboon feces near the watering hole.

Ew. Sick. Sick. They moved there in October of 1941. And I just want to pause here really quick because I kind of mentioned. the lack of predators and how the men move to be closer to water. And so I felt like this might be like kind of a time to sneak this in. And I'm not going to elaborate a ton because I think, perhaps maybe, potentially, you may be doing a story on this in the future. Oh. Because you mentioned

it and I don't think you formally establish you were doing it, but I feel like you claimed it. Now I feel like it's pressure. I feel like you claimed it. I don't know. I just remember you talking to me about it. but it's the lions of skeleton coast. Oh yeah. God, I haven't talked about that in a long time. I forgot about them. Well, I'll give you a little refresher and everybody else a peek into this. And riot for this episode. The desert does have a small group of lions about 150 individuals or so that adapted to live in the harsh dry Namib.

However, in recent years, a handful of them broke away to return to the Atlantic Coast and are now among the world's only known marine lions, who kind of like the sea wolves up in British Columbia, have adapted to live by the ocean, becoming the only known lions to hunt marine life. So cool. Which is so rad. Cats and water. It's just... And to see them just like, because there's some beautiful photos of them.

At the ocean and hunting marine life and just like chilling on the beach. It's just like, I don't know, your brain just doesn't... compute it. And it's also really cool because this happened just, you know, 10 or so years ago that they were first documenting this. And they, all the sources I was reading said they returned there. So I feel like at some point in history, their range did extend to the Atlantic Coast. It's not like this is a first time ever type of thing. But in recent history, they hadn't been documented there in almost a century, I think. So over the last handful of years, they've already started to drastically change their diet and behavior to adapt to this environment.

So cool. Which is really cool. Animals are so interesting. But anyway, so I just wanted to mention that because I know my first thought with thinking of like, oh my God, you guys are out there with little to no protection. You have your dog with you. You're not in any sort of really secure shelter. And now there's lions.

Well, I was thinking of just like in general, what type of wildlife are you dealing with in Namibia? You know, I don't know. So there are, I did want to make mention there are lions present, just not a lot of them. But there's also hyenas and hyenas are very scary. Yeah. But back to the story. At this point, the two men and Otto had been living in the desert for almost a year and a half. And they were running low on supplies.

Notably, what really was like, the final straw is they ran out of coffee and tobacco. The luxuries. That would break me. That's fair. That's fair. That'd break me. You know, I feel like that's so little to ask for it for everything that they're doing. It's like, just some tobacco and some coffee to get me up in the morning.

I will drink out of this baboon feces-infested watering hole. But if I don't have coffee, I'm going to lose my fucking mind. Yeah. Okay. Having a good outfit on makes you feel put together, but having a good hair day hits different. When your hair feels healthy and looks good, you show up differently. You feel more confident and relax and aren't as concerned about taking a look at yourself in the mirror and being stressed about how you appear. I have always loved my hair, so when I started to notice it shutting more than usual in the shower, I freaked out, but then I started taking Nutraful.

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I know, but I'd be like a bathroom. Faked items. Please, I'm sorry. I got lost. But they have a garden. Well, no, they don't anymore. Yeah. He returned to camp a couple days later with the much needed goods and even some luxury items like figs. and bacon much to Henno and Otto's delight. While in the desert, the two men even became each other's dentists. Herman bit down through the top of a gold crown and one of Henno's fillings came loose. So Herman had the idea to dissolve a piece of celluloid, which is a early form of plastic, in acetone to harden it. And they use that to make makeship fillings for each of their teeth, which works surprisingly well.

Wow. They're dentists too. They're geniuses. Yeah. They got wire room glasses on, tweed jackets, probably a microscope. And they're like, we got this. I'm going to become a master of dentistry. And what else do they do? They're gardeners, their hunters, their dentists, their geologists.

Yeah. What can't they do? Life in the desert is often marked by periods of intense drought followed by severe flooding. and this was the case in February of 1942. Herman and Hennow were sitting on the rocks one day by the watering hole, just lounge and joining each other's company, maybe being lovers, we're not sure. I have my suspicions. And then all of a sudden, they see all of the frogs from within this watering hole.

High tail it. They're jumping out of the water and they're climbing up to higher ground towards the mountain. Oh, that's a bad sign. So they thought that this was odd. They're like, what the heck is that about? But later in the day, it started to rain and it rained hard. Because they were in a river canyon, they could hear the roar of a flood approaching and building. Soon, their shelter was completely flooded as the water tore through the canyon.

Like the wise frogs, Herman and Hennow survived the storm, of course, with Otto, by scrambling to higher ground on the mountain, saving their essentials like their bedding, cooking utensils, and tire pump. It's like nature knows. It's so interesting. It's like hours before the frog sensed a flood was coming. Same thing with tornadoes and hurricanes. You see the birds move and even trees know they'll turn their leaves down. You know, it's just so interesting what you can see in nature and what they can detect. It was around the time of this flooding when Herman returned to camp one afternoon, exhilarated but very nervous. For a while, they had known that they weren't alone near. their camp. They had discovered leopard prints in the sand, one of them markedly scarred from an injury. They had nicknamed the animal Old Scarfoot, and for the first and only time, Herman ran into him that morning. He had been rounding a bend by the river and nearly ran straight into this giant animal,

and he said he was no more than five paces away from it. Whoa. They both froze and stared at each other. Like, what are you doing here? Hello? The leopard was dripping wet as if he had just been in the river and looked tired and thin. Knowing even if he reached for his pistol as fast as he could would mean nothing in this scenario. I mean, especially at five paces away, this cat would be on him if he wanted to by the time he got his weapon out. So instead, he just decided to be frozen and just stared at him. And he said after a long few moments, the leopard let out a low rum. and growl and then slinked away.

Herman went weak in the knees, thinking if the cat was any bit hungrier, he may not have walked away from that encounter with his life. Hanno and Herman did make contact with her friend, Werner Sidentov, on a rural farm, a few times during their time in the desert, most notably for an emergency visit after autochaste after a jumpspock before it speared him, stabbing him in the belly with its big horn. Thankfully, the puncture seemed to just miss his intestines. So to try and save him, they drove him six hours to their friend's farm, knowing that their friend would know how to care for their injured dog due to his decades of farm experience and working with animals. And by the way, this farm is very basic.

Like, it is also out in the middle of the desert. It's very rudimentary. It's a step up from what they're doing, but it's not like. a plethora of supplies or like how they treated Otto was horrific. Not in veterinary terms. Yes, in veterinary terms, I would be having a panic attack watching what they did. But they did save Otto's life and he did survive his injury. They stayed on the farm for four days with their friend, his wife, and their servant,

who was from the indigenous Obambo tribe, while Otto recovered. After sleeping in the open air for years, Heno and Herman, felt claustrophobic in the bedroom at night, despite enjoying the comforts of a real bed for the first time in a very long time. One bed? Question? I'm just wishful thinking. Okay.

I'm sure. When Otto recovered enough and they were able to head back into the desert, it felt like a joyous homecoming. Ultimately, the trio would spend 11 months, almost a full year, in baboon's hole. I hate that name. I know. It's like, can we name it after something other? than the poop that's wrong.

I'm just picturing a baboon's hole every time we say. Oh, I'm not. However, in August of 1942, Herman became ill. He had been experiencing back pain for quite some time, but what they thought was just a muscle strain only got worse. As Herman's nerve pain worsened, Heno began to suspect that malnutrition was at play. For a few weeks, Henno monitored his condition closely,

but Herman only seemed to get worse. with the pain spreading throughout his legs, making it increasingly difficult to walk. So finally, on September 2nd, 1942, Herman's condition was so dire that they were forced to seek outside medical help, since he was barely able to move or speak on his own and was getting weaker and weaker by the day.

Hanno drove them back to their friend's farm and dropped him off before he and Otto headed back to their hideout in the desert. and the owner of the farm drove Herman back to Windhock and took him to the hospital where he was diagnosed with Berry Berry, a specific and severe form of malnutrition caused by a vitamin B1 deficiency. Only a few days after he had returned to the desert alone, police apprehended Henno at his camp. It turns out, Herman was very worried that Hennel would not be able to survive on his own out in the desert and he broke down and gave him. the camp location away to law enforcement. Heno spent two days in jail and then two weeks in the hospital under close supervision.

Then when Herman was finally well enough again, they went to trial. There, they were charged with a long list of minor offenses, but no treason or desertion charges. Rather, they were charged with things like traveling outside of the permitted area for longer than allowed, like years longer. It's like a curfew, breaking curfew. few. And not having a license to have a dog in the desert. Like, that's what they got them on. I mean, that feels nice. I feel like maybe they, maybe the law enforcement were understanding of the situation and we're like, you guys went through it. You're in the hospital. You've been surviving

for two years. What else are. Right. And it feels kind of like, they're like, okay, clearly you're not Nazis avoiding. You know, it's like clearly you did this because you really wanted. no part in this. It's not like you're a war criminal or something. Yeah. That's trying to lay love. You're actually the opposite of a war criminal. Right. Yeah. Their friends helped them pay the very nominal fees and they were quickly released and reunited with Otto, who also made it out of the desert with some battle scars, of course, but overall in good spirits. Shortly after, the South African government actually hired them to do more geology work, conducting groundwater exploration to find better water sources for the city of Windhook.

Like, you guys know your stuff. Like, you did great work. Like, great job. We actually need your assistance. Then on the night of August 9th, 1946, Herman was killed in a car accident after driving his car along the railroad tracks. His vehicle fell from a bridge into a dried up riverbed. He was 38 years old and was killed instantly.

Heno continued to work for the South Africa. government. In 1947, he was appointed the director of the Southwest African branch of the South African Geological Survey, a position he held until 1963. That year, he became the director of the Precambrian Research Unit at the University of Cape Town, a position he held for only two years, because he was then offered a prestigious role back in Germany. He became the chair in geology and directorship of the Geological Paleontological Institute at the University of Gutignan, where he worked until his retirement in 1975. Heno passed away peacefully in 1998 at the age of 88.

In addition to his pre-war geological discoveries, Hanno is created with sourcing a reliable water supply for the city of Windhook. In 1957, Heno published a memoir about his time in the desert with Herman and Otto, which was translated to English the following year. The German title literally translates, I'm not going to try it, for everyone's sake, I'm not going to try and pronounce it, but it directly translates into English as if war comes, we'll spend it in the desert. The English translation is called the Sheltering Desert, which was also turned into a movie

in 1991, which, if you guys want to watch it, you can, I was bored. I felt like the... I hated it. I hated it personally, but the book was clearly entertaining. And it's available online for free if you want to read it. And as for Otto, you know, we got to know what happens to the dog. Yes. So it's kind of vague as to what happened.

But according to Heno, he says, quote, Otto lived on for a few years after our return to civilization. but as he got older, he became increasingly deaf. One day, he disappeared altogether, and I never found out what happened to him. Oh. It kind of sounds like maybe he, you know how dogs and animals, cats and stuff when they know they're dying, they'll walk off to die. Yeah, maybe something like that, but in old age. In recognition of its unique natural beauty, Namib Nockloft National Park was designated in 1979, making it the largest particular.

area in Namibia at the time of its proclamation. And fun fact, Namibia is the first country in the world to inscribe environmental protection into its constitution and 14% of its national land is protected, which includes almost the entire Namib desert. Wow. You can still visit the first cave site where Heno, Herman, and Otto lived, which is now protected within the national park and is known as the Hennon-Martin and Herman Korn shelter on tourist maps. It's relatively easy to access and people visit it all the time. In addition to day trips, some people have bike packed through the Namib Desert and stopped at Herman and Hennoh's documented sites to more closely replicate their experiences and life in the desert. So they used their path of like where they live for two years to bike through.

That's so cool. That's so fun that there's a real tie to visit these locations. And you asked me if there was a national park. So excited. Now we have to go. The Namib Desert Lodge located south of the National Park has also commemorated Hennel-Martin and Hermann Korn, their work and their escape from Nazi rule in the Third Reich. A large slab of rock from the Nukluft Mountains they spent years studying as affixed with a memorial plaque honoring their noteworthy contributions to Namibian geology. But their legacy expands beyond the rock. The pair is remembered for their courageous spirit. The two young men who, rather than conforming, chose to take a stand in the form of self-exile, who chose to risk their lives in the unforgiving desert of Namibia rather than fight a war they did not believe in. And that's my story. What a cool story.

I've never heard of it before either. Same. I mean, it's so interesting. And also feels like they made the right decision. Although it seems a little worry of what would have happened to them if they like they might have just continued living their normal lives just under strict. I think they were really nervous. But they were really. I mean, and rightfully so, everything that was happening in Europe at the time, a lot of people who were fleeing.

A lot of people who didn't flee ended up living through some really horrific things. So I totally understand why they would feel. the need. Yeah. I mean, of all the places, a really rough place to be, but they made it work. And just such a bold decision. Yeah. And cool that they did it with no, no skill. I mean, I don't want to say no skills prior because they clearly had a deep knowledge of the land and they were highly educated to adapt. They were highly educated and they knew the land, but I don't know. But not survival. skills. Yeah. I definitely think their intelligence. They just seemed like they weren't just book smart, clearly. They made things work in real life applications. And they did the best they

could. And not to say they didn't have their hardships because they did. But by and large, they did pretty well. Given what could have happened, you know, anything could have happened. and they did have, you know, they had their car battery, they did have a vehicle that they could always be like, hey, we're going to get the fuck out of here. They had a backup point. I know, it's so funny that they're, like, we just drove into town throughout.

I'm like, what do you mean? You just hop in your car, and I would be hopping in my car all the time. You'd be like, I'll be right back, Daniel. I'd be like, we're out of food. I'm going to the grocery store. Instead, they're starving and hunting and stuff. I'd be like, yeah, I'm just, going to go over that sand dune over there i'll be right back don't you worry don't come looking for me

with grocery bags full of sweet treats it's kind of like a hybrid survival thing because there were very real risks and totally like if something went down it could have been fatal and there was it almost was and it almost was but at the same time it's not like they were stranded in the middle of nowhere with no out. So anyway. Yeah. Yeah. So I just, we've never covered a story like that really before. So hope you guys enjoyed it. And I don't even know if we have a need a pallet cleanser. I don't think we need a pallet cleanser. I'm not sad. Me neither. Well, let's leave you all on that. Hopefully you're not sad either. Well, we'll see everyone next week. In the meantime, enjoy the view. But watch you're back. Bye. Bye.

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