Namibia

Namibia the country with ever changing landscapes, one moment you are in the desert, then you are driving down a dry riverbed, then you are on the coast and then you are in the mountains. Wow what a stunning country and every journey brings new surprises. Not so much wild camping to be done in Nambia as 90% of the land is owned by someone and it is all fenced off but there are more then enough lodges and camp grounds. The camps are cheap about £4 per person and have swimming pools and bars so we have been living the life of luxury for the last month. Namibia felt like the upmarket version of Africa and all of a sudden travelling became a lot easier. There are many police check points across the country, none corrupt but it does mean you don't see overloaded trucks and badly maintained vehicles as we had through the rest of Africa. Namibia should definitely be on everyones hit list for a place to visit, wildlife, landscapes and people are all beautiful.

Our first night in Nambia was spent on the Western side of the Caprivi strip. The Caprivi strip is interesting if you look at a map of Africa as it is just a small strip of land owned by Namibia which connects it to Zambia so that you don't have to pass through Botswana first. The Caprivi strip is a very thin strip which runs along the Okavango river and has a great Tar road which is just straight and goes on for hours. The Strip itself is not very interesting more of a means of getting between countries but when you stop and camp on the Okavango that's when it is all worth it.

Ngepi camp was where we spent our first night in Namibia. Our camp spot was right on the rivers edge overlooking many families of Hippo. We had a Bath which overlooked the river and you warmed your water up with a fire under the water barrel and then lay in the bath watching the hippos play. The shower was a bucket with holes in hung in a tree and once you turned the taps on the water was pumped into the bucket and you showered with the resident birds nesting in that area (brilliant). The camp had built a caged swimming pool in the Okavango river so you could swim amongst the hippos safely (this was a bit surreal and supper cool). Just down the road from the Ngepi camp was Mohango national park. A small park running along the Okavango river and it cost £5 for 2 people and the car to go in for 24 hours. We spent a few hours driving round and saw many animals with Eland and Mongoose being new additions to animals we had not seen in Africa yet. The park also had a huge Baobab tree by the river were we stopped for lunch (when I say huge you could live in the trunk). Baobab trees have become a bit of a theme on our journey through Africa. In Mozambique they were used as hide outs during the war and through the rest of Africa are not cut or burnt as its not useful wood, Apparently.

In Namibia many live in Poverty and one person in the family working may need to sustain 15 other family members. There is a lot of farming in Namibia mostly sheep, cattle and goats but a farm labourer will earn N$500 (£35) and N$300 (£20) in food products a month so he and his family must live on less then £1 a day. We have taken to not giving money to people but you can buy small bags of rice for £0.50 so we buy many and then give them out in remote villages as we travel through the country. You can also purchase clothing for £1 an item in cheap stores so stocked up on some kids clothes for when we where out in the bush miles from anywhere and they loved getting new things. Most young kids especially part of the Himba tribe love running round naked most of the time anyway but then when its 40 degrees you cant really blame them.

Now we left the Caprivi strip and headed south towards Groofontein. One of the slightly annoying things about Namibia is that so much land is privately owned you cant drive across the country on the small roads so you have to head south on the main roads and then north again if you want to see the north. In Groofontein we visited a Meteorite which had hit the earth about 800 000 years ago and was 80 % iron and weighed 60 tone. It was the largest in the world to still be intact and an interesting visit. We then headed up the road to the town of Tsumeb which has a lot of history from the war and mining so we decided to visit the Tsumeb museum. From Tsumeb it was north to the famous Etosha National park. Etosha is situated round a large salt pan and has 4 of the big 5 (just not buffalo as it is to dry). We spent 3 days at Etosha and saw 3 of the big 5, Lions, Elephants and Rhinos (Several Black Rhino which was a great experience as they were nearly extint) also many more animals. One evening we sat for 4 hours by a watering hole and everything came down to drink.

From Etosha we decided to head north for a bit up to Opuwo where we could see the Himba tribe and we wanted to head out into the North west of Nambia along the Kunene river which borders with Angola. When we arrived in Opuwo (Jonny driving) we turned into town and he did not know which way to look as the Himba are bear chested woman and there were hundreds of them wandering the streets. In Opuwo we arranged with a local Himba lady to visit one of the Himba villages.

Himba

The village is circular with tree branches as a fence. Inside there is a smaller circle which keeps the cattle and goats in the evenings to protect them from Hyena. The houses are small 2m x 2m at the most and are made from cow dung. Where the villages are is exteeamly dry for 10 months of the year and so water is collected from digging deep bore holes and is transported by donkey for up to 30km. As the area is so dry there is little shade and no way of growing crops (also the desert Elephant means they are unable to grow crops). The Himba people eat Maize as their staple diet and on special occasions goat and beef. Cattle is very sacred to the Himba so much so that they remove 4 of their bottom teeth as they wish to be like their cattle. Cows do not have teeth at the top but they do not wish to remove these as they would like to keep their smile. The Himba do not wash in their entire lifetime and just apply orange Ocra to their skin to protect them from insects and the sun.

From Opuwo we headed to Epupa falls, which are on the Kunene river bordering Angola. The river probably acts as the best border control as you cant cross the river due to many crocodiles and the area of the falls where there are no crocodiles due to the strong water flow you cant cross or you are washed rapidly down stream. For us the Epupa falls were far more impressive then the Victoria falls, one because they where remote and less touristy and two because it was the end of the dry season in Zambia and so there was not much water flowing over Vic falls but the Epupa were in flood. We camped within spray distance from the water falls and spent the afternoon walking along the series of falls.

From Epupa we decided to head out into the Kakoveld area. North west Namibia (Known as The Kakoveld area) is an extreamly remote section of the country with heavy 4 x 4 driving and you can go days without seeing anyone. As we were soon to be on our home stretch to South Africa we thought we would take the opportunity to have our last stretch out in the wild before civilization. To get there from the falls we would have to cross a mountain pass known as Van Zyls pass (look it up on google to see what I mean). Van Zyls pass is said to be one of the top most 5 dangerous roads in the world and heavy 4 x 4 driving. We did our research before making this commitment and after some of the roads we had already driven in Africa we thought we would be fine and to give it a go. The route to Van zyls pass was rough and slow going and at one point when we where driving down a narrow riverbed with huge boulders (low box 1st gear on the breaks) Jonny said " if this is the drive to Van Zyls pass then Van Zyl can go F_ _ _ himself if he thinks I am driving over his pass. Our car was amazing and handled the drive way better then my nerves did.

Just as we came out of the worst for that day we were driving through the bush and spotted a large overlanding truck. We stopped to say hi and it turned out to be a Dutch couple (Jan and Mariska) who had been traveling down the west coast of Africa in an ex Army truck (www.travel2survive.com). They had come from Epupa falls aswell but it had taken them 3 days on the awful route compared to 6 hours we had just done as they had to shift a lot of boulders ect. We would have liked to chat to them longer but it was getting dark and we needed to get to Van Zyls camp at the bottom of the pass. We camped in the dry riverbed and in true English style I cooked up some bacon, eggs and chips for dinner. We also met two South Africa couples travelling with Land Rovers and they were headed over the pass so we were slightly reassured as we would not be doing it alone.

The next day we are up and head for the pass, the pass itself is only 13 miles long but it took us 2.5 hours to get over it. Jonny drove and I guided him down and moved boulders around. Our car was amazing and the three of us made it down in one piece. All the way over the pass we were looking forward to the nice soft desert sands to drive on through the flat valley however what was to greet us was slightly different. The Marienfluss valley was stunning but the roads were badly corrugated and it's the worst type of driving as it shakes the guts out of you and the car. Firstly we stopped to have beer and biltong with the 2 south African couples we had met and then we drove the 2 hours through the valley back up to the Kunene river and Angolan border. We managed to get a great spot to camp right next to the Kunene river and some shade which at 39 degrees is such a luxury. Sadly no swimming as the river is heavily crocodile populated and a few of them popped up near out camp to see what was going on.

The next day we decided we would start making our way south as that's technically the way we where supposed to be going but some places are worth the detour. After 2 hours of horrible corrugations and 2 hours of gravel and boulders we arrived at another community camp called Marble camp. It was only 1pm but we had had enough of the difficult roads and it was very hot so we decided to pull up in the shade and chill out for the afternoon. Marble camp was an interesting spot to spend the afternoon as many local Himba people rode in on their donkeys (they where as interested in us as we where of them). Jonny made us some Christmas decorations out of wool and an empty cornflakes box but it felt a bit more festive. The Local Himba where all chipping in for a goat for Christmas day food, very different to what we know as Christmas. Later that day we took a walk round the local area and the Marble quarry. The nicest thing about this spot to camp is the complete silence (nothing lives out there not even insects) so at night you slept so well.

Set off hoping the roads would be kind to us but no such luck the corrugations were awful and dangerous the car just had no grip on the roads. The scenery was desert and mountains with many desert elephant footprints in the sand. We arrived at Purros which is on the Hurasib River and got a camp spot in the shade. The Lonely planet had said there was a swimming pool which I was very much looking forward to but apparently the swimming pool is no more. The ranger at the camp told me it became to dangerous as the elephants where attracted to the pool to drink as the river is dried up for 9 months of the year. As it was Christmas eve Jonny and I took a beer down to the river bed and watched the sun set but still no signs of elephant.

Christmas day, we opened our Christmas card from my parents, packed up camp and decided to head for Sesfontein which is supposed to be a slightly more civilized town. By now we had had enough of the corrugations and decided to take a detour off the main road but this did mean driving down 2 dry (hopefully) river beds and the skeleton coast desert. I set off out of Purros down the riverbed but it turned out not to be as dry as we had hoped and so I now had to deal with 4 x 4 driving on soft sand, mud and water. It was very nerve racking for a few reasons 1. We had calculated our fuel needed to Sesfontein and we had enough but not a lot more then enough so we had to try and drive economically 2. If we got stuck and could not get ourselves out it could be sometime if at all till we saw another car 3. There are wild, aggressive desert elephants in the river bed and 4. The car is our home and so you naturally worry more. The Hurasib riverbed was stunning though with high canyons on either side and its meandering way along. Just a short while in I drove round a bend and there 10m away was an elephant drinking. It was a wow moment and stunning to see but the problem was the gorge was narrow and the path I needed to drive went right past the elephant. I drove on slowly enough as to try not to startle the elephant but quick enough so that I did not get stuck in the soft sand. It did not work the elephant got angry we got trumpeted and its ears where flapping wildly. I put my foot down but we had a small river to cross which slowed us down.

Jonny a short while before had been talking me through driving in water and not to drive to quick as what happens outside the car is also happening underneath it and is not great for the engine.

At this point we had an angry elephant and a small river to cross and what I got from Jonny was "as quick as you like Babe" but luckily we got away ok.

A little further down the gorge it got really narrow and the rivers edges touched the rock so we had no choice but to drive down the river a short while. It was all going ok until I decided to change gear and lost revs to which Jonny said "BAD BAD BAD BAD" but I managed to get us out and onto the sand. The scenery was stunning but I was not getting much opportunity to enjoy it so decided to switch drivers and Jonny could deal with the mud and water while I watched for elephant.

Our detour took us 6 hours but we drove through so many different landscapes. After the riverbed we had sometime driving through the desert where we saw many Oryx (also knows as Gemsbok ) and they are stunning to look at. It was just Jonny, Terri and The truck in the middle of the desert and you get a real sense of isolation. Eventually we hit the Huarib riverbed which we would drive along to Sesfontein. The riverbed was full of elephant, Oryx and we even saw a giraffe. About 15 miles from destination we hit white powder sand and very nearly got stuck. At this point Jonny was driving and it was full throttle 1st gear and we both thought we would be spending Christmas camped in the sand. Luckily our car did amazingly and we broke out arriving in Sesfontein at 4pm Christmas day. Other then a small shop, several campsites and a hotel there was not much else in Sesfontein.

The hotel was an old German fort that had been converted into rooms and had a swimming pool, bar and restaurant. We decided as we had endured quiet a day and it was Christmas that we would treat ourselves and leave the camping for one night and get a room at the Old Fort. For £60 per person and it included dinner and breakfast, however not a traditional Christmas dinner it was steak in true German style. We spent the rest of the afternoon drinking beer, swimming and wishing the family merry Christmas (this was luxury as we had been out of signal for the past week).

The road leaving Sesfontein was gravel but good gravel, smooth and you could do 70 mph if you chose which was the nicest feeling after the time we had spent on the awful roads. We headed for the Petrified forest (fosilised tree trunks which are now solid rock) and then onto Twelfontein for the San Bushmen sculptures on rock. The next day we needed fuel and food supplies so had to head to a town and decided to head for Khorixas. The annoying thing was more rubbish gravel tracks. I was driving and only 40mph when we came over a rise, hit some corrugations and the car slid sideways (I never thought it possible to side slide a 4 x 4). At this point I realized I had no control over the car and was trying to regain control when I spotted a car coming the other way. To this day I will never understand why it did not stop as he would have seen I was out of control but he kept coming and I was convinced I was going to hit him. I steered so hard we missed the car by about 20cm but in trying so hard not to hit him I oversteered in the opposite direction so know we where headed for the verge and trees. Both Jonny and I thought that was it we where in for a big accident but somehow I gained control of the car and we came to a stop on the wrong side of the road. I was a bit of a mess shacking a tears rolled down my eyes but I guess that's adrenalin for you. Jonny was brilliant did not shout, did not panick, nothing he just said well done for gaining control and I should enter rally driving (no thank you). Jonny took over driving and we headed south for the Brandberg Mountain Range.

On route to the mountains we got lost and ended up on bushtrack but it was beautiful. We past a goat herder who flagged us down asking for water which we gave. I take my hat off to these guys they walk on average 30km a day with their goats in the 40 degree sunshine with no food or water. We had decided to stay at the White lady Brandberg Lodge and Campsite and it had a swimming pool. It was right next to a dry riverbed which we had to get across first of all. The sand was soft and the car had to work hard but we got across. At the point we crossed we saw a large herd of elephant with young (at this point we did not think we would see them again, little did we know).

An afternoon round the pool and dinking beer next to The Brandberg mountains. At 7pm we headed back to the car to make some dinner which was going to be sausage, mash and salad. Just as I started cutting the tomatoes Jonny spotted one of the elephants come out the dry riverbed and rip out one of the water pipes to drink. Just 10 minutes later the whole herd of elephant was there to drink water even the babies which was a special sight. Jonny was on elephant watch while I made dinner but 5 minutes later one of the big elephants got a smell of the salad and came out way. We quickly shut everything in the car but we were concerned it would do damage to the car so Jonny got a matt and banged it against the car which made quite a bang. The elephant stood its ground about 10m from Jonny for a good few minutes before backing down and walking away.

Just as the elephants left two donkeys strolled into the camp, I tried to give them potato skins but they were not interested and so I had to pick them all up again so as not to attract the elephants. It was a great sunset over the west face of The Brandberg and then a full moon. Just as we finished dinner we saw what we now know to be a Genet (look it up on google they are very beautiful) unfortunately no photos we just sat real still and it came right up to us before hurrying away. Jonny spent the rest of the evening collecting seed pods for the Donkeys and giving them water from the camp tap.

As we left the lodge down another badly corrugated road 4 young boys waved empty bottles of water at us so we pulled over as we had a 25litre container of water in the car. It turned out they did not want water but to sell us some rocks ect. I gave them a new t shirt or shorts that I had bought from Pep which made them smile.

As we left the mountains and headed toward the skeleton coast we left the 40 degree heat and sunshine and entered the clouds and drizzle of the skeleton coast. We drove a little down the salt road and then stopped by the sea for a paddle. It was quiet a special moment for us as not only were we driving from North Africa to South Africa but we had driven from East African coast Mozambique to the West African coast Namibia. We then drove a little further north to Cape Cross to see the 100 000 strong Fur seal population (yep we had missed the fur seals after Antarctica). We then headed south along the skeleton coast to Henties bay were we got an ice cream and our car got a much deserved under belly power spray wash. The camp in town was full to bursting with holidaying south Africans so we headed out of town 5 miles to camp on the beach at mile 72. No facilities other then a spot on the beach and so expensive N$100 per person which is £8 and it was supper cold but beautiful as we where 5 m from the waves breaking and a nice sunset that evening.

We had decided a few weeks back that we would be in Namibia for New Years and so we should get to Swakapmound as apparently that is the place to be thousands head there for the beach party. We were concerned we would not get accommodation so we decided to head to Swakapmound a few days earlier and enjoy a few days in the beach resort. We tried a few places in Swakapmound to camp but they were all fully booked but on the 4th try we got lucky at Sky Lodge Backpackers they said they had a spot in their car park we could camp and it was central to everything so score. During our time in Swakapmound we

· Visited the Aquarium as Namibia gets the Antarctic Benguela current and I was interested to look at the local marine animals

· We watched the south Africa girls high jump competition on the beach (not sure why but Jonny was not bothered by the boys high jump)

· Had a braai (BBQ) in the gardens of the backpackers

· Went swimming (well I did) in the cold Atlantic

· Saw a film in the local cinema (Taken 2)

· Went sandboarding on new years Eve out in the sand dunes

After the day of sandboarding and swimming in the sea we were tired by 10pm and still had some time to go for new years eve (afterall that's why we came to Swakapmound). By 11.30 Jonny and I walked down to the beach where there were thousands of people but we decided we were tired headed back to the backpackers had a cup of tea and said happy new year just the two of us and we where in bed by 12.15 (lame I know).

From Swakapmound we headed to Walvis Bay and Pelican point to watch the lesser and greater flamingoes. Then headed out of town into the desert and to the famous dune 7 and decided we would climb it. Wow dune climbing is hard work but worth it once at the top. We also drove out to see the Welwiltshire plants which are amazing how they grow and survive in the desert (they where on David Attenbourghs "Life of plants") and drove through an amazing landscape which looked like you where driving on the moon. By 2pm we arrived at The Spitzkoppe mountains where we were going to spend the night. You have to look at my photos to see the true beauty and how totally secluded it is. We spent the late afternoon sat out on the large boulders reading our books and waiting for the sun to set.

We had not intended to visit Windhoek (The Captital as many local Namibians had told us not to bother) but we had a slight leak in our power steering and it was not far 3 hours on good tar mac in the right direction so we thought why not. We ended up at cardboard box backpackers and met lots of travelers and even some of the people we had met in Swakapmound so a good atmosphere. We went to the Toyota garage but they said they would not repair only replace and it would cost us N$7000 (£500) so we said forget that as it was just a small leak. Back at the backpackers Jonny took the power steering unit off and we contacted a local guy who we were recommended for power steering. We had bought the o ring needed to stop the leak but Jonny did not have the special Toyota tool to open the unit up(typical Toyota and how they do that). Anyway this local guy did and he fixed it and charged us N$100 (£8) and Jonney fitted it back onto the car and it works great. We later walked into town to get Jonny a much needed hair cut but the African lady who did it did a real bad job, she did explain they don't normally cut white peoples hair. That evening we treated ourselves to a meal at the internationally recognized Joes Beer house which specializes in game meat like Kudu, Springbok, Zebra ect and we got a meat overload.

From Windhoek we headed to Sususvlei one of Namibias top tourist attractions and I can see why. It is out in the Namibian desert and where the large sand dunes some 300m high are red in colour and the remains of many dead trees where the dunes have moved over them and smothered them. On the day we arrived we went to the Sesriem canyon which was carved years ago but you can walk along the bottom of the 30m deep gorge and we watched the sunset from the top as some baboons had taken up residence on the top of our car. The next morning we where up at 4am as it is a one hour drive from camp to the dunes and we wanted to watch the sunrise from the top of the dune. We climbed Deathvlei and Sususvlei dune but by the last one it was supper hot and the sand burnt your feet on the way down. To get out to the dunes you need a 4 x 4 or there is a 4 x 4 shuttle service. We decided our car would be fine for the job but it was tough going as you were driving through 5km of soft dune sand. On the way back we spotted a car in trouble (you are reluctant to stop as if you loose your speed you may get stuck as well) we however found a semi hard patch and stopped. It turned out it was a French guy who had hired a 4 x4 and had never driven off road before and was very stuck. Jonny and I got to use our shovel that had never been used before and we dug him out. The poor French guy was really struggling to drive the car though so Jonny offered to drive it out for him, he was very grateful. We pushed the car and off he went with no stopping, I then realized that I would now have to drive our car out and hopefully not get stuck but as always she was brilliant.

Our last town in Namibia was Luderitz a small town based around diamonds, fishing and farming Oysters. Luderitz is sandwiched between 2 deserts and on the Atlantic coast. We spent three days there and from start to end it was supper windy. As we approached the town on the B4 the car was sand blasted and there appeared to be a permanent bulldozer out trying to flatten the sand dunes next to the road. In town we checked out the local camp spot which was on Shark island. It was a beautiful spot right on the sea front but just far to windy to put up a tent so we opted for the backpackers in town. We asked to camp in their yard but they took sympathy on us when looking outside at the wind and said we could have a room for the same cost as camping. So for the first time in 8 months we spent the evening in front of the tv watching the discovery channel. The desert to the south of Luderitz known as the Spegerbeit National Park is off limits to all as it contains the diamond 1 area and is patrolled by guards that have little else to do then shoot any intruders so we were sure as to follow our gps to the point when exploring the coastline. We drove to Diaz point where the lighthouse is and the Cape Fur seals have a colony there but still supper windy so you had to hang on. We also drove a little further south to a beach with a small ship wreck but a nice place to spend a few hours chilling as there is just the sea, the desert and you. W e went on an Oyster farm tour(I was interested as a Marine Biologist) and Jonny ate fresh Oysters and drank a beer in the bar afterwards. We also drove a short way north to Agate beach and tried to find small Agates but no luck and it was painful with the sand blasting in the strong winds. Now we understand why Luderitz hold the kite and windsurfing championships, you are guaranteed good winds.

After a few days we decided to head south to the Fish River Canyon and wow what a beautiful site. A lot of people cant understand how such a small river could have calved such a large and deep canyon 27km wide in places and 500m deep, the second largest canyon after The Grand Canyon. You can do a 5 day hike through the bottom of the Canyon 85km which we were tempted but it has to be between May and September due to extream heat and chances of flash floods so we will have to come back. We spent the afternoon reading and chilling out next to the edge of the canyon and then cooked our dinner and ate it to the sunset over the canyon. We decided to camp just 10km away from the canyon at the NWR campsite as it was now getting dark. In the morning we woke to baboons turning over rocks in the camp looking for insects and scorpions to eat which was great to watch. Packed up and decided to head for the border Namibia/South Africa which was quiet emotional for us as we just could not take in how far we had come, how much we had seen and how long we had talked about this day.

It was a 2 hour drive to the border and the town of Noordoewer where we got fuel and decided to eat lunch (Terri hungry and having to deal with numpties on the borders are never a good combination).

At the border we stamped ourselves and our car out of the country no problem. We then moved on to entry into south Africa where we stamped ourselves in no problem but when it came to importing our car into the country wow what a performance. No one in the customs department knew what they were doing and everyone told us something different . After 3 hours of not getting anywhere and being told we must pay ect ect we decided to bring the car into South Africa on the Carnet (The car passport we have used for the rest of Africa) and sort it out once we were in Cape Town. By 3pm we where in South Africa and we decided to kill a few hours of our journey to Cape Town and drove down to Kamieskroon a town popular for its succulent plants. We camped the night in a farmers yard Petes place which was stunning it was just us, the mountains and the Dassies.