Africa Revisited. Self Drive Safari. Namibia. Delightful Deserts.

The next part of our trip took us over some amazing mountain passes, through deserts, sand dunes and across to the Atlantic Ocean. Namibia is truly a country of stunning landscapes and complete solitude. We travelled desert roads without seeing another vehicle for hundreds of kilometres. Leaving Etosha National Park we travelled southeast on the C38 towards Outjo which was a good place for shopping. We spent a night at Igowati Lodge in Khorixas, not recommended! It was noisy, the ablution block was disgusting and there was a dead lizard in the outside washing up sinks. However the restaurant meal and entertainment by a cultural group Aba's Khan was surprisingly good.

Our dash cam of part of the journey. Around 13 minutes.

Khorixas as a town did not offer much, so we drove out 50 k west, along a very dusty gravel road, over the mountains to explore a tourist attraction the Petrified Forest. The Petrified Forest was declared a National Monument in 1950 after being discovered by two farmers in 1940. The Petrified Forest consists of a number of trees washed down from the rivers in the Ice Age, which are now fossilised. We had a great local guide who walked us through the site and was very knowledgeable, it was good to know that local people were being trained and encouraged in this way. We also saw the Welwitschia Mirabillis, the national plant of Namibia ( on the back of its coinage) they live for hundreds of years on very little water. It looks very unspectacular, looks can be deceptive.

The poison produced from this thorn tree was used by local tribesmen for poisoned arrows.

The famous Welwitschia, 500 years old, it doesn't look much! Called a "living fossil" it was named after Fredrich Welwitsch a botanist who discovered the plant in the mid - 19th century in Angola. Some Welwitschia are said to be 1500 years old and are endemic to the Namib desert.

From the Petrified Forest we continued over the mountains to see the Organ Pipes and Burnt Mountain. The Organ Pipes are a geological rock formation near Twyfelfontein, so called because the rocks look just like organ pipes. 

The colours in the desert of the rock formations were fabulous, we thought the Organ Pipes were slightly over rated. We persevered and moved on to view the Burnt Mountain a short drive up the track. I expect at sunrise and sundown the mountain looked spectacular, in the middle of a hot afternoon it looked, well like a mountain. More interesting was the fact that the ladies selling the tickets to view these two tourist attractions were avidly reading an Avon catalogue. Bizarre, to find that in the middle of nowhere. I asked how long the stuff took to come they said it was very expensive but worth it and it arrived pretty quickly in about three to four months! 

 The track leading up to the organ pipes.

Parked up near the Burnt Mountain. 

It had been a long busy day driving through the mountains, though dusty it had been worth the bumping around. We were quite relieved to be leaving Igowati Lodge, our next stop was near the Brandberg Mountains at the White Lady Campsite. Not a long drive so we arrived early. A bit disappointed with this site. We were greeted by the friendly owner, who told us there was no restaurant or bar but that we could drive out to the town if we wanted to eat out. We decided to cook our own food and have a relaxing stay. It was very hot and there was only limited shade we found a spot on some very uncomfortable chairs by the pool. Sadly, this site too had seen better days, one of the two pools was unusable and the other pool looked like it needed a clean. Worst were the toilet facilities which were cleanish but had shower curtains for doors even on the toilets. Fortunately there was only one other couple on the site camping.

Through the mist of the Namib Desert you can just make out the Brandburg Mountain. The Brandberg in Damaraland is the highest point in Namibia above sea level. Brandburg means "fire mountain" because of it's colour.

A stopping point in the desert. Complete with bins and picnic table. We wondered how often the bins were emptied.

 

A hard life for people living in this harsh environment miles from anywhere.

We were looking forward to our next stay of three nights on the coast at Swakopmund. We had a call from Bobo Campers on the way, asking us to take the van into a garage in Swakopmund for a new wiper motor to be fitted. The drive through the desert and along the coast to Swakopmund was fabulous and very refreshing after the heat of the desert.

The wreck of the Zeila, an Angolian fishing vessel which came to its end in 2008. Now a roosting spot for sea birds.

Great to be out of the desert. Still dusty but with a cooling sea breeze.

A dangerous bit of coast, the Atlantic breakers have done much damage over the years to many boats.

We meandered along the C35 coast road to our next stop Alte Brucke Campsite. Right in the middle of the town within walking distance of shops and restaurants. Each stand had its own well equipped toilet block and outside kitchen.

We had a very restful and enjoyable break here.Time for washing and getting rid of the desert dust. The restaurant was an interesting experience and done out like a ship. It was essential to book a table which we did for our last night.We had a very entertaining meal the restaurant was very popular. Loads of other places near by for food including The Atlantic Hotel and a Beach Bar. We mentally made a note for our next visit. I really fancied a visit here but sadly the beach bar was closed.

 We visited the Crystal Centre where we saw the worlds largest crystal and some stunning  jewellery.

We wandered about the very safe town had coffee in the cafes. We did some window shopping I was amused at the Christmas decorations in the shops, especially the snowmen on the windows. Odd when the temperature is in the high 30's. The Christmas "musik"  in the shopping malls was bizarre but I guess normal for November.

We explored the beaches. Had breakfast in a posh hotel and spent a few hours exploring the local museum. A highlight of the trip! The town was full of well-heeled Germans and other tourists, so lots of craft stalls and shops. 

Swakopmund is very compact and ideal for strolling around. We also went to the aquarium and had a drink in a beach bar watching the boats in the harbour.

Definitely a return trip here called for. We left Alte Brucke after a lovely three days. Even better, we now had working windscreen wipers as the motor had finally been changed by a local garage. The next morning we were on the road back to the desert.

Dash cam. Short 5 minutes drive through the desert.

Normally we are very careful driving in Africa however we were stopped on the coast road for driving without lights ! "You have infringed the laws of Namibia" we were told by the burly official who stopped us. It wasn't foggy or misty but we obviously looked ripe for a fine. We thought it best not to argue. We waited with all the other foreign registered cars that had "infringed the law", eventually we got our summons for driving without lights. A stressful couple of hours later, we had finally paid it at the court office in Walvis Bay a few miles down the road. We went to the police station first as the official who had fined us didn't take money. We were then sent to the court office. Fortunately it was a week day and the court office was open.  Den remained very calm.

Once again rescued by Madam Satnag, who found her way through the back streets of Walvis Bay. We paid our 700 Namibian dollars to the court office, a lot of money for a local ( around £40.) The moral of the story, leave your lights on in Namibia.

 Travelling through the Namib Desert. Not much traffic about. 

This was a main road! 

Travelling through the Namib desert through even more beautiful landscapes and some very scary mountain passes. The Namib desert stretches from Angola in the North to the Orange River with ever changing environments. This area is very underpopulated and we met hardly any traffic, it is also so silent. We headed back inland to our next stop Solitaire Desert Farm.

Another beautiful spot. The campsite was just like a little oasis in the desert. Again we had our own ablutions block and a very large pitch all to ourselves. We were too late to book a meal so we cooked for ourselves.

Our massive pitch, kitchen and toilet block.

 The pool looked very inviting.

Communal areas and restaurant.

Night fall at Solitaire.

As the sun went down, like Simon & Garfunkel we listened to the sounds of silence.

Tomorrow we were off to the sand dunes at Sesreim.

Africa Revisited. Self Drive Safari. Etosha National Park

With a great sense of anticipation we set off after viewing the Hoba Meteorite on the road to Etosha National Park. Etosha is unique in Africa and is a salt pan so large it can be seen from space. "Etosha" means place of dry water and so it was dry and very dusty! We were heading to the south of Etosha  for the Von Lindequist Gate and our first campsite was the old German fort of Namutoni. Namoutoni was originally established as a control post during the mad cow epidemic of 1897 in Namibia and declared a national monument in 1950. It was a very picturesque place but we got the impression it was a bit run down. The campsite was dry, dusty but adequate. Toilet facilities OK but busy. We were pleased we had a booking.

The old fort. A bit run down now there were a few craft shops but not much else.

Our dash cam of our drive through Etosha. 14 minutes.

A long day but we had arrived at Etosha. We cooked our own food as we were not much impressed by the restaurant which was very busy with tour parties. 

We stayed in Etosha for two nights staying at two different campsites, Namoutoni & Halaili. Really not long enough and we think when we go back a minimum of four nights would be better. The infra structure is not as good as The Kruger and the roads are drier and mainly gravel. However, the game spotting opportunities are fabulous. We saw huge herds of various cattle, elephants, giraffes and the highlight of the trip a cheetah and her cubs. The waterholes are well set up for watching wildlife and get very busy with animals. The campsites also have lit waterholes with good viewing areas. 

Here is a selection of some of our game spotting activities.

Of course we cannot forget the beautiful cheetah who was giving her cubs lessons in how to catch a wilderbeest. We watched for ages as the wilderbeests ganged up on the cheetahs who eventually left them alone. 

We were not quite near enough to get pictures of the whole story but it was fascinating to watch. Finally on our way out of the park we spotted this jackal.

After two days we were sad to be leaving Etosha and knew we would have to go back!  We made our way to our next stop Etosha Safari Camp. A fabulous well run site just outside the park. A lovely swimming pool for lounging in and a great restaurant and bar.

The toilet facilities here were like those in a five star hotel and is is a site we will come back to. The final icing on the cake was the fact that as we slept giraffe and zebra tiptoed around the campsite. I woke up when I heard footsteps to see a giraffe eating the leaves from the tree above our tent. Sorry my camera was locked in the car! Shame we only had a one night stop here, tomorrow we were off to the desert.

Africa Revisited. Self Drive Safari. Namibia. Caprivi to Etosha

 Almost half-way through our holiday and Day 17 dawned. We were on our way across the border to Namibia via the Ngoma Bridge Crossing. We were feeling quite smug as we approached our third border crossing of the trip. First time into Namibia. We were not so concerned about money as we knew South African Rand was widely accepted in Namibia. The border control into Namibia was generally more relaxed and the queues slightly shorter. We paid our 277 Namibian $ and we were soon on our way.

Picturesque drive across the bridge, the bit in the middle is a "no mans land". The border police with their guns may seem rather intimidating but were actually quite friendly.  We drove through  the Chobe, Bwabwata and Mdumu National Parks but the game had gone elsewhere as we saw very little. The Caprivi area is very different to the rest of Namibia and quite populated. Most of the people seem to live in small self contained settlements. There are very few shops or towns. We saw lots of very young nursery aged children carrying their plastic chairs and later passed them all sitting under a large shady tree, their "school". Our children do not realise how lucky they are actually having a proper school building. Other school buildings looked like sheds within a dusty yard. The children all seemed very happy though.

We would have liked to have taken more photos of the small villages we passed but were reluctant to take too many pictures in case we offended anyone.

We were soon on our way to the next destination Zambezi River Lodge.

The Zambezi River is the fourth longest river in Africa and basically travels the width of Africa. Our camp was at the Protea Hotel near Katimia Mulilo where we stopped for food and fuel. We were also able to do a bit of gift shopping. The supermarket there was one of the better ones we encountered and we actually found food we could eat.We stocked up on some basic delicacies like ham and cheese.

A short dash cam of our drive from Senyati to Zambezi River Lodge. 5 minutes.

 The hotel seemed quite posh for Namibia and had a lovely bar and restaurant overlooking the water. We had a great grass pitch on the edge of the river with a very clean and good shower block, good for hair washing. The restaurant was pleasant, unimaginative food but very good value. The only downside to this place was the hotel pool, which looked like it needed a good scrub, shame really as we would have enjoyed a dip here. Other than that, it was a very convenient place to stop for one night and was very quiet. The river was beautiful and busy with boats and wildlife. There were some very noisy hippos splashing about, an ideal place to come ashore to nibble the well kept grass. We hoped we wouldn't bump into any later. 

Travelling through the Caprivi strip was very entertaining, it runs parallel with the Angolan border, a long straight road. Until fairly recently only armed escorted convoys could travel on what was a very bad road. With the end of the war with Angola and the advent of tarred roads, all is now peaceful, our trip was a very pleasant drive and we felt safe. 

Our next destination Mahangu Safari Lodge. Mahangu Safri Lodge is 22 k south of Divundu on the western bank of the Okavango River. The road was a rather bumpy corrugated road and we were glad of the 4 wheel drive although we didn't have to engage it. We were keen to arrive fairly early as we had a river cruise booked here. Luckily, we made good time as we were also able to book a table for the evening meal and orders had to be in by 1.00 pm. The campsite was well laid out with large pitches by the river, they also all had shady covers which we needed, it was hot!

 Another short web cam. 6 minutes.

A beautiful decking area where you could sit for sun downers and a river viewing spot. We had a lovely meal here and enjoyed the evening sunset cruise.

A view of our rooftop nest from the river.

All aboard!

Beady little eyes peering up from the river.

It's been a long day! 

Bath time for the locals. No running water for many families so an evening dip in The Zambezi.

Always time for a bit of fun.

Lots of ellies enjoying the evening air. We stopped and watched them for ages. The river cruise was very personal as there were only two couples and the "guide", on the boat! We did see quite a lot of wildlife and our guide was very knowledgeable. Perhaps we saw less game than at Chobe, the last time we were in Africa but very much less "touristy" and  the place seemed to be more of the natural Africa.

Local people in this part of Africa are generally very poor, this guy makes bricks and drys them in the sun. We saw loads of houses made from mud in the corrals and thatched with local reeds.

The end of a perfect day on the river.

The next morning we were off again on the road to Grootfontein. 

A webcam of our trip to Roy's Camp.

We made a slight detour to Rundu where we stopped at yet another Toyota dealer to get the wipers fixed. In two minutes he had diagnosed the problem. "You need a new windscreen wiper motor!" No comment!! Bobo later phoned us and arranged for a new motor to be fitted at a longer stop after we had been to Etosha National Park.

On to Roy's Camp. A very quirky place to say the least. The lodge was very artfully decorated with rusty cars and equipment.

The campsite had a lovely bush kitchen and imaginative toilet block. We had a great 3 course meal in the restaurant and would like to come back! The next morning we were delayed because it had rained heavily in the night and we were worried about driving without wipers. Fortunately the sun came out and we set of to explore the largest known meteorite to man. The Hoba Meteorite was en route to Etosha National Park about an hours drive away.

Another quiet, peaceful drive on sand and gravel. We were surprised when we got to the meteorite there were actually other people there, it was the middle of nowhere! Thanks to Madam Satnag and Tracks4Africa we arrived safely. To be fair, the journey was probably better than the destination.

A bit of an anti climax really! A chunk of granite but it had spun through the heavens for a long way to get here. We would have taken more photos but there were HUGE red ants everywhere! We were glad we saw it. The largest naturally occurring mass of iron on the planet. Really!

Next stop Etosha National Park. We were excited.