Fish River Canyon (29th Dec - 2nd Jan)
Our first destination in Namibia was Fish River Canyon in the south of the country. Having passed through the border post into Namibia without any problems we drove a few hundred kilometres on the nice tar roads and then the final stretch on the gravel / dirt roads that are pretty common here.
Namibian Dirt Road to Ai-Ais
We stayed in a place called Ai-Ais which is in a national park with a natural hot spring that sits in the canyon. We found a good spot to put up our tent - as we would be staying here a while and with 4 days worth of meat to keep cold in the cooler box, shade was pretty important so we found a nice big tree covering the whole tent. We had kitted ourselves out well with all the camping stuff we had bought in Joburg and luckily we hadn't forgotten anything as being in the middle of nowhere meant there was only a small shop at the lodge selling a few drinks and snacks but not much else.
Our Campsite at the bottom on the canyon
Our camp
The campsite itself was also fairly well equipped with powerpoints, braai areas, shared ablution blocks (toilet / shower rooms) and washing up areas. Ai-Ais was a nice place to relax, with an outdoor pool and two indoor pools. The only annoyance was the massive baboons that would enter the camp conveniently after breakfast and lunch knocking over bins and even going into people's tents. We managed to avoid them but some of the campers near us were raided a few times.
Relaxing in the indoor spa at Ai-Ais
Self sufficient in camp
We first found out that there were baboons, when we were woken up by them as a big troop made their way down the canyon right behind us. As they were going down all you heard was a few of the big ones barking / howling and with the echo of the canyon it sounded so loud! It took a while for us to work out what was going on as it was 5:30am and sounded like a group of drunk men about to have a brawl behind our tent. We found a decent stick to use when chasing away the baboons and named it "Babs the baboon stick", which I'm sure will come in useful around Africa when fending off wild animals and crazy locals...(only joking!!!! :-) ).
On one of the days we did a trek down the canyon, setting off early and getting back to camp before it got too hot. The rest of the time we relaxed in the camp and made use of the swimming pools. On New Years Eve, we cooked a nice meal in camp, then headed to the restaurant / bar area for a few drinks and afterwards made a fire and tried to cook some marshmellows we had brought with us. Due to the heat all the marshmallows had melted into one big block!
Trekking down the canyon with our baboon stick (Babs) in hand!
After checking out of Ai-Ais we took a drive past the canyon viewing point with a spectacular view of the canyon and the stopped for a drink at a place called Roadhouse which was a pretty cool place in the middle of nowhere, decorated with old cars, parts and lots of vehicle numberplates.
Stunning view of Fish River Canyon from the viewpoint
#Selfie at the canyon
Roadhouse Bar
Test driving one of the Landy's at Roadhouse
Keetmanshoop (2nd - 3rd Jan)
Our next Namibian destination was the town of Keetmanshoop, we would only spend one night here as it broke up the journey to the sand dunes - Sossusvlei. We stopped in the town to grab some lunch at a Steers fast food restaurant and the burgers went down well. We also managed to buy a SIM card which meant we could communicate with the rest of the world again, although being offline for 5 days was quite nice too and my iPhone battery lasted more than a couple hours for once! A little way out of town was a place called Quivertree Rest Camp which boasts the largest stand of Quivertrees (not that we knew what the tree was before we arrived).
Camping under a thorn tree at Quivertree
After setting up camp under a shady tree we the headed to the swimming pool to cool off. The camp was pretty well equipped with nice pool, restaurant and also Cheetah's! Feeding time was at 5pm so we headed down to the enclosure to watch. We ended going into the enclosure with the Cheetah whilst it was eating and the owner telling us about the animal. Considering we were only expecting campsite with some special trees, this was a bonus! The Quivertrees we also pretty cool too and that evening we sat and watched the sun set from an area in the park full of the trees. Having stayed here and now noticing plenty of postcards with the Quivertree on it, it seems we stumbled onto an iconic Nambian scene.
The infamous Quivertree
The following day we packed up camp and headed into Keetmanshoop town to stock up on food, ice and fill up on diesel before the 450km journey to Sesrium where we would be staying to go into the Sossusvlei national park and climb the sand dunes.
Sesrium (3rd - 6th Jan)
We arrived at Sesrium in the early afternoon after driving the majority of the 450km on the dusty / gravel Namibian roads which in places were so rutted the whole car jumped around wildly! Everything inside was pretty much covered in dust, including ourselves so once we had cleared our tent pitching area of huge devil thorns and our tent was up we jumped in the pool to cool down and wash off some of the dust! We were put in one of the overflow campsites which pretty much meant there wasn't a small little wall around to stop being sandblasted when the winds picked up in the afternoons. We did however have a nice big tree covering us, albeit a thorn tree, it was shady.
Not a bad view behind our tent in the evening
We stayed in Sesrium for 3 nights and found the camp bar area a good excuse to escape the heat and have a few drinks each afternoon. We cooked some nice meals in our camp, putting the camp table on it's side to keep the wind off the fire as the winds picked up every afternoon.
Escaping the heat in the bar
The highlight and the whole reason for being in Sesrium was the Sossusvlei sand dunes and we got up at 4:30am to drive to them and climb to the top to watch the sunrise. Being prepared as we are now becoming, a flask of coffee on the 45km journey to the first big dune helped us wake up and by the time we had hiked up to the top of 'Dune 45' we had time to sit and watch the awesome sunrise. We sat for a few hours and then headed to climb a few other dunes.
Climbing up the dune for sunrise
ET trying to phone home from the top of the dune
Our seat on the sand at the top of Dune 45
Looking a little weary eyed at sunrise!
The Dunes!
More dunes!
No day trip is complete without this picture - needs a good wash though :)
Although not strictly allowed to sand board in the national park, I had packed our board in the car anyway and checked with one of the guides who told us the park ranger wasn't there today so go ahead! Cherie and I were both suitably covered in sand by the end of many runs down the side of a dune then headed back to camp to cool off and wash all the sand off as the midday heat started to set in.
Illegally sand boarding down the dunes
We spent one more night in Sesrium and spent most of the final afternoon packing the car ready for an early start the following day and a long journey with 95% of it on gravel roads to Swakopmund on the Namibian coast.
Swakopmund (6th - 12th Jan)
Having read some great reviews about a campsite near the beach called Alte Brucke in the costal town of Swakopmund, we checked it out and it was even better than we were expecting - a grass area to pitch the tent (saving the pegs from getting bent and buckled again from the concrete like ground we found in Ai-Ais) and even better was the private little bathroom, Braai and sink area right next to the tent. We set up camp in record time too - 18 minutes, still 3 to shave off to beat the time stated on the tent packaging though!
Camping at Alte-Brücke, Swakopmund
It was nice to be in a bigger town with lots of bars and restaurants, so once our camp was sorted we took a walk into the town to explore. Swakopmund has a big German influence and a nice friendly feel about it. We decided to go out for dinner that night and have a break from cooking for ourselves (and washing up!) so headed to a nice Italian restaurant and had pizzas all round! There was even leftovers for breakfast in the morning too!
On the first night it rained a bit during the night which washed off all the dust from the tent and gave me a good excuse to follow suit and wash the car the next day - not too easy or quick when there is dust everywhere! 4 hours later and the whole thing was gleaming again! We had a nice braai that evening with chicken, ribs and some bacon twister things that Cherie is now addicted to. We also got speaking to a nice group of people from Nambia who offered us some crayfish to add to our braai. Having never tried crayfish before, they told us how to cook it and then to cut it open and eat it. They tasted so good and there was so much meat on them!
We spent the next day a the beach and then walking around town going into various shops and had a nice lunch at one of the cafes. Our camp neighbours had invited us round for a braai in the evening and it was great meeting the two couples, Robin and Christine, and Leon and Sonja. We had a nice evening chatting and eating some great food. Sonja made some beer bread which she then cooked on the braai, it tasted so good and she taught Cherie how to make it too so we will making that more often now!
Swakopmund beach
Our Isuzu had developed a small oil leak so the following day we headed into town to get someone to look at it. A small part needed to be ordered from Windhoek so we made an appointment for the following day. We had another braai that night and Cherie gave a go at making the beer bread which didn't turn out too badly and tasted pretty good.
The Isuzu was booked into a garage in a town called Walvis Bay, 30km from where we were staying so we got up early and drove there to get our oil leak sorted. With a few hours to kill whilst the Isuzu was in the garage we walked around the town. There is a huge colony of flamingos which were entertaining to watch as they danced around with their feet and pecked at the water. We went for breakfast at a nice little cafe on the beach front and after a few hours of wandering around we back to pick up the car. Running efficiently again, we set of back to our camp to chill out on the beach in Swakopmund.
We spent two more nights in Swakopmund and headed to the sand dunes on the Saturday for some quad biking in the dunes. It took Cherie a short while to get to grips with the bike but soon we were both racing up the side of the dunes and drifting the quad bikes round in the sand. We had a nice guide Neville who couldn't believe Cherie had never riden a quad. We had a great morning out riding the bikes. That evening we treated ourselves to a nice meal courtesy of a Christmas present from our friends Kita and Hannah, we chose a cool German pub / restaurant - The Brauhaus in Swakopmund. We both went for the Oryx Fillet steak and the German Wheat Beer accompanied it well! On the way home we stopped off at Tiger Reef beach bar near our campsite and had a few sun downers watching the sunset. It was a sad realisation that this would be the last beach we'd see on this whole trip but going inland meant lots of wildlife to look forward to.
Quad biking in the dunes
Windhoek (12th - 14th Jan)
Our next destination from Swakopmund was Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. Robin and Christine, who we had met in the camp had offered us a place to stay which we took them up on and what a beautiful house that they have overlooking a nature reserve and hills in the background. They have been the most generous people we have met and were so kind to put us up in their house for 2 nights and look after us. Robin cooked us a lovely Thai meal and we spent the first evening eating and chatting over a few beers and wines.
The following day Robin took us on a drive around Windhoek and showed us around the city. We also stopped in at the Radio Staion that they own - Radio Wave, Namibia biggest radio station. It was so interesting to see behind the scenes at the station and meet all the presenters and staff.
Behind the scenes at Radio Wave
In the afternoon Cherie and I headed to a private game reserve and went on a game drive. Seeing rhino at the end of the drive was incredible, they literally came right up to the Land Rover and gave us a good view of these enormous animals!
Cherie all set for the game drive, notice the rain clouds coming in!
We had a nice meal at a cool bar / restaurant in Windhoek called Joe's Beer House, we both had Oryx (the national animal of Namibia) for dinner.
Erini Game Reserve (14 - 16th Jan)
Not only did Robin and Christine put us up in their amazing house they then sorted out 2 nights in a private game park called Erini for Cherie and I! The campsites at the game park was the best yet, with a private bathroom, washing up area, car shade and a fridge / freezer!
We had a nice big braai on our first night in camp and Cherie cooked the beer bread again which turned our even better than the first attempt! The bread rolls smell so good and taste even better so we ate like champions!
There was also a waterhole near the campsite with viewing areas so we could go and watch the animals going for a drink and in the evening saw the massive hippos coming out of the waterhole and grazing on the grass nearby.
We went on an early morning game drive and our guide Erwin entertained us for the 3 hours driving around the game park. We saw a lot of game but the big 5 (lion, buffalo, elephant, rhino and leopard) seemed to be hiding from us which was a bit of a shame.
Early morning game drive, my eyes are just about open!
That evening after finishing dinner and getting ready for bed Cherie shouted out from the bathroom "Stu, there's a snake!". Not being the biggest fan of snakes responded from the safety of our tent with "do you want me to come out?" - which may or may not have been a rhetorical question but Cherie said yes so I had no choice as it was between her and the tent. Now we had a problem though as I had already taken my contact lenses out and my glasses were in the car...blindly I got out of the tent with the torch and crept over to the otherside of the bathroom. Cherie directed me to where I needed to shine the light and all I could see was a dark blur! Edging closer I still couldn't see the damn thing but found a big stick to throw at it and chase it away. I missed (because I couldn't see, not that my hand was shaking like a leaf) and the snake didn't budge. Cherie devised her own escape route with me failing and she managed to move the wheelie bin between her and the snake and we both dived back into the tent and zipped ourselves in. The next morning the snake was gone but as we packed the tent away we kept and eye out, with contact lenses firmly in by this point.
Rundu (16th - 17th Jan)
After our couple of days in the bush we made the long journey up to the north of Namibia on route to Botswana. We set off early in the morning a final game drive on our way out of Erini. We headed to a small town called Rundu which lies right on the border with Angola, seperated by a river.
After a full day driving we got to Rundu in the afternoon and had a quick stop at the local Spar to pick up a few bits for dinner and then drove the final stretch to our campsite - Nkwazi Lodge which overlooked the river and Angola, a great setting for our final night in Namibia.
We put the tent up and started cooking a hot pot which turned out pretty good, the rain started as we finished cooking so we sat in the hot tent and ate it. We went and had a few sun downers watching the sunset across the river from the lodge bar. At the bar we met another couple Wes and Tess from South Africa who had done a similar trip across Namibia and were heading into Botswana next so hopefully we will bump into them again at some point.
Another early start was in order the next morning as we set off for the Botswana border and another +600 km journey. It was pretty much plain sailing to the border with nice tar roads for the journey.
We had such a great time in Namibia and met some fantastic people along the way.
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