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NAMIBIA
Our intended route is shown on the map below. Our diary entries are entered below the map and photos have been loaded onto the .
14th May
Packed up and left the park this morning. We have really enjoyed Etosha and been lucky enough to see lots of game - see photos on Photo Gallery page.
After a change to our original plans we headed to Rundu which would put us a lot closer to the Bostwanan border. The journey was on tar roads which was great and took us about 4hrs. We checked into the Ngandu Safari Lodge with high hopes as the guidebook had painted an idyllic picture of a campsite overlooking the river which bordered Angola. In future we won’t always believe the guidebooks!!!! The place was nice enough but the river was only just visible and certainly not visible from the campsite. The campsite was fine if you didn’t mind sleeping at a 45 degree angle, and having paid our money we were warned to lock everything away because people sometimes cut through the security fence and break into vehicles!! Having booked in for 2 nights we went back a few minutes later to let them know we would only be staying for 1.
Luckily there was a swimming pool and climbing frame so Oli was more than happy and cold beers behind the bar! As we sat by the pool we got chatting to a couple who were backpacking from Cape Town to Uganda and remarkably it turned out he had grown up in Horsham. We had a really great evening with them and luckily we had a peaceful night’s sleep with no trouble. Tomorrow we are off to Botswana and our first border crossing!!
13th May
Time to move camp again today but as we weren’t in any rush we cooked a lovely breakfast, Oli played in the sand for a while and then we packed up and made our way to our last camp. We stopped at a few waterholes on the way and saw some eles, giraffes, kudus and warthogs all at the same waterhole.
The campsite was lovely and was home to a family of banded mongoose who were very inquisitive and didn’t waste any time coming over to introduce themselves to us, much to Oli’s delight. Unfortunately the rest of the camp was literally a building site - they are currently updating all 3 camps in Etosha and there is a lot of building going but this was the worst by far. Still, we had a good night in the camp and a great time in Etosha.
12th May
Woke up to grey skies this morning and wished the sun would reappear. Went for a game drive and saw nothing but grey skies and lightning and then the rain started. By the time we got back to camp it was chucking it down and showed no signs of stopping – I’m sure the Bradt guide didn’t mention anything about rain in May!! As there was nothing else to do we took shelter in the dining area and as there was no chance of me doing breakfast in the rain we ordered some toasties and coffee. Oli watched his Mr Men dvd while Toby and I got chatting to a couple from the UK (John and Sue) who were on an overland truck heading to Cape Town. The rain stopped around midday and we returned to a very soggy tent but being Africa, the sun was back out in no time and things dried up pretty quickly.
Went out about 3.30 for an afternoon game drive and went to sit at a waterhole for a while with some drinks. Our patience was rewarded by 3 bull elephants arriving out of the mopane forest who came for a quick drink and then it was another race back to camp for sunset at the waterhole and another evening visit by the honey badger.
11th May
Up early for a morning game drive hoping to repeat our luck of the night before. After about an hour of seeing not a lot we decided to head back to camp for breakfast and saw a couple of cars parked up in the distance. As we got closer we saw why – 2 female lions were sat on the side of the road. After about 20 minutes they got up and headed off so we went back to the campsite for breakfast and to pack up to move to our next campsite. 6 lions in 2 days can’t be bad.
It was a long hot drive to the next camp and we didn’t arrive there until mid afternoon. As we were staying here for 2 days we decided to set up the ground tent so that Oli had somewhere to play so we got the tents up ready for an early night. We had our first rain shower late afternoon which came as a bit of welcome relief from the sunshine.
All the campsites in Etosha have floodlit waterholes at them and the campsites are fenced so you can walk to them safely. We went up to the waterhole to watch the sunset with a beer and stayed for a while until Oli started getting bored and wanted to play Ninja Turtles – don’t really think the other people at the waterhole were ready for Ninja Turtles so Oli and I returned to the campsite to find a honey badger running round the camp checking out the bins for any leftovers. Honey badgers are probably one of the toughest animals in Africa and aren’t that easy to find so it was great to see one up close. Meanwhile at the waterhole a herd of eles had turned up and we got a text message telling us to hurry back which we did and spent a little while watching. There were some really small calves in the herd which looked like they weren’t much older than a few months old – very sweet.
When we returned to our campsite we found the honey badger trying to get at some chicken that I had stupidly left out in my hurry to get back to the waterhole – we tried to get rid of him but our efforts didn’t really work and he decided to have a snooze under the rear of the cruiser. All very well but we wanted to get a beer from the fridge but weren’t going to risk getting too close.
10th May
Had a bit of a repack this morning then stopped in at Outjo to buy some drinks/snacks and cutlery. The drive to Etosha took a couple of hours and we signed into the first campsite around 1.30pm, set up camp, had some lunch and went for an afternoon game drive. We couldn’t believe our luck – the first waterhole we got to had a herd of about 12 elephants drinking and playing in the water. We sat and watched for a while and decided to head back to camp. Whilst we had been watching the eles there was a male impala barking a warning signal and getting pretty upset about something. Just as we were about to leave the waterhole it became apparent why the impala was so agitated – a huge male lion popped his head up a few feet away, gave a big yawn, stood up and stretched then sat back down again, then another one appeared. We spent a few minutes watching but had to start getting back to camp as you have to be in by sunset – no driving round in the dark.
A few miles down the road we came round a corner and Toby hit the brakes – 4 more male lions just sitting on the plain in the afternoon sun. We stayed watching for a few more minutes and then raced back to camp.
9th May
Up early this morning and started to pack the cruiser – I use the word pack in the loosest of terms - it actually turned into a shove it in where it will fit scenario – maybe we should have taken more notice of the quote on our home page!! Anyway, we checked out of Alte Brucke, said goodbye to Swakopmund and we were finally on our way. The drive to Etosha was too much for one day so we headed for a place called Outjo some 444kms away. On the way we stopped in at Otjiwarongo to stock up with supplies for our 4 days camping in Etosha. The land around Otjiwarongo is used for commercial cattle farming and the farmers obviously do quite well. The town itself was fairly large and the supermarket was like an African Waitrose – we couldn’t believe our eyes and probably spent far too much money on things we didn’t really need.
We arrived at the Ombinda Country Lodge about 5.00pm and set up camp as it gets dark around 5.30ish (unfortunately). We cooked supper and realised that we had forgotten to pack any cutlery – great effort!
8th May
We finally picked the cruiser up about 5.15pm and she is looking ready for an overland trip now. The roof tent is on, the inverter is fitted which will allow us to charge up the camera, computer and most importantly Oli’s DVD player, the fridge is fitted for the cold beers (and some food) and we can’t wait to get going.
We met Michael at the Lighthouse pub and restaurant for a few beers and to say a final thank you for all his help getting the vehicle cleared and for all his other advice. We headed home to Alte Brucke about 8.00ish and went straight to be because we will be up relatively early tomorrow morning to pack everything up.
6th May
Happy days!!!! Michael picked us up at 10.30 this morning and we headed off to Walvis Bay to collect the Cruiser. We were a bit worried as we had heard some horror stories of trying to get cars out of customs etc but everything went really smoothly and it took about an hour. We would just like to say a big thankyou to Michael for all his help and for making it run so smoothly. It was so nice to see the cruiser and all our stuff. Oli's face was a real sight when we opened the box with all his toys in - it was Christmas all over again!!! The cruiser is now at a garage having the roof tent and fridge fitted and we will have her back tomorrow afternoon to pack her up - let's just hope everything fits in OK!!
5th May
We decided to leave a day early and head back to Alte Brucke (our home from home it seems) in Swakopmund and had a very lazy Saturday afternoon and Sunday, which was finished off with a few beers on the beach to watch the sun go down.
4th May
Our little car was delivered yesterday morning - it is a white Citi Golf (see pictures on Photo Gallery page ) - so we loaded it up with some of our stuff and off we went on our way to Uis in Damarland. We decided to do a bit of a detour on the way to the Cape Cross Seal colony which we are really glad we did. We had read that it was the largest breeding seal colony in the world and that it was a bit smelly but we weren't quite prepared for the sight or the smell. There were hundreds and hundreds of them, some on the beach, some in the sea and the smell was just the most disgusting thing ever. I have never smelt anything like it in my life and never want to again!! It was worth the visit though and we are glad we made the detour. Anyway, we were off on our way to Uis and it was nice to have a change of scenery, unfortunately there was no scenery on the way, only desert, desert and more desert with a few bushes here and there! The scenery did change for the better as we got closer to Uis. The Brandberg mountain dominates the area and is quite stunning. By the time we checked into the Brandberg Rest Camp it was about 2pm and was seriously hot.
We settled in and wondered if we had done the right thing coming here. The town used to be a busy mining town but the mine was shut down a few years ago and now there is very little going on and anything worth seeing was some way away and we didn't fancy doing too many miles in the little car on mainly dirt roads. However, we did visit the White Lady paintings which were about 40kms and worth the visit.
3rd May
Met up with Michael today who is our clearing agent who will get our cruiser out for us!! We went for supper and a few beers with him. He has been really helpful so far and it was great to have some company.
2nd May
Ok, so the saying goes something like "The best laid plans....". Unfortunately Monday morning bought bad news which was that the ship carrying our cruiser won't be arriving in Walvis Bay until this Friday which means it won't be cleared until next Monday which is a week later than it should be. I guess this is Africa!!!!
Tuesday was a much better day. We had booked a tour into the Desert with Living Desert Adventures and it turned out to be a great investment. We were picked up by our guide - Tommy - in a Land Rover 101fc and whisked off into the Desert. Tommy is a bit like the Namibian equivalent of Jeff Corwin or Steve Irwin. We would be driving along and he would spot some tracks in the sand, jump out and start digging only to come back with various beetles, lizards, spiders, and even a sidewinder snake which are a lot smaller than they look on the TV (don't worry mum we didn't let Oli go near it!!!). He obviously knew his stuff and it was a really enjoyable, informative trip.
We have decided that, although Swakopmund is a nice place, we need some different scenary and Oli is getting a bit bored here so we are hiring a car tomorrow for 4 days and going up to Twyfelfontein for a couple of days before returning to Swakopmund on Sunday so that we can pick up the cruiser on Monday.
29th April
We arrived in Swakopmund yesterday morning and will be here for about 5 days waiting for the Land Cruiser to arrive. Swakop is a really nice town and has everything we could possibly need - it even has Douwe Egberts coffee!!!
We are hoping to go on a couple of trips - one to the Cape Cross seal colony and the other into the Desert and then, fingers crossed that the Cruiser arrives on time we will head up towards Etosha on Friday.
27th April
After our coffee and pancakes we packed up and headed for Windhoek station where we were catching the Desert Express train to take us to Swakopmund. The train was a great experience and we are really glad we did it. The train has about 24 cabins which has en-suite facilities, a bar/loung and restaurant. The cabin was really well designed and although not very large was very comfortable. Included in the price were 2 excursions - the first was a game drive in the afternoon. We were a bit skeptical about the game drive but were pleasantly surprised. We headed into a private game park called Okopuro and saw our first Rhino and Giraffe - unfortunately by the time we made it to the Giraffe Oli was fast asleep!!! Still I am sure there will be plenty more chances for him to see Giraffe. We stopped for a cold beer on a platform looking over the 40,000 ha park to watch the sun set and then headed back to the train for our supper.
After a fairly decent night's sleep we had an early breakfast and then it was time for our second trip which was a trip into the dunes. This basically entailed climbing a huge sand dune which took about 30mins to reach to top and involved listening to a lot of huffing and puffing according to Oli. Once we were at the top it was a pretty spectacular view and the best bit was yet to come - going down!!! It took about 2 minutes to get down which Oli thought was great fun - unfortunately he is still digging the sand out of his ears!!!
26th April
Well after 2 years of talking and planning we are finally here. We had a great flight with Air Namibia and as the plane was only about three quarters full the very kind lady at check-in allocated us 4 seats which meant that Oli could spread out and get plenty of sleep - apart from wriggling and falling off the chairs 3 or 4 times!!!
After a brief encounter with Namibian customs we jumped in a taxi and made our way to Cardboard Box Backpackers in Windhoek for our first day and night in Namibia. The accommodation was pretty good, it was clean, cheap and comfortable and also had a pool which Oli thought was great until he put his feet in - it was a bit on the chilly side! However, as with most kids that didn't stop him from going in. The other good thing about staying here was the free coffee and pancakes for breakfast - the only downside was that it took them half an hour to arrive but that is the laid back Africa way we know and love!!