Drive around Namibia with us:
Early retirement brings some exciting adventures, for those willing to take up the challenge as we did travelling around Africa.
One of the countries we visited is Namibia. Famed for its decent roads and efficiently run country, we weren’t disappointed to give our Land Rover a rest on those sublime roads - even the dirt roads were graded and you didn’t feel as thought you’d run long a cheese grater with the corrugations playing havoc on the Land Rover suspension.
Easy access from South Africa, we wanted to cross the Orange River by ferry and stay in the Richtersveld as we head towards Ai Ais but the river was too high. Plan B - one always needs a Plan B in Africa! we head West to the coast at Alexander Bay where an impressive bridge spans the mouth of the river dividing up these two countries and also doubles up as the border crossing. A fairly rural and not particular populated area, the bridge really stands out where old and rugged meets new and organised.
Such is the efficiency of the exit from South Arica and the entry into Namibia, we managed to get across in about an hour - a blessing compared to some border crossings!
Our next destination was Ai Ais Hot Springs. Our slight detour to Oranjemund gave us the idea that we’d play every golf courses in Namibia as we drove around this vast sandy and fairly empty country.
Good tarmac then equally good dirt roads takes us to Ai Ais. A government managed campsite with plenty of baboon!
Being part of the national park, it too is organised, with small camping pitches defined. We found a nice spot underneath the cliffs not too close to others but close enough to watch the baboon instigate the dawn raid on our neighbours camper. Not sure he got the memo to close and lock everything up at night. Baboon are not only clever but cheeky too - and they can unlock drawers, and seem especially keen to tackle the hire campers with pull-down side lockers Maybe they were stunned into submission by the beauty of and the Landy, but they didn’t try to get into our home on wheels!
The natural spring water bubbled up in a fenced off area, boiling as from a kettle, it was too hot to touch or even contemplate dipping your toe into. In contrast the huge circular pool provided a great way to cool down in the oppressive heat, exaggerated by the valley with high cliffs surrounding us.
Peace reigned, well until the baboon decided they wanted their usual afternoon drink and took over the pool area in their masses- to once again taunt the same camper, I wonder if our neighbour felt victimised by these sharp teethed, fairly ugly, menacing primates - they must have had him marked! That said baboon don’t generally attack, but when they swarm down the hill like molten lava in their large troops, its sensible to give them space.
There are multiple bathing areas at Ai Ais, the large round pool outside and a series of pools inside, tiled and resplendent in their tiled Roman baths style offering the trickle of water as your backdrop - mind you it was empty the day we visited, so I can’t vouch for what it would be like when tourists are their in their hoards. I should think a full sight is a totally different experience to the one we had?
Later that day, locals were bought in to guard the happy campers. Armed with a slingshot, and with a keen eye Robin Hood would have been proud of, the baboons didn’t hang around and our neighbour relaxed a little.
The drive through Ai Ais National Park to Fish River Canyon was stunning with its sandy colours to graduating grey and purple hues cascading down the mountains to be replaced by greenery or sand at the bottom of the mountains. The sandy roads called for us to let some air out of the tyres, this worked well as the Land Rover soaked up the road and its bumps with ease and we weren’t shaken around like a martini cocktail. Fish River Canyon is second only to the Grand Canyon in the US in size and just as impressive.
Paying the entry fee, and of course the additional fee for a UK registered vehicle (!), we go in search of the canyon. Heading towards the info boards, we didn’t have to search for long!
Stood atop the cliff looking down there is no water in the River, just the odd small pool where the river once flowed. Further across the valley, the water course had made its mark by dividing this rocky landscape up like slicing a loaf of bread. Over the many many years of existences so it was quite sad to see it looking dry and baron. Equally it was impressive to see the vista view of beige, purple, grey craggy expanses where the river has left its awe inspiring mark. The mark of mother nature, unrivalled and impressive.
Avoiding the direct tarmac roads, we wanted to explore the real Namibia more, so make our way through less populated roads to Keemanskop to visit the Giants Playground. The giants playground is a series of huge boulders piled on high, some looking very precarious but being so big, you can climb up and along them. Walking in between the boulders you’re hit by an intense heat as you are trapped with little air circulating. The building blocks of the giants playground graduated large to small as they make tall skyward reaching seemingly wobbly structures. Others were wedged into large crevices - all static and all leaving you wondering if the sedimentary rock beneath has erode, how long will it be until the giants playground is one mass of tumble down boulders, boulders that once they find there final resting place, aren’t going anywhere - or maybe they have already found their final resting place? As my mind wonders, I begin to thing that if or maybe when these huge piles tumble down, whether the giants playground will be renamed into the giants had a hissy fit?
Whilst in Keemanskops we visited the Quiver Tree forest. Varying sizes of trees from the Aloe family, looking like they has been planted upside down or just plonked into the ground as you might when planting a stick and not expecting much to happen. But with very little soil and mainly just boulders and rocks, these truly remarkable trees survive, no not survive, but thrive, in this harsh hot landscape. Although their very being challenges your childhood thoughts of what trees should look like.
More akin to the surface of Mars the Giants Playground and the Quiver Tree forest are worth visiting to appreciate how mother nature finds unique ways to survive.
As a bit of break from camping, we found a nice lodge with a unique swimming pool. A huge repurposed water storage tank. The tank was deep and the water was cold, very cold, but also welcome after driving along the dusty sandy road. The rooms overlook a desert flat and plain as far as the eye can see with a rise of mountains on the horizon. One of the best things about our stay was the place has a lovely outdoor shower. If you’ve never showered dint outside before, doing os in the heat of Namibia in the desert is something special.
Many have heard of the wild horses of Namibia, many books and articles have been written about where they came from with many theories brandished, and with all this intrigue, we wanted to see them too. And we were very lucky to catch a glimpse of some as we navigated around some lesser used roads. Ribs protruding with little to drink and it seems even less to eat, it was a bit of a sad sight. Most see the wild horse around Aus as they graze roadside in a managed area - but seeing them away from this area proves they really are wild. The wild horses in Aus look much healthier, thriving and well fed or watered in comparison to the that are truly wild int eh desert left to fend for themselves.
As jackal or hyena continue to prey on the wild horse, who in themselves have little natural defence, maybe it was a good thing man has intervened in the Aus horses preservation, especially having now seeing the sorry state of the ones away from this protected area. But then, a big part of me knows that wild is wild. A mind over heart decision - for me at least.
The former mining community, Kolmanskop lays abandoned. Gradually being reclaimed by the sand, huge sways of dunes climbing up the outside of the family ornate buildings, some of the building are literally being swallowed up by the sand as it encroaches into the homes and workplaces of yesteryear.
true force.
Driving into Luderitz, a big Hollywood style sign made from white boulders placed onto the hillside helped us understand where we were! What we didn’t realise was how bright and colourful the buildings were in Luderitz. More akin to an old European clap board house of the brightest paint adorn the few streets uniform in their kerb side appeal. Ending in a good fish shop we bought an angel fish for the BBQ, which was absolutely delicious - who knew the bones were onto outside of the angle fish like a collapsable frame being dismantled it was so much easier to handle as a result, plus extra tasty for dining in the fresh air.
Our couple of nights were at one of the better campsites we’d stayed at in Africa, on Shark Island. Oceanside and on rocky tiers the camp gave views from the bay to the open expanse of the Atlantic Ocean. No longer an island, this former German concentration camp was joined to the mainland and now forms a wonderful well kept campsite.
It was good to explore the craggy shoreline where the water laps around your ankles as it tries to entice you in deeper, but it is the Atlantic, and despite the smouldering temperatures in the sunshine, swimming wasn’t happening!
We like to explore and our next journey was into the desert to stay with Angelina Jolie - what! No not really, but probably the closest we would come to staying with our host. We said at one of her retreats, off the beaten track. One sandy road lead to another, dust swirls stirred up the sand across the road was hidden, so we had to be careful we didn’t drive off the road and end up bogged down in the deeper roadside sand.
Desolate, monotone and absolutely stunning.
Mother natures paint pallet isn’t in full colour when in the desert at this time of the year, other times, people from all over the world travel to see the desert flowers in bloom, to watch the desert transformed in a hive of life and a rainbow of colour - but not for us, not this time, save the odd confused flower making a statement at the wrong time of the year.
Kanaan Desert Retreat, or as we like to say, our Angelina’s place, is off the main road onto a very long side road. Entering it is like entering a ranch in western movies as you duck under the weather beaten wooden archway adorned with Oryx skeleton heads. The road loops you around sand dunes and into a reception area, with a pool - well another water tower converted into a pool - which was just as cold, but again refreshing in the oppressive heat of the desert. Once in the pool, you stayed there for a while, once out of the pool, you longed to go back in as the sun beats down.
Camp was under an A-frame canopy, one of only about 8 spaces for nomadic campers like ourselves. Each camp space has it own facilities, you park under the A frame with enough space to erect the roof tent. At the back of the canopy is a kitchen area, a shower and a toilet. All effectively outside with just walls for a bit of privacy, although the other camp spaces weren’t too close. There are not many places you can get sun burnt whilst sat on the toilet! But our camp space worked, and it worked very well. We loved watching the oryx wander by or the Ostrich heading to who knows where in that barren landscape. Wild animal spotting became an evening ritual as we sipped gin and tonic in the shade of the A Frame. Our morning ritual was a it more awakening, as we tackled the long overdue clothes needing hand washing, then taking a shower - but at least the clothes dried quickly.
Evenings were the best, no mosquitoes to eat you alive, and the most spectacular sight in this non polluted part of the world as we observed the stars in their full glory putting on a natural light show - just for us - well and the Oryx, Ostrich an various coloured lizards who skittishly bounce from rock to rock before taking on the heat of the sand on their delicate feet, bouncing along as if on hot coals.
We did joke with the owner of River Chalets that we were demigods, and that we did bring rain wherever we went - other people might call us English, we prefer the label, demigod. She said if we bring rain, we can stay for a week!
That night the heavens opened, and with a smile we asked if we could stay the week, she, also in good humour declined. Our demigod status remains in-tact.
Staying in Windhoek was a wonderful rest for us, we played some golf and just enjoyed ourselves in the Capital city of Namibia. We found a really nice AirBNB and settled in and caught up on long overdue work.
With our quest to play every golf courses in Namibia, living Windhoek, our next destination was Swakopmund. We’d found a fairly decent campsite and rested in our little corner to have a cat come along to play with us, much to my delight, maybe not to Stephens with his cat allergy. His allergy is consistent and ranges from big cats to domestic cats, although an allergic reaction might be the least of his worries if he came up close to a big cat! It was a lovely drive as we head up and through mountains onto long compacted sand roads - by now we were getting used to good roads so didn’t have to grit our teeth when we saw the road change from tarmac to dirt at the blink of the eye, as even the dirt roads didn’t have corrugations or that washboard effect when you get pummelled and shaken to pieces wondering what might fall off the Land Rover next!
Swakopmund is a fairly big place, with good restaurant and once we’d camped our first night, we also stayed at a very luxury place, Desert Breeze. Desert Breeze is a series of, at first glance, strange multi-coloured roundavels, dotted along a white washed path edged in harsh stones jutting up. In reality, its a wonderfully located place to stay with luxury at its heart. Each room is in a building which has its own space, and that space opens up onto the desert. Large sways of sand gently moving one grain at a time in the calm breeze, resting fully satiated and comfortable in its new location. Each grain of sand making up the whole to form an impressive stadium of varying heights and as the sun sets, colours too- right outside your large picture viewing window. No need for curtains at night as the wake up is far more impressive. Maybe the dunes were as you saw them last, or maybe they’d moved a micro measurement over, its hard to tell. The shower is a conch in shape as it wraps you around circles to end up in a large open shower in the middle, a great place to un-wind - literally!
We had to shoot off early the next morning, so didn’t get the full breakfast experience, but they were laying it up as we left, and we immediately regretted saying we’d be on the tee early!
Lunches, dinners or even just a coffee - all is catered for in Swakopmund. A little bit of Germany in Africa. The same, but different!
Arriving at Swakopmund, we’d done a big arc and were back at the Atlantic heading south to Walvis Bay. Excited as anything as we’d been told that this was a dessert course with browns. We didn’t say anything as the locals were so delighted as they proudly showed us their courses - which had just been converted into full grass greens. Still it was a really nice play and the members welcoming. The oceanside was littered with flamingo and pelican, with the latter being so huge, even the dinner table at Christmas might have struggled with that bird!
Back on the road and were heading north along the coast to Henties Bay. Finding a campsite that was colourless and looked more like a concentration camp was interesting. Henries Bay is big for fishing - sea fishing. Many South African fishermen were staying long term to catch up with each other and created an impenetrable mini village with tarpaulins stretched from one camp to the next. Wagons circled, any outsider wasn’t given a look in.
The campsite was on one level, the building the same colour as the sand and each site had its own little rectangular block with showers, toilet and an outside kitchen area. In between each block was a campsite, so there was little room to spread out - that was you space, and that was it. That said, the individual ablution blocks and kitchen areas, whilst didn’t encourage conversations with neighbours, were actually quite clean and with decent showers. The cooking area wasn’t much, but at least it had running water and electricity if needed, and what do you need when camping anyway? Well maybe a view? There was nothing to look at - except your neighbours.
The coast has been good to us, so we decided to explore further north up the Skeleton Coast. We’d seen the brochures, the ship wrecks lining the coast with just their hulls protruding out of the sand like giant whale bones stood in an arch. We’d also seen the bluest of seas meeting the sandy shores where the white water is the peace maker between the two mediums, so we were keen o explore. Our drive north was spectacular. The white frothy waves crash along the rocky shore, fishermen standing by the ocean throwing out their lines - lines that were often fixed to their vehicles and not just one line, but multiple lines. But we didn’t see any skeletons. So we kept looking and made our way as far North as we could without gate crashing a diamond mine!
Undeterred, the next day we turned round and came back again, thinking well maybe we missed the skeletons? But before we set off, and with a quick presence of mind we asked about the ship wreck skeletons and were told that the sea had reclaimed them all, except one engine block. We did eventually find with the lonesome engine block, barely recognisable as such and with kids clambering and balancing upon it. Feeling slightly cheated and somewhat let down, we instead decided to entertain ourselves and drive on the huge expanse of white beach.
Wow, that was truly amazing, Andi the Lady loved it too, being able to open up and track along the hard incredibly white almost mirror like sand was just so special, framed by the blue white ocean on one side and the wide expanse of desert on the other, we did feel as though we were alone, truly alone in the world, and it wasn’t a remorseful feeling but a feeling of elations as we’d conquered something, something really special.
Once we’d completely satisfied our oceanside itch, we headed inland to a wonderful campsite called Hoada. Checking in we weren’t the only ones there. This was proving to be quite rare, but taking a sneak peak at the register, it was another English couple, who were travelling in an old Land Rover ambulance, that made Andi look young in comparison. The joys of camping, we chatted with our new found friends and said our sad goodbye’s the following morning as we both set off in our own separate ways. Hoada was another great campsite built into the large rocks. It ablutions wrapping themselves around and hugging the rocks with space under a man-made A Frame to park the Land Rover and stay out of the sun. A wander around the campsite yield more sites, not too close to each other, yet each enjoying their own special place on earth. So well designed and so well kept.
We were making our way to Etosha National Park, so our next goal was a campsite in the park. We’d not heard great things about the campsites managed by the park - and in actual fact everything we’d herd was pretty much correct, but as it was only a few nights in three different sites in Etosha, so it wasn’t a major problem. Just a shame that the government run campsites were a bit grotty when compared to the private run ones we’d stayed at. Also quite sad that they were capitalising not he tourist and charging a lot of money to stay at these not so great sites.
Our first campsite was by a water hole, one lone bull elephant, probably on his last set of teeth slurped noisily at the water in-let. His dexterous trunk probing to get the sweet water as it trickled through. An elephant’s life is governed by how many sets of teeth. In total they have 6 sets of teeth, once the final set is worn or broken, its a mater of waiting for their time to end. Often starving, these man-made water holes can be their only route to survival in peace as they reach their end of life. Alone and too old to follow a herd. Elephants continue to fascinate us, and even this old bull had his place in our hearts.
The stoney surface doesn’t seem to make easy work of walking, but the prolific zebra, elephant and wildebeest seem undeterred. Moving in their masses, they dominate the landscape as far as they eye can see. Watching them at the watering holes, is always special as their dominance is exercised within their own herd and with other animals. One of our other campsites was very rewarding for white rhino who came to the water hole as the sun sets. The glowing sun dying in the background highlighted the size of these great beast who flocked to the water hole in twos, threes and as individuals, getting along with each other, you can but imagine them asking one another, how was your day? It was a hot one, wasn’t it as they languish in the pools.
On the other side of Etosha we popped out to stay in Tsumeb at the Kupferquella Resort. A nice place with an olympic sized pool which attracted the local children who thrashed around in the water with great delight. The rooms were really spacious and comfortable with basic cooking facilities. We made the error of buying a ready made pizza to get back to find, there was no oven - rookie error! So we made calzone in a fry pan - rookie ,maybe inventive, absolutely.
We even had a mum and kittens poke their heads out from the bush below our balcony, wary and very skittish, the little fluff balls shot across the balcony to their hiding place in the undergrowth. Tsumeb itself was a decent size town too, with some colourful buildings clearly remnants of yesteryear German colonial days.
Our final stop is at Gobabis, we had heard there was a golf course there, but when we arrived at the town, it was closed. Not a person in sight, so finding the elusive golf course wasn’t happening arrival day. Next day we did find it, and set about completing our mini challenge to play all golf course in Namibia.
Driving around Namibia is a blast from the past and does leave you feeling a little homesick at times with the European touches reminding us of home, but its more than that. Namibia gets inside your soul, colourless and bland one minute, bright and daring the next. Namibia is a country of contrasts. We played 9 golf courses in Namibia, you can read about them on the previous blog. Namibia is a country you can explore, you can engage and you can feel totally at home - even without any home comforts.
That said, our home on wheels continues to be as comfortable as the day we started our impressive journey around Africa.
Next up and we pop back into Botswana for an incredible game drive and of course, a lot more exploring before we exit to drive along the Caprivi Strip.
You can follow our golfing safari journey on You Tube or on Instagram
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