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Currency: Namibian Dollars, they are linked to the Rand. 13 to 1 quid.
Cost of diesel: 45p a litre
22nd February
We’ve finally arrived at a place called Kunene River Lodge. Unsurprisingly it is right on the banks of the Kunene River. On the other bank is Angola. The drive here was fairly uneventful apart from its length. We’ve done about 900kms in 2 days. We have finally entered the Kaokoveld properly and although the road we are on isn’t as bad as we were expecting the area is still very wild and remote. It’s rocky and barren, with spares scrubland vegetation everywhere. I think it is absolutely beautiful, in a kind of stark remote way. You really get the feeling that you are in the middle of no-where. Which is probably right seeing as we are! Tomorrow we head further in the Kaokoveld to a place called Epupa falls. It is only about 80kms away but the road takes 10-11 hours to do. Thankfully they have built a new one that only takes 4 hours! I think we’ll take the new one.
Kunene River and Angola
23rd February
5 weeks we spent in Maun, 5 weeks near to garages, spare parts, people who can fix things and no real problems with the car (if you exclude the crap scorpion parts) and what happens. We wake up this morning to find that the fuel tank has cracked! We managed to leak diesel all over the lovely campsite we’re staying in! Bloody car. So this morning was spent lying underneath the truck trying not to get completely covered in diesel whilst I squidged gasket sealant into every part of the fuel tank I can see! Managed to stop the worst of it but seeing as we are in the middle of no-where there isn’t a lot I can do. I now have to drive with the fuel tank basically empty because if it is too full it leaks and every so often pump 10l from the front tanks to the back and drive on that. Thankfully by doing this it doesn’t leak but it needs seeing to as soon as we get to Windhoek.
So, leaky tank and all, we set off for Epupa falls through more stunning and rugged scenery finally arriving and settling in to another great campsite. We went to look at the falls and thankfully they didn’t turn out to be another Lalibela, they were well worth the effort. They are very similar to Murchinson’s falls in Uganda, in that the river is squeezed through a narrow fissure and therefore the water flow is spectacular.
It was all a little weird though because there were a load of local women having a wash in the pools a little upstream of the main falls. There was Amy and I and 4 other tourist there, wandering around, taking photos of the falls etc whilst next to us there were a load of naked women, totally unconcerned by us being there. I should hasten to add that we weren’t taking photos of them washing before you get any ideas. It was rather surreal to say the least.
Epupa Falls
24th February
We left Epupa today to head to Sesfontien, an old German fort about 300kms south of here. We went through a town called Opuwo. This is the regional capital for the area and so is quite a big place. This was another weird place. The indigenous people for this area are the Hereros and the Himba. The Himba walk about in little leather skirts and nothing else (women included) whilst the Herero, who were ‘saved’ by the Victorian missionaries wear huge flowery skirts and petticoats etc. They look exactly like Victorian women, with enough clothes on to parachute out of a plane with. This meant that as you drive around town there are some women walking about the shops topless, whilst others seem to be engulfed in clothes. Quite what they think of each other I’m not sure, but it is rather amusing.
Had a small snag though. Seeing as we lost quite a lot of diesel we needed to buy some more. Not a problem as the town is awash with fuel stations. However, we also needed to either change money or get to a cash machine. Unfortunately we forgot it was Saturday and so all the banks were shut. Again not a problem as there are loads of ATMs. However, every single one was broken! So we managed to scrape all our money together and buy about 30l’s of diesel. Enough for another 240kms. This may prove to be a problem.
Kaokoveld countryside
25th February
We got to Sesfontien ok and camped in the grounds of the old fort last night. They said they would change some money for us and then realised that they didn’t have enough cash to do so and so wouldn’t. We are now left with a 100km drive to the next potential place to get fuel with a tank that has got about 140kms left in it! Cutting it rather fine.
Saved at last! We finally found a lodge that would change money and got about 100USD worth and filled up with diesel. We now have enough to get to a place called Khorixas that has ATMs etc. We also need to get there to fix the other car problem that has developed. The rear brakes pads have worn down to bare metal. To be fair I should have checked them before we left Maun but seeing as they had only done about 7000km I thought they would be ok. They aren’t! Because of all the sand and water we’ve driven through there are worn away. We found this little problem in Epupa and it has meant that I’ve had to drive all the way without braking! By the time we reach Khorixas it means I will have driven about 500kms without braking. I’m quite proud of that!
Road to the Skeleton coast and sand dunes forming
25th February
Got to Khorixas, couldn’t get new pads but managed to scavenge some off a knackered old 110 and they should last us to Windhoek. We stocked up with food and headed towards the west and the Skeleton Coast. This is the famous stretch of coastline that makes up the whole of the west side of Namibia. It is supposed to be amazing and being a geography geek I was quite excited about it.
Well, all I can say it that it is amazing. It is totally barren and windswept. They get no rainfall here but the few plants and animals that live here survive due to the sea fogs that they get every morning. The sea here is so cold and the air so hot that the coast is permanently shrouded in fog, this provides the vital moisture that the area needs to survive. We drove down the coast for a few hundred kms, stopping to see the hundreds of shipwrecks there are along the coast (we didn’t stop at all of them obviously!). We also stopped at the Cape Cross Seal reserve. This is a colony of thousands of seals and we arrived in baby season. So there are loads of baby seals flopping around. Amy was very pleased! The only down side is that they absolutely stink! Putrid is the word to describe them, but it was still great to see them. We are planning to bush camp tonight, which is cool because we haven’t bush camped properly for ages.
Random skeleton coast photos. Me trying to find the right way (not really!). Amy feeling protective of the car.
26th February
Heard lots of jackals howling last night whilst we were in the tent. Looked for their prints around the tent this morning but we couldn’t find any.
Today we drove to Windhoek. We decided to take the scenic route. When I am going to learn! It was very scenic, but it was also very mountainous and the road was tortuous in the number of switchbacks we went around. Anyway, we are supposed to be seeing the country and it was better than 400kms of tarmac. We finally got to Windhoek and went straight to the land rover garage to get the fuel tank done. I’m sorry to say but they were utterly unimpressed to see us. The bloke couldn’t have given less of a monkeys about our trip and our problem if he had tried. He also said that they were too busy to help, too busy even to look at it. Thanks land rover. I haven’t been an avid fan for years or anything! Anyway, we did manage to find another garage who only fix land rovers. They aren’t an authorised dealer but specialise in old landies. the guy was very helpful but unfortunately he said that we needed a new tank. This didn’t come as huge surprise because it was pretty apparent to me that the thing was rotten through. However, a new tank costs 400USD! The other problem is that my mum arrives on Friday and he couldn’t do the work until then. So we patched it up with more sealant and I’m going to go back and see him after my mum goes back to the UK. By not filling the tank and by drowning it in sealant we have temporarily cured the problem, but it does need doing. I also picked up some new brake pads and fitted them this evening. We have unfortunately chosen a pretty crap campsite to stay at but have no choice as it was too late to go anywhere else. In the morning we are going to find somewhere else to stay.
We did, however, find out that our visit has coincided with a state visit from Robert Mugabe. Apparently one of the things he is here to discuss in land reform in Namibia. Seeing as Mugabe has such a good record in fair and just land reform and resettlement I’m sure when Namibia do it it will go as smoothly as it has done in Zim!
The seal colony and a shipwreck on the coast.
2nd March
After having spent the last few days trying to get the fuel tank fixed and failing I have given up. I’ve packed it with sealant and will get it done when we are back in town in 2 weeks. After from that all we have been doing is sorting out the truck in preparation for my mum, who arrives later today with her friend Rita.
The only really interesting thing we did was go to the Habitat Research Development Centre. This is a government run centre that is investigating sustainable housing, power, water use etc. The entire site is constructed using sustainable material, e.g. old tyres, cans, bottles, compacted soil, clay plastered straw etc. We found out about the place from a guy called David Bruce. He is a top class photographer by trade who specialises in photographing the bushman. In the many years he has been doing this he has grown a real affinity for them and is now trying to get involved in improving the education system for them. He has done this by producing some special edition of his photographs and trying to get lots of international companies on board. Part of his proposal is how the schools will be built and maintained and this is how we ended up visiting the Habitat place with him. It was fascinating and although many of the ideas couldn’t be used in the UK, there are several that can and it just shows how far behind we are in terms of sustainable housing and power. Embarrassing when you compare what we are doing to what is being done in Namibia.
3rd March
Picked Mum and Rita up and drove up to a nice lodge to spend the first night. There are somewhat ominous noises coming from under the car. When I checked it I found some wear in the front UJ. Nothing too bad I thought, simply another thing to get fixed when we are back in Windhoek. It’s great to see mum again, catch up on everything that has been going on at home and also to get my cheese ration. You can’t get good cheese for love nor money out here and so mum’s cheese visits have been a godsend!!
Rain clouds over etosha and the rhino we saw.
4th March
The ominous noise is beginning to sound terminal. We tried to go to Etosha but we weren’t happy with the car so we went back to town to get it fixed. Unfortunately being a Saturday everything was shut so I ended up fixing it in the middle of a car park with 2 guys from the local petrol station helping me. Anyway, it all got done awe drove up to Etosha. Unfortunately all the campsites are being renovated and the place was in a right state. This meant that we decided to get a chalet instead. It had also been raining really heavily so the place was flooded. This meant that the floodlit waterhole at the campsite where you are guaranteed to see animal was completely empty. They had all buggered off to the rest of the park. Still the park is beautiful and tomorrow we will go into it properly. And finally, whilst having our dinner we were besieged by jackals. These are really rare and we haven’t seen hardly any since we’ve been here. That’s because they all live in the Etosha rest camp and try and steal your food.
The Etosha pan
5th march
Went on a morning game drive and didn’t see much. Then back to camp for breakfast, packing up and moving on. We slowly moved through the park to the next campsite at Halali. This was much nicer and we did camp there. We then went on an evening game drive which was fairly uneventful until we saw a black rhino. These are seriously rare and it is the first one we have seen in Africa. It was amazing. Their eyesight is really poor but their sense of smell is excellent. This meant that he could smell but not see us. So he tried to find out what we were by edging closely until he got to within 20ms. At this point he promptly turned and ran into the bush, I reckon he was scared of the landy. Anyway, after this we went out onto the Etosha pan itself. The landscape is impossible to describe. It’s totally flat and featureless but still beautiful. The pictures explain it better but it something you have to see. Apparently you can see it from space it is so big so Google earth it people.
Because we spent so long looking at the rhino and pan we were late getting back to camp so we had a bit of a Colin McRae still drive back to camp. On the way we saw elephants and then 5km from camp we came across a huge pride of lions. Typical because we didn’t really have time to look at them!
6th March
After last nights excellent game drive we decided not to go on one this morning. So we just had a leisurely breakfast and moved onto the third and finally campsite at namutoni. We finally found where all the animals have been hiding. This end of the park was much greener than the rest and there were huge herds of giraffe, zebra, wildebeest etc up here.
At the campsite we bumped into our friend Rosemary. We’d last seen her in Maun and although we knew she was coming to Namibia it was pretty random to bump into her here.
8th march
Yesterday was a long day driving to get break the back of the journey to the skeleton coast. We drove about 400ks to a place called Tywfelfontein and camped next to a dry river bed. We are starting to get into the desert properly and it is stunning. Although Amy and I have been here before it is not a place you can get bored of looking at.
Today we went into the skeleton coast park again. The weather was much nicer this time and we decided to drive off the road and down to the waterfront to have lunch. Strictly speaking you aren’t allowed to do this but seeing as it is the middle of no-where we thought we’d probably get away with it! We spent an hour walking up and down the beach and discovered why it is called the skeleton coast. The beach was literally covered in bones. We even found some whale bones. See the photo of Amy standing next to the vertebrae. It’s huge. Tonight we are going to bush camp in the Namib Desert again
The dry Abu huab river
Random rocks in the desert. The main gate. Amy and whale bones! More shipwrecks.
9th March
Well, we bush camped last night and although I won’t go into details for fear of embarrassing my mum I don’t think that bush camping in the desert is something she is going to rush back to do again, I don’t think she got any sleep at all!
This morning we went back to the seal colony and I can confirm that the smell hasn’t got any better. Still amazing to see them all though, there can be up to 250000 of them there. No wonder it stinks.
After this we drove to Swakop to relax for a few days.
Where we bushcamped
11th march.
Had a good few days in Swakopmund. The place is really nice and we went out for a great dinner at a place called the Tug. The campsite we stayed at had a shower and toilet for every pitch, very posh camping. Mum and Rita also bought enough souvenirs to keep the Swakop curio market buoyant for the next few months. Got to work out how they are going to get it all home.
After leaving Swakop we drove to Sesriem and this is where we are now. This is right in the desert and is on the edge of the famous red Namib dunes. This is what we are going to see tomorrow.
The Tug restaurant. Shipwreck in the coast in Swakop.
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Dune 45
12th March
Up at 5.30 this morning to drive to the dunes to see the sunrise over them. These dunes are the biggest in the world and they are stunning. The pictures don’t do it justice at all. This is one of the most stunning and peaceful places in the world.
After the dunes we went onto Sossusvlei and Dead Vlei. These are 2 huge pans and again are stunning. Dead Vlei is so named because it has a petrified ancient forest in it. The landscape is like nothing else on earth. These millions of year’s old gnarled trees surrounded by towering sand dunes. Absolutely stunning. Rather stupidly I decided to climb on the sand dunes. Not something I will be repeating I can tell you!
13th march
To end my mum and Rita’s visit we stayed at a lovely lodge by Lake Oanob. We had our own chalet with sky which meant I caught the highlights of this weekend rugby. Come on England. Shame about poor Wales though, (honest, I’m not being sarcastic at all Glyn, Gav and JB.) The lodge was great and we had a nice finally meal together. The views over the lake were fantastic. This morning we did the rest of the drive to Windhoek, stopping only for coffee and to buy enormous wooden elephants! After we had dropped my mum at the airport we went back to the Chameleon campsite and camped in the car park because it was too full!
14th March
Finally got the fuel tank fixed, got the wheel alignment done (the bloke was staggered at how bad the tracking was on it!!) and got all the salt from Swakop jet washed out. Then we re-packed the car and went out for dinner with David. The place was similar to carnivore in Nairobi and we had a very nice dinner. A good way to end our time in Namibia because tomorrow we head back to Botswana to catch the final weekend of the 6 nations. Oh, and to see our friends I suppose.
Dead Vlei
I walked along this dune, those are my footprints.
