Etosha National Park

4 April Etosha Hotel, Outjo
Driving here yesterday from Swakopmund was a breeze. 320kms of excellent road and very light traffic made for an easy day’s driving compared to some of our more recent travels. Speed limits on the secondary roads that made up most of our journey are 120kms/hr dropping to 100km/hr in a few rougher patches. Even though the roads are good, in most other countries the limit would be 100km/hr to 110km/hr. In Europe the limits would probably be as low as 80km/hr because of the narrowness of the road. We kept our speed to just over 100 km/hr and vehicles whizzed past us at speeds well above the 120km/hr limit. With heavier traffic the chances of serious accidents would be quite high.

Outjo is a town of about 8000 souls and most of them seem to roam the streets and gather to chat on the footpaths most of the day. It is a bit of a scrappy-looking place, but it feels safe and people are friendly enough, although the hawkers selling crafts and begging become a bit irritating. We feel guilty when we refuse to buy some rock that has designs scratched on it or whatever else is being touted, but we can’t solve the problems of poverty that way. We absolve ourselves with the view that being here and spending money in hotels, shops and petrol stations provides employment. In a way the beggars and hawkers do damage to the economy by discouraging the tourists who are now coming to Namibia in increasing numbers and potentially creating a negative image for this great country.

Our hotel packed us a box breakfast last night that enabled us to set out before sunrise for the 100k trip to the entry gate of Etosha National Park. The park opened at 7:00 am and we were there just after sunrise at 7:30 am. Park entry permits are very reasonable at N$80 per person and N$10 for a car. That translated to AUD17 for us. Etosha is the number one attraction in Namibia, so we had expected some of the crawling traffic we have experienced in some parks in South Africa. Not an issue today. Plenty of room to move and even at the waterholes, where most wildlife concentrates, there were never more than three or four vehicles.

The park is teeming with life, which is a bit of a surprise given the arid nature of the environment. Springbok are everywhere, as are zebra. The list of animals we spotted is too long to record here, but suffice to say we had marked off dozens on our check sheet. Sadly, we didn’t manage to spot any big cats, but several elephants and a lone giraffe were highlights.

We left the park about 2:00 pm, having exhausted the viewing possibilities for the morning session. As we were heading out, truck after truck loaded with half-day trippers were heading out for the evening session. We had to head off, because to do the rounds again would have forced us to drive home in the dark. A big no-no for us.

 Tonight we are culling our photos to reduce the several hundred shots we took, each, down to the best couple of dozen.

5 April, Niilo’s Guesthouse, Rundu, Namibia
A long haul of over 500km today through some rapidly changing countryside. Desert landscapes quickly disappeared as we headed north, replaced by some healthy looking grasslands supporting cattle, sheep and goats. A small area of irrigated farming bought even more green into view. For most of the way, the road was arrow straight and in fantastic condition. Cattle, donkeys and goats wandered into our path from time to time, but they posed little danger as they were easily spotted in this very open country.

Traditional villages and small farm compounds, constructed of saplings with grass roofing lined the road for the last 100 kms into Rundu. People were everywhere along the highway, going about their everyday lives: hundreds of kids were returning home from school, most in uniforms that looked surprisingly clean given the dusty conditions of the tracks they walked to and from school and the totally sand school grounds; women and younger kids toted water from village taps; men pushed wheel barrows loaded with water containers or full of small children hitching a ride; women carrying all sorts of things on their heads walked along the dusty track that paralleled the main highway. Under shady trees in front of family compounds, older folk sat on plastic chairs, chatting and keeping an eye on the younger children who played in small groups at the side of the highway. All the while, mining trucks, 4x4s loaded with wealthy trekkers, commercial vehicles and rich foreigners like us sped by on a  pathway connecting worlds that many of these people will never see or experience.

Traffic through these villages was fairly heavy, giving us a chance to slow down and have a good look about. Roadside stalls selling carved timber animals and pottery of all sorts dominated the craft offerings. Some families set out stacks of firewood, probably in the hope of snagging a passing camping party. All in all this part of our journey matched a vision of Africa that we probably had before we visited South Africa a few years back. The reality, in places we have travelled through since, has been very different to this slice of traditional African life. Like the traffic on the highway passing through these villages, the modern western world is rapidly intruding. If these “intrusions” are a good thing or not is not for us to say.

More Desert and Skeletons

31 March, Sesriem
The sun rises fairly late here so we only needed to get up at a civilised 6:00 am to fit in breakfast and still  arrive at the gates of the Namib Naukluft National Park at sunrise opening time of 7:00 am. We are on the edge of the Namib Desert, a desolate stretch of land running parallel to the Atlantic coast. We had some light rain last night and more on our way into the park, but it was not enough to even settle the dust.

There are five or six resort-style camps here and a few standard camping areas. Our “camp” is self catering with an outdoor kitchen containing fridge, two-burner hotplates, and sink, air-conditioned cabin, shower and toilet. Even the tent camping grounds are fairly well set up, with shade shelters for tents - much needed because it is extremely hot during the middle of the day.

From the park gates, the road is sealed for 60kms to the area where 2x4 cars have to park. At the 45 km mark climbing is permitted on a 150m high dune, #45. We elected to climb this one rather than attempting the 350m “Big Daddy” dune later in the day. Even at 9:00am, this was a challenging climb, but worth the effort for the view of the “Sea of Dunes” viewed from the top.
From the 2x4 park we took shuttle trucks through the sand drifts to Sossusvlei, a salt pan in the heart of the dunes. The views were just amazing with towering red and gold dunes on all sides, contrasting with bleached salt pans.

We took a 3 km round-trip walk to Deadvlei, an area where seemingly petrified trees rise out of a long-drained waterhole. Being alerted to the need for hydration, we dragged along one of our 5 litre water containers. At the start of the walk we felt a bit silly among the small crowds trudging off in the 30C plus heat with their trendy water bottles, but half way back from Deadvlei, we could have sold our remaining water for a small fortune.

We expected to have paid about AUD12 each for the shuttle ride into Deadvlei. Nobody asked for any cash so we just mounted up and rode off. The park entry fees were a very reasonable AUD17 for the car and two personal permits.

Later in the afternoon we headed back into the park - the entry permit is good for the full day - to walk into Sesreim Canyon, a nice walk through some interesting rock formations and best of all, shaded and cool.

1 April, Desert Sands Boutique B&B Self-Catering, Swakopmund
Long haul back through the desert to Swakopmund today has left us still vibrating from all the shuddering and shaking of the badly corrugated roads. Our return journey has left us with an even stronger conviction that the road to Sesreim should not be attempted in a 2x4 sedan. Many pundits seem to encourage travellers to do the journey in sedans by just taking it slowly. We don’t agree. Most sedans are simply not r aobust enough to deal with the violent shaking that many parts of the road can dish out. “Taking it slow” sounds fine, but negotiating heavily corrugated roads at slow speed can do even more damage than travelling at just the right speed to hit the tops of the corrugations, but to do this, larger wheels, heavy duty suspensions and deep-ply tyres are required. Our advice is - don’t do it. Sure you might make it, but the chances of breaking down and needing to be recovered are just too high for us to see a sedan as a viable option on this road.

After an early start on our return journey  , we had time for a short drive to the waterfront in Walvis Bay to see the flamingo colony. A quick shop and we were settled in for a couple of relaxing days in and around Swakopmund.

2 April, Swakopmund
Swakopmund supposedly has a population of about 45,000; to us it seems to be much bigger. The illusion of greater size could be related to the town’s main industry of tourism. Wealthier Namibians and South Africans holiday here along with increasing numbers of foreign tourists. We suspect that many of the houses are holiday homes, not occupied all year round.

Most of our morning was spent wandering around town looking at the architectural remnants of the German colonial period. Not much remains in an unaltered state, but the Germanic style has been replicated in many of the newer buildings, giving the town a distinctive European feel. The small city museum was a real find, with displays on every aspect of the region from the ethnology of the local inhabitants to colonial times.

To the north of the town lies the legendary Skeleton Coast. From the times of the early explorers in the 15th century, ships have come to grief on this desolate coastline. Even on a pleasant day such as we had today, the wind whips up the sea and a light fog hangs over the never-ending sand pans. We visited the wreck of a coastal trader that was beached just over a decade ago. Rusty, but still mostly intact, it was a forlorn sight resting bow in to the beach.

About 70kms north of Swakopmund is the once small outpost of Henties Bay. Today the settlement is booming. The great beach fishing along the Skeleton Coast attracts sports people from all over southern Africa and the town has become a provisioning centre for sports fishing and a holiday destination in its own right. A rather unique golf course has been built in the dry bed of the Omaruru River that runs through the town. The fairways are rolled sand, but the tees and greens are lush green turf. Stands of mature date palms throughout the course give the whole thing a rather Middle Eastern feel.

Having survived on lunches of ham and cheese rolls for the past couple of trips, we decided to treat ourselves to a seafood takeaway. Having been warned about the size of meals in Namibia, we went for a small piece of fish with a side of chips and a calamari burger and salad. The fish was at least 300mm long and the burger almost twice the size of a normal burger roll and several inches thick. No complaints about the quality though. Great value too at AUD16 all up. We couldn’t even get close to managing the salad. It came home as a side for tonight’s chicken.

Desert Lands - Sand and Sea

27 March 2019, Home Inn, Windhoek, Namibia

The Indian Ocean island of Mauritius was not on our radar as we dragged ourselves out of bed yesterday at 3:30am and headed to Brisbane’s domestic terminal for our flight to Sydney to connect with the 11:35 Qantas flight to Johannesburg. This was the first leg in a multi-continent adventure that is to take us from the deserts and jungles of Southern Africa to the highlands of Scotland, the green valleys of Ireland and the rugged shores of Iceland. Mauritius you will note was not to feature in our itinerary, but about ten hours into our flight, somewhere over the southern Indian Ocean, our ageing Boeing 747-400 made a slow turn north west.

A medical emergency on board required us to divert to Mauritius. A beautiful place, at least from the air, but the three hour delay made for an extremely long day. Our time on the ground was not without its highlights. The sight of senior Qantas pilots completing engineering checks on our plane and the apology from the Captain that he was partly responsible for the delay because he had to personally refuel the plane, which he hadn’t done for many years, were just a couple of the lighter moments. A Qantas 747 must not have been a common sight on the Mauritius tarmac as ground and terminal staff were everywhere around the aircraft taking photographs – as were same senior pilots, taking selfies.

Our departure was a little out of the ordinary as well. Our pilots must have needed to use every inch of the runway, because, rather than simply taking the taxiway out to the normal start point for take off, we turned left and taxied to the very end of the runway where the Captain made what, from our view point, was an impossible manoeuvre, turning an enormous 747 through 360 degrees in just more than its own length. As it turned out he had runway to spare - a testament to the training and skill of Australian pilots.

A good night’s sleep at a Jo’burg airport hotel and we were again on our way, to Windhoek, Namibia.

28 March, Home Inn

Windhoek is a city of about 350,000, so the pace is fairly laid back. Our drive into the city from the airport yesterday was relatively uneventful, except for the sighting of several troops of baboons, scavenging by the side of the highway. We upgraded our original hire car, a Rav4, to a Toyota Fortuner, at a fairly hefty price increase, but the bigger vehicle and the extra spare wheel that came with it (at extra cost) will hopefully give us a safer journey over what will be some fairly rough and isolated roads.
Windhoek seems like a pleasant enough little city, but there is not a lot to see here, so we spent the morning walking around visiting a few small museums to get an introduction to the history and culture of Namibia. In common with virtually all African states, Namibia suffered centuries of exploitation, first by the Germans, then the British and finally their neighbours, the South Africans. The recency of these events stunned us a little. South West Africa, as the country was known, only achieved independence in 1990, following a number of bloody wars and insurrections that commenced in the mid 1960s.

The influence of the various powers that have controlled Namibia in its recent past have left at least one positive legacy, language skill. We are always impressed by people who have mastered a second language. Here in Namibia, a second language just doesn’t seem to cut it. Everybody we have spoken to speaks excellent English, but they will also speak their native language and most in Windhoek also speak Afrikaans. What really amuses us is when we hear them mixing languages, using words from various languages in the same conversation, just picking the most expressive phrases.

30 March, Desert Quiver Camp, Sesreim

Our drive from Windhoek to Swakopmund yesterday was fairly uneventful. The Trans-Kalahari Highway is fully sealed, though a little narrow in places. We made one short side trip to a war cemetery a couple of kilometres off the highway. In 1915, a little known battle was fought between South African forces and the German Imperial Army. South West Africa was a German colony. When war broke out in Europe, South African troops attacked German forces and a fairly short but bloody conflict ensued. One skirmish in this battle was fought at Trekkopje, a small railway siding on the line between Windhoek and Swakopmund. The small cemetery is out in the desert, unsigned and probably infrequently visited, but we were amazed to see it well maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

A couple of the larger towns we passed through were indicative of the enormous inequity of wealth prevailing in Namibia. Most towns have large squatter settlements on their outskirts that are comprised of simple shanties of corrugated iron with no power, water or sanitary services. The more affluent, living in the towns themselves, seem to enjoy a life style  equivalent to the western middle class. On the coast just outside Swakopmund, the truly wealthy have built beach houses that would not be out of place in Malibu. We feel fairly safe offering the observation that the owners of these places would be predominantly white.
Our visit to Swakopmund was mainly to load up on provisions for the far more serious excursion into the Kalahari that we undertook today. We will be back to spend a couple of days there when we return from Sesreim.

Planning this trip we had agonised over the type of vehicle we would need. Some web commentators claimed that standard two wheel sedans would be fine for a Namibia-Botswana safari. Others extolled the virtues of full-on 4x4s. We originally punted on the middle ground and booked a Toyota Rav4. One thing we did want though was an extra spare tyre. Even at home in Australia, we have blown many a tyre on our car and our caravan, so we really wanted that extra bit of security. Hertz was unable to provide an extra wheel but offered an “up sell” to a Toyota Fortuner. The price difference was about AUD40 a day, pushing our rate for 23 days to about AUD2450. After today, verdict? Great call. The 370kms to Sesreim was almost totally gravel. Patches were fine, smooth, clay-based, graded road. Some, not insignificant, parts were rough, corrugated surfaces intermixed with deep gravel that caused us to drift. Overall, we would have been extremely uncomfortable in the Rav4 and in a fair degree of trouble in a small sedan. As it was, the Fortuner copped a fair bit of a pounding, but it always felt safe. Traffic was light, we only saw three or four vehicles for the first coup[le of hours, but as the morning drew on those returning to Swakpomund began to approach us. Virtually all drivers kept to around 70-80km/h and, with the width of the gravel road, dealing with the small amount of traffic was no problem.

Some of the more difficult road conditions aside, our journey took us through some of the most spectacular desert scenery we have experienced, with flat rocky plains with salt bush-like vegetation, grey and black ridges with seams of what looked like limestone, yellow stunted grasslands studded with acacia and tortured small gullies and canyons. The landscape seemed to change every 50 kms or so.