Namibia August 2015 (part one)
We, myself, my wife, my brother and his wife, decided that we should travel around Namibia in August 2015. So the planning started long in advance and the accommodation was booked towards the beginning of 2015. Most of the places we traveled to were not full, so turns out advance bookings were not really required.
I was travelling with a Chevrolet Trailblazer 2.8 diesel 4x4 towing a large off road trailer. My brother, travels with a Suzuki Grand Vitara, petrol, 4x4 and tows a Venter off-road trailer.
A little more about the vehicles.
My trailer is fully equipped, with a Zero freezer (gas, 220 and 12v) in the nose cone. It has holders for 4 Jerry cans, 2 large water tanks (although not used because of the weight), fully configured with 220v power and a 12v battery system with integrated charger. The tent is an Echo tent which opens up down the side of the trailer and has plenty of room for standing, storage, as well as a large queen size bed at the top. It has a fully equipped kitchen with 2 plate gas stove, racks and shelves for groceries, pots and pans and crockery. The back door, when opened, has a full hanging storage contraption for all the cutlery that is required.
The spare wheel hangs in the outside of the back door.
My brother camps with an Oz tent and all the necessary items such as stretchers, mattresses, chairs, gas equipment etc.
In my vehicle I had 2 additional spare wheels (on rims), one each for the trailer and the car. Also had, 2 20L water bottles, full tool kit, puncture repair kit, snatch ropes and shackles, Camp Master fridge, dual battery system and 2 overnight bags.
As you can tell, were were not exactly travelling light !!
So, the day finally arrived and we left Johannesburg (and my brother and his wife from Pretoria) for Upington. Its quiet a long and boring road. But we stopped along the way in a very small town called Sannieshof. We were looking for some coffee and found a place which sold us coffee for ZAR 5.00 a cup, so 20 rand for 4 cups. Then we spotted a butchery which offered biltong for sale. When inside I found a small packet of Worcestershire Sauce sprinkle (never seen them before). The tannie said "once use use this stuff, you will never use anything else on your meat". So bought a packet (and my sister in law bought the biltong).
In Upington we stayed at a B&B on the banks of the Orange (Garip) river. A lovely place with 2 fully contained semidetached bungalows. The decks protruding out over the river. Very nice.
The next morning we were heading for Namibia and chose the Nakop border post as our port of exit/entry. Be warned, if you have any form of equipment with you the border officials require details (serial numbers, name, type, price etc) for each item - including the freezer contained within the trailer etc. Its a long slow boring process because the border official gives you a form, which you have to complete. He then takes that form and types (very slowly) each item into the computer to enable him to print off a form which he stamps and you sign. (no one asked for the form, or even bothered with the equipment at any of the other 4 border posts that we traveled through - not even when we came back into SA). This is also the only border post where we also encountered a sniffer dog.
We stopped off in Karasburg to refuel and also to purchase some provisions, before progressing onto Hobas in the Ais-Ais National park.
Hobas is the "gateway" to the viewpoints for the Fisk River Canyon. I'm informed that this is second to the Grand Canyon in the USA (I don't know, so don't shoot the messenger if this is not true). Anyway, the Fish River Canyon is impressive. Hobas camp site is good, and the ablutions were very clean. On the way we also stopped off the the Canon Roadhouse for a bite to eat. This was good and the shop there has quiet a good stock of souvenirs etc. The restaurant is set around old vehicles which adds to the ambiance.
Camping at Hobas.
Although we went to the view site at the start of the 5 day hike down into the canyon, we decided rather not to tackle that !!
We found that the dirt roads in Namibia to be in great condition. The roads so far were graded and had no corrugations. We also went down to the Ais-Ais hotel and camp site for a look around and some lunch and some fuel.
From Hobas we were heading to Aus and to have a look at the wild horses of the Namib. It was a very hot day, and we were luck to see only a few horses. However, its always amazing to see how they live together with the Gemsbok and other "wild" animals.
From here, we made our way to the small town of Aus, refueled and decided that it was time for something to eat. The only place that we could find was the local hotel. Wow, what a surprise - the place was really nice, friendly and we had a great lunch out on the deck.
We were heading for a camp site that my brother had heard about from somewhere (cant remember) and this took us along a very sandy road, the D707. The camp site promised to be unique, in that it was only one site, remote on the side of the mountain, with solar hot water shower and a flush toilet. Well, the "lodge" was really nothing to write home about. We got the key for the campsite and left, holding our breath, After a 10km drive along a jeep track, (opening and closing a few farm gates in the process) we arrived at the campsite. Wow, it was fantastic, to say the least. Our very own piece of paradise. We were really sorry that we only booked one night.
Again, this campsite was fantastic. Large level sites with electric power. The Gemsbok came down and "grazed" through the campsites each evening. There was a nice cool swimming pool as well. Although it was called a river camp, it was down by the river but, of cause, there was no water. The only disappointment abut this camp was their buffet breakfast, which we chose to have on the morning of our departure. But, anyway, it was still breakfast.
We camped here a few nights and this was our base for exploring the dunes, Dune 45, Sossusvlei and Deadvlei. The most boring roan if the entire trip is the road from Sesriem to Sossusvlei. In fact, when we go back to Namibia, this is a part that we will quiet easily skip. the whole dune experience. I was so looking forward to it, but it ended up being a big disappointment. It was also very hot.
On the way to the dunes we stopped off at the Duwisib castle. Its an interesting place and we were advised that you could get a very good piece of Apple Strudel there. (but alas, you no longer can). We were, though, lucky enough to find a very friendly German fellow at a small restaurant not far from the castle, who had 2 pieces of Strudel "pie" left. So we sampled some of that. It was good !
Anyway, from Agama we progressed further North (oh the subject came up, is north always up, IE do you go Up North and Down South ? - Think about it for a while) and our destination was Swakopmund, via Solitaire, Kuiseb Canyon and Walvis Bay.
We stopped off in Solitaire where there is an amazing bakery and you can get almost any form of bakery item. We opted for the compulsory apple pie.
From here we progressed to Swakopmund via the canyon. The scenery along this part of the journey was great and varying. We even did see Giraffe in the distance !
Our destination was a super resort in Swakopmund - Alte Brucke. This resort camp site each have their own ablutions, electric power and braai area. Really very good.
We booked, in advance, a tour to see the Welwitschia plant. This tour was through a company which operates out of Swakopmund. We were the only 4 people on the tour, so were taken around in a double cab bakkie. The gentlemen that was our tour guide was really knowledgeable and the tour lasted the entire afternoon, into the early evening. We did see the plants, as well as many other interesting features of the desert. I can really recommend a tour like this.
We also took time to visit both Walvis Bay and Swakopmund as we were there for a few days. I must say that the bird life in Walvis bay was amazing, but the dorp left a lot to be desired. Swakopmund, on the other hand, was clean and pleasant to walk around in. Swakop was very cold and we had our winter woollies on.
From Swakop we had decided to travel along the coastal road to Henties Bay and then onto Brandberg (to try and see the desert elephants).
The morning we left there was a heavy fog/coastal mist and for some of the distance we could not even see the ocean. However, we made it to Henties (just a fishing village, really) and found a lovely little coffee shop to have a nice warm cup. We did however stop off at a shipwreck !!
It was then onto Brandberg White Lady Lodge where we encountered the wort stretch of corrugated road in the entire trip. Its really terrible. However, the lodge campsite was worth the grind. We camped in the dry river bed, basically. But we had a tap, some trees for shade as well as a braai area.The ablutions are heated by a "donky" and we always had hot water. When we arrived we did see elephant footprints all around the campsite and were advised that the desert elephants had been there a few days prior. We were hopeful.
We had a lovely 4 nights there.
We decided to drive the river bed in search of the desert elephants. the first day we drove down (whichever way that was) the riverbed. We did not deflate the vehicle tyres and we did not have any problems. We tool both vehicles, just in case. However, that direction did not result in any sightings. The next day we went up (which direction ?) in search again. We had driven quiet a long way and came to a weir in the river which necessitated us driving up the riverbank and over some rocks. We stopped and contemplated continuing or turning around. My brother then decided to walk down into the riverbed on the other side of the weir, and there they were. The herd !
We jumped back into the vehicles and headed up the river. We had found them, in among donkeys and cows. We sat for some time watching them drinking (yes they had found water) and playing. It was a wonderful experience.
We returned to the campsite for a peaceful evening.
The next day we had looked at the T4A map (which we had on the Garmin but also which my brother had downloaded to his iPad and I also had a paper version) and found a back track through to Twyfelfontein and decided to take this. Although it was not really a hectic 4x4 track, in some places the sand was rather thick and the previous vehicles had made "axle twisters" of the sand. As a result we bounced our way along. But, it was a great drive and thoroughly enjoyable. Much better than the "boring" main roads.
From here, it was further north to Kamanjab
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