NAMIBIA
Our great adventure begins the day that the families of Alexindi and Jordindi from Indinimuniets decided to take a trip to Namibia, encouraged by the good vibes that Jordi Tobeña from Territori 4×4 gave us during a trip to Libya.
So we asked Territori 4×4 for advice. Initially, the idea was to sign up for the trip they were organizing, but incompatibilities in dates made us decide to make the trip as two families independently. But not before receiving help and advice from our friends at Territori 4×4 (regarding planes, car rentals, and they even provided us with waypoints).
The search for maps begins, organizing routes, arranging days,….. Phew……. What a job.
But the day arrives and with our suitcases, tools, computers, cameras and the good adventurous spirit of the Indinimuniets, the seven members of this expedition present ourselves at the airport to catch the plane, first to London, with final destination Windhoek.
From Windhoek to the South
We have already arrived in Namibia, no delays, no lost luggage, this is starting well.
The first thing we need to do is pick up the car we have rented. Two fully equipped Toyota Hiluxes: fridge, kitchen utensils, grill, stove, tents on the roof of the car, a few tools (the essential ones) and the steering wheel on the right. In short, everything we need to be self-sufficient.
Very close to the rental place we find a supermarket, we stock up on everything we need and eat right there. We start off well, some plates of seafood, fish and calamari alla romana to lick your fingers, two bottles of white wine, at an incredible price !!!!! 7 euros per person !!!! This promises a lot.
We set off very happy and headed south. We want to get as far south as possible before nightfall. The sun sets between 5:30 and 6 in the evening.
It is getting dark soon and we decide to stop for the night at the Hardcap Dam Hotel, which is located within the Hardcap National Park, 15 km from Mariental.
We are now in the heart of Namibia, today we are going in search of the Quivertree forest (tree from which aloe vera is extracted). Originally from southern Namibia and South Africa, this forest is the only place where a large number of these trees grow together in the wild. Normally these trees grow alone. From the bark, the San men (bushmen) build their bows.
We take the road again (of the two that there are, one goes from north to south, the other from east to west, or vice versa), to go to Lüderitz, a coastal town that borders the forbidden diamond zone (where it is better not to approach, since armed characters with unfriendly faces roam around, who do not hesitate to shoot if necessary).
But before reaching Lüderitz we made a detour to go in search of a waypoint that Alex had found, where we were supposed to be able to take a spectacular photo. It was a train track buried in the desert sand. But when we arrived, OH…., disappointment, the train tracks were no longer there. If industrial development is what it is all about…. Sadly we set off and arrived at the city of Lüderitz.
It was supposed to be very cold here (it’s winter, remember that we’ve changed hemispheres). But it turns out that they’re having a heat wave and we even allow ourselves to wear short sleeves. We look for a hotel since we had planned to sleep in a hotel because it was supposed to be so cold. Almost all of them are closed, it’s not high season here, and it’s not a tourist place, but we don’t have any problems and the second we enter we already have rooms to sleep in.
The city is like any other German city. Wide avenues, large modernist houses, the church on top of a hill, and the Atlantic coast in the background. This creates a breeze that is not bad for us considering the heat.
We dine like kings again, under the light of the generator, the only one there must be in the entire city, because “Light is coming” since we arrived.
Early in the morning we asked for the permits/entrances at the Lüderitzbucht office to visit the ghost town of Kolmanskop, located 14 km to the west, in the heart of the Sperrgebiet (Diamond Area). The fall of diamonds caused the people who worked in the diamond mines to abandon the town. Today, despite the restoration of some buildings, the town is being invaded by desert sand. Spectacular!!!!!!!!.
With sand up to our eyebrows, we head to Aus, from where we will take the first track of the trip, through the track that passes through the Namib-Naukluft. But this will not happen until two days later, so, through impressive landscapes, tracks that stretch as far as the eye can see.
The place where we sleep is the most bucolic. It’s our first night in the tents on the roof and we couldn’t have found a better place to sleep, surrounded by rocks, a luxury campsite.
Stone table and benches, barbecue, bathrooms built into the rock, exclusive to our plot, super clean, a real surprise, which will become the usual tone of the trip. The sunset, unforgettable, like all those we will have from now on.
The Namibian desert
Today we woke up a little upset. After lunch of bread and Nutella we set out to pack up camp, quite an odyssey. We have already done it!!!!. Just as we are about to leave, a voice tells us… “we can’t find the keys”… Who could it be? The search seems endless, we empty the car trunks, we search the rubbish, we empty our suitcases, we comb the area, and after an hour, and as a last resort, before calling the Racc, we decide to open the shops again and bam, bam… the keys.
We set off again, but not before buying the eggs for tonight’s omelette from the farmer.
Through the Namib-Naukluft Desert, the landscape that accompanies us is indescribable. All along the way there are no end of surprises: ostriches, springbok, oryx, you know us, stopping every 5 seconds to take photos. We would later see that this was only the beginning, but at this moment, we were amazed by what we saw.
And the first dunes arrive there in the distance, between the mountains of stone. We are so eager to step on sand that we decide to get to the camp as soon as possible and be able to visit the Sossusvlei Park at sunset. A good decision.
First, we have to reserve a campsite spot at the NWR office and obtain the corresponding permits. Here we have our first encounter with a uniform. As we Indinimuniets are quite nonconformist, it seems very expensive compared to what it had cost us so far, but it is what it is, it is an official organization and if you like it, fine, and if not, you know, you can sleep in the open.
A visit to Sossusvlei at sunset allows us to see the last light of day on the famous dune 45, which receives this name because it is located 45 km from Sesriem and is the 45th from Sossusvlei.
These dunes are huge, with red sand, but you cannot drive over them, as it is a natural park and it is prohibited. They are also impassable.
We return when the sun sets since the park’s opening hours are from sunrise to sunset.
After dinner we “sneaked” into the neighboring resort. The natives explain how to go through the gate through a hole and go to the resort without anyone seeing us. We drink amarula (local liquor) until they close and we return to the campsite through the same hole through which we entered.
Today we dedicate it to visiting Sossusvlei.
It is a large salt flat located between red sand dunes. It is like a dry and dead lake (they call it Deadvlei- dead lagoon). The trees are also dead, but the scenery is surreal, it feels like we are in a science fiction movie. Here the official photographers of Indinimuniets do their thing for a long time.
They say that when it rains a lot this lagoon fills with water and then all the plants that are dormant until now are reborn, but this has not happened for many years.
Here Eduard takes his first steps in driving in sand. They all get out of the car with their legs shaking, but very smiling, this indicates that it has not gone all bad.
We also visit the Sesriem canyon, a canyon between rocks 2km long and 30 m deep.
We return to the track that will lead us to Walbis Bay, and we let ourselves be enveloped by the landscape of golden colors of the grass, the blue of the sky, the red of the dirt of the track, but today we will only arrive at Solitaire where we buy bread and cookies in the Moose store, next to the gas station.
While Jordindi prepares dinner for us (today the chef will delight us with finger-licking spaghetti with tomato), a springbock visits us as if it were the house cat.
The Namibian Coast
The next morning, while we are having a good omelette prepared for us by the cook, a lamb runs to get the ball that has been thrown at it, as if it were the dog of the house.
We go back into the immensity of the track that, now, will take us to Walbis Bay, where we have booked two days in a hotel.
The landscape has already changed a bit, we cross the Tropic of Capricorn (we leave our mark in the form of Indinimuniets and Territori 4×4 stickers on the sign). We cross the Kuiseb canyon, rocky folds covered with the golden grass that accompanies us throughout the trip. Remember that we are in the dry season, we arrive at Walbis Bay at lunchtime. A delicious pizza at Crazy Mama’s gives us the strength to continue the visit in the afternoon, as we will need them later, although we don’t know it yet.
What to say about the 4×4 store. The best boxes Alex could ever find. Well, he’s not happy at all.
We took the Walbis Bay road south, in order to take a walk around the bay and take photos of the flamingos. But, unexpectedly, one of the cars makes a turn, enters the sand of the beach and………. Hooked……. Ufffff… that hooked……. No problem, a sip of beer, sling and…. That’s it.
It’s already dark, so we go back to the hotel and have dinner.
Yes, yes. Today we are determined to tread desert sand. We can’t take it anymore. For this reason, we went to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, to ask for permits to visit Sandwich Harbour. It is only a bureaucratic management, filling in some data on a piece of paper and paying; at the end of the day, it all comes down to paying.
Once the formalities were done, we took the coast to the south, visited the salt flats and coasted along the beach among seal skeletons, taking advantage of the low tide. We have been informed that the tide will be completely high again at 3 in the afternoon. This means that, if we want to return along the same path, we must calculate the time well so as not to be trapped by the tide.
Everything goes smoothly, until we find some Italians who have been trapped in the sand. Like good Samaritans, the Indinimuniets decide to turn around to help them, but a car stops trying. We are trapped up to our necks.
We notify the other car to come and rescue us. Meanwhile, the rackets do their job, in vain. The Italians come to help us, but only the pull of the other car saves us with the sling of the other car. Italians are surprised to see that the Indinimuniets put on a good face and a beer to the stumbles and the comments are: “feliche, feliche….. No problem.”
After this last stumbling block, we now enter the sea of sand between Walbis Bay and Sandwich Harbour, the sand of the desert touches the water of the sea, without a beach; It is an image that amazes us.
We rush back when we realize that the hours have passed quickly and we may not arrive in time before the tide rises. But yes, everything is going well for us.
In the afternoon, we go to Swakopmund, a very touristy city, even though it is now low season. It’s quite cold here. Much visited by fishermen. On the left side, the sea, on the right side, the desert. The sand carried by the wind invades the roadway, completely covering it.
A few photos at sunset on the sea, and back to Walbis Bay.
We take the coast road north and visit Swakopmund. On the way we can see a boat anchored in the rocks. We are located south of the Skeleton Coast.
We walk along the beach for a while until we reach the Cape Cross Sea Lion Reserve. Thousands and thousands of seals, large, small, with an unbearable stench, and closely watched by jackals, attentive to any carelessness of the mothers to eat the young.
We left the coastal part of the country. On the way, in a totally desert landscape, we can see the “welwitchias”. These are plants that grow exclusively in the Namibian desert, living for 1000 years, and are two leaves that grow continuously from a single trunk that is born close to the ground.
Finally we arrived at the Campsite. Unique. We think it’s fantastic. Rustic, we can say that we already feel like we are in the Africa we knew. We are in a remote, remote and enigmatic place. We find everything fascinating. The mountains that surround it take on strange shapes as the earth covers the moon, in tonight’s lunar eclipse.
In search of the elephant trail
But when we wake up and talk to the ladies who manage the campsite they inform us that tonight, on the road next to our tents, a herd of elephants and two lions have passed by (luckily we were sleeping) and they have headed upstream. We didn’t think about it for two seconds.
The riverbed, located between stony mountains, does not make it easy for us to drive through puddles, sand and stones. Excrement, urine and footprints show us the path we must follow if we want to find elephants. Elephant footprints are followed by lion footprints; Now we are clear, under no circumstances can we get out of the car. After three hours we catch up with them.
An indescribable feeling. Perhaps, for the moment, the best part of the trip.
Now we really feel like real INDInimuniets.
Without wasting time, since we are a whole morning behind schedule, we resume the march, but the track we take is very stony, which makes us drive very slowly. Needless to say, all this is beautiful, so wild, so inhospitable. So much so, that while one car is entertained by a herd of zebras that crosses in front of it on the road, the other car must stop due to a puncture in a tire. Everything was going too well for us.
As if this were not enough, on a bend in the road, in the car behind them they hear some blows next to the window. When they want to realize it, a black rhinoceros, with huge horns, runs away, in a hurry, taking refuge behind the bushes. What a horror, !!!! ……….. Now we must ensure a place to sleep. We cannot let the night without shelter surprise us.
We must turn around a couple of times, as the tracks we take do not quite convince us, it is getting dark, with no town in sight.
Finally, in the middle of the night (it must be six o’clock by now) we arrive at Twyfelfontein and at the first light we find we stop to ask for a campsite. They tell us that it is 100m away, but without any light in sight it is impossible to see it.
It is once again a first-class campsite, although rustic (the showers are enclosed spaces with reeds with a tap hanging from the tree and the hot water is a metal drum full of water that they heat with burning wood), but very clean and the people who manage them are very friendly. The plot we are assigned also has a barbecue. In short, a luxury.
We started the walk in the morning, we decided not to go to the Petrified Forest, as it is quite far away, and would divert us from the route. We don’t want to waste any more time. Yes, we are going to visit the Organ Pipes. These are columns of dolomite (basalt) in a small torrent. It’s not worth it, so we don’t waste any more time and head to an old German fort.
The landscape continues to show us large esplanades of golden grass, with beasts roaming around, and some mountains in the background.
Almost at lunchtime we arrived at the fort. We can already see families of Hereros in the surroundings. It is an ethnic group in Namibia where women dress in the style of the nineteenth century. Gossip explains that when Dr. Livingston’s wife arrived in these latitudes, she forced the Herero-Himba women to dress in her own way. The first ones still dress that way.
Before eating we look for a place where they can fix the wheel of the car. While they are repairing it, we eat in the shade of an acacia tree.
So, we take the track that goes northeast. On this beautiful track, we sighted the first wild giraffes. We have the same sensation, the same excitement again.
When we reach the small settlement of Herero (it cannot be called a village) it is already dark, but although we have the waypoint of the camp there is no way to find it. Paths to the right, paths to the left, not that we return to the main track, that we have already passed through here. Luckily a truck tells us with its lights to stop, we wait to see what they tell us and they themselves accompany us to our plot in the camp, since they are workers from the same campsite.
Needless to say, how the camp is. Like all the others. The barbecue and dinner taste like heaven, after the uneasiness we have had tonight. With the Whisky-brifing by the fire everything is forgotten.
When we wake up we realize that we have been sleeping on the riverbank. The same river that we will take to go in search of the elephants. But first we must go to reception to pay for the night. Everything that yesterday seemed far from the world today, with the light of day, is just around the corner.
Here we go!!!! As we now know a little more about these boundaries, we are very encouraged to find the elephants. The locals have told us that the elephants have gone upstream, and the lions downstream (towards the sea), but they warn us not to suffer, that in the other river we will see elephants, for sure.
And so we arrange, passing between mountains that form narrow passes, crossing dry river beds, we live the adventure in its purest form, since we do not find only elephants, in a bend of the river a huge giraffe is waiting for us. We can also see, although the river was very sandy, that in the rainy season it must carry a lot of water, since the weeds and trunks accumulated on one side of the trees give a glimpse of the fury with which the water must flow.
Downstream we find elephants again. They no longer surprise us but the feeling remains the same. Hidden behind the trees we watch the elephants eat, push the trees to break the branches, etc… They are entire herds of elephants. In the silence that surrounds us, the looks between us say it all.
We went to sleep at the campsite. Today we all feel deliciously good. The municipal campsite is next to a puddle and the frogs don’t stop croaking.
In the land of red women
We take the tracks that will take us to the capital of the North. Here the landscape begins to change. The golden grass is replaced by brown acacia bushes, enveloping everything in this color. It becomes a bit monotonous if it were not for the ups and downs that make up the track.
We are in Kaokoveld or Kaokoland (land of the Himba). The Himba are nomadic herders (fewer and fewer) known for covering their skin and hair with a mixture of cow lard and clay, to protect themselves from the sun.
You can already feel the heat, although we are in winter. Imagine how hot it must be in summer.
In the middle of this landscape we arrive at Opuwo, a town where all the nearby ethnic groups converge. The Himba, the Herero, the Ovambo (who are the most numerous in Namibia).
As soon as we arrive, we look for a campsite to sleep and be able to leave the car in a safe place, as it does not give us a good feeling at first glance.
The Frenchman who runs the campsite explains a lot of things to us while we eat. He advises us not to go out with a lot of money, and without backpacks on the street. He tells us that since they have fixed the track and have made a new supermarket, this town is no longer what it was, and neither are the ethnic groups. The Himba who live in villages near the town spend all day looking for tourists to be photographed in exchange for money, and immediately spend it at the supermarket on beer. The Hereros do the same.
When we go for a walk around the town we can see it. It’s all dirty with beer bottles thrown on the floor and we get in the nose that there are more than one and one who has several too many glasses. In short, a shame.
We woke up determined to visit a Himba village, so we have bought packages of salt, rice, coffee and flour to give to the women of the village we visit. We don’t know which one yet, but we do know that the further away from Opuwo it is, the more authentic we will find it. And finally we arrived at the village.
We are very well received, there are no men, only women and children. As a sign of respect, we shake hands with the oldest women in the village. We find them grinding the grain so that they can cook the porridge they will eat for lunch. While we are there, one of the women does not stop stirring the pot, to thicken the porridge. The oldest is finishing a bracelet that they wear on their ankles, and when she finishes it, she offers it to us to sell.
The girls want to show us the shack where they live, so join us inside. It is actually an open-plan room, with skins on the floor, where they sleep. The leather skirts hung from a nail in the wall of the shack.
They show us that to be more beautiful, and as long as they do not become little women, they anoint the hair that falls in front of their faces with black ash. When they become little women, they will smear their hair with clay and grease like all other women.
The visit ends with the obligatory purchases. It is a little difficult for us to understand each other and that is why we must write on the ground the values of bargaining. Very funny.
We arrived at lunchtime at Epupa Falls. From the track at the top of the mountain we see an oasis of palm trees and greenery that surprises us. Nothing made us think that we could find such an image. We get closer and the roar of the falling water makes us realize that we have reached the Epupa Falls.
We camped right next to the Kunene River, a few meters from the main waterfall. On the other side of the river it is already Angola.
It’s very hot, we decide to eat quietly in the shade of the palm trees and relax a bit during the siesta.
Tired of so much relaxation, we walked around the waterfalls.
Really wonderful. We walk and walk along the stones that surround the waterfalls. The main one is spectacular, as it is formed in a crack in the riverbed, creating a narrow and high waterfall. But there is not just one, but the river divides into many small waterfalls, on the Angolan side, where huge Baobabs grow.
To Etosha National Park
We leave the waterfalls behind and head to Ruacana, but before we stop at another Himba village. It’s not the same anymore. The gift we offer them seems little to them. It doesn’t seem that they feel too keen to show us around the town, so the visit is short and disappointing.
Today is a day of transit. We do not lose sight of the brown landscape offered by the acacia bushes.
We get to sleep in Uutapi when the sun goes down. We look for the campsite, where, according to the guide, there is a huge Baobab.
It’s true, the entire campsite surrounds the Baobab. There is no one else staying. The manager tells us that he must go to a wedding. He gives us his mobile number, closes the door and leaves. If something were to happen, we should call him.
Today will also be relaxing, since until tomorrow night we do not have a reservation to sleep in Etosha. We have read in the guide that there is a very beautiful village: Tsumeb. And here we go.
We must pass through the road that borders the Etosha National Park. We arrive at something that resembles a customs office. We were petrified. Crossing with raw meat is not allowed. And we brought the churrasco that we were thinking of having for dinner.
In short, if we want to cross with the churrasco, we must cook it a little in front of the guards or we have to give them the meat. But the Indinimuniets are not discouraged and turn around. We stopped a few kilometers back to cook the meat and eat it. It was already beginning to be time.
We kept the bones so that we could prove that we were not going to pass the hidden meat again. And they asked us for them!!!!!!. Wow, what things.
And we even slept in a Pension in Tsumeb. The guidelines should not always be heeded. In reality, there is nothing special about the town. Large well-landscaped avenues. To get rid of the bad taste in our mouths, we go to dinner at the restaurant of the best hotel in town.
And if until now we had seen quite a few animals, now in the park we will surely be able to see even the most ferocious.
The park’s campsites open their doors at 6 a.m. and close at 6 p.m.
Some of the rules are: You cannot get out of the car at any time except in the designated picnic and toilet areas. You cannot feed the animals or disturb them.
In short, three days of comings and goings along the paths of the park, from pond to pond, from photo to photo and yes, in the end, we managed to see lions.
In the evenings, next to the campsite, in the illuminated ponds you can see animals approaching to drink. In total silence, all of us who were there, behind the fence, waited patiently or impatiently to be able to see one. And we were lucky, without much waiting, we saw a rhino, an elephant, a jackal…..
The lion’s roar at night is terrifying. Too bad it can’t be shown with photos
Return to the capital
We said goodbye to Etosha National Park happy. But sad at the same time, this is coming to an end. Today we are heading to the capital to take the plane back tomorrow.
On the way to Windhoek we stop in Otjiwarongo, fill up with gas, and visit the craft market, where we do the last shopping for the family.
We arrived in Windhoek at dusk. A small problem with the rooms, nothing that has no solution and to have dinner in a good restaurant in the capital. The first one we choose, according to the guide, no longer exists. What a success! Luckily some very friendly neighbors, seeing us a little lost, recommend us and show us on the map the Restaurant De Luigi. A first class dinner of fish, seafood, wine, for four dollars.
This is coming to an end. Everything is going as if at a slow pace. We get up late, pack our bags, and go to visit the capital, which has nothing special, except for a pedestrian street with shops and an exhibition of meteorites in the middle of the street.
We don’t want this to end. Our experience tells us that trips are remembered and savored better as the days go by and you remember, now this, then that, the companion who makes you remember something you had forgotten, and the moments in the meetings of friends where you explain everything you have lived with the feeling that you are still there.
