On the road again

Finally after one week stuck in Windhoek (where it rained most of the time) we could hit the road again! In Windhoek we both suffered from a little flu and were worried that it might be malaria. Before we went into the bush again we wanted to make sure what goes on and bought a malaria self test kit at a pharmacy. Luckily it turned out to be just a flu.

With fresh spirits we headed for the Waterberg Plateau Park and were once again shocked about the rates of Namibia Wildlife Resorts and decided to keep our boycott upright. Just 8km down the road we settled for the night at the Wildnerness Waterberg Campsite. (120.00 per person per night). It was still quite expensive, but they offer some fair priced activities and the camp sites are really nice and neat. More over you do not have to pay the park entrance fees even though you can hike the top of the plateau. The resort offers game drives and guided walks, but there are also some hiking trails where one can go by himself. We spend two nights there. On the morning of the second day Matt enjoyed a guided scenic walk (N$ 75.00 pp). The local guide had a great knowledge about the local flora, fauna and history and it was a pretty good outing. On the plateau is a lot of wildlife, but they only saw leopard and buffalo tracks.

Our original plan was to go north towards the Caprivi Strip, but due to the heavy rains we though its better to wait a while before crossing back into Botswana again. Instead we headed towards the Kaokoland! We were aware that it will be wet and we might not get through, but we both really wanted to explore it at least a little.

Our second battery starts to give us trouble again. It somehow does not charge properly – so no more cool drinks. We changed the battery already in Windhoek, as we were told that the one we just bough in Cape Town for a bloody fortune was faulty. Well that wasn’t the case… We went to see two mechanics in Kamanjab but they both told us a different story – one said that the alternator is broken, the other said that something on the wiring between the two batteries is wrong and therefore the second battery only charges very slowly. We decided to leave it as it is and sort it out later. We spend the night at the Porcupine Camp (N$ 45 pp & N$ 15 per car) located just outside Kamanjab on the road towards Palmwag. The sites are quite nice with an outside shower and toilet. In the evening just next to the reception they feed the porcupine so you have very good chances to see them. We don’t really like to see people feeding wild animals but the owner gave us a reasonable explanation why they are feeding them. During our time at the campsite we came across two not so welcoming guests: a young zebra cobra and a scorpion.

Our plan was to spend the next night at Fort Sesfontein, as we sold this property to our guests from time to time. Once we arrived there, we had to discover that they closed down their campsite. So at least we thought that we will be able to fill up on petrol but their petrol pump was broken and a new one has just been ordered. So we headed straight to Opuwo. The town itself isn’t a very nice place, but it’s good to stock up food and petrol for the next couple days. The owner of the campsite on which we stayed told us that they just had some guests the day before which did not get up to the Epupa Falls which was a bit of a smash in our hope to get there ourselves.

Since it did not rain during the night we decided to leave for the Falls. It was 180 km, but already after the first 10 km, we found a car stock in a deep mud pool. We could easily cross it with the cruiser and helped the other guys out. That wasn’t really a wise decision, as we could smell our clutch for the next 60 km! There must have been quite a lot of rain during the last couple days as it was very wet and the road was very badly damaged in some places. After several not so hectic river crossing we reached Okangwati. Here the river is very wide and quite strong. The last part is tarred but the first 50m are deep sand in the riverbed itself. We found some car tracks, so there must have been at least someone else who crossed the river this day, but we were a bit anxious as we were driving alone but still keen enough to give it a try. There is quite a big village and we were sure that for some (not so) cool drinks they will get us out in case that we should get stuck. We walked the river several times and finally Matt brought us safely trough! It was quite fun but I did not look forward to it to cross it again on our way back…80km further up we finally reached the Epupa Falls. On the campsites were two other cars, one full with guys from Israel and one with a German couple. They arrived a day earlier and were even more worried about the river than we were. The falls were stunning and huge, the scenery around it is just beautiful.

There are quite a few hiking trails along the river and since it flows so strong we were told that the crocodiles are all further up the river. Good to know since you camp right on the river’s edge. The Kunene River was quite high and some of the tented rooms were even flooded, luckily the campsite not. I forgot the name of the campsite (Ongungupa or something), but it’s the second one the one without a fence. It was quite nice (76.00 pp), but you should prebook during high season to get a campsite at the waterfront (sites 1-5). The others are in the back from where you can’t really see the river. As it looked like it was going to rain, we decided the next day to head towards Ruacana. We were told not to take the road along the river during the raining season, so we drove all the way back and wanted to go via Swartbooisdrift to Ruacana or as far as we could make it. The Israelis and Germans were leaving too this day. On our way towards Okangwati we could see that it did rain a lot during the night, some of the small rivers had a lot more water than the day before and the road was even worse. We arrived at Okangwati around lunch time and were shocked how deep and strong the river was today! It was twice as deep as the day before and very strong. The good thing was, we could see that it was slowly sinking. A local guy was also inspecting the river and told us that he will try to cross the river further up. We followed him but as soon as we came to the crossing point we could see that the river up here was even stronger. We walked through but it was all loose sand underneath, so we all decided to go back to Okangwati hoping that the river was still loosing its tense. By the time we arrived, the Israelis gave it a try and were stuck deep in the middle of a sand bank. (It was quite fun, because we told them before not to drive over this very same sand bank but they tried it anyway and got stuck). There was no way that another car could help them getting out. They drove themselves in deep shit. We told them that they should jack the car out, but one of the Israelis thought he knew better. He drove the rental car Hilux of the German couple into the river and tried to recover his Cruiser with an old rope. It did not work. The local guy had a winch, but that didn’t help either. After 2 hours of convincing him to use his jack, he finally agreed. As the whole village was there to help, we decided to continue our journey to Ruacana. The river lost a lot of his power during the recovery time, so we could easily drive through. Just after the turn towards Swartbooisdrift, we found another car stucked in a small riverbed. The road out of the river was very steep. We decided to help the Himbas to get their car out. It was a very old Toyota Hilux not even 4x4 loaded with hundreds of kilos of maiz, beer as well as a huge generator. After empting the whole load of the car it was recovered in no time. It was quite a spectacle! By the time we walked back to our car the Himbas started to scream, so we looked back and just saw a flesh flood coming down the river. Luckily their car was out! For us it meant that we had to head back to Opuwo and take the main road to Ruacana.




n our way to Opuwo, we came across the Israelis again. They made it finally through the river! But just before Opuwo, in the same mud hole where we recovered a car yesterday were two vehicles stuck. Everyone helped pushing them out, once they were on their way, we drove through.


In Opuwo we filled our tank. Our petrol consumption to Epupa was about 20l/100km! We continued along the main road to Ruacana and arrived there just after 19h00. We stayed at a place called Eha Lodge (N$ 45.00 pp) which has a big camp site and is about 16km from the Ruacana Falls. As we arrived so late and had a very adventurous day we gave ourselves a treat and had dinner at the restaurant. (N$ 100.00 pp for a 3-course set menu and the drinks are cheap! 7 Nam Dollars for a Savanna) In the morning it started to rain, so we slept in. Around lunch time we visited the Ruacana Falls, but I must say that I prefer the Epupa Falls. The Ruacana Falls are massive (at least during rainy season) but the whole landscape around Epupa is so much nicer. At Ruacana are only limited walkways so you can’t really enjoy spending a lot of time there. Since the Falls are located between Angola and Namibia, you have to cross the Namibian border but not go through to the Angolan border post.

The next morning was a rainy one again and we had to pack up our camp in the rain. Due to all the water we could not take the road in the north directly to Rundu but had to go down the B1 in direction Tsumeb. On the way we saw that we are not the ones that were hit worst with the rain but whole parts of Oshakati and Ondangwa were under water.

The whole scenery around the B1 looked a bit like the Okavango Delta in full flood. At least the cattle seemed to enjoy it and the locals make the best out of it and are busy fishing along the “flood plains”. This day we set our camp a a place just north of Etosha NP. On T4A it was indicated as Ohashana Resort and Campsite but it turned out to be some sort of training centre of the Namibian Ministry of Acriculture. Neverthless there are campsites available and one can use the showers and toilets on place. The best thing about it is that it only costs N$ 30 pp and it’s only about 15 kilometres from the northern gate of Etosha.

Our next stop was in Rundu. We both thought that Rundu is as small as every other town, but we were wrong. Its quite big and their busy building a fairly big shopping mall. We restocked and enjoyed a sunny afternoon at the Ngadu Safari Lodge (N$ 50.00 pp) camp site. Unfortunately soon some Overland truck came and the peace and quiet was gone. The next morning the whole place looked like a real big mess, so we decided to pack our things and drive on. We headed for Bagani where we spend the night at a nice community camp site N/Goabaca Campsite (N$ 60.00 pp) just opposite the Popa Falls. It was quite nice, especially because every campsite had its own sundowner deck, where there was enough space to pitch the tent in a safe distance from the river. Before we got there however we checked in at the Ngepi Camp (N$ 75.00 pp), which had great toilets and was very nice, but Lynn didn’t felt safe as the river was only 2 meters away from where we were supposed to pitch our tent. We could hear and see the hippos all the time so we decided to travel on. Again the weather was not very nice, since we left Windhoek pretty much every day it was raining. Early in the morning we continued towards Kongola. Unfortunately we did not spot any elephants in the Caprivi Strip but came across many chameleons. Kongola was out of petrol, which sucked especially because the next day the petrol will rise by 31 cents per little… Shit happens. We stayed at Namushasha Lodge (N$ 55.00 pp) the campsite is nothing really special, but the lodge is very nice. They all have a beautiful deck facing the river. If you are not on a budget like we are, it is definitely worth to try. Short after pitching the tent it started to rain again. We decided to use the lodge facilities to stay dry and spend the whole afternoon there, as it never stopped raining. Apparently it hadn’t rained as much as this year in 50 years! We even got ourselves a treat and ate in the restaurant, which was quite expensive, but yummie.

After another wet night we packed our stuff and turned left Namibia. We really enjoyed the 5 weeks that we spent there. We took the Ngoma borderpost and the crossing went without any problems. The Botswanan border official gave us another 30 days in Botswana so we have enough time to explore Chobe, Moremi and maybe Nxai/Magadigadi Pans (dependingon the water). On the transit road from the border to Kasane we came along our first Sable Antelope and were quite impressed with the huge horns it had. We hoped to escape the rain by going to Kasane. It looked really good but unfortunately it started to rain in the late afternoon as well. They had nice weather for over 2 weeks, but as soon as we arrived it started to rain. We stay at the campsite of the Chobe Safari Lodge (Pula 55.00 pp) which is conveniently located. They have 24 hours security to make sure everything is safe. Lynn felt really good, especially as we saw the fences around the camp and even in the water to keep the crocs and hippos away. The next morning we woke up and were told, that a hippo broke the fence and was running around the campsite. It was only 6 meter from our tent! We did hear a hippo calling during the night but were relieved because we knew that there was a fence. The guys fixed the fence the next morning and everything went back to normal, we stay here for another couple nights and hope that the hippo won’t return…


We spend a day at the Chobe Nationalpark. Luckily we picked the right day and there was sunshine all day long! We got up early, at least we thought so, but as we headed towards the gate, we saw that they opened it already at 5h30, so we were an hour late. This wasn’t such a bad thing as we would have stayed in queue anyway to get in because of all the game drive vehicles. The first two hours we saw them everywhere, but luckily they disappeared after the morning and only returned short before 4 o’clock. Already on our way to the park we saw an african civet, which was very nice as we haven’t seen any before. In the first hour we came across two lionesses and lots of impalas. But no elephants at all, which we thought was quite strange for Chobe. The rest of the morning was quiet.

Around lunchtime the animals returned from the thick bush and high grasses and we saw elephants, hippos, crocs, kudus, sable antelopes, kudus, giraffes, baboons, buffalos and lots of birds. The road was quite wet but that made the thick sand a lot more compact and easier to drive. The next morning we had a huge troop of vervet monkeys and warthogs visiting the campsite and it was sunny again! It almost seems that the rain is over…

On the road again

Windhoek to Windhoek...

The weather in Windhoek did not want to clear up and it was quite a wet stay. Carine and Jonathan arrived with their flight from Europe to join us for 2 weeks in Namibia. We already decided to leave Windhoek the very same day. Unfortunately their luggage did not arrive with the same flight and we had to stay another night in Windhoek and get their luggage the next day.

Luckily this time the luggage arrived and we left Windhoek via C26. Once we were past the Kupferberg Pass the sky went dark and we found ourselves in the middle of a thunder and hailstorm. We could not see anything in front of our car but it seemed as if the storm did not want to pass by and so we drove with 5kmh until we reached the end of the storm. We went on until we found a place to pitch our tents just before the Gamsberg Pass. We stayed at the Weissenfels Guestfarm (N$ 100 per person). The farm is quite nice and there are some horses and a lot of minerals on the farm, but way overpriced!

The next morning the weather cleared up and we were greeted by a nice sunrise. After the breakfast we headed on over the Gamsberg Pass. We saw a group of kudus just before the pass. It is quite impressive to see how easily they can jump over the farm fences even though they are quite big animals. After a quick stop on top of the pass we were once again on our way and within a few kilometres we came past the first of totally three herds of mountain zebras. We did not expect to see any animals on that part of the trip and were quite happy to be so lucky. By that time there was also not a single cloud around and temperatures once again started to soar.

In Solitaire we went to refill our tanks and tried the famous apple pie. We were not too impressed and I am sure there are lot of people out there who can bake a better pie than this. Neverthless we enjoyed the pie since we are living from camp food for quite a while already.

Just past Solitaire we went to see the petrified dunes and took the opportunity for a site inspection at the Namib Desert Lodge (Since one day we have to go back to join the rat race it is always good to do some research while on holidays I guess). The Lodge is a nice place for tour groups and the petrified dunes give it a nice backdrop. After this we were on our way to Sesriem. I always thought this is a little village but I had to discover that it is only a petrol station and the office of Namibian Wildlife Resorts. My mind finally arrived in Namibia. We intended to stay at the Sesriem Campsite for the next two nights and wanted to get our booking. The price for 4 people was around N$ 1200 per night and the campsites are absolutely nothing to write home about. Therefore we decided to stay at the Desert Camp (N$ 400 pp) which is 100 dollars more per person but definitely much nicer.

The next morning we were off to the Sossusvlei. I think it is quite strange that once you enter the park you hit a perfect maintained tar road in the middle of nowhere. The scenery gets nicer all the way to the vlei and the dunes become higher and higher as well. Once we arrived in the Sossusvlei we made us lunch. The ladies decided to relax a bit in the shade while Jonathan and I went for a hike to the Dead Vlei. The short walk to the Dead Vlei paid off and we really enjoyed the surreal looking pan with all the burnt trees and the huge dunes around.

Late in the afternoon we were back at the camp and had some time to freshen up before we went to the Sossuvlei Lodge for dinner. The buffet which they serve is huge and you get a nice variety of game, lamb, pork and beef. A real treat! After the luxurious dinner we had a short night before us since we had to get up before 5 am to go for a balloon ride (thanks to Eric who invited us for this).

The early start was definitely worth it and we enjoyed the desert from a totally new perspective. The pilot and his apprentice definitely knew what they where doing and besides flying high above the ground they where also up for some dune shaving (flying the balloon along the edge of the dunes). Besides the usual suspects (Oryx and Springbok) we also saw a big African Wildcat running through the dunes. After about an hour we landed in a Valley called Discovery where we were greeted by nice champagne breakfast.

The ride back to Sesriem was on an open game drive vehicle. Very windy but also quite refreshing and the colours of the landscape where just great. So far this was definitely one of the more beautiful places on our trip. After checking out of the camp we went back to Solitaire and through the Namib Naukluft Park to Walvis Bay. For my taste the landscape at this part of the Namib is a bit too barren so we just drove through without much stopping. In Walvis Bay we went to a place called Lagoon Chalets and Caravan Park (N$ 175 for 4 PAX). It was very windy and the sand went into everything, no matter how good you sealed something. The campsite is not special at all, but close to the beach.

From Walvis Bay we decided to only take a short journey up to Swakop this day. We checked out the flamingos restocked meat and veggies since it was Saturday and we were planning to take the backroads for the next days. In Swakop we went for lunch at the Lighthouse Pub and Restaurant. A bit touristy but the fish and chicken is quite nice. The rest of the day was just relaxing at the campground, the Alte Brücke Resort (N$ 200 per campsite with 2 PAX and N$ 55 for every additional person). The campsite has nice grass which keeps away all the sand and you also get your own abolution block together with the campsite.

The plan for the next few days was to go via Messum Crater towards Damaraland. While driving through the Messum Riverbed we came along some Jackals and Springboks and of course a lot of huge Welwitschias.

I expected a rough ride but the trails have been in a very good shape and we made our way to Uis in one day. The night was spent in the Brandberg Restcamp (N$ 50 per person). The restcamp has a huge swimming pool and a very friendly owner. In the morning we have been approached by a lot of locals which tried to sell us some minerals and they managed to convice Jonathan to buy a tiny piece of stone for 10 Dollars. We had to fill up our cars before heading into Damaraland and again everyone was trying to sell us something at the petrol station but this time we just made it without buying anything. We drove halfway aroung the Brandberg on some tracks which where indicated on T4A. Damaraland is absolutely stunning and we liked just cruising along. We wanted to cross the Ugab River to make our way in direction Twyfelfontein but already from a distance one could see that there is a lot of water flowing in the river. We decided to give it a try but after walking 2 meters into the river I sank into knee deep mud. This made us travelling a bit further up until we reached a spot which looked good for a save crossing. There was only 20 cm deep water and a sandbank almost on the other side of the river. Lynn wanted to give it the first try and went through without any problems onto the sandbank.

From there it was only about 5 metres to reach the riverbank but in the middle of this small stretch the back wheel started to spin and digged itself into the river. Jonathan came to the rescue and recovered us back onto the sandbank. By the time Jonathan was on the sandbank there were already about 15 locals He dediced to cross the last stretch a bit further up the sandbank but did not even make past the sandbank without getting stuck. So this time we helped him coming back out again. After this we decided to turn over and go back to the side from which we came and drive up to the bridge. From there we took the main road all the way to the Aba Huab Campsite. This campsite is really pretty and lies directly on the banks of the (dry) Aba Huab River. This night we heard the hyenas calling.

Since we sold the rock engravings, organ pipes and burnt mountain to our overseas tourists quite often while working in Cape Town it was a must to go and visit those sights. The rock engravings are really pretty and you are accompanied by a local guide who can tell you quite a bit about the history and meaning of the place. The organ pipes and burnt mountain have been quite a disappointment though and I hope that not too many of our clients are too angry about our appraisal of those sights.

Later that morning we headed further up north until we reached Palmwag. We were greeted by some very friendly locals at the vet fence and thought that they are the officials there. After we told them about us and our family they suddenly gave us some nuts with animals and all the names of our family members on each one of it. It turned out that those guys just wanted to do some business and where no officials at all. This took us by surprise and I ended up buying five of those bloody nuts for 120 Nam Dollars. I must say I felt quite a bit ripped off but soon discovered that I still made a bargain. Jonathan bought 2 of those nuts for 100 Nam Dollars and also entered a soccer bet for a local game which might be taking place by the end of the month. So he spent another 150 Nam Dollars for a bet of which he will never know the outcome. We wanted to spend the night at the campsite of the Palmwag Logde and paid the 90 Dollars per person. A bit later there was a thunderstorm coming up and the ladies decieded that we are going to sleep in one of the bungalows. They made a deal with the GM of the lodge which Jonathan and I still don’t understand but apparently it was another Palmwag bargain.

Next morning we got up early for a drive through the concession but after some thinking we decided to just drive along the main road. This paid out and we encountered lots of giraffes, oryx and sprinboks. The giraffes looked completely wrong in this landscape which only consists of some small bushes and millions of red granite rocks. Since we are in the rainy seasons the elephants have wandered off and were not to be seen around Palmwag. We originally wanted to go up to Kaokoland after dropping of Carine and Jonathan in Windhoek but at breakfast we talked to some of the lodge management and they advised us not to go up there until after Easter. Apparently in the last two weeks there were 3 cars being washed away by the rivers.

This afternoon we drove towards Etosha NP and booked us onto the campsite of the Etosha Safari Camp 9 kilometres outside Etosha. With 50 Nam Dollars per person per night this is a really good alternative to the NWR restcamps inside the park. We went for a drive inside the park this evening but did not see too much besides the usual boks and jackals. The highlight of the next day was a sighting of 3 lions just next to one of the pick nick spots. Unfortunately the lions wandered off as soon as they saw us coming.

From Etosha Safari Camp we went through the park and stopped at Halali for the night. While we were pitching camp there was a staff member coming to us and told us something about alk or so. No one understood what he wanted until he grabbed Jonathan by the arm and took him to a nearby tree. This time Jonathan did not get ripped off. The good fellow just wanted to show us a scoops owl which was hiding in a tree close by.

In the eving we have been visited by a honey badger which was strolling through the restcamp in search of some food.

The next morning was a bit of a disappointment and we saw hardly any animals. Just before we reached Namutoni our luck was about to change. Carine spotted three lion cubs hiding in the bush close the the road. After we had a closer look it turned out to be three Cheethas lying there. We spent some time looking at them hiding in the thick bush until the first one decided to get up and wander along.

Soon after the two others also came out of their hide and crossed the road. This gave us the good spirit back and we were again full of motivation for the rest of the day. There have been some good rains around Namutoni and the whole pan which is supposed to be completely dry was a huge lake. This looked absolutely stunning and around the water there were lots of animals to be seen. Late in the afternoon we decided to do the loop at Fisher Pan which was a huge lake as well. We came along three elephant bulls which where fighting with each other in the middle of the water and a bit later we watched a heard of elephants playing in the mud at the edge of the pan. Just before we came back to Namutoni we spotted a Rhino with his calves. In the end a very rewarding day.

The night was spent just outside the park (we forgot the name…). It is quite a luxurious campsite and once again much cheaper than staying inside the park.

The next two days where more or less spent by driving down to Windhoek to drop of Carine and Jonathan. We visited the wood market at Okahanja on the way. Lynn and I told all the guys that we were the tour guides and don’t buy anything which turned out to be a good tactic. Jonathan and Carine however had to visit each and every shop of the market before we could leave.

Once we arrived in Windhoek it started to rain again. Looks like we are not to lucky with the weather here. In addition to the rain the look of one of our cruiser’s door broke and did not want to open anymore. So after dropping Carine and Jonathan at the rental car company we went to town to see if someone can fix that door. We’ve been to two Toyota dealers but they both were not to helpful so we went to a looksmith in the hope that he could help us. But once again we were not succsesfull. So we decided to wait with that and first replace our battery which also gave us some problems. This was a smooth process without any hassles but when we wanted to pay for the battery we realized that somewhere along the way we have been robbed of Lynn’s handbag which has all the money and credit cards etc. in it. We had some US Dollars which Carine exchanged for a later stage of our journey and decided to pay with them.

It looks as if there is no way to get that bloody debit card here in Windhoek and we most likely have to go down to Upington or Springbok to get a new one at one of the ABSA branches there. Since we intended to go up to Caprivi from here it is a bit of a hassle but we’ll see.

In the meantime we sorted everything out! After one week stuck in Windhoek we will finally get our bankcard tomorrow (04.03.08) and can continue our journey. Thanks to Anita and her family as well as Landi for all your help! As usual, we'll keep you posted.

Namibia

South Africa – Botswana – Namibia

We started our journey on the 24 January 2008. We left after 4 hours of packing Cape Town and drove towards the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. We reached the park on day 2 and enjoyed an evening drive. We saw already some game (springbok, ostrich, wildebeests, gemsboks and jackals). Back at the Twee Rivieren Campsite (the ground is far to hard to pitch a tent properly) we enjoyed a braai. In the morning we went to the Botswana Border inside the park to get our passport stamped. It all went very well; on the SA side they had an officer in uniform who checked our car and passport properly. On the Botswana side we first waited until someone showed up – but as soon as someone was there it only took 5 minutes to do the bookings and get the passport stamped. We even got 30 days, in case we like it so much! Our next stop was Mata-Mata (the roads were fixed recently, it was a very smooth drive), on the way we saw a lion family (1x female, 1x male and 3x cubes) they were just lying next to the waterhole. The campsite at Mata-Mata is just next to a waterhole, so we enjoyed an amazing view from the comfort of our camping chairs. There is even a bird hide which is quite cool during the day. The pool at Mata-Mata was great, especially during the bloody hot January days… On the drive to Nossob (this street will be fixed soon) we saw lions again. In front of the restcamp is another bird hide, which was visited by lions daily. We saw and heard them every day. During the night the jackals visit the campsite looking for food, so it was necessary to store away everything, as they even steal your shoes! We spend two days at Nossob, there are quite a few waterholes nearby, but the best one was the one just in front of the camp. On our arrival day we saw about 400 black herons resting at the waterhole, before they flew away the next morning on their way towards Europe.

On day 4 we took the Trail to the Botswana side. The drive is very easy for a Landcruiser, but on our way we helped out some German tourist who were pushing their Hillux Rental car over the dunes (it wasn’t even steep!) They did that already for the last 2 hours and were very pleased to see us. We checked their tyre pressure. 2.5 bar!!! No wonder they couldn’t drive in this sand. We deflated their tyres to 1.2 bar and off they went, no more pushing. We wanted to overnight at the Matopi 2, but we arrived there so early that we decided to go further. The park was empty so we thought it wouldn’t be a problem to stay at another camp site. As Lynn was very afraid to sleep in the tent on the ground without any fences around the camp site, we slept in the car. It was horrible, about 40C! We turned the aircon on and slept with ice bags next to us, but it was just not comfortable. The next morning we went to the entrance gate to check where we can sleep for the next night. No one was there. We waited quite long, until some rangers showed up. They went looking for the lady which was not very happy that she had to work. Apart from us there were two more vehicles on the Botswana site. She told us were we can pitch our tent, so we stayed at the Mabuasehube 3, from where we enjoyed a great view over the pan. We decided to sleep in the tent and hoped that no lions will visit us. (Lynn is considering a roof top tent.) We did not see much game on the Botswana side and had no visitors at night (as far as we know…). We left the park as our car drank way too much petrol – the fuel gauge was already on half. Outside the park was deep sand and the next petrol station in our direction was 140 km away. We floated over the sand until we finally reached Hukuntsi, just in time before we had to use our jerry cans. Luckily they accepted Rands, as their ATM was out of money. We continued towards Kang and hoped to find an ATM with cash… the first two places were out of order, the third place could get us 400 Pula before it ran out of money. From Kang we drove to Ghanzi were we stayed for two nights at the Thakadu Camp (Pula 40 per person) which was very nice. We continued our journey to the Central Kalahari National Park. The road was surprisingly in good condition (hard as rock). We didn’t even have to deflate our tires. The bush was very thick and the grass high, so it was quit hard to spot any animals outside a pan. We spent one night at Piper Pan and have been quite lucky in the early hours of the evening. There were giraffes, bat eared foxes, lots of jackals and bocks. It was the first time that we saw the foxes so that was quite nice.
The next day we went up to Deception Valley. On the way were massive herds of Gemsbok and Springboks but we did not spot any predators during our whole stay. The park was empty, apart from us where only guest from the Wilderness Expedition Camp inside the park. It was a weird feeling being the only humans in this huge area. On the day of departure it started to rain and the roads turned quickly into mud pools. Our car was covered with mud by the time we reached Rakops. The petrol station in Rakops by the way has disel and petrol and is no longer hand pumped – but the next ATM is only in Maun. So we continued towards Maun where we stayed at Audi Camp (Pula 42 per person and Pula 60 for electricity per night). We just chilled out at the camp, as the weather wasn’t too good. Next stop was Ghanzi again before we headed towards Namibia where we will meet Lynns sister and her boyfriend. We are currenly in Windhoek and it is raining. :( The weather forecast doesn’t look too good, hopefully it will soon clear up.




Cheers,
Matt & Lynn

SA - Central Botswana

Die Tage sind gezählt

Am 24. Januar geht es endlich los! Wir können es kaum erwarten und sind jeden Tag damit Beschäftigt noch die letzten Vorbereitungen zu treffen und daneben noch zu arbeiten…

Über Weihachten haben wir unser gesamtes Hab und Gut verkauft und seit da campieren wir in unserer Wohnung und schlafen auf kleinen Mättchen auf dem Boden. Ist alles Gewöhnungssache und schon eine gute Möglichkeit uns an das Camping Equipment zu gewöhnen. Unser Auto war am Montag in der Werkstatt um es Overland tauglich zu machen. Am Wochenende werden wir noch nigelnagelneue 16“ Räder montieren und danach sind ready to go!

Matt kriegt noch diese Woche seine Brille, dass auch er die Tiere wieder sieht. Am Wochenende lassen wir uns noch zum letzten Mal Impfen (das wird die 8. Spritze in diesem Monat sein) und hauen in Kapstadt nochmal so richtig auf den Putz!

Am 24. reisen wir dann in Richtung Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. Hier werden wir auch etwa eine Woche lang durch das Wildreservat fahren um unsere 4x4 Kenntnisse in Realität umzusetzen. Auf der Botswana Seite verlassen wir dann den Park und reisen weiter in den Central Kalahari Park. Dort bleiben wir bis wir uns am 11. Februar in Windhoek mit Carine und Joni treffen, welche uns für die kommenden 2 Wochen begleiten.


Der Reiseablauf hierzu ist schon etwas konkreter...

Windhoek: Montag, 11. Februar 2008
Ankunft in Windhoek und entgegennahme des Mietwagens. Erledigung der Einkäufe für die kommenden Tage. Übernachtung in Windhoek.

Windhoek – Gamsberg Nature Reserve (145 km): Dienstag, 12. Februar 2008
Die Fahrt geht in südlicher Richtung zum Gamsberg Nature Reserve mit dem gleichnamigen Pass. Der markante, wie mit einem Lineal gezogene Kopf des Gamsberg ist schon aus großer Entfernung auszumachen und weist so den Weg. Der klare Himmel und die Absenz von Städten macht diesen Ort einmalig für Sternenbeobachtungen.

Gamsberg NR – Sesriem (254 km): Mittwoch, 13. Februar 2008
Fahrt weiter in Richtung Südwesten bis nach Sesriem dem Tor zum Sossusvlei. Das Sossusvlei - Namibias landschaftliches Highlight inmitten der Namib Wüste ist eine von mächtigen Sanddünen umschlossene Lehmsenke. Die Dünen erreichen teilweise Höhen von 300 Metern und gehören damit zu den höchsten der Welt.

Sesriem: Donnerstag, 14. Februar 2008
Vor Sonnenaufgang geht es zum Sossusvlei um den Sonnenaufgang mit einem selbstgemachten Frühstück in den Dünen zu erleben. Der weitere Tag steht zur Erkundung der Umgebung bereit. So zum Beispiel das Dead Vlei und Sesriem Canyon.

esriem – Namib Naukluft (Mirabib) (226 km): Freitag, 15. Februar 2008
Weiter geht die Fahrt nun in den nördlichen Teil des Namib Naukluft Parks. Der Namib-Naukluft Park ist mit einer Gesamtfläche von rund 50.000 Quadratkilometern Namibias grösstes Naturschutzgebiet. Es umfasst einen rund 100 bis 150 Kilometer breiten Gürtel entlang der namibischen Küstenwüste, der im Norden am Swakop Flusstal beginnt und sich im Süden bis zur B4 Strasse nach Lüderitz erstreckt. Der nördliche Teil zwischen Swakop und Kuiseb wird Namib Section genannt. Man kann von Swakopmund aus auf der Pad C28 durch den Park hindurchfahren. Interessanter ist der Umweg über den Welwitschia Drive.
Namib Naukluft (Mirabib) – Swakopmund (170 km): Samstag, 16. Februar 2008
Der Tag kann noch im Namib Naukluft Park verbracht werden, bevor es weiter über Walvis Bay nach Swakopmund geht.

Swakopmund: Sonntag, 17. Februar 2008
Swakopmund hatte während der deutschen Kolonialzeit als Hafen grosse Bedeutung, auch wenn die Küstengewässer eigentlich zu flach sind, eine geschützte Bucht fehlt und die Brandung zu stark ist. Lüderitz war jedoch zu entlegen und hatte kein Süsswasser, und der Seehafen Walvis Bay war damals in britischem Besitz. Auch Swakopmunds Umland hat viel zu bieten. Besonders reizvoll sind Fahrten an der herrlichen, dünengesäumten Küste entlang, sowohl ins 30 Kilometer südlich gelegene Walvis Bay als auch in die National West Coast Recreation Area im Norden.

Swakopmund – Cape Cross – Messum Crater (210 km): Montag, 18. Februar 2008
In Richtung Norden geht es vorbei an einer riesigen Robbenkolonie bei Cape Cross in Richtung Messum Crater, einem prähistorischen Meteoritenkrater.

Messum Crater – Brandberg (95 km): Dienstag, 19. Februar 2008
Durch die raue Wildnis geht es über Strassen für welchen wir unsere 4x4 Fahrzeuge brauchen werden bis zum Brandberg. Der Brandberg ist mit seinem Gipfel, dem 2574m hohen Königstein, das höchste Massiv Namibias. Vor 120 Millionen Jahren ragte hier aus einer weiten Ebene ein Vulkan heraus. Das Granitmassiv, das der Sonne und der Witterung trotzt, hat mit seinen zahlreichen Überhängen Buschmännern Zuflucht geboten. Viele Zeichnungen sind zu sehen; am bekanntesten ist die "White Lady", eine Zeichnung, die die Wissenschaftler lange Zeit mit der minoischen Kultur auf Kreta in Zusammenhang gebracht haben. In jüngster Zeit überwiegt die Meinung, dass es sich nicht um eine weiße Frau, sondern einen Medizinmann handelt. Ein 5 km langer Wanderweg durch eine Schlucht führt vom Parkplatz zu der inzwischen durch Gitter geschützten Zeichnung

Brandberg – Palmwag (265 km): Mittwoch, 20. Februar 2008
Vom Brandberg via Khorixas geht es nach Palmwag im Damaraland. Auf dem Weg können Highlights wie der Versteinerte Wald, die sogenannten Orgelpfeifen und weitere Felsmalereien besichtigt werden.

Palmwag: Donnerstag, 21. Februar 2008
Das Damaraland wird - nach wie vor - überwiegend von den Damara bewohnt, die zusammen mit den San (Bushmen), zu den ältesten Einwohnern Namibias gezählt werden. Ihre Sprache gehört zu den Khoisan-Dialekten, ist also mit der Sprache der Namas und San verwandt.
Der Tag steht zur Verfügung um diese traumhafte Region zu erkunden.

Palmwag – Etosha (290 km): Freitag, 22. Februar 2008
Heute machen wir uns auf den weg zum letzten grossen Highlight der Reise, dem Etosha National Park. Wir werden noch ausserhalb des Parks übernachten.

Etosha – Halali (100 km): Samstag, 23. Februar 2008
Etosha umfasst eine Fläche von über 22000 qkm und wurde bereits 1907 von der Deutsch-Südwestafrikanischen Verwaltung zum Wildschutzgebiet erklärt. Im Zentrum liegt eine ausgedehnte Salzpfanne, umgeben von Gras- und Dornsavannen, Mopane-Buschland im Westen sowie Trockenwald im Nordosten. Einstmals, vor rund zwei Millionen Jahren, gab es hier einen riesigen See, der durch den Kunene Fluss gespeist wurde und später durch Änderung des Flussverlaufs allmählich austrocknete.

Halali – Namutoni (70 km): Sonntag, 24. Februar 2008
Der Tag wird uns für Wildbeobachtungen im Park zur Verfügung stehen. Die Pfanne ist nahezu immer trocken. Besonders im südlichen Teil des Parks liegen jedoch verstreut zahlreiche Wasserlöcher, Lebensgrundlage für den Wildbestand im Etosha National Park. Nahezu die gesamte Palette an afrikanischem Grosswild ist im Park vertreten, und natürlich auch die "Grossen Fünf", Elefant, Nashorn, Büffel, Löwe und Leopard. Auf Grund einer per Flugzeug durchgeführten Tierzählung gibt es derzeit rund 250 Löwen im Park, 4000 Gnus, 8000 Oryx-Antilopen, 300 Nashörner, 2500 Giraffen, 6000 Zebras und über 2000 Elefanten. Und von den zierlichen Springböcken gibt es fast 20.000 Exemplare. Oft sieht man sie in riesigen Herden von mehreren Hundert Tieren.

Halali – Otjiwarongo (291 km): Montag, 25. Februar 2008
Wir verlassen den Park und fahren Richtung Süden bis Otjiwarongo.

Otjiwarongo – Windhoek (255 km): Dienstag, 26. Februar 2008
Der letzte Tag bringt uns zurück nach Windhoek von wo aus Carine & Joni wieder zurück in die Schweiz fliegen. Matt und ich werden von hier aus weiterziehn. Wohin die Fahrt geht wissen wir jedoch noch nicht…

We’ll keep you posted!

Not for children under 18...

Not for Children under 18

Sunset on our Balcony

Endlich wieder Sommer und wir können unseren Balkon geniessen. Jeden Abend eine andere Stimmung.

Balcony Sunset

Botswana

Close up