'Wowed' in Namibia
After an 11 hour flight from London Heathrow to Johannesburg, followed by a 2 hour flight from Jo’burg to Windhoek we met our fabulous team at the airport and wandered out to board our Grand Caravan ‘plane which was to be our transport for the duration.
As we set off on our 1 hour flight to take us to our first lodge, Okonjima, home of the Africat Foundation, I had to pinch myself that this was really happening! The main reception area of the Lodge overlooks a waterhole which was fantastic to just sit and watch the activity. We had a tour and talk on the conservation work they carry out before going to see some rehabilitated cheetah’s. Dinner that evening was very special, outside around a traditional Boma.
A 5 am alarm call started day 2 for our first game drive. Full of excitement we tracked the leopard and a hush came over us as we watched her stalk water hog. It is so special seeing giraffe, elephant, zebra, onyx as you turn a corner and the camera clicks were busy left, right and centre!
After lunch, we took the 1 hr flight over the Etosha National Park, with a great bird’s eye view of the Salt Pan of Etosha, to SafariHoek Lodge in Etosha Heights. A very warm welcome by the staff in song greeted us. Our afternoon game drive was incredible with some great spots to include lions, elephants, giraffe, buffalo plus much more – we were blown away. Our sundowner stop had us full of chatter as we toasted the sunset and captured more photos.
An early start on day 3 took us on another fabulous game drive, where we were full of oooh’s and aahhh’s at seeing a baby elephant with his mum, as well as black rhino and zebra amongst other animals. The evening dinner saw us learning about the dress of the Herero Tribe ladies and trying it on ourselves.
A storm had started and the overnight rains were incredibly welcome, especially as this had brought them the most rain at any one time for 109 years - we had obviously taken our UK weather with us!
Our mid-morning flight took us to Damaraland and Twyfelfontein Country Lodge. Every day of this trip brought a new adventure with differing landscapes. Damaraland gave us Bushman rock paintings from thousands of years ago which are so interesting, and Desert Elephant tracking. We were fortunate to view so many elephants during our afternoon drive including a 10-day old baby elephant, you are mesmerised watching them and could easily sit for hours doing so.
We visited the unique Damara Living Museum on day 5, it was fascinating to learn about their culture and to listen to their native ‘click’ dialect…..it was a real highlight to go there.
This afternoon flew us over the Skeleton Coast on our route to a 2-night stay in the oldest hotel in Namibia, the Hansa Hotel in the coastal town of Swakopmund. From here there are lots of adventures to choose from. We took a Mondesa Township Tour after lunch which gave us an insight into the local market, the history of the Herero Tribe and the opportunity to sample some local food including the Mopane worm – the latter ‘enjoyed’ whilst listening to a fabulous acapella group of singers.
Day 6 was our adventure day, starting with a Marine Boat Trip where we were fortunate to see a humpback whale, thousands of seals and had the odd pelican joining us on board the boat! After our enjoyable morning, we set straight off to Sandwich Harbor, where the sand dunes of the Namib Desert touch the Atlantic Ocean. This view was reached by 4x4 on a sand dune bashing tour…..it was so much fun and the screams coming from us as we tipped over the edge of the sand dune could possibly be heard for miles! This was such a wonderful experience and we thoroughly enjoyed taking fun photos making the most of the backdrop.
We left Swakop’ mid-morning of day 7 for the dramatic 1.5 hour flight over the Skeleton Coast – I had the pleasure of being co-pilot - as we flew to Sossusvlei. This is home to one of the highest sand dunes in the world, Big Daddy, which we were to conquer the following morning by walking up it and then running down into Deadvlei to view the remarkable trees standing in the middle of a salt pan which have been dead for over 600 years!
Day 8 had us up and out early from our superb hotel, Le Mirage, for the one hour drive to the foot of Big Daddy. The climbing in sand took some getting used to and started off quite steep, but before we knew it we were at the top taking in the magnificent views. We took a short cut down and it was magical hearing the sand crunch beneath our feet as we took big running strides down the side of the dune…..ending up a foot taller with the amount of sand in our shoes! After our stroll through the salt pan viewing the trees we re-joined our vehicle and headed to Sesriem Canyon to see the stunning rock formations and is one of the few places in the area where water is held all year round.
Our return to Le Mirage gave us a couple of hours to enjoy the Namibian sunshine before our last sundowner overlooking the plains, watching an Oryx wander around (as you do!) We had a fabulous farewell dinner down in the wine cellar which we reached via candle-lit steps – we were truly spoilt.
Our time in Namibia was limited, hence us travelling by private aircraft to allow us to experience the different places however self-drive is a popular travel option….although you could always include both to allow you to see as much as we did!
It is the most amazing destination with lots to offer.....this incredible experience will stay with me forever.