Customer Blog: Our Namibian Adventure

Arriving in Namibia in the evening we were amazed to see a star filled sky which lit our way to our first hotel – a beautifully chic and quiet oasis in the city. The room was tastefully modern, decorated in the local style, with luxury toiletries and what we came to realise was a Namibian custom – a small carafe of port to welcome us! We met our guide, at 9 the next morning, and set off for our first day of exploring Namibia. After a supermarket stop to fill up with water and snacks, we went on our way towards the Namibian desert, travelling south and then west. Soon after leaving Windhoek we were in semi-desert country, with miles upon miles of flat arid landscapes and small granite hills. As we neared our destination for that day a chain of mountains appeared along the horizon which was our backdrop for our night in our lodge, in a great location for making our way to Sossuvlei the following day. Our room was a stone bungalow consisting of two double beds, with a whitewashed ensuite bathroom area. We enjoyed dipping our toes in the plunge pool (too cold to swim) and were able to watch the stunning sunset as we drank a local beer.

We woke at 6 ready for a 6.30 departure to reach Sossuvlei when the gates opened – so we had ordered a packed breakfast to eat later. We set off when it was still dark and journeyed to the Namib- Naukluft National Park where the Sossuvlei dunes are located. We saw the sun rise over the mountains as we waited in the queue to get into the park- our driver was pleased that we were number 16 so we got in early! When we were just a few miles in we began to see the huge red dunes stretching beside us. Dune 45 is the one seen in lots of photographs of Sossuvlei, with people walking up and over, and it is stunning in its orange red hue against a deep blue sky. We walked a short way up but wanted to spend more time in Dead Valley /Lake (Deadvlei) before the temperature rose, so we headed there.

Driving off road (only 4 x 4s allowed) we made our way deeper into the valley where there were more dunes. We walked for 10 minutes to climb over a small rise and to see before us a valley with the remains of dead black camel thorn trees. The contrast between the trees and the white clay floor is startling and against the rusty red dunes and blue skies makes for incredible photographs. We walked and breakfasted at the foot of the dunes, while people climbed them behind us, and made their way down the steep middle sometimes! We could not face doing it (as I have vertigo) but were stunned to see people climbing the 300 metres very slowly – it’s hard to climb in soft sand- and then sometimes run down these very steep gradients!

As the sun rose higher in the sky, we made our way out of the park and to the Sesriem canyon, a natural canyon in sedimentary rock. We slowly walked down boulders and stones to the bottom of the canyon (dry of course – we saw no rivers at all in this area just dry riverbeds) and walked in the cool.

Just a quick comment on our journeys- we stopped frequently as our guide and was really informed on birds and animals. so we were able to take advantage of this – we were taking photographs of birds small and large (ostriches) and animals all along the way. We crossed into the Dorob National Park and finally got to Walvis Bay, a town with a big harbour and lagoon and which is strangely build at the side of sand dunes which encroach constantly on the edges of the town. We watched the pelicans on the beach at the lagoon end and then drove up the coast to Swakopmund, our home for 2 nights. Swakopmund is a quiet town, with lots of German influence, and on a Saturday afternoon nothing was going on in the centre of town, but at the beach there were cafes and bars open and children playing and swimming in the (very cold) sea. Our accommodation, was an easy walk to the centre and beach, and was a modern and luxurious guesthouse, with all amenities and offered a delicious and healthy continental breakfast. Each room has a small individual garden where we could sit and enjoy a drink. We watched a beautiful sunset while drinking Margaritas.

The following day we made our way up part of the Skeleton coast- named after the many shipwrecks and whale bones washed up there – and no wonder as the waves all along this Western coast are huge and incredibly intimidating. We then veered northeast and headed to Damaraland, a rocky and rugged area. Our drive in the afternoon was to find the elephants but unfortunately for us they had left the area in the previous 24 hours. Undaunted, our driver followed their tracks over about 40 kms through dry riverbeds and semi desert, passing remote villages on our way, but we were disappointed to find that just a short time before, they had moved into a very swampy area, where the vehicle could not go. We couldn’t expect them to hang around just for us! We returned to our lodge, where we slept in a hybrid tent/brick structure – it was very windy overnight, but the bed was luxurious. Meals were served in carefully designed open sided building made of brick, poles, canvas and thatch, all of which blended into the bouldered hillside. We woke to baboons on the hillside behind us, and after breakfast headed for our final destination – South Etosha and Okutala Etosha Lodge, located in 24,000 hectares of conservation land. We arrived to find five white rhinos waiting to be given a snack near the waterhole beside the main lodge building. As we watched, one of the giraffes also wandered nearby to get something to eat too, and of course to get a fuss from the spectators.

All in all, it was such a wonderful experience, and the whole itinerary was made seamless by the planning of Lucy from Travel Counsellors. All the accommodation was great, but each had its own unique style. Our guide could not have been better suited to us; he was hugely knowledgeable about birds and animals and without him we would have missed so much. Thoughts on the trip: We were glad we opted for a guided tour for the week – many people elected to self-drive, and the roads are good in general, so hiring and driving a 4WD would be relatively easy. However, finding the lodges, navigating those roads which were just grit or sandy would require more concentration and possible stress. Equally having someone with country and wildlife expertise added so much to our wonderful experience.