Namibia

07.07.08 - The rest of the drive to Windhoek was again good and we arrived mid afternoon, checked out a couple of camps in town and in the end headed north out of town to Elisenheim as it is near to a Landrover garage that had been recommend to us. We had read that the camp has a tame Kudu and sure enough as soon as we started getting our food out the Kudu appeared to introduce herself to us.

08.07.08 - First order of the day to get to the garage, which is owned by John, who originally comes from Yorkshire. After listening to the noise from the gearbox and draining the new oil, it was obvious there was a problem, with the drain plug looking more like a porcupine than a hedgehog John suspected the small bearing at the front of the input shaft, so Troy decided to have the gearbox reconditioned, he also decided whilst the props were off and the gearbox was out to get the rear diff and swivel pin seals done which were now leaking so much grease they were contaminating the brakes. Suspecting it would take about a week to get the parts and fit them, John lent us a ground tent and put the old oil back in so we could drop our stuff off at the campsite once done we dropped the car back off at the garage, so we are now officially car less.

09.07.08 - Lucky for us we are not travelling alone so can still get around thanks to Alan, we drove into town to have a look around a few of the camping shops, then popped back to the garage to collect a few more things from the car where we found the gearbox had already been stripped and the problem turned out to be the front support bearing on the lay shaft which was in such a bad state with the rollers oval, chipped and pitted, Troy was very glad we came straight to Windhoek rather than heading into the desert first. From there we went to the Ocean Basket for a lovely meal of garlic mussels for starters followed by fish and prawns and some nice wine. Feeling stuffed and all stinking of garlic we headed back to camp.

10.07.08 - Alan decided to buy a second hand roof rack from John, so he and Troy went into town to buy a few things to refurbish it then back to the garage where John kindly let them use his workshop and tools. Meanwhile Taryn & I were left stranded for the day at the campsite where we caught up on our tanning.

11.07.08 - Unfortunately the campsite was already fully booked for the weekend so we booked to stay in a guesthouse in town instead, this meant packing most of our stuff into Alan’s car to drop off at the garage and just taking a few things with us to the guesthouse. We were planning on going clubbing so booked into the Puccini Guesthouse which is a lovely place and very conveniently situated in town. Once we were dropped off, Troy and Alan went back to carry on with the roof rack leaving Taryn & I to be forced to walk to the mall around the corner and do some serious shopping for some clothes to wear out on the weekend. Alan had warned me that Taryn can shop and he was not joking, hours later after visiting every shop at least twice and with sore feet we finally returned just before the guys got back. That evening we went to Joe’s Beer House for a meal which had been highly recommended but was very disappointing. The place is actually outdoors which in the middle of winter makes it rather chilly, however the food also arrived cold, Troy sent his starter back as some of it still had ice in the middle and then even after that all our main courses came out cold, we did complain and eventually the manager took the starters off the bill as a kind of discount.

12.07.08 - Troy & Alan went off again to finish fitting the roof rack so Taryn & I were left to go shopping again, this time to a different mall. Lucky for me although disappointing for Taryn the shops close at 1pm on a Saturday so our trip was cut short, however we still managed to arrive back with bags more stuff and sore feet again. The plan for the night was to go to a few bars before hitting a club; we got doled up in our new clothes and I went out feeling very strange in make up after so many months without it. The first bar we went to was pretty dead, we were told it does not pick up until late however we had a couple of drinks before moving on. The next bar was a bit livelier but also had pool tables so stayed there for a while before heading to a club. The place we ended up had been recommended by just about everyone we spoke to; although the music was not quite our taste we did manage a little dance. When the club shut at 2am we got a taxi to another club we had just been told about, we arrived paid walked in the door and began choking, someone had just sprayed tear gas around so we all ended up back outside. By now feeling a little tired and not wanting to go back in the club we got a taxi back to the guesthouse.

13.07.08 - My Birthday! Very low key day as we were all feeling a little rough spent the day watching movies and catching up with everyone on the internet. That evening we were going to go out for a meal but no one really felt up to it, so ordered in takeaway from the Chinese and watched another movie. A perfect relaxing day!

14 to 17.07.08 - The car was still not ready so we decided to stay at the guesthouse for another couple of nights, although due to them being booked up it meant we had to change rooms twice which was not a big problem. Did some more shopping around some different malls getting worried that we would be broke if the car was not ready soon. Our last two nights were spent at the Stop over rest camp which is just down the road from the garage as we had visited just about every shop in town. Finally the car was ready after having a little more done than expected we were ready to get back on the road.

18.07.08 - Good to be on the road again, a quick stop in the garage on the way out and we were heading north towards Otjiwarongo. The roads were good and the car felt great and much quieter than it had been in a long time. Reached Otjiwarongo about lunchtime so thought we might grab a takeaway from Wimpy, what a disappointment that was, Troy says its Wimpy by name and Wimpy by flavour I am now actually looking forward to getting to SA where they have McDonalds again!! After eating the worst meal ever we headed just out of town to the Cheetah Foundation. This place looks after orphaned cheetahs and works towards introducing them back into the wild, it also works with the farmers by providing them with dogs to scare away any cheetahs that may stray onto their land and eat their cattle, this is good as before the farmers would just kill them. They have five cheetahs there at the moment and we arrived at feeding time which was nice. The place is aimed at educating people in the area to stop them seeing the cheetahs as a threat but it also makes for an interesting afternoon. The time was getting on by the time we left so we decided to drive back into town and camp at the first place we came across which turned out to be Acacia Park, thankfully the weather is a little warmer since leaving Windhoek although we still ended up huddled around the campfire.

19.07.08 - Not a long drive planned today so were in no rush to leave, we took the back road to Grootfontein which even though it was dusty was still a good road. Went to visit the Hoba meteorite which is the largest in the world, and is massive. After doing the usual tourist bit we drove out of town to the Die Kraal Campsite. The campsite is large and in the middle of a farm, once settled in we were invited for drinks by the owner in the bar before dinner of which we were having there. Another couple were also staying so had a very enjoyable evening and an excellent meal in their restaurant which specializes in game meat.

20.07.08 - Another short drive today, we zigzagged back across the country heading for Gamkarab Cave camp where they can arrange many different activities. We reached there about lunchtime, met the owners and arranged what we would like to do the following day.

21.07.08 - First activity of the day was to go down into the cave which is underneath our campsite. I had looked down the hole the previous day and had assumed it to be not far down. However once entering the cave I realized that I was very much mistaken. It was 65m to the bottom of the cave and you get down there by a series of different ladders and at some points where the ladder rungs are broken by looking for foot holes in the rock face. Once at the bottom there are two pools which you are able to swim and dive in, although none of us wanted to do either. Coming back up was tiring although much quicker and less scary than going down. A quick rest and then Charles (owner) took us out for a drive around his farm so we could get an idea of how a real farm works. Later that day it was horse riding, I decided to stay behind as was still not feeling 100% from my cold but the rest of them went off. It did however end up a bit of a disaster as Charles’s wife fell off her horse after it tried chasing Alan’s horse that had raced off ahead with Alan unable to stop it, for some reason they believed Alan to be an experienced rider and he ended up very much over horsed, Troy saw her fall and pulled his horse around to go back but the horse just fell to the ground and would have landed on top of Troy if he hadn’t have pushed himself away in time. Charles had to race back to get the car of which Taryn had to drive his wife back in while the others made there way back bringing the two spare horses with them.

22.07.08 - Had decided to stay another day to do a few more activities including trying horse riding again, however all of us were having trouble walking from the caving etc yesterday so instead we just relaxed and enjoyed the farm life. Later in the afternoon we met up with Charles to go with him to hunt a Kudu, luckily for the Kudu they seem to have made themselves scarce and he was unable to find one before it got dark so back we went empty handed.

23.07.08 - Said our goodbyes, Charles had taken his wife to the doctor as she was still in pain and it turns out she has broken two ribs, not too good. After doing a bit of shopping in the nearby town we headed towards Etosha Park. We have been advised by several people that even though you are meant to book your camping before you arrive this is not necessary as they can always fit you in. This we found is not always the case, we entered the park around mid afternoon at the first camp to be told they were full and that the only camp with space is the one 150km away at the other end of the park. After considering our options we decided to head back out the park and stay at the camp 10km before and then enter the park early and drive straight through. We had been looking forward to staying at Etosha as each camp has its own lit waterhole where animals come to drink, however upon arriving we found the place to be very commercialized with many people and cars, so our plans changed from a six day stay to one day. We also ended up having an argument as they wanted to charge us for a day in the park when we had only spent an hour in the place and most of that was spent in reception trying to find camping, finally they gave in and told us to drive out without stopping or looking at anything. Reached Etosha Safari camp late afternoon, after eating it was an early night ready for the early start the following day.

24.07.08 - Up before it was even light, we left the camp by 6.30am and headed back into the park. Early on in the day we saw a big male lion at a waterhole and late morning we saw a female lion crossing the road in front of us. The park is absolutely full of springbok and zebra which are everywhere as well as many elephant and giraffe. We drove into the Etosha pan which was pretty amazing, the pan is huge and you can see nothing for miles. The park itself is big with pretty good roads; this does give it the feel of a huge Longleat though. Seeing any animals apart from buck is also difficult as you are not able to go off the tracks and as the place is so big the animals could be anywhere. It was worth a day trip, although we were glad we had decided against staying longer. After having a drink from the bar beside the waterhole, we left the park about 4.30pm and headed to Sachsenheim Guest farm camp where we stayed for the night.

25.07.08 - Long drive ahead of us today heading further north. Pretty uneventful drive on good roads we ended up within a couple of miles of the Angolan border. We had planned to stay at the Kunene River Lodge in Swartboois Drift, however upon ringing them we found they had a wedding there that day and were full. Instead we stopped at the Hippo Pool camp where we found a stunning spot overlooking the river. Even further north now the temperature at night has risen dramatically which makes it far more pleasant, hopefully it will have warmed up a bit by the time we get back down south.

26.07.08 - As the place was so peaceful we decided to stay for another day to enjoy the view. Our peace only being shattered every time a group of cars arrived at our campsite looking for the hippo which were not there, each time we informed them that even thought the camp is called hippo pools there really are no hippos in the river, one group of Italians who were obviously keen to see something then started quizzing us as to whether we had seen any lion or hyena (did they know something we didn’t?) After an interrogation as to where we are from and how we managed to be there each group decided there was nothing else to see and left, now we know what the animals in the parks feel like!

27.07.08 - We had been thinking about taking the river route to Epupa Falls although we had heard the road was awful. We left camp and drove to Kunene River Lodge which was still closed for the wedding but we stopped anyway to ask some advice from the owner as to our chances of reaching Epupa Falls on that road. He didn’t instil much confidence in our chances as he advised due to the amount of rain the road is particularly bad this year and he does not know of anyone who has made it, he then went on to tell us stories of people he has had to rescue when their cars have broken down. We thought about what he had said and the prospect of at least 8 hours of bad road to do a journey that can be done in 3 on a different road and decided it would be stupid to even attempt it. That decided we were on our way on the better dirt road to Epupa Falls. We made not bad time, stopping for lunch en-route and reached the falls late afternoon. Checked into the campsite right on the falls where we found a bird stuck in a tree. It appears the bird had got something caught round its leg which had in turn got caught on one of the tree thorns; the poor thing was thrashing about unable to get away, that was until rescue rangers Troy & Alan arrived! They drove the Landrover under the tree climbed onto the roof rack to reach the branch; Alan then held the bird while Troy cut the stuff off its leg. One of the bird’s toes was not in great shape but it flew off into the trees looking happy to be free. Later went for a walk around the falls, then back to our stunning campsite where we spent the evening listening to the sound of the water which even though it is loud is also quite relaxing.

28 & 29.07.08 - The place was so nice we decided to stay for three nights in the end, did a bit of sunbathing and a walk to the viewpoint of the falls which when seen from above are pretty impressive, most of the water running through a 3m gap in the rock, with another series of smaller waterfalls running about 500m along. The lonely planet states that Epupa has a ‘supermarket’ so off we set in search of it only to find a very small shop that sells a bit of tinned food, pots, buckets and cutlery, but with no fruit, veg or meat to be seen so off we set back to camp empty handed cursing the lonely planet yet again! We met a very friendly Israeli guy Ori who is travelling by himself, he had many stories to tell of different trips he had done and after half a bottle of gin he moved on to telling holocaust and other racist jokes which even though they were not that great he had us amused all night.

30 & 31.07.08 - The last two days were spent driving from Epupa Falls to the Marienfluss Valley via the Van Zyl’s Pass. The first part of the drive was back down the corrugated road to Okongwati acquiring ourselves a gas cylinder with a screw on gas burner en-route which had obviously bounced out of someone’s truck whilst going through a big dip (thank you someone!). On leaving Okongwati we were then on a track that progressively got worse and worse the further we went. Finally reached Van Zyl’s Pass mid afternoon where we then realised that what we had just experienced was nothing compared to this. The heavy rains this year seems to have made an already bad track much worse. As light was failing we stopped mid way to bush camp perched on a narrow flat part on the edge of the mountain, with lots of rocks jammed under the wheels it was off to bed. The following morning we were up and away early knowing that the worst part of the pass was still to come. Stopped at the viewpoint overlooking the valley which was quite a spectacular sight, then we reached a bit of road that would put a gleam into any die hard off-roaders eyes, but for us in a fully loaded, roof tent top heavy Landrover it just looked bloody scary. After making it to the bottom after a few life threatening lurches and a lot of bottom clenching we thought it was time to crack open a beer even though it was only 10.30am. A word of advice if any other overlanders are reading this, in hindsight with our fully loaded vehicles if we had known what lay ahead we would have gone around, however it did feel good after we had done it. We wrote our name on a rock and put it with the pile left by others who have also foolishly ventured this way. In the valley it was then easy going the whole Marienfluss stretching in front of us, the only downside is the full on corrugation most of the way to the end, where we camped at Camp Syncro which is a lovely site set on the edge of the river.

01 to 02.08.08 - This morning as we were packing to leave Woody Allen came over to ask us where we were heading and where we had come from (we say Woody Allen we are not 100% sure but after he had gone we got to thinking, he looked like him, sounded like him, and he and his Asian wife and daughter had arrived in two helicopters the previous day, so on this basis we say it was Woody Allen). He told us his driver said the drive to Puros should take 5 to 6 hours, with this knowledge we left. We had decided to take the river bed route as we were told the road is in such a terrible condition. First we had to get out of the Marienfluss Valley which even though we were going out a different way to the way we came in still held a few surprises for us, finally we reached ‘red drum’ which is marked on the map and really is just a red drum in the middle of nowhere. Reached the turnoff for the riverbed and soon realised we were not going to make Puros that day. Decided as it had been a long hard few days to stop mid afternoon and bush camp. Spent the next couple of hours swatting the many flies that would not leave us alone in the end having to put up our under canopy tent just to get away from them. The following morning we set off again, Troy was in his element with the driving through sometimes very deep sand, he had a great time and didn’t get us stuck once. As it was only a few hours to Puros we decided to push on and get to Sesfontein instead as we needed to stock up on food. Once there we found a small shop that sold tinned food and flour, but still no fresh meat, no fresh vegetables, no eggs and no bread (what do people eat around here?). Went to the Fort Sesfontein Hotel only to be told that their campsite is now closed, so they directed us to the Sesfontein Conservancy instead where they have a nice campsite next door. Once settled in it was down to drinking beer (which they actually did have in the shop) and bread making.

03.08.08 - With a mammoth drive ahead of us it was up early and heading for the skeleton coast, what an apt name!! Paid our 170N$ to drive through one of the bleakest places we have visited so far. The Skeleton Coast consists of nothing but bare barren landscape. Troy and Alan were very disappointed as they thought they would be driving along the coast but the road ranges from 6km to 1/2km away from the sea, with all the tracks accessing the coast closed. Finally when we do get to a place where we can head toward the coast Alan’s landy decides to break a spring. After two hours of faffing around with everything possible going wrong with the equipment they managed what they thought was a very successful temporary repair. Driving at a snails pace we got out the park and limped into mile 108 camp, with temperatures now down to 15degc, mist, rain and howling wind we made camp behind the toilet block for shelter. Talk about a bleak depressing yellow painted blot on the landscape (I’m sure it’s very nice in summer).

04.08.08 - Alan rang ahead and the only place to get a new spring was Swakopmund (thank you John for the number), we escorted them as far as Henties Bay where the repair seemed still as good as when it was first done. After stocking up on supplies in the Spar we headed north again as they headed south. As we were driving north east suddenly the sun reappeared and the temperature went up km by km until it was a good 16degc warmer. Made our way to Khorixas where we booked into the Igowati Lodge which has a lovely grassy campsite, a supermarket right across the road and after several weeks finally internet access again.

05 to 06.08.08 - As the place was so nice and we have had a few long days, decided to spend a couple of days relaxing in the camp. We ended up sweltering with the heat recovering from the icy blast of the coast knowing we will soon be back down there.

07.08.08 - Feeling fully rested we thought we would go and see the sites, oh and what sites there were to see! There seems so much to see in such a small area, so first it was off to the rock engravings ‘the most prolific in Africa’ umm, next! It was around the corner to the organ pipes, the lonely planet describes them as ‘very worthwhile’ umm, luckily just down the road was the burnt mountain, now if anyone has been anywhere near a coal mine and seen a slag heap that’s been bulldozed almost flat and enjoyed it, you are in for a real treat, umm!!!! Next the white lady (which is actually a man), no stop we were so thrilled out we just couldn’t take anymore, what a fantastic tour of 200km of trashed out corrugated road back to the campsite, its amazing how interesting belly button fluff can be after a day like this one!!!

08 to 09.08.08 - Decided it was about time we got fit after sitting for 8 months in a car so on our way down to Spitzkoppe we took it in turns to run along side, not wanting to push it, we managed 1km each and felt like death, Troy collapsed in a wheezing fit of sneezes and I didn’t fare much better.   Reached Spitzkoppe midafternoon where I broke it to Troy that he would have to pay to effectively ‘bushcamp’ as the site has no toilets or showers, however after his initial moaning he soon fell for the place and found it to be stunning (to quote a friend). As each camping area was remote and isolated we thought it was time to get naked and get that ‘all over tan’, the only trouble is after sitting in a car for 8 months there is more to ‘all over tan’, great encouragement to keep up the exercise! Spent the evening watching the rock hyraxes whilst watching the sun set celebrating our 1km with a good six pack of beer! After burning his bits one side, Troy decided it was time to toast the other so we decided to stay another day; its amazing how six beers can make you lethargic the next day. Troy disappeared to get some water and wood, he finally returned after a few hours with both stating ‘this is Africa’, it turns out the tanker that went out to get water had broken down and the truck that went out to get wood had also broken down, although he managed to find his own wood by flagging down a man on a donkey and cart. As we were not driving anywhere we decided to take this as a rest day from exercise!

10.08.08 - Drove to Swakopmund today expecting the weather to be terrible after our trip to Henties Bay a few days ago but was pleasantly surprised to find it baking hot. On our way decided to carry on with our health kick to have a drink less day and we managed to run 1.6km (1 mile) each. Then as we were going into the garage, got a text from home with some very good news therefore we were forced to get another six pack each to celebrate. Stayed at a lovely campsite that night where we met a South African guy who gave us some oranges and then invited us to stay at his house (with 11 bathrooms) when we get to SA, very nice guy. After our drinks were all gone I dragged Troy off to try to find a bar which thankfully we didn’t manage to find.

11.08.08 - Woke feeling a little the worst for wear, the wind had really picked up in the night and the tent was now being buffeted quite badly which meant I had to get up. We packed up and headed into to town where we drove around for an hour or so trying to pick up free internet, managed a couple of times but after a while the connection would go slow and in the end disappear altogether, can I just say we are not being cheap by looking for wifi connections we just find it far more fun!! As the wind was not dropping we decided to head for Walvis Bay which is only 30km away but as we had wasted so much time looking for internet we didn’t think we would get much further. When we reached the centre we found a KFC with a drive thru which is a first for this trip, so impressed as we were we decided to try it, well we ended up waiting for half an hour for our food which when it came was hot and very nice, but fast food it was not. Checked into our campsite which after the one the night before was a little disappointing, not long after setting up the mist rolled in, so it was very early into the tent to watch a film and keep warm.

12.08.08 - The weather was still miserable the following day so we left early and headed away from the coast towards Sesreim. Now we were aware when we arrived that the cost to camp was N$600 which is 6 times the price of anywhere else, however when we went in to pay we were told that this does not include the park fee which is another N$170 and the campsite is full so we would be in the overflow camp which is basically a dirt field and nothing else, we were told we would have full use of the facilities although these were some distance away, the reason they can get away with charging so much is that you are only allowed into the dunes early enough to see the sun rise if you stay in the campsite. Troy was not happy and told them how disgusting it was and what a rip off it was and that we would not be staying, so we drove 45km to a place that had been recommend only to find them full. By now it is was 4.30pm and the next place I had was 95km away so we ended up having to drive the 45km back to the park and pay their extortionate price which really hurt Troy telling them again it was a rip off and that we were only staying as there was no where else. Early to bed setting the alarm for 5am.

13.08.08 - We were told the gate would be open at 5.30am so arrived there on time to find a queue of traffic, in took us 20 minutes to get through the gate as there was one slow woman there checking everyone’s permits and taking down registration numbers and making a real jobs worth out of it, this greatly annoyed Troy who kept beeping his horn before telling the woman how disgusting it was making us wait when if we hadn’t already paid we would not have even been in there as the outer gate was still closed. So it was a race to dune 45 ignoring the speed limit of 60kmph driving at 120km along with all the rest of the traffic not wanting to miss the sun rise after all this. As the sun came up we could see the beauty of the place for the first time the shadows contrasting with the different angles of the dunes, absolutely fantastic, not sure about the rattly chest after climbing up there that early especially without our morning coffee.   Once the sun was up it was back down the dune for breakfast and the much needed coffee before we went to tackle the much larger dunes at dead vlei. After Troy shutting his finger in the door, exhausting ourselves in the dunes and Troy losing the camera lens cap we left heading for Duwisib Castle. About 150km from the castle we saw a zebra sign and wanting a photo, Troy slammed on his breaks only to go sailing past, eventually coming to a stop, Troy got out to check for the problem to find the rear near side break pipe had snapped cleanly in half due to the vibration and the clips holding it on snapping (half a dozen cable ties would have been a good idea before we left!) After cutting and bodging a repair, now running on three breaks we eventually reached the castle looking forward to a hot shower and the campfire.

14.08.08 - The campfire happened but the shower didn’t, last night the gas ran out, this morning the water ran out, so Troy being Troy decided to try his luck and ask for a refund hoping to get half the cost back but as it turned out with no argument she handed all the camping money back (bonus). Decided not to go to Luderitz as were told the weather was bad there instead we headed straight for Fish River Canyon with the intention of catching Alan & Taryn up. A text earlier said they were heading for Canyon Adventures Guest farm, after driving along a track eventually got to the farm no sign of Alan & Taryn but we were greeted and made to feel at home instantly by the lovely family that run the place. Feeling a little bit overwhelmed at first but soon settled into the warmth they radiated. As it was extremely windy we didn’t go down into the camp in the canyon instead we set up camp behind the ablutions block at the farm camp. As we were making dinner, we heard the Spanish group (that we had been warned about for being loud) singing on their way out the canyon. After dinner we traipsed to the farm house where we had a fantastic evening with the Spanish and the tiny 76 year old granny (sprightly as they come and as strong as an ox) endeavouring to seduce the wife swapping Spanish guy. The jollity of the night was absolutely fantastic singing songs with Louis (owner and son of said granny) accompanying us on guitar and his niece plying us with alcohol. With much swaying and wobbling it was finally off to bed.

15.08.08 - With aching heads, after a quick stop to write our names in the guestbook which is the walls and ceiling of a room, we said our goodbyes and set off for Fish River Canyon, which is a beautiful canyon and second only in size to the Grand Canyon (this place is so Arizona). Whilst stopped at a viewpoint we heard a toot and saw the friendly wave of Alan & Taryn, after half and hour of gossip and catch up, we arranged to meet them back at the Canon Roadhouse. That night was spent catching up whilst shivering around the campfire.

16.08.08 - Alan & Taryn were taking a different route into South Africa so Taryn could see where Alan spent his childhood, so it was goodbye again arranging to meet up again in Cape Town. The borders went without problem and finally we were in South Africa our last country. South Africa greeted us with an absolutely beautiful display of colour in total contrast to Namibia all the flowers made the 110km drive from the border to Springbok absolutely stunning (to quote a friend), the whole desert and mountains looking like a rockery. Spent the night at the very overcrowded (as flower season) Springbok campsite.