Namibia
31st July 2014
A comparatively trouble free entry into Namibia although at times the Police and Custom officials didn't seem to know what they were doing when it came to Nicolle's Carnet de Passage.
We crossed the beautiful Orange River and headed to the nearest bank to get some Namibian dollars- easy you might think but it took a 100km drive and the efforts of the staff of two different banks in a town way off our planned route (over the course of 2 days) to get us our cash. Well it is Africa!
Despite the hassle, Namibia is a lovely country. The scenery is stunning and the main roads are good but most of the dirt / gravel roads are dreadful. It took us 4 hours to drive 100 km!! We've already seen some wild animals -mountain zebra, ostrich and gemsbok, so it bodes well for future wildlife sightings.
31st July 2014
A comparatively trouble free entry into Namibia although at times the Police and Custom officials didn't seem to know what they were doing when it came to Nicolle's Carnet de Passage.
We crossed the beautiful Orange River and headed to the nearest bank to get some Namibian dollars- easy you might think but it took a 100km drive and the efforts of the staff of two different banks in a town way off our planned route (over the course of 2 days) to get us our cash. Well it is Africa!
Despite the hassle, Namibia is a lovely country. The scenery is stunning and the main roads are good but most of the dirt / gravel roads are dreadful. It took us 4 hours to drive 100 km!! We've already seen some wild animals -mountain zebra, ostrich and gemsbok, so it bodes well for future wildlife sightings.
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Fish River Canyon/Sossusvlei Sand Dunes
3rd August 2014
These are two of the must sees in Namibia. They both lie off the beaten track and involve many long hours of bumping along sand/dirt/gravel roads. Poor old Nicolle was given a good shaking but only once had to be towed out of a sandy dip in the road. A kindly Dutch man driving a big 4x4 pulled us out. At least we had the tow rope, spade and sand ladders.
Fish River Canyon is meant to be the second largest canyon in the world and although beautiful, it is not a patch on the Grand Canyon in America. Sossusvlei sand dunes were amazing, especially in the post dawn light. There was a 60km tarred road leading into the heart of the dunes and although busy, the area didn't seem crowded.
Almost without exception, campsites have been good - individual bays with your own table, a brai for cooking, a water tap, electric hook up and a light. One site, in the middle of nowhere even had individual vehicle bays over a high level decking for sleeping or star gazing. Prices are about £10 to £15 a night.
Next stop, the Skeleton Coast.
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Skeleton Coast
5th August 2014
Early this morning we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn. We then headed towards the coast.
Namibias sand dunes meet the coast along the desolate area known as the Skeleton Coast. Access to the coast is poor unless you have 4x4 or visit one of a handful of places that have a road leading to them.
Walvis Bay is Namibia's only deep water harbour amd Swakopmund is the country's nearest thing to a beach resort although the Benguela Current keeps the water cool and often forms coastal mists. Swakopmund is a pleasant town with many German style buildings dating from the beginning of the last century. When Namibia was a German Colony. Walvis Bay was a South African enclave until 20 years ago so its architecture, despite being very close to Swakopmund, is totally different.
Last night we actually camped on grass rather than sand so Nicolle was given a good clean to rid her of a collection of Namibia sand that had accumulated due to days of driving on sandy roads. At least the dirt roads made spotting approaching cars easy - you just looked for the next dust cloud.
We now are heading north, on tarred roads, towards Etosha national park.
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Etosha
8th August 2014
On the road to Etosha National Park we saw giant anthills and lots of wild boar.
Etosha
8th August 2014
On the road to Etosha National Park we saw giant anthills and lots of wild boar.
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Namibia's premier wildlife park certainly lived up to its name. Unfortunately there were no pitches left on the camp site-evidently we should have booked months ago. This meant that we had to visit as a day visitor between sunrise and sunset so we missed out on seeing the waterholes in the pre dawn, pre dusk when many animals visit. However, the rough drive through the park was full of animal sightings, many at close range - a bull elephant feet away from Nicolle and giraffes gently browsing just on the road verges. Oryx, springbok, wildebeest and zebra with young, roaming across the dry grasslands- what can be better.
Roads through the park were poor so we had to get a move on to ensure we got to the exit before dusk!
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Caprivi Strip & Angola
11th August 2014
The road to Caprivi was totally different to what we had seen in the rest of Namibia. It was lined with kraal after kraal all made of thatch and surrounded by a thick hedge of rush. Women passed with water containers balanced on their heads while small children played by the roadside with toys improvised from tin cans (wheels for push along home fashioned wire cars) or stones to knock over skittles made of stone or wood. It was a different world.
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We spent two nights at Rundu, a dusty border town, as guests of the owner of the campsite in the town.
We had met him and his wife at the border crossing with South Africa. From our pitch we could see across the Okavango River into Angola, so off we went to find the border crossing point. This was a tent on the river bank. The clerk at the desk didn't know what to do on seeing a British passport so just waved us on to the small ferry - no dock, you just stepped on to the ferry from the sandy river bank. The Angolan customs were in an actual building but as we had no Angolan visa, we were told we had to go back to Namibia which is actually what we had intended doing. As the ferry crossing cost us the equivalent of 30 pence each it was worth it to get a glimpse of life in an Angolan village. Yes, we had a wander round before returning to Namibia and we took some photos - children and clothes being washed in the river, ox carts and ramshackled buildings
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From here we took a short detour into Botswana [click] and the Okavango Delta before returning to the Caprivi Strip.
Zambezi wanderings and into Zambia
15th August 2014
After a long drive across the Caprivi Strip, we reached Katimo Mulilo on the banks of the Zambezi River. We stopped for the night in the grounds of a hotel where we had a riverside pitch and our own ablutions. The sunset over the river was awe inspiring. The next morning we went into the bustling town and tried the ATMs at each of the 4 banks in an attempt to withdraw cash so we could exchange it at the border for Zambian Kwetcha-all to no avail. No money in the ATMs or our card would not work! This has been a recurring feature of our travels through Namibia.
So we went to the border with no money apart from some precious US dollars which we have to use to pay all the various fees, taxes and whatever else the Zambian powers that be can think of to fleece the tourist. However the actual paperwork was well organised rand straight forward.
Our first night in Zambia was spent almost opposite our pitch from the previous night with just the Zambezi River and a new country separating us. But still no Zambian money!
[click] to continue our journey into Zambia