To put things into perspective: Namibia borders South Africa to the NW, is roughly the same size as Germany and Spain combined but has 48x fewer people. Only 2.5M people call Namibia home. About 16% of the country is desert, with the vast majority of it covered by a variety of dry landscapes, including savannah (64%) and dry woodlands (20%). Basically, it’s a very dry place! With such a vast, dry country at hand and so few people, many of Namibia’s roads and highways are dirt or gravel.
Our 2,950-mile road trip was in a very “un-high-clearance” vehicle. Monique’s Mom joined us on this trip and was kind enough to let us use her car – a 2011 Daihatsu Terios with basic highway tires. We (and others we talked to along the way) were pretty skeptical to say the least, but this little car took all the hammering that Namibian dirt roads, corrugations, ruts, and potholes could throw at it, and came out smiling. No match for the huge 4×4 rentals that were so pervasive everywhere we went, but she got us where we needed to go without any issues at all.
Our route took us though four primary attractions/activities: a 6 day hike through the Khomas Hochland, a safari in Etosha National Park, camping in the Spitzkoppe Reserve, and a visit to the world famous Sossusvlei dunes in the Namib-Naukluft National Park.
Khomas Hochland
Hike: Khomas Hochland Hiking Trail (KHHT) – 6 days, 63 miles, 7,590 ft
This six-day hike starts and ends at Düsternbrook Guest Farm, one of the first guest farms in Namibia in the Khomas region just outside of Windhoek, the capital. The circular route crosses four more adjacent farms: Otjiseva, Onduno, Godeis and Monte Christo. The trail follows riverbeds, up steep ravines and deep gorges, across open plains, through thorn-tree woodland, and down steep granite rock formations. And all along the way African wildlife roams free. It was incredible to be walking along and suddenly spot giraffe, kudu, eland, zebra and wildebeest. We slept in open shelters in amongst some of the most spectacular African bush scenery imaginable. The night skies were beyond belief, and the atmosphere truly special. On day 5 we had to use a series of old wooden ladders bolted into the rock to get down a huge waterfall. It was the kind of waterfall you could only encounter in Namibia – with no water falling. The kind that opens up to a stunning valley below.
Etosha National Park
First declared a game reserve in 1907 and ultimately a national park 60 years later, Etosha centers around a huge salt pan, called Etosha Pan. It is one of the largest game parks in Africa and is home to hundreds of species of mammals, birds and reptiles, including several threatened and endangered species such as the black rhinoceros. For those of you who are familiar with the “Big Five” of safaris, you cannot see all of them in Etosha as the Cape Buffalo has not been seen in the park for over 75 years. But we were on the lookout for the other four.
We entered the Park in the West and made our way to the East gate, camping at a water-hole-centered campsite within the park, and ending at a fabulous camp in a private game reserve right on the outskirts of the park. We spent our days driving the various loops and visiting various waterholes in the hopes of spotting game along the way. Our evenings were spent watching those spectacular, fiery, red-gold sunsets that are so common to Africa, and silently watching and waiting for animals to come down to the water hole for a much-needed drink amidst the dry, arid surrounds. It is fascinating to watch how incredibly carefully a giraffe approaches the water. It takes them a full half hour to come 200 yards out of the bush to the water, pausing with every step or so to make absolutely sure there is no danger, and then to lower themselves into that very compromising drinking position to slurp gallons down that ridiculously long neck. They truly are amazing animals.
We are happy to report that the wildlife in Etosha is abundant and healthy. Amongst others, we saw the majestic oryx, the not-so-majestic blesbok, the skittish warthog, the butt-ugly wildebeest, the gangly giraffe, the enormous elephant, and the every-present springbok, zebra and impala on our drives. We have seen a lot of game in Africa over the years but have never seen quite so many impala, springbok and zebra at one time. There were hordes of them, endless herds wandering the plains, feasting on the grasses and playing mischevously with each other. Where there is so much plains-game it figures that there will also be plenty of lions. And indeed, we did see many lions, multiple times, right up close. Their roaring at night was terrifyingly close to the camp – and my tent!
Water-hole-highlights included the Big Four: lion, rhino, elephant – and yes, even the elusive leopard, which we saw right from the restaurant veranda one evening where we were enjoying a lovely glass of wine with dinner. That said, it was a little nerve-wracking to walk back from the restaurant to our campsite alone in the dark!
Spitzkoppe Reserve
The Spitzkoppe (from German for “pointed dome”) are a group of bald granite peaks located between Usakos and Swakopmund in the middle of the Namib desert. The granite is more than 120 million years old and the highest outcrop rises dramatically to about 5,700 ft above sea level in classic slick rock fashion. This place had deep spiritual significance to the Bushmen people of ancient times and there are many examples of their rock art to be seen in various hidden glades and caves.
So, it is an amazing place to experience. But, getting to Spitskoppe is a whole different story.
We have seldom experienced such bad roads. The ruts and corrugations are deep and unforgiving and go on for miles; leaving you with two choices: go very, very, slowly bumping up and down and up and down and up and down OR go very, very fast, vibrating over the road as the shocks do their job. The latter, while quicker and mildly less painful, is extremely dangerous especially when there is a lot of loose sand (as there was) or if you get a blowout (and with highway tires this was always at the forefront of our minds). So, we chose the former and gritted our teeth through it all.
After a VERY long, bone-jarring, exhausting day, we limped into camp, and had to settle for a “not-so-official” campsite the first night. The next morning, we jumped on an official site as soon as Germans in their very snazzy 4×4-rental-truck-with-rooftop-tent vacated it. We wish we had our camper from the US here – although I am not sure what the endless vibrations would have done to some of our equipment!
We spent the days hiking the rock outcrops, climbing the slick rock, touring the bushman paintings, and taking in the spectacular views at sunset. It was a special spot and should not be missed.
Sesriem – Sossusvlei
If you’ve ever seen a pic of Namibia on social media, it’s probably of the dramatic red sand dunes contrasted by white salt pans and ancient, twisted, black camel-thorn trees. The dunes, pans and trees in the Sossusvlei area of the Namib-Naukluft National Park are without a doubt Namibia’s biggest tourist attraction and no itinerary could reasonably leave them out.
There are two gates to the Park: the outer Outer Gate and the inner Inner Gate (also called the Desert Gate). The outer gate requires a permit and is open at sunrise and sunset, while the inner gate is only for those staying inside the park and allows 1hr earlier access for sunrise viewing and stays open 1hr later for sunsets. There’s a campsite between the inner and outer gates that is a) very hard to book, b) very expensive and c) totally crappy. So, we chose to forfeit the sunset/sunrise rush and stay outside the Park.
We spent our first night at Desert Quiver Camp where we rented two chalets. The accommodation was amazing, and the bed was much appreciated after weeks of sleeping on the ground. We entered the Park to take a sneak peek at some of the dunes in the late afternoon – the red sand is truly unique. On exiting the Park, we decided to explore the “outer” area and drove what is apparently the worst road in the park (confirmed by all the locals – go Terios!) to see Sesriem Canyon. This area is much-less touristed and, in our opinion, was a hidden gem.
We were celebrating our 32nd wedding anniversary that day. After a lovely glass of Champagne on the chalet deck watching the sun go down (graciously provided by the hotel), we headed over to the Sossusvlei Lodge for a fabulous dinner. It was amazing- good food, great company, Gemsbok wandering by in the moonlight – truly hard to beat! We are extremely blessed.
The following day we got up super early to take a guided tour out to Sossusvlei and Deadvlei. The last few miles are in deep sand – even too much for the mighty Terios. We joined the long line at the inner gate and then watched tour bus after tour bus pass us doing twice the speed limit in the national park (30mph) in a race to get the perfect Instagram pic. Oh my.
We were treated to spectacular views of hot air balloons over the dunes at sunrise, along with endless dunes upon dunes upon dunes as we drove along. There was one dune in particular that we were interested in: Big Daddy. Big Daddy Dune is a massive, 1,066ft-tall sand dune – one of the tallest dunes in the world. And one we were determined to climb! Our driver dropped us off a mile from Deadvlei, taking a long hard look at Monique’s 77-year old Mom, offered up some dire warnings and discouraging words about how difficult the climb was going to be, especially for older people, and noted that no-one else on out tour was doing the climb. Regardless, we set off across the salt pan to take on this climb. Needless to say, Mom out-climbed everyone on the dune that day!
Hike: Big Daddy Dune – 3 miles, 1066ft
The climb was as expected when walking in deep, shifting sand – each step forward resulted in a half step backward. But after about an hour’s slog, we made it to a spectacular 360-degree view of the whole Sossusvlei area with Deadvlei and its famous black camel-thorn trunks far below us. Now, how to get down? Well, it turns out that was the fun part. We just stepped off the edge and loped our way down 1,000 feet of sand. It was like sandboarding without the board. The reverberating whomp-whomp sound of your feet sinking through the sand was both unexpected and quite unique.
After emptying our shoes of what felt like several pounds of sand, we toured Deadvlei. This white clay pan was formed after rainfall hundreds of years ago caused the Tsauchab river to flood, creating temporary shallow pools where the abundance of water encouraged the camel thorn trees to take root and grow. When drought hit the area 600-700 years later, and the sand dunes encroached on the pan enough to block the river from the area, the trees died as there was no longer enough water to survive. All that remains of these trees are their blackened skeletons, scorched by the intense heat. Though not petrified, the wood has not decomposed because the air is so very dry. Their stark black color against the white pan, the red dunes and the blue sky are quite other worldly.
