Africa, Travel Discovering Namibia

The genuine surprise however is that Namibia’s tourist language is unequivocally English.
Even amongst the German influenced architecture of Swakopmund, visitors must speak English to be understood. Have a quick glance down the lists of people registering in hotels or purchasing permits for the various game reserves and you will be quite far through the list before spotting a fellow Briton.
Safari trucks full of tourists ply their trade along the well-worn gravel tracks of Namibia’s wildlife routes. But Namibia is a country where you can do it on your own. The roads of the country are ideal for picking up your self-drive car and heading out for a bit of adventure. Having had a long-standing ambition to visit the country that is exactly what I did – on my own.
Having collected my car complete with roof tent and camping equipment, I spent my first night in Windhoek and fired up my first barbecue (Braai) of the trip. The following morning, I headed south along the B1, a good quality tarred road. After I took a right turn onto a gravel road just after Rehoboth, it would be the last solid road I would see for a few days.
I could have stayed on decent gravel roads to Solitaire, but I took the route through Spreetshoogte pass. Namibia has plenty of rest stops and viewing areas throughout its road network so the chance to stop above the pass to enjoy the view was too good to miss. The road at Spreetshoogte pass is a short series of mono-blocked 360-degree hairpin bends that very quickly take you to the bottom of the valley.
No one could possibly pass through the Naukluft Bergen without stopping at Solitaire. This little village is only a collection of half a dozen or so buildings, but it is an ideal watering point with garage, tyre and petrol facilities and of course McGregor’s bakery’s world-famous apple pie. Solitaire is also well known for its collection of abandoned and rusted car bodies. Apple pie and ginger beer consumed it was time to move onto Sesriem.
Sesriem is the entry point for the journey into Sossusvlei and the Namib desert. From images I have seen recently it has obviously grown in recent years and it is here you will be likely to have your first encounter with the many safari trucks. A small bar and restaurant along with a basic shop await you along with a chance to buy a permit for your time in the area. From here it is a 60km drive to the parking area for Sossusvlei. I decided to leave that till the morning and take the time to set up my rooftop tent and get a decent braai on the go. An early rise beckoned for the trip through the desert.
The following morning, I caught the sunrise over the dunes as I headed to Sossusvlei. Early morning ballooners sailing over the Namib sands made for a beautiful sight as they headed eastwards. Once you arrive at Sossusvlei car park, if you have a 4×4 then you can attempt the drive over the sand for the last few kilometres if you wish. I opted to pay the N$170 (around €10) to take the return trip in a 4×4 truck. It is much easier to let someone else take the strain and you can enjoy the view. Once there a short walk over the dunes will take you to Deadvlei. Believe me, no photographs can prepare you for how amazing it looks in real life. With the constantly moving sun changing the colours and the shadows, it is truly breath-taking. On the way back I left the car and spent some time tracking a pair of Oryx through the sand dunes.
My next night was spent in the Naukluft Mountain Zebra Park. Unfortunately, the zebras were absent without leave but there are some incredible walking trails here and I spent an enjoyable afternoon walking with a young German traveller I met here. In the stream you can find frogs at every level of their development from tiny tadpoles to fully formed large frogs as well as freshwater crabs. Baboons roam the rock faces while water mongoose feast on the crabs. Excellent specimens of quiver trees abound in the surrounding cliffs. I had read that baboons in camp at night can be problematic. Certainly, they did enter the camp in the dark but just taking sensible precautions to make sure nothing is left lying around meant that they did no harm.

The following day took in the long drive north to Swakopmund and Walvis Bay. The changes of scenery over the length of a five-hour drive is quite incredible. Mountains lead to desert then back to mountains. Huge flat savannah opens out again to desert and dramatic rock structures catch the eye and temperatures reach up to forty degrees. The Gaub and Kuiseb passes are easy to drive through with wonderfully wide roads and the latter has a nice stop off point for photographs. Gravel graders continually keep the road in good condition.

Swakopmund is an ideal stopover location. The architecture is typically German, and it is a beautiful seaside resort town. Restaurants are plentiful and serve excellent food. They are however very busy at night and booking a table is essential. From Swakopmund it is a short drive south to Walvis Bay and on to Sandwich Bay with its impressive flocks of flamingos.

A much longer trip north through the salt pans takes you to Cape Point and its equally impressive seal colony. I stayed for two nights in Alte Brucke resort. My impressions of Namibian resorts and campsites is that they are all built to an extremely high standard, as good as I have seen anywhere and are all perfectly neat and tidy. The country as a whole in fact is very clean and litter is almost non existent.
After a couple of days to enjoy Swakopmund it was time for the trek north to Etosha with a planned stopover at The Cheetah Conservation Fund and the Rare and endangered species trust. Both visits were incredible and the chance to walk in the bush with a Pangolin at REST, along with getting up close with Dexter the meerkat amongst other animals and birds, was simply sensational. Maria who runs the trust was both extremely knowledgeable and very welcoming. The stay at CCF was an ideal break in the middle of the trip and it was nice to get a chance to sleep in a comfortable bed. The lodges are well made and extremely well equipped with a view across a typical African vista and out toward the setting sun. The meal in the restaurant was delicious and a perfectly chilled bottle of South African Kleine Zalze Chenin Blanc completed the evening. After a breakfast of perfectly scrambled eggs, the following morning was spent amongst the cheetahs.
Cheetahs at CCF tend to be cats that have come into conflict with farmers. Many of them have been injured and there is a rehabilitation program to build them up for an eventual release back to the wild. Some of them however can never be released due to their inability to hunt successfully. They also have a program training livestock guarding dogs. I was shown around by Himee who was very pleasant, and we chatted about everything from cheetahs to the dogs, as well as his own life in a country where the national minimum wage is N$1560 – about the cost of filling up my fuel tank. I replenished my supplies at Otjiwarongo before making tracks for Etosha.
Etosha has it all. Prides of lions lounging in the midday sun while their normal prey skulk behind them to drink. Magnificent mixed herds of zebra, wildebeest and oryx surrounded by clouds of dust as they trek in single file to the waterholes. Springboks which must number in the thousands, peacefully compete to find the tiniest piece of shade beneath leafless trees. Black backed Jackals out-competing desert hares in a death chase. Elephants that seem as if they are single-handedly capable of emptying what little water is left in a waterhole. So how can it be that this next statement isn’t what you would expect to hear in a travel blog; why am I finding it very difficult to recommend Etosha?
Admittedly the wildlife experience is as good as any, especially at the waterholes. During the dry season it is as if all the animals synchronise their watches to convene for a drink at 9.00 a.m. By 9.30 as the temperatures already start to build, they head to seek out any form of shade.
But it is quite simply the poor condition of the roads that make Etosha a very testy experience. I had originally planned to be within Etosha for five nights but after reading a review of the roads I decided to cut it down to two. A wise decision. The gravel roads are so heavily rutted that it is very difficult for the driver to take part in the wildlife viewing experience. At times it is difficult to decide whether to speed up or slow down, and the car continually jumped out of gear. Now, I will concede that if you want a wildlife experience you can’t expect perfect roads, but I have driven off-road in other African countries and had a much easier time.
That said, if you can handle the discomfort then you will be well rewarded. The wildlife in Etosha is plentiful and the animals are in superb condition. The staff in the camps are very friendly with the general condition of the camps being very good. I stayed in Oliphantsrus which is in the relatively recently opened western end of the park. The name of the camp stands for Elephants Rest, however unfortunately it really means ‘last resting place’ as the camp was the site of an elephant abattoir during the nineteen eighties. During this ignominious period when the Namibian authorities mistakenly believed that the solution to balancing wildlife numbers was to cull elephants, around 525 of the magnificent beasts were killed. The huge structures used to lift the giant carcasses still exist in the centre of the camp and serve as a reminder of the barbarity.

These days the camps main attraction is a well built, two level, viewing hide that overlooks a good-sized waterhole. This offers unrivalled viewing of the wildlife that visits, especially at night where elephants share the space with rhinos and wildebeest.
Access to the west of Etosha is now much better than in the past with only a few roads still out of bounds. Wildlife is more difficult to spot here but my highlight was being surrounded by a beautiful herd of hartmanns mountain zebra. Etosha has two types of zebra with the much more numerous burchills plains zebra occupying the rest of the park.
I found the centre of the park much more satisfying although as is usual, an early rise is necessary. Flocks of white-backed vultures numbering in the high thirties convene around a waterhole with a martial eagle. Red hartebeest share the plains with kori bustards while pairs of ostriches try to keep their chicks together. Amongst the trees are plentiful numbers of giraffes, kudu and duiker, while further east in the park are the much rarer black faced impala.
So, what is my lasting impression of Etosha? Do you know what? It must be the wildlife and perhaps now looking back, I may just about forgive them their roads!
On leaving the park it was reassuring that robust checks were in place to make sure no meat leaves the park due to foot and mouth restrictions. If you are taking any meat in, make sure that you only take what you plan to eat while you are there. After a stay just outside the park, I had one night left at the Erongo Plateau Camp. I cannot recommend this camp highly enough. It is reached on a gently rising dirt track and has been built on a small plateau above the valley. Each of its four camp sites are private and isolated from each other and are immaculately clean. Ample room is provided for parking and camping. There is no electricity but there is ample hot water and showering by the light of a candle has its own attraction. The views over the valley are superb and if you are lucky you may just catch a glimpse of a leopard among the rocks. The tranquillity and flickering light of a camp fire were the perfect finish to a trip that exceeded my expectations.

Additional information

Getting there
Many airlines fly into Windhoek but usually via Johannesburg. I chose to fly with Ethiopian from London via Addis Ababa. This splits the journey into two shorter flights and reduces the turbulence that some aircraft experience when flying through the middle of the continent. The airline is excellent, but Addis is an experience! I hired my car from Kalahari Car Hire who also rent older cars which can help keep down costs.

Where to stay
There are many excellent places to stay and camping is well catered for especially in Etosha. I stayed at Arebbusch Travel Lodge; Sesriem Camp Site; Naukluft Camp Site; Alte Brucke Resort; Cheetah Conservation Fund; Olifantsrus Camp Site; Eldorado Guest farm; Erongo Plateau Camp and Windhoek Gardens Guest House.

When to go
Namibia is a year-round destination however, December to March is the rainy season and you may experience heavy rains. Trees and plants start to grow, rivers swell, and wildlife will be harder to spot. From April all the way through to November the country dries out and temperatures start to climb. Animals are driven to waterholes and are therefore much easier to observe. I went in November and other than Naukluft was about three-quarters of the way through the trip before I saw a river with water in it.

Health
Please check with your travel clinic for any vaccinations you will need. The countryside around Etosha is a malarial area at certain times of the year so sensible precautions and prophylactics would be highly recommended.

Further reading
I used African Adventurer’s Guide to Namibia by Willie Olivier, it contains a wealth of information on all the major roads and gravel tracks.