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Our Namibia Trip

“Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before”. Dalai Lama

We have previously travelled fairly extensively trough Namibia, but in the North western regions, we certainly found places we have never seen before and places not many people get to see. This is mainly because of its inaccessibility and in a way, I hope it stays that way. It’s one of those places on earth that is fairly untouched in terms of the environment and the people who live in it.

We travelled 7650km from the south western corner: drove across the Namib desert, we dipped our toes into the cold Atlantic, climbed dunes, interacted with Himbas, crossed the rivers of the Zambezi region and left through the north eastern corner.

We experienced extremes: of weather, types of roads, scenery and people. The most beautiful sun rises and sun sets. We stayed in hotels and a tent. We ate everything from fresh oysters to dried mopani worms.

It doesn’t matter where you’re going, it’s who you have beside you. I am so blessed to have been given a lifetime of adventures. Thank you Gray for another unforgettable trip.

Day 24: Botswana to Home

We left at 6am on our last leg home. We retraced our route back into Francistown, a very different vibe on a very early Saturday morning, the town hadn’t woken up yet and so it was an easy trip through.

We passed through towns, like Palapye and a few more vets check points before the driving the last 45km along gravel roads to the border. We passed cars and trailers loaded to the max with household equipment from SA to other African countries.

We used Parrs Halt Border Post, crossing the Limpopo, and entering on the South African side at Stockport. The whole process took around 15 minutes, nice and easy.

From there it was about 400 km on good tarred roads, with some road works to repair bridges. South Africa, compared to Namibia and Botswana was beautiful and green, especially in the Waterberg Area.

We arrived home around 4pm after a long 10 hour drive.

We had a wonderful trip but it is wonderful to come home. We missed the kids and animals, and had an excited greeting from them all, guess they missed us too.

A special thanks to Gareth for looking after the animals and taking over the training of Isaac, my guide dog in training, to free me up to travel.

Day 23: Katimo Mulilo to Francistown, Botswana

We woke up early and sipped coffee on the deck as life on the river began to stir. It was so peaceful.

We caught the ferry back along the Zambezi to our car. Boats were out fishing and mokoros crossing over. We had a wire tailed swallow catch a lift with us.

It was a 70km drive to the Ngoma Bridge Border Post. We always try and find small, out of the way, border posts to avoid waiting in long lines. The border post was empty and we got our admin done with ease but the officials were grumpy, unfriendly and unwelcoming, so unlike our entry in Namibia at Alexander Bay.

The first stretch was the main road through Chobe National Park, we saw no animals, except warthogs crossing the road in the border town of Kazangula, bringing traffic to a stop.

The line of trucks at Kazangula lined up, waiting to be processed, to enter into Zambia was insane. The poor truck drivers can wait for weeks at these border posts.

Travelling through the next area of Pandamatenga a police car waved us down. Apparently we had been speeding and had to follow him back about 10km to where they had a speed trap. We had seen no signs of the speed being reduced to 80km from 120km. Likewise the poor tourists in front of us were protesting and they had been going a lot faster than us. It was a lengthy stop in the heat of the day. It turned out the tourists were Polish and with a grumpy police official the situation became laughable, the language barrier of filling out forms was near impossible, especially with the policeman thinking Poland was in France. Besides the speeding fine, they wanted to charge us with fleeing the scene, laughable as they were sitting 15m back in the bush when we were apparently waved down. Realising that they weren’t going to win that one, we all compromised and paid the fine on the spot, or we were threatened with jail time. Throughout all this Gray was friendly and composed, me not so much.

Our next town was Nata, with a Pep store and stalls. Here the traffic started and the next stretch of the journey into Francistown was slow, with a bad potholed road, trucks, bad driving and livestock in the road.

Omg, then we had my other pet peeve the whole day, stopping at vet control areas. I do appreciate that they are trying to avoid foot and mouth in their cattle industry, but having to stop 6 times today to have our tyres sprayed or drive through a dip and step onto a disgusting wet trough, that thousands of feet before you have gone is revolting.

I remember on one trip to Botswana the ‘pest’ control guy demanded that I dip my slippers, I’m a bare foot gal, I wouldn’t pack slippers if I was invited for a sleepover at Buckingham Palace. Yet there we were unpacking a whole car and trailer to prove I had no slippers.

Francistown was hectic with Friday afternoon traffic and lots of people.

It was a long, hard 690km drive, through hot and dry countryside, on busy roads. We were relieved to arrive at Tantebane Resort around 4:30. It was nothing fancy but very pleasant, with super friendly staff, a pleasant change from the government officials of Botswana. It was a 20km detour to stay there but the alternative was a hotel in Francistown that offered rooms with communal bathrooms, I’m not a princess but I do have my limits.

We were the only guests and had a nice dinner overlooking the game waterhole. At 8pm it was still 35 degrees, so hot our air con struggled to keep us cool. I covered myself with a wet sarong to try and cool down.

Day 22: Kongola to Katima Mulilo

We had a late start to the day, not because we slept in but because we had a flat tyre that had to be changed. Hundreds of Kilometres on the worst roads that Namibia could throw at us and we get a flat on tar.

Gondwana also does camp sites and Camp2Go (glamping) at most of their lodges. We took a drive around and looked at these options, also really nice, before heading off on our 200km trip for the day.

We passed through Mudumu National Park and saw a few baboons. We have been disappointed in how few animals we have seen this trip. Possibly because there are so many villages on the side of the roads. The ladies in this area all dress in beautiful brightly coloured fabrics.

We stopped at the tyre repair shop in Katina Mulilo to have the tyre fixed. Gray swears by his BF Goodrich tyres, we often tease him about it, as it turns out, the problem was not with the tyre, the bad roads had claimed another casualty, the rim had been cracked. The financial toll of travelling through the Kunene Region in repairs and replacements will probably be in he region of R20 000.

We arrived at our destination Zambezi Mubala Camp Site in the early afternoon. Our bags were packed onto a boat and we were ferried down the Zambezi River to our lodge.

Our rooms, on the rivers edge overlooking Zambia, have a nautical theme, and were a welcome reprieve from the scorching 43 degree temperature outside.

We went on another sundowner cruise along the river. We saw; villages on the Zambian side, fishing and chilling on the waters edge, loads of birds and crocs. The pink G&T’s watching the pink sunset was a fitting end to out last night in Namibia.

The Zambezi is the fourth longest river in Africa and the longest east flowing river, eventually flowing into the Indian Ocean. It is the life blood to many African people, the Zambian people we saw on the river banks cross the river in their mokoros, dug out tree trunks, to go shopping in Katimo – no passports, visas or border crossings. They have been crossing the river between the two countries for hundreds of years.

Another dinner with a view.

I have loved this lush north-eastern strip of Namibia, now known as the Zambezi Region, formerly the Caprivi Strip but was renamed in 2013. The rivers and wetlands are a sharp contrast to rest of the country’s desert landscape.

The area is also uniquely bordered by four different countries; Angola, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The history of the areas is fascinating. Until the late 19th century, the area was ruled by Lozi Kings. In the early 1800’s the region was claimed by Britain as part of Botswana. It later passed hands from Britain to Germany in exchange for Zanzibar. The area was named Caprivi after the German Chancellor, Leo Von Caprivi. During the world wars Germany lost control of the region. The world today has clearly learned nothing from history in terms of land grabbing and it’s effects on the people who live there.

Day 21: Divindu to kongola

With the heat, snoring and snorting I eventually fell asleep around 11. Only to be woken up at 4am with a commotion happening in another camp site (all camp sites here are private). It turned out a rather large lady had fallen out her rooftop tent. She was absolutely fine, thank heavens, but you would would have sworn she needing to be medivaced by the way she was carrying on. Anyway that was my sleep done for the night.

With 2 nights left in Namibia, before starting our trip home through Botswana, we decided that camping in the heat was no fun. Also by now having learned, sure took its time, that we are back in a busy tourist region, that we should maybe book ahead. We have booked rooms for the next two nights at lodges at our new favourite Gondwana Lodges Collection. It’s a no brainer, we get 40% discount on all accommodation and food. The lodges are situated in beautiful settings. The rooms are great, food is good and the staff have all been well trained. Also they are big into sustainability.

We were packed and on our way by 8:30. It was another easy days drive, 220km of good tarred roads. Today was going to be another scorcher, at 9am it was 30 degrees. We entered a game park area along the main road, with signs warning us of everything from snakes to ellies but it is also a multi-use zone and we only saw hutted villages.

Nearing our destination we crossed over the Kwondo River. The road into Namushasha River Lodge had beautiful big trees. Our room has a verandah with stunning views overlooking the Kwondo River, it’s flood plains and Bwabwata Park.

The source of the is Kwondo is at Mount Tembo, on the Angolan Plateau. It flows down into the Zambezi region and forms the border between Namibia and Botswana. It breaks into channels which ultimately merges with the Zambezi. At this stage massive volumes of its water are lost due to evaporation.

We had lunch around the pool and spent the afternoon in our cool room, watching the birds and animals. We saw lechwe, buffalo and crocodiles.

We then had sundowners on the deck and enjoyed a delicious dinner and with some nice red wine.

Day 20: Rundu to Divundu

We had a welcome visitor while eating breakfast.

We stopped in Rundu for fuel, it was bustling with people and had a nice vibe. It was fun to see a man walking past in a St Stithians supporters shirt.

Today was an easy an easy 210km drive along a good road. We arrived at a scorching Nunda lodge and campsite at midday. The lodge was fully booked, so we are camping. At 38 degrees, with no relief from an air conned room, we spent the afternoon at the pool.

We have a grassed camp site on the banks of the Katanga. We set up camp with hippos watching us from the water about 10m away. There is a sign warning us to beware of crocs and hippos.

This afternoon we went on another sunset cruise. We are further east in the Caprivi, along the Kavango, making the area the greenest in Namibia. The river rises in Angola and flows southeast into Namibia where it forms a natural border between the two countries for over 400km. The 1600km river empties into the Okavango Delta wetlands in Botswana.

It was an awesome cruise, this section of the Kavango is much wider and deeper. Joseph our skipper, took us to a Carmine bee-eater colony, it was amazing to see so many of these beautiful birds flitting in and out of their nest holes that they had burrowed in the sandy vertical river banks. We also saw a fish eagle and a flock of my favourite violet backed starlings.

On both sides of the river banks were children playing, people washing clothes, collecting water and fishing – clearly a way of life with little concern for any danger lurking in the depths.

The contrast between child rearing here and in our suburbs are such worlds apart. Children as young as 3, 4 and 5 years olds play on the side of the road, fetch water by themselves, look after baby siblings, shepherd livestock and are seldom seen with adults around. Can you imagine our Sandton mommies, taking their precious little ones to the best play schools, in their 4 x 4’s, even contemplating a life such as this. Yet these children look so happy; always laughing and playing, waving to us and smiling – no devices, no TV and I can say with absolute certainty no therapy and medication. Makes you think!!

Back to our cruise. We stopped on a little island in the middle of the Poppa falls (more like rapids) for a drinks break before returning to the lodge.

We stayed at Nunda in 2011, during the floods, we did the boat cruise then too, the river was much wider and higher. The water level being up to the deck, I remember getting onto the boat from this deck.

Getting back late we decided rather to have dinner on the deck than to start to a braai. Back in our tent it took me a while to get to sleep, over the sound of the hippos snorting and Gray snoring – don’t know which was worse.

Day 19: Etosha to Rundu

Today we travelled east on tarred roads. It’s Monday and a lot less traffic on the roads, unlike at home.

At Oshivelo we passed through a vet control point. This exact same point was what was called the Red Line during the border war, after crossing this point, the soldiers received extra danger pay.

We stopped at Lake Otjikoto, a large circular sinkhole with vertical dolomite cliffs, that holds many secrets. It’s depths and subterranean capacity are still unknown. The first explorers discovered the lake around 1850. In 1915 when the Germans were about to surrender they threw their field cannon, guns and ammunition into the lake. It was also visited by Gray when he was in the army. There is an old steam pump in the beautiful gardens.

Between Tsumeb and Grootfontein there are mealie farms.

We stopped in at Grootfontein, with it’s beautiful trees to buy a table at Cymot.

There are no big towns between Grootfontein and Rundu but it is a well populated rural area that is clean and tidy. Best seen in pics.

At Gondwana’s Hakusembe Lodge we have definitely left the desert behind. Situated on the banks of the Kavango River the gardens are lush and beautiful with big green trees.

A tip to friends travelling into Namibia, it’s well worth getting a Gondwana card. Their lodges and camp sites are all amazing and staff are super friendly. As SADEC members we get greatly reduced rates on accommodation.

Our clocks on our devices all went wild, some stayed on Namibia time, others changed to Angola time, an hour behind. Not that it mattered to us. We had a cooling dip in the pool before heading off on a sun set cruise along the Kovango River between Namibia and Angola.

After seeing the crocs it was scary to see Angolan children playing and swimming in the water, women washing clothes and men fishing and collecting water. We saw amazing bird life and the number on our bird list increased dramatically in two hours. The sun set again was spectacular

Another kak day in Africa.

Day 18: Opuwa to King Nehale – Etosha

After breakfast we headed down the hill into the town of Opuwa. It was like a clash of African civilisations: traditional Himbas talking on cell phones, traditional markets set up next to shopping centres and a mix of local tribes and cultures.

While filling up with fuel in town, we discovered that the bad roads of the past day, had again taken its toll and we had a crack in the spare long range fuel tank.

Today’s journey was 360km along tarred roads, so totally different from the gravel tracks of the past week, our biggest obstacles were livestock crossing the road.

The scenery into Oshakati was that of Makalani palms and salt pans.

We were definitely back in civilisation as we passed through towns all beginning with an O. There were banks, fuel stations, shopping malls, shabeens and the standard Pep stores.

Gray spent 16 months based at Oshakati and Ondangwa travelling between this area and Angola during the border war. We spent some time driving around Oshakati, we found his old army base. We drove through streets with homes, areas that were once used as shooting and mortar ranges.

The road between Ongwediva and then Ondangwa was busy. Lined with people and malls. You can find any shops from Spec Savers, to CTM and KFC. As it was Sunday, the shebeens were all doing a roaring trade.

Gray was saying that during his time here, there were just army bases. The gravel roads were swept every day for land mines and you had to have army escorts travelling between the towns.

Ondangwa was a big Air Force base, now the Andimba Toivo Ya Toivo Airport. We went to the airport and again there were fenced off areas of remnants of army bases.

After the town of Omuthiya we turned on a white gravel road for the last part of our journey to Gondwana’s King Nehale Lodge at the gate to Etosha.

This lodge was a real spoil with awesome staff and cheaper than the previous night at Opuwa.

It was an oppressive 38 degrees yesterday, the plunge pool at our room was a welcome relief. The bed was comfy, champagne cold and the dinner starter of mopani worms …. Not so sure.