Namibia for first timers_Sep/Oct 2011

[C.R.Gillmans]

My financial advisor emailed me early in September and "advised" me that unless I want SARS attached to me like a leach, I should do something about spending some more days out the country........and so my wife and I decided it was time to take that Nam holiday we had been dreaming of for ages.

No plans....no problem...have hilux, will travel.

So I flew into Windhoek, while my wife drove Rhino from home....what a wife hey!! I wouldn't let her drive alone though, and so her father and step mother drove up with here and we flew them home. Not before we spent the weekend at Arrebusch lodge (Thanks to Bruno and Mark for the suggestion It was awesome)

So the first night was spent.....

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And the next day we did the obligatory lunch at Joe's!

Wife had to drive me and the father in law home as we had quite a grand time

So Sunday morning we said our good byes to the parents and decided to take a detour on the way back....

My wife wanted to visit them as the owner does some amazing rehabilitation work with Cheetah's. They also have properly luxurious bunch of bush chalets to rent....The road to Naan Ku was the first Gravel road we had driven together in Nam

Once we got to the lodge we turned in and enjoyed a slow drive to the reception / restuarant, and were treated to our first sightings of some Giraffe, pumba's, and Springbok.

The facilities at Naanku Se are worldclass and I can suggest it to anyone who wants to treat themselves...

So after our last night in Windhoek, we left to head to Okahandja...with no plan of where to sleep. We left late and didn't want to end up driving around into the night looking for accommodation, so we decided to look at our tourist information maps to see what they suggested.

So we got hold of a very nice lady who explained that their farm was about half way between Okahandja and Otjiwarongo. So we ended up finding it and it was a perfect first nights camping spot. Nice grass patch, a braai, and a toilet and shower. What more do we need? The unpacking began......

This is where the story is a bit embarrassing....see, with us not having time to prepare properly and me not being at home, we had to "borrow" a few camping items from dad in law....ie: canvas tent. Very nice of him to lend it to us (and as he always tells me...leen is 'n m@#t se naam)..however. In the chaos of packing, one very important item was left lying next to rhino instead of being packed in......tent poles

So we decided to push on through to Otjiwarongo as our host said there was a large Cymot there where we could get poles if we lucky. spent the night in a "motel like place" called Cest si Bon. Very nice and a very nice breakfast. Next day Cymot came to our rescue with the one and only set of tent poles for the exact tent we had Everything happens for a reason.

So from there we left, deciding to try and push up north to get closer to Etosha.....Tsumeb the next stop. But enough tar for us and we turned off onto the first gravel road that our map said would take us there...D2804...this was the start of a lot of gravel to come

To be Continued...

[C.R.Gillmans]

This was also were the tyres were deflated for the first time! and would stay deflated

Along this road we came across this lost little okie, who seemed a bit scared. There were massive game fences either side, so this guy was obviously lost.

As we cruised up to him to take a photo, he spooked and bolted...

The poor guy was so lost that he just stayed in the middle of the road and we ended up trying to pass him once, but he wouldn't let us, and we drove behind him for a few km's trying to hang far back so not to scare him any more. This was our view for quite some time.

Finally passed an entrance to some Game lodge and gave them a call and they came and helped the exhausted animal.

The route wasn't a planned one and was pretty uneventful. As it was both my wife and I first time in Namibia for anything other than work, all roads are new, so we didn't really care. Came across this massive Jacaranda...absolutely beautiful

Tomorrow I will continue the report, but gotta go now as work calls.

[OOOOMS]

Nice Hilton, keep 'em coming

Nice pics :wink2:

[Mud Dog]

so far! Looking forward to the rest.

[jacques kotze]

Nice pics

[Modder]

Nice.

[Rieks]

Ai Hilton - Jy laat my hart bloei.

Tenminste gaan ek terug in hopelik nog die maand. En hopelik Januarie vir goed.

Jou foto's is wonderlik! Hoop jy het dit geniet!

Het julle Tsumeb om gery of Outjo om?

[C.R.Gillmans]

Hi Riaan...om jou vraag te antwoord...Tsumeb om. Dit is waar die TR weer op tel.

So after spending a a fair amount of the day enjoying the gravel of the D2804 and a few other detours, we decided it would be wise to get to Tsumeb and find a place to test our new tent poles properly....and all the other gear that was relatively new. So we ended up spending the night at one of the most lush campsites in Namibia

This place has it all!!! the most grass I have seen since province rugby trials in primary school , lovely campsites with power points, lights, and nice little fire places. Excellent ablution facilities, washing machines and tumble driers...and yes...a Dros too.

We set up camp next to some folks from Mpumalanga that were on their way home after their trip to Epupa falls.

We stayed away from the Dros, as I had my own stash of Tafel Lager to get through. Got some good info from our travelling neighbors and said good night.
The next morning we packed up and I decided to do a bit of damage control to Rhino's wheel arches. The bakkie is brand new and the damage to the wheel arches from just the first day of gravel roads was already evident, so I took the father in laws advice and taped up the arches with suitable tapes.
I first used this roll of blue masking tape. It is a type of tape used to tape onto windows and such and doesn't leave any sticky residue when removed.

Then for the real protection, I used a layer of this silver duct tape over that. This stuff is pretty strong, but leaves a terrible stickyness when removed. This really helped for the rest of the trip and stayed stuck for most of the way

Tyres to be inflated as next stretch was mostly tar until we got to Namutoni.

On the way we stopped to check out Lake Otjikoto. Very cool to see, but a bit of a tourist rip off. They charge you $40pp to walk 20 metres to look at the "lake" which is actually a sinkgat. Here is the brief story of the "lake".

Here are some pics of the lake. Only had a mik en druk camera with us for the trip, so didn't get a wide angle shot of the whole lake...that's what google images is for

More to follow...

[C.R.Gillmans]

More of Lake Otjikoto

Apparently the depth of the sinkgat has not yet been determined, as divers haven't been able to go deep enough. there is a somber reminder of the dark depths below the beautiful waterline....

That was that for Lake Otjikoto...all in all. this was my wife and I's first time enjoying the sights and sounds of Namibia, and we were glad we stopped here...$40pp and all

Now it was time to get to Etosha...neither my wife nor I could contain our excitement

Onward Rhino

Waiting for my wife to email me the Etosha pics....will continue when received and resized.

[C.R.Gillmans]

Right...next it was off to Etosha. Entered through the eastern gate to Namutoni.
We arrived early to have a look around and set up camp site early enough to maybe drive around and have a look for some game.

Walked around and checked out the old fort...very cool.

And straight away, we were greeted by these two Elephant lazing around the watering hole in front of the lookout point at the fort.

That evening we were treated to an absolutely stunning sunset, and then later got a visitor to our campsite too...one of the real "locals"

This okie was very tame. Still skrikerig, but came to check us out really close.

The next morning we packed up pretty early. While packing our campsite got raided by the local street gang

Then it was time to double check tyre pressures and head off with our map and go find some more "locals" Louisa and myself really really wanted to some rhino, so this was our goal. We were soon to be shocked at the state of the park.

[C.R.Gillmans]

On departing Namutoni, we heard someone mentioning something about a fire, but we were none the wiser, and surely the park staff would inform us if there was anything to be worried about
Straight away we started to see loads of animals.

Then we came around the corner and saw our first Elephant close up, so we started to follow the youngster slowly, and he walked alongside us and up in front of us into the road ahead....

Next thing, one of those small helicopters used by rangers, and possibly poachers too flew overhead. The young elephant immediately freaked out and turned around and decided to charge in our direction Needless to say Rhino was quickly put in reverse and floored! All we were thinking was..please don't flatten us. Luckily Louisa stayed a lot calmer than me and managed to get a shot of the action just before the elephant luckily turned off into the bush....

The picture doesn't do the fear I felt justice, but none the less it was really exciting!
Then around the corner we saw another elephant bull, but he must have been the younger lads grandfather, because he was massive!!! His tusks were already short from years of destroying stuff. We took about 50 photo's of him, but there was no real reference to show how big he was...amazing

We left the Elephant hot spot and continued our sight seeing.

[jacques kotze]

Nice pics, great trip

[C.R.Gillmans]

All of a sudden we started to see what we heard whispers of that morning...fires! We drove and drove and drove and saw nothing but desolated bush....some areas worse than others, and needless to say, our spotting of wild became a bit less.. There was still game though.

We later came to a watering hole that seemed to be very busy, and found that there was a dead elephant bull there. Found out that evening that it had been killed by poachers, but tusks not taken???! Don't know if that was the truth, but was a damn shame to see it in Etosha. Needless to say nothing goes to waste in the wild and this was out one and only sighting of the top of the food chain scavenger

We continued on and by now could see still smoldering tree trunks and started to see massive clouds of smoke. Fire still going strong!!!

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We made our way to a picnic stop indicated on the map that also had toilets...on our way we were shocked and horrified to see the amount of litter inside and outside of the fenced off "picnic" area. This was not on, and was sad to start thinking about who to blame....us...the tourists. It is shocking that someone will spend thousands to come and visit from a "first world" country and then leave broken glass bottles and paper and plastic lying around in one of the most amazing national parks around it was a real eye opener for my wife and I and we were extremely sad to see this happening. From then on we started to notice that it was not only at those fenced in picnic area's, but say many bottles that had obviously been thrown out of windows :evil:
One of these pieces of broken glass could easily have caused a fire.

[Bulletjie-3]

You had a jolly time thanks for the report.

[C.R.Gillmans]

We drove for kilometers seeing nothing but burnt out veld...quite sad, and quite weird that not one of the staff members mentioned anything?
So on we soldiered. Despite the carnage, we still saw lots and enjoyed our driving....The next waterhole we spotted some of those elusive big cats, who were more interested in their mid day snooze than anything else going on around them.

On the way to the next watering hole, we saw an animal neither of us could recognize...maybe there is someone here that knows this species..must be endangered

We arrived at Halali, but decided to carry on as there was too much smoke and we could smell the fire. Not nice to spend the night in that smell, so we decided to push through to Okaukeujo. On the way spotting some more wild.

Then we arrived at Okaukeujo, and to our dismay found that they had nowhere to accommodate us,

so we had to make alternative plans, and as luck would have it, we found one of hte most amazing campsites just out the southern gate of Etosha...not before spotting one or two more sites.

[C.R.Gillmans]

here are some more pics of sightings prior to leaving Etosha to find our alternative accomodations

This Springbokkie was going mental for about 5 minutes, and we were laughing so hard at him that we struggled to take a decent photo. All his bokkie mates were standing dead still staring at him like he was mad!!!

The place we set up camp was situated about 10km south of the southern entrance to Etosha on the road to Outjo. It is called the Etosha Safari Camp and is managed by a company called Gondwana-Collection . I can not say enough good things about these peoples facilities. Each one of their camps has a theme, and they don't rip people off when it comes to accommodation. They offer everything from camping to luxury chalets at most of their establishments. They also run a "membership" scheme where SADC citizens can join their company by registering online and then you are entitled to further discounts on meals and accommodation. Well worth it and it doesn't cost anything to join. Follow the link above to read up about it and to check out their various sites.
So camp was set up and it was set up for 3 nights here!

And the first thing we do when camping is.

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The next day we decided to head into Outjo to check it out and to stock up on the ever important beer and biltong.

We found an awesome butchery there and stocked up on all the goodies needed. On our way out of town, I decided to stop at the internet cafe to check mails and make sure there wasn't anything important that needed attention. When we got out the bakkie, there was a young owambo kid begging, who was really arrogant and wouldn't take no for an answer. I told him in a very polite way to bugger off. The second I turned my back I got this funny feeling, and later went back to check on the bakkie. Didn't find anything....yet. Never doubt your gut feeling
That night we made friends with a very interesting foreign couple, who we can only hope to be as well traveled as one day, and another couple from Windhoek, who would turn out to be our new friends! Lovely people we spent ages chatting to. The foreigners were very interested by our game potjie that night

[C.R.Gillmans]

The next morning we woke up and had some breakfast and were deciding where to go for the day when my wife noticed that the rear left wheel looked a bit flat...either that or the grass grew really quick that night. And then it hit me...that strange gut feel I had was spot on. On the drive home from Outjo the previous day, about 40km from Outjo I heard this strange sound, like a rock bouncing off the tire. I stopped and checked out Rhino, but couldn't find anything wrong.
We proceeded to spend the next two hours repairing our flat wheel with our repair kit and the help of our new Namibian friends...Here we found the culprit to be a piece of metal that was just too perfectly placed on these new tyres to have been picked up on the road somewhere....Sabotage

All's well that ends well, and we spent the rest of the day chatting with our new friends and he advised us on a number of very scenic roads to drive for the rest of our trip...info that turned out to be invaluable. We will be contacting them soon for our next trip!
The next few pics show some of the restaurant and bar at Etosha Safari camp. It's theme is Shebeen and there is so much memorabilia in that place that it is awe inspiring. Some of the stuff in there comes from lifetimes ago, and a lot of history with regards to Namibia's "struggle for independence". A lot of thought has gone into the layout and a lot of time was spent making it perfect.

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I spent the night of my Birthday here and unknkown to me at the time my wife mentioned it to one of the staff there, and they took it upon themselves to bake me a cake and put on a show for me... It was awesome and the staff are the most friendly people we came across in our time in Namibia

To be continued...

[Family_Dog]

This reads something like a radio serial... can't wait for the next episode! Short, concise, to the point, well-illustrated. :)


-F_D

[OOOOMS]

Very nice and interesting reading

[Hi-Hilux]

Baie nice report sover, wat nie nice is nie, is dat jy in Tsumeb was en ons mekaar nie gesien het nie!

[Sebata]

very interesting, have been clued to it, no work done, cant waint for the nxt episode

[C.R.Gillmans]

Thanks very much guys...will continue as soon as I get the chance to download more photo's. Internet where I am is terrible. Taking ages to get this TR done.

[C.R.Gillmans]

Had a surprise up my sleeve for the wife! I read about a new place that opened up in the west of Etosha, the restricted part, and if you booked a stay there, then you were allowed to drive from Okaukeujo through the restricted area to get there. I was hoping that this would get us some really good game viewing. It got us viewing some game, but nothing extra extra special...ie: a rhino But it was great, so off we went. I was terribly excited to see how this place looked. On the way there are a few man made watering holes, and we managed to spot some wildlife, the highlight being an elephant having a mud bath!
We got to see this herd of Zebra ushering their newest member down to the waters edge for a drink.

And a Sunday mud bath for this chap.

There's a good reason I see so many Lux's with a pumba sticker on...these okies have got serious attitude. This fellow barged his way through a herd of Zebra on his own and then scared the few at the watering hole away so he had it to himself

Then we set off to my surprise destination. The place is called Dolomite Camp and you can check it out on the NWR Website . A valuble tip I got....after the fact...use the Cape Town office to make any reservations, as they are much much more efficient that the "head office" in Windhoek! I stood there for two hours and they still ballsed up my booking.
The chalets hidden in the dolomite outcrops...

[C.R.Gillmans]

This place wasn't cheap, BUT....I can seriously recommend it to anyone who wants a proper luxury holiday in the bush. The service is excellent and the chalets and facilities are amazing. The president of Nam was there two days after us to officially open the lodge, and since then it has graced the cover of a number of magazines including National Geographic Traveler.
When you arrive, you park your vehicle under cover of these car ports made from latte and tar poles and you are picked up by a 4x4 golf cart. You load all your stuff in and they take you up the mountain. There are some seriously steep inclines and these little golf carts impressed the hell out of us!. All your wishes are taken care of and you don't have to walk anywhere.

the cart path to the chalet

and the view from our chalet!!!!!!

the bedroom

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Now this is how to do game and bird watching

What bush Chalet is complete without its own pool!

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The Chalet from the deck

My wife lounging in one of the lounges...

To be honest...we didn't do much except plush out in our luxurious surroundings. We did drive the extent of the Western area where we were allowed to, but still no rhino's

[C.R.Gillmans]

This is the last photo I took in Etosha, and is as close to trying to be artistic as I get

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The manager at the Dolomite camp was such a great guy, and I can see why he does so well with NWR. He shared a lot of info with us about where to stop and things we should see and was an amazing host. Thank you very much Jan. We will be seeing you again!
So we left the Etosha park through the resticted western gate and made our way to Kamanjab where we refueled and stocked up on all the necessities. Sadly however...the batteries on the camera were pretty dead and we were saving them for anything special along the way.
This is where the real Namibian trip started for my wife and I. The route through the mountains from Kamanjab to Palmwag is truly breathtaking and this is where we started to see some of the most amazing landscapes you will ever see. Pictures can't do it justice, and unfortunately our camera wasn't playing along.
This is one shot en route to Palmwag, gives an idea of how the landscape had changed to grassy plains around this area..

Next stop

For those that haven't been here, it is definitely worth a stay....beautiful.

Our site for the night...

The next morning we were up prior to sunrise and ready to go!

[OOOOMS]

Nice pozzi

[C.R.Gillmans]

Louisa and me were both terribly excited to get to the Skeleton Coast Park. We had both been dying to see it, and me being a surfer and avid fisherman, I was dying to get to Terrace Bay for a few attempts at trying to catch our national fish!!!
The route from Palmway over the Grootberg Pass is a route that I will go out of my way to travel again. It is breathtaking and the vastness of the country is evident around every turn. The landscapes here are so beautiful and if I was a real photographer, I probably would still be there taking photo's. I think my wife got sick of hearing me say how beautiful this is
From Palmwag you first head south toward Vrede, before turning west to head over the Grootberg Pass....bookmark this route!!!
Along the way you are bound to see loads of wildlife roaming free.

some of those landscape shots...

The start of the pass..

Coast Please...

The decent begins

[Thunder02]

Great Trip Report

[C.R.Gillmans]

Cool looking road...

Some Vehicles just weren't made for this...

Bet you these pics aren't on the cruiser forum...

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Yet Rhino stands tall

Anyone who has driven this route will know about this place. We found out about it from Jan, at Dolomite Camp. Apparently this has been a compulsory stop for everyone travelling to Terrace for many years already.

So what do you do at Dopsteek.....steek a dop...one for the road :razz:

Coast please driver....

After Dopsteek, the road heads down in the vlaktes again, and we head for the Sprinbokwasser entrance to Skeleton Coast Park.

[C.R.Gillmans]

Again the vastness of the region is truly awe inspiring....Time and time again I say to my wife that I want to live here!

Next stop....land of the galjoen!

And finally we were at the entrance gates.....the temperature over the last 50km had dropped from 28 to 20 degrees at the gate. The ocean is calling :!:

The minute you enter the park, it is like you have entered a different world. Again the landscapes start to change km by km as you approach the coastline. The grass is now gone and there is only rock...with a big difference in vegetation too.

And finally the hard rocks start turning to the soft white sand. It is geographically amazing as you watch the earth change from inland to coast. This truly is an amazing country with more sites to see than most get to see in a lifetime.

[Mud Dog]

Keep it up !!

[ROOFER]

wow hilton looks like u guys had a swell time .nice pics ,fantastic!!!!

[Andre du preez]

Regtig baie mooi, dink self om so trip te beplan. Is net my ou lux raak nou te oud!! Sal eers maar 'n vars een moet koop vir so trip.

[The Legend]

Ek wil graag soos aan my oor gedra vir diegene wat nie weet waar die naam van dopsteek hoogte van daan kom nie.Die ou boere van Namibie het Desember maande af gegaan met vakansie Torrabaai toe.(Wat vandag nog die gewoonte is)Dit was n groot trek gewees. Al wat op die plaas agter gebly het,was net die plaas lyn gewees.Slagskape is saam geneem,die kershoenders het in kamp rond geloop voor hulle gevang en geslag is vir die kers ete.
Alles denkbaar was saam geneem.Dopsteek hoogte soos vandag bekend was n steil opdraande en die bakkies van daardie tyd het maar gebars om bo uit te kom .Hulle het gewoonlik gekook en moes daar dan stil gehou word om die voertuie te laat af koel en water by te gooi.In die tyd is daar dan ook ruim van die geleentheid gebruik gemaak om n dop te gooi terwyl die voertuie afkoel.

Trevor kan dalk miskien meer detail hier gee.

[The Legend]

Regtig baie mooi, dink self om so trip te beplan. Is net my ou lux raak nou te oud!! Sal eers maar 'n vars een moet koop vir so trip.

Moenie daai 4y onderskat nie.Gee hom n goeie diens voor die tyd en die kaap is hollands

[C.R.Gillmans]

Baie Dankie Dawie...dit is baie cool om te weet. Die ou wat vir my van die plek vertel het net gese dat dit waar all die boere stop vir hulle eerste "official" vakansie dop, en ons mag nie daar verby ry sonder om die tradisie te behou.

[C.R.Gillmans]

So now the tempreture had dropped 20degrees from inland to the coast and we had to put on long sleeves all of a sudden But both Louisa and myself welcomed the cooler weather after spending the last two weeks in the 30degrees region, with some days approaching the 40 already! This was also the first time Rhino got to drive around this close to the water...but not the last. The first chance we got to drive down to the water we took!

It is also amazing how adaptable these little fellas are!

For those folks who haven't been there before, Terrace Bay, and about 60km before that, Torra Bay, are fishing destinations inside the Skeleton Coast Park. There isn't much to see here as such...except the amazing desert landscape that flows into the ocean!!! Terrace Bay used to be a mining town, and there is no camping facilities here at all. You are only allowed to stay here if you have pre-booked accommodation. Torra Bay on the other hand is a camping only venue to the south of Terrace, but this is closed all year, except December and January, but to get a spot here is near impossible, as people that stay here just come for angling...en wyn vat , and they tend to book far in advance. some people return year after year after year. The fishing here is really good, but as is the case with most places....you should have been here yesterday
At Terrace Bay you stay in the old mining houses, which are prefab style houses. Cell phone reception is excellent within a few km of the "town" as there is a tower built there, but other than that...nothing...no TV or anything. And generally there isn't many woman that frequent this place. It is mainly just fisherman. Still, as I am a fisherman, I was looking forward to this for ages.

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And so...first things first...maak n lyn nat!!!

[C.R.Gillmans]

It is so great to stand here fishing..you look left and see endless beach...look right and see more endless coastline..look behind you and you will see nothing but dunes and sand...and more than likely a little strandwolf. We weren't so lucky though. We did see many very very large paw prints though...possibly some of those dune lions!
The solitude of fishing here is addictive...so much so even Louisa started to fish!

We did make some western cape friends.....Guess what they drive

FISH ON!!!

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The fishing unfortunately wasn't that successful. Managed to catch a couple of undersize Galjoen, and some small Kabeljou, and a very nice Kolstert, but I am a firm believer in protecting the ocean and anything that is not going to be eaten or more importantly, isn't regulation size, get's put back. I also catch loads of Kolstert at home, so I wasn't going to keep that one either.
We only stayed at Terrace for two nights, so i got one full day of fishing and loved every second of it
We packed up early the last morning and ended up waiting for an hour for the fuel pump attendent. You can get fuel at Terrace Bay, but only if you are staying there. Eventually we were on the road again...166km to the Ugab mouth gate in the south. Along the way stopping to see one or two relics...

And the wreck of the South West Seal..

The drive down to the Ugab Gate was mostly misty and so we didn't manage to get many photo's. Once we got to the gate it was clear sky's. Perfect for a photo of the infamous gate.

[C.R.Gillmans]

So the next stop on our list was Henties. Louisa and myself had spent a few hours here before and were looking forward to being here with our own transport so we could explore the town a bit more!...but first the compulsory stop at Cape Cross to see the Seal colonies there!

More fishing on the cards, and we headed for Henties

We spent two nights in Henties and the first afternoon there, as luck would have it we bumped into old friends of ours that happen to be Namibians and have moved back to their homeland two years previously. We hadn't seen each other for about 5 years! So bumping into them in the Spar in Henties was one helluva surpirse. what was more of a surprise is that they are busy building themselves a holiday house in Henties. Who better to fish with than someone that grew up here!!!
So back onto the beach for Rhino

Guess who loves Toyota

We went out for dinner at the Skubbe Bar. It is on the main road into Henties, and doesn't look like much at all....wrong! This place's food is unbelievable and is owned and run by the local pastor and his wife. Wonderful people. You also get to write on the walls here, so if anyone is there in the future they will see our username somewhere up there!
We said our goodbyes and headed off the next morning...on our way to Swakop, but not before another beach drive detour to take a Photo of the very recently run aground trawler, the Zeila.

[george]

Nice one Hilton

We went out for dinner at the Skubbe Bar.

Hope you had the Eisbein.Best I ever had

[Mud Dog]

Nice report and pics!

[jacques kotze]

It must have been a helluva trip

[OOOOMS]

Nice we will def. stop over at Skubbe Dec. Tx for the tip :wink2:

[FIRSTGEER]

Awsome pictures and a concise but very informative trip report.Well done.

[Rieks]

Very nice trip report!!

Please don't stop!!

[OOOOMS]

Very nice trip report!!

Please don't stop!!

Agree....seems like the pause button has been pushed

[Andre du preez]

So, mooi

[C.R.Gillmans]

Thanks for the comments guys...yes...the long pause was for that terrible thing called work

So.....from Henties we made our way down to Swakopmund. The only other time I had been to Namibia for anything other than work was 3 years previously, when my wife and I drove to Swakopmund for the weekend ...yup just for the weekend. My father was working there and we decided to pay them a visit. So Louisa and myself were very excited to see the town again, as we both loved our short visit previously.
But first we took a quick little detour to play with Rhino

We couldn't believe our eyes, and could hardly recognize Swakop!!! The place has expanded, and continues to expand like nothing I've ever seen. It's like Parklands in Tableview (for those that know this area). Development after development...to the north and it has also started at Langstrand between Walvis and Swakop. Not long before it is all one big stretch of houses! Sad but true.
The road between Swakop and Walvis never ceases to amaze me. From huge towering dunes on one side of the road to ocean on the other.

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The entire area has been declared a new national park, called Dorob national park and driving anywhere in the dune belt from the Ugab to Walvis is now prohibited without a permit. At this stage the permit is still free. This is in an attempt to control access and stop the damage caused by irresponsible holidaymakers who don't stop to consider the effects of their actions on their surroundings. The damage to the coastal belt done by 4x4ing and quadbiking and such is sad to see. It isn't long before these luxuries are stopped and no one can enjoy it anymore....a sad day.

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We spent a few days lazing around Swakop and Walvis and drove around site-seeing. We took a lovely drive around the lagoon in Walvis to see the seal colony at Penguin point. Permit required for this now as it forms part of Dorob national park. Free from the parks board offices in Swakop or Walvis and valid for 3 (don't quote me) months.

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First thing was first, and after a long drive through the saltworks, Rhino needed a wash, so a quick wash and spray off in Walvis before saying goodbye to our beloved ocean and heading inland again.

[C.R.Gillmans]

So leaving Walvis, next stop Solitaire. We had heard about amazing apple pie here and wanted to try it for our selves. A very good tip we recieved from a number of people was to always stay as close to the ocean as possible when choosing a route to travel. Sounded good to me and was the Modus Operandi for deciding what roads to take.
Wasn't long before 16 degrees celcius turned to 36 And not long before the changing landscape had us staring out the windows in silence.

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Unfortunately I had planned to give a detailed route...road by road, that we drove, but without the luxury of our laptop and the T4A map we used I can't add this info to this TR. I will gladly supply to anyone who wants info about various routes to drive, and not to drive. We drove over the Kuiseb Pass and down through the Kuiseb Canyon Beautiful pass and road to take, and again is another area an entire holiday could be spent exploring dried up river beds and so on. The landscape here is one of endless valley's and hills.

Very cool pass

And then the decent into the canyon

And the riverbed that looks like an inviting little drive.

[C.R.Gillmans]

So once through the canyons and passes, we continued on till we passed another landmark...

On the way to Solitaire we again were exposed to the side effects of a good rainy season.....Fires!

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This sort of damage again results in various forms of erosion, and we were lucky enough to spot a few whirl winds...

We made it to Solitaire in record time, as there is a lot of work happening on all their roads and there are graders working non stop every where. Road surfaces for the most part were excellent

and the famous

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His name is Moose McGregor and is from the same family tree as Ewan McGregor, who has visited him during the filming of "The long way down". It is Moose that owns a few recipes, that according to him, net the bakery alone 1 million every 4 months!!!!!!!! He is willing to part with them for that same sum of money for anyone interested He hasn't left this place for years. A great guy and a wealth of information. We chatted to him for a while...after stuffing our faces with his apple pie. Not only apple pie, but Choc brownie, banana cake, and a few more home-mades to make your mouth water. everything being the best you've ever tasted. That is saying a lot for someone who grew up with Weskus tannie's baking almost daily!!!!
The Selection...fresh every day

Moose is a animal lover and keeps a never ending supply of crumbs and sorts to feed the locals...

We spent the night at Solitaire campsite. The next morning stocking up on all sorts of Moose's delicacies for breakfast and padkos, before heading off to our next stop....Sossus

[OOOOMS]

Keep'em coming, delicious report

[Mud Dog]

Got that lousy gut feeling that we will have to wait another week for the next episode!

[Rieks]

Wow - what a surprise on this Monday morning, good report.
Have you not been on the Swakop Jetty? Did you catch anything while there? Where did you camp in Swakop?

[C.R.Gillmans]

Trying very hard to concentrate on the important things...like this TR....work is for the birds
Hi Rian.
Unfortunately didn't do any fishing in Swakop of Walvis . I am a surfer, and when I got there my main priority was to get some waves, as the swell had been running the entire time we were in the skeleton coast park and henties, and I was dying to surf....as it would happen though, we had found a leak in our mattress in Palmwag....waking up on the metal base , and as we didn't camp in Terrace or henties...and didn't fix the leak we weren't going to camp in Swakop. We drove around till we found a place that advertised accommodation in the window, as all the places we called were trying to get rich from one booking. We did go and have a look at a campiste at the bottom of the dorp, and I must say it was damn nice.
We found a lovely little granny flat to stay in and the owner was nice enough to let us use her garden hose and grass patch for me to look for the leak in the mattress...couldn't find it as it must have been the smallest damn hole in the world, and would take literally 4 hours with mine and my wifes body weight to deflate
. So no camping unfortunately. The granny flat had a lovely built in braai and we ended up making another potjie there on our first evening We also didn't go to the jetty. I could easily spend a week just in and around Swakop, and it was a constant "compromise" between the wife and I who got to do what
Next time won't be that far away, as I am addicted to SWA and want to go back at every opportunity. Ek voel niks om sommer vir die naweek op te ry!

So on to Sossusvlei. Neither of us had been there, and to be honest it wasn't really ever on my list of things to see until this trip. What a mistake...more breathtaking scenery.

The first stop...

And the view from up there!

That was that for us as we were there in the heat of the day and didn't attempt the walk to the vlei area :sobbing:
It's ok though as it just gives us an excuse to go back.

[C.R.Gillmans]

Keep heading south, looking for somewhere to stay over....and found
so we spent the night at Beta Campsite. Very cool. and also very cool little chalets there...each one with their own unique finishes., and a donkie for hot water
We got here late, enjoying the lovely drive and all the scenery and landscapes of the area...really every km being truly scenic. So first things first...hout

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Beta offering us some lovely late afternoon scenery and a beautiful sunset

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And a beautiful dinner...

Up early and off on a much antisipated route that we had been advised to take by every single person we had met...must be good then...D707
Anyone passing through this area won't be disappointed to detour via the D707. It is one of the most scenic gravel roads I've ever been on...Unfortunately though from here our photo's get a bit jumbled and I am struggling to find what I need without our own laptop and the internet connection where I am being so bad. So the few photo's of the D707 probably won't convey how beautiful it actually is. The drive is nothing difficult, with the roads all recently being graded and the surface smooth!

We crossed this mamba's path and ended up trying to follow him to a tree, where all the birds managed to lure him away from their nests. A real amazing site and ture team work on the part of the birds. The photo of the snake was the best one we could get because this guy is fast!!!!

Back on the road again and heading for Aus

[OOOOMS]

Hilton, truly amazing pics.....soon our turn

[Haboob]

Great report & Pictures

[Rieks]

Soo exciting - can't wait for the next lot. I hope your trip never ends!!

[C.R.Gillmans]

So onward to the land of wild horses and diamonds :)
Again excited to see the coast and visit a town I haven't been in since....a long time ago. Fond memories of working in Luderitz with my father and brothers and some good friends. I job I would love to still have!
Now we know where we are again

There are some more weird and wonderful things out there and this windmill/artwork is one of them. I took a whole bunch of photos of it trying out all sorts of different functions on our mik en druk. some came out pretty good too. This one just shows what it actually looks like. Looks like a bit of a mechano set

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We reached Aus reasonably early and had a brunch at the local Banhoff Hotel...beautifully restored hotel...didn't take any pictures...
We then drove a little way out of Aus to the Klein Aus Vista, which is another of the Gondwana Collection sites and is again...beautiful. This is more set up for hikers though as there are amazing walking trails. the campsites are lovely, but have no power or water at the sites themselves...no double battery system...no go for the fridge So we drove around the place and checked out everything they had to offer. They have a hikers cabin that is about 6km into the mountain which you can drive to. It has no power, but has a gas fridge. We went to inspect and this would make such a cool place to spend a few nights under the starts and walk through the surrounding mountains. Would just need to be a bit more rigged to handle the no power situation. The hikers cabin can accomodate up to 10 people, but they will hire it to two only if they are not too busy. You don't have to share with people you don't know if you don't want to. It's actually called Geisterschlucht Cabin for those that do german.
At the reception to of the Klein Aus vista, we saw the largest mulberry bush ever

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How cool is that. The mulberries were really sweet and there must have been about a million on that tree....what a strange place to find this.
When you drive out to the Geisterschlucht cabin you pass this...very interesting story.

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This being diamond country, there are thousands of stories like this to entertain the imagination!

So after exploring it was off to the windy city! No dunes covering the road though Was looking forward to that.

winging it again, we drove around the town admiring the architecture and pretty much everything about the old town. Not much changes here as it is such a unique and windy town that not many folks choose it as a holiday destination.
Some people make their gardens so unique...

[Hi-Hilux]

Al moet ek dit nou self se, maar hel ons het 'n mooi land!