Climbing Dunes

The next morning the alarm went off at 5am so that we could reach the gates of the Namib Desert by sunrise (when they open). The drive to the gates gave us a great view of some of the dunes and as the light changed so did the view. Once inside the park we drove along 60km of tar road and for many visitors this is as far as they go. We had been advised to drive over the sand and to climb a dune called ‘Big Mama’. Driving on sand is fine so long as you don’t stop. The track was quite busy and when the car in front of us stopped we had to stop too and we couldn’t get going again. The doc and I got out and had a look. One wheel was well and truly stuck. Our friends (driving just in front) hadn’t noticed that we were stuck and drove on. We tried digging the sand away from the wheel, without much success. A kind driver of a tour vehicle stopped to see if we needed some help. He offered to tow us out. We eventually located the tow rope and clips and he quickly got us out and we were off, we didn’t stop again!

Climbing Big Mama was great fun, our eldest managed the climb easily, the youngest had a helping hand. At the top we stopped for photographs and water and then took our shoes off and raced down the dune. The sand felt lovely between my toes and we all enjoyed the journey down.

Next stop Swakopmond at the coast.

Into the Desert

We had a hearty breakfast and made an early start, leaving Windhoek before ‘rush-hour’ began. The drive into the city had been through mountains but on leaving we were fairly quickly onto gravel roads and a very different landscape. The gravel roads are hard driving and can be very dangerous (some insurance companies have disclaimers relating to the gravel roads). The navigation was interesting, one of the ‘d roads’ wasn’t there, we could see where he turning might have been but there was no sign of the road. One of the towns marked on the map was not recognised by the sat nav, when we passed through it we could see why, it was just a collection of buildings and a bottle store.

Driving through the desert was amazing. The children were frustrated playing eye spy as there was only sky and sand and road! We arrived at Hoodia Lodge, a beautiful building surrounded by mountains in the middle of the desert. It was very hot. Our friends went to watch the sunset from a secluded spot, we got the children to bed early and watched the sunset while cleaning out the fridge (the eggs had smashed!).

Not Camping

The next day we drove to Windhoek this was our first night not under canvas, we thought that we’d do it in style and stayed at the Hilton. The rooftop pool was a wonderful relief after the drive. The staff didn’t bat an eyelid when we turned up in very dirty vehicles with piles of dirty laundry! We had planned two nights in Windhoek but the itinerary changed when we decided to squeeze in a trip to see the red dunes. This meant that we saw little of the city but the next day would prove to be worth the adjustment.

Time for a tour of the ‘van’. The double cab is cosy with very limited legroom for the passenger (me) and only just enough space in the back for legs of those sitting in car seats. Above the cab is a roof top tent, we saw lots of these on our journey; they’re very simple and unfold into a comfortable tent with a double mattress. It’s well ventilated and we preferred sleeping in this part. Behind the cab is the ‘camper’. The roof of this opens up and the sides expand outwards and two beds fold down, one is single the other almost double sized, these beds sit atop cupboards. Tent flaps fold down at the back and front to keep rain and mosquitoes out. This is not completely waterproof so there is an awning that goes over the top, we risked some nights without the awning but out it up most nights. The two tents connect to each other because our roof top tent was on sideways with a ladder over the bonnet of the car and a door opposite the door into the camper.

And there are cupboards in the sides, for food, bedding and stuff. The kitchen area pulls out with storage for pans, crockery and the gas cylinders.

into Namibia

We had an early start and quite a long drive to get out of the Central Kalahari Park. We drove to the border, where because we had no Namibian $ two of the group had to go through the border into Namibia to get $ in order to pay the fee for the cars back at the border. We had lunch and set off again. We made it to Gobabis in good time but had not realised that our destination was 'near Gobabis' which meant a further 97km on a road that was under construction and very rough going! 

We stayed at Harness which is an animal sanctuary with a lodge and campsite. There are over 200 animals including lions, leopards and cheetah. The larger animals are semi-wild and let loose amongst the impala and buffalo to catch their dinner but kept in large pens the rest of the time. The younger animals provided an opportunity for the kids to to get up close. The site was a bit of a culture shock after being in the silence of Kalahari for three days and we spent time discussing animals in captivity with the children. 

The next morning we shared our breakfast with an over-tame ostrich! 

all alone

On our third day in the Kalahari although we saw two other cars we felt quite along, our campsite was very remote. The gps co-ordinates were wrong (again) so we followed the signs and after a long drive off the main tracks we found our campsite. We had a lovely afternoon camping as the way out was quite rough and we had seen quite a bit of wildlife on the way in.

The ostriches were beautiful and we saw lots of giraffes.

kalahari day 2

We have seen lots of oryx, bit fed up of them now. For our second day in the Kalahari we had a leisurely start and on the journey to the next campsite we saw lions. One strolled past the car, stopped under a tree while another walked along to join the first and they both wandered off. It was amazing. There are about 300 lions in the central Kalahari (about 52,800 km square) so to see two is quite something. As we've done most of the driving later morning or mid afternoon we decided to do an evening and early morning game drive. In the evening we all piled into one vehicle and found a lovely spot for sundowners and saw giraffe, and wilderbeast but no leopards.

The following morning the alarm failed so it wasn't quite such an early start but we did see aardwolves and more giraffe. This was followed by a big fry up back at camp. 

kalahari

We are now well into our trip. We have had no internet connection until now in Swakopmund. 

From Jo'burg we drove to Gaberone and stayed at a sanctuary called Mokoldi, where we came across kudu, impala, giraffe and ostrich. We had two nights at this campsite which gave us time to stock up on food for nine people for 4 days. The campsite was luxurious with running water and a hot shower – heated with a fire below the tank! The two tents on the car work well, the upper tent is just a mattress under canvas and is accessed through the other tent or up a ladder over the bonnet. The other tent has fold down mattresses which sit on top of storage cupboards and the tent has fold out sides. This tent is not quite as waterproof so we were supplied with an awning. On our second night we discussed putting the awning up but decided not to. We then spent the evening watching lightening all around us and then directly above us. It was a dramatic storm, and although we have seen African storms before this was huge! The doc decided to join the girls in the tent above in case the storm woke them, in fact they slept through the whole thing! The other tent leaked and we ended up with a lot of damp bedding! We have since perfected putting up the awning after the tent is up so we will be better prepared!