Our Southern African Adventure

What an amazing, wild trip it’s been…..35 days of the most unexpected and unforgettable experiences.

….And wow there’s sooooo much to share and tell, but we’ll (try) to provide only highlights; looking forward to later sharing more (unfiltered) details with each of you in person…soon, promise.

Day 1 (8th Dec) Starting point: (home Base) Oshakati (north central Namibia)
With ‘Meme,’ our 19 year-old Land Cruiser packed to the roof with camping gear and essentials we very slowly and uncertainly started making our way west. Navigating seriously gravel roads none of our 3 maps offered, we resigned to taking directions from locals which were mere hand gestures.
Passing a petrol station only every 5 hours, other cars only every 2 hours, and people or even animals only every hour; we quickly realized our ‘adventure’ was going to be an ‘adventure’ in the most literal and figurative sense.
730 klms, 8 hrs, 3 wrong turns (1 hr), and only 1 petrol station later we arrived NOT at our planned destination, but at a completely secluded but nice campsite in the town of PalmWag (which consists of only our campsite and a gate for disease control).
As the campsite receptionist ushered us to our campsite she very casually warned us of the elephants that like to visit the site at night….’how cool’ we thought. ‘Not so cool’ we’re thinking as we wake to the munching sound of the gigantic elephant towering directly over our tent. Jumping out of our tent in the pitch black with just a eco-friendly flashlight we send him shuffling away…..but to the other side of our tent; where we finally get to see him in full-view as we shine our headlights on this enormous being just 50 feet from our tent. Thankfully he moves on through the campsite while we fall back to sleep naively thinking that would be our closest elephant encounter.

Day 2: Off to Skeleton Coast Park trekking through the beautiful table mountain scenery from our PalmWag campsite 200 klms to the coast. Again, passing only 1 car the entire 2 hr drive through the park, we quickly deem this park the most beautifully stunningly sight we’ve ever encountered – our first known competitor to our beloved Swiss Alps. Barren white sandy dunes washing into the ocean with not an animal or semblance of vegetation in sight, we were completely captivated by how this simple landscape could be so utterly majestic.
Out of the park hours later, still heading south we decide to stop at the Cape Cross seal reserve where hundreds of seals are cramming their blubbered bodies within 1 mile of beach front (dead and alive) giving off a stench so invasively repugnant we could only stay for a mere 3 minutes (short trip)…..then we were off for our campsite, so cleverly named (ha) Mile 72.

Day 3: Mile 72 is this secluded, gorgeous and peaceful waterfront campsite where we spend the whole next day (Dec 10th) doing nothing but hanging out in the sand – reading, throwing the Frisbee and just relaxing as the sun sets over the ocean…..happily realizing this is only the 3rd day of our adventure!

Day 4,5,6: Up early for our rather short (197 klms) drive to the famous German influenced town of Swakompund - our first ‘real,’ stocked town since we’ve been in Namibia! This little luxurious looking town is a crazy mix of German and African culture (and people) all in a little beachfront town surrounded by sandy desert on one side and amazingly beautiful sandy dunes on the other.
Upon recommendation by seasoned travelers we decided to stay in ‘Swakop’ for a couple days – riding 4wheelers through the orange sand dunes, sandboarding one of the largest dunes in Swakop and just enjoying the western luxuries we were missing…i.e. iced coffee, toilet papered restrooms, tasty fish, etc.

Day 7: After picking up another traveling companion, Reah, we set out for our next destination: Sossusvlei Dunes (Sesriem Campsite) to check out the famous red sand dunes and hike ‘Dead Vlei’ trail at 5am to watch the sunrise at Dune 45 - wow! And we thought we’d seen the best of Namibia’s landscape…we were so so wrong.

Day 8,9: Trekking further south to our next coastal destination: Ludertiz and Shark Island campsite. 2 days in Ludertiz we decided to visit the famous ‘Ghost Town’ just outside Ludertiz and also drop Meme off for a little ‘check-up’ before setting out into the middle of no where again. Visiting the ghost town of ‘Kolmannskuppe’ was an fun, eerie experience as we toured around old abandoned, dune-invaded buildings in what used to be one of the most advanced and high-class towns in Namibia or possibly even Southern Africa.

Day 10: Out of the coast in into the south-central interior of Namibia we drove 416klms to Canon Roadhouse campsite nestled next to the famous (and enormous) Fish River Canon – which is usually where people from all around come to hike the canon, but given the extreme heat Namibia was experiencing, the Canon was closed but we were able to look over the canon and take in it’s enormity, while saving all those much needed calories we were happy not to burn on a long hike.

Day 11: Only 55klms up the road we decided to stay at an adorable little lodge (Canon Lodge) inside Gondwana Canon (which we could hike…and did). Here we have our first sighting of wild horses, as well as these cute little canyon dwelling animals called Rock Dassies.

Day 12: Setting out in the wrong direction, but getting back on track after an hour we headed south (not north) for South Africa…yea!!! At this point we were entering South Africa a couple days earlier due to the fact a friend of ours wasn’t able to meet us in his hometown in southern Namibia like planned….therefore we took this opportunity to just ‘wing-it,’ take our time getting down to Cape Town and have a look around in western South Africa.
Just a couple stamps at Namibian border control and 30 min of a bit of confusion at SA customs and immigration and us 3 mangy looking crackers were set free to tear up the luxurious tarred highways of South Africa….bound for Cape Town. After 725klms of driving directly south through barren land Ryan had had his days fill so we decided to pull-over and campout (in someone randoms backyard with a couple other RV-driving SAFRA’s) in Vrynhdorsf South Africa (just a random town off the long highway south).

Day 13,14: Up early on Dec 20th from the roster crow at the farm next door…..and the three of us we’re excited to get to see Cape Town (and some city life). 275 klms later we arrived in sunny Cape Town and parked it right under Table Mountain at Capetown Backpakers Hostel.
That evening we decided to head out to Cape Flats to check out a ‘Battle’ (break dancing battle that is) and had such a great time checking out the local arts scene and getting a great feel for Cape Town.
The next day we decided to hike Table Mountain, but ended up starting too far at the bottom, hiking up the wrong side and having to scale a couple mountains on ‘Diagonal Cross’ path – not recommended. It was a beautiful, but quite scary hike as we continued convincing ourselves the path would lead us to point at the top where the cable cars would whisk us down….almost to the top, we ran into a waterfall we couldn’t scale and decided to take in the beautiful coastal view from table mountain and hike it back down to safety…and try again another day.

Day 15: Off to a wine tour just 30 klms outside Cape Town in the beautiful wine town, Stellenbosch, which oddly reminded me of my beloved Bloomington (missing the girls deeply). To our delight the wine tour started at 9am running until 5pm with us visiting 4 different wineries and tasting approx 20 different wines (we lost count). From what we remember the vineyards were beautiful and our ‘evidence’ (or pictures) from the tour are pretty interesting (only tame pictures inserted here).

Day 16,17,18: We drug our hungover butts back to Cape Town to take a ferry out to Robben Island where we got to also see some penguins and other interesting wildlife amidst the imposing block of cells where Mandela spent too many years of his life (approx 20).
On Christmas Eve we decided to make a trip down the coast to check out the Cape of Good Hope (the beautiful southwestern most tip of Africa) and ended the day with a nice dinner of local dishes at Reah’s friend’s house in Cape Town….was a very different, but nice Christmas Eve with new, friendly faces and great food.
Christmas day we let ourselves sleep in (9am) and then decided to try to hike Table Mountain again – this time 2.5 hrs later – we successfully made it to the top to enjoy the break taking view of both the waterfront and city. After the big hike we treated ourselves to a very interesting Mexican dinner on the waterfront….Margarita at Xmas – that’s a new one.

Day 19: Out of Cape Town into the beautiful, lush hills driving south toward Botswana. But first, we have to stop for a break in Beaufort West.

Day 20: One nights rest in a spooky, cheap hotel room in a creepy town and we’re headed north (again) to our next ‘stop over’ - Kimberely. This rather large South Africa town had a nice surprise for us right next to our ant infested campsite - The Big Hole…….diamond mine, that is. After touring the ‘big hole’ and learning all I needed to know to ask for my next diamond we were ready to settled into our campsite for a nice meal of pot noodles, turning in at our regular 8:30pm bedtime.

Day 21: Couple hours into the drive and we’ve finally hit Botswana (they also let us in). And just another hour later and we’re in the capital: Gaborone where we decide to park it for the night even though there isn’t much to the city. Therefore, we find this nice little nature reserve just outside the city called, Mokoldi Nature Reserve where we decide to camp for the night…….a couple miles in the middle of the Botswana bush with neighbors ranging from warthogs to zebras to baboons who were dancing around our site for our supper and breakfast.

Day 22: Up at 6am we’re back on the road, headed north to Francistown, Botswana…another stop over on our way to the Okavanago Delta for New Years!! We run into a little snag when we find out our money transfer never went through for our New Years trip; therefore we spend most of the day searching for an internet café (no luck) and spending lots of money on sitting on the phone with HSBC UK....nothing but mobs of people and interesting smells in Francistown so we decide to keep driving to get closer to our next, important destination –Maun. Couple hours later we stop and stay at the Nata Bird Sanctuary (recommended by our trusty Lonely Planet author) – not a lot of birds to see, but tons to hear – it’s an early night, again…..but peaceful and great sunset.

Day 23: Headed to Maun where we’ll spend the night at the Crocodile Camp, where there are no crocks at all just one family and a wild party next door. Maun is a cute little town with lots going on…..and even a coffee shop that offers and English breakfast (thank god). 30th

Day 24: It’s the New Years Eve and we’re riding in a 4-seater plane above the Okavango Delta – seeing some more amazing landscape….20 minutes later landing in the middle of the secluded Okavango Delta at Oddballs Camp in the Moremi Game Reserve.

Day 25: Up early for a 2-hour hike into the Moremi Game Reserve with our trusty guide, ‘Knowledge,’ points out a range of different wild life such as kudu, impala, some very interesting birds and lots and lots of wild animal poop (we’re poop experts now). After a huge English breakfast, tasty lunch and 5-course dinner….we’re trying to bribe the cook into coming home with us. After dinner until bedtime we’re enjoying a glass of wine (or two) while watching the family of hippos play in the lagoon just in front of the camp lounging area…..far different from camping in the Big Hole.

Day 26: Another 2-hour hike in the morning where to our excitement (and scare) we are surprised by another giant elephant who pops out of the forest we’re standing right in front of. As surprised to us as we were her, she skips to her last warning signal, raising her ears very high in the air. At this instance, our typically calm guide quickly ushers us away from the surprised and mildly perturbed elephant….as she then shuffles back where she was coming from.
Another big breakfast, siesta, tasty lunch and we’re sailing up the delta in a Mokoro (small boat pushed by a guide with a pole) to visit our guides village we’d be asking our guide about for days. The ‘animal-free waters’ Knowledge assures us he’ll be taking us through turns out to be all but free of the most dangerous animal in Botswana – the hippo – who, just a few waves away peers at us from his only visible body part – his peering eyes. Making it past the hippo we wade up the more narrow streams of the delta, uninterrupted and in the most peace, tranquil setting I’ve ever experienced. We only spend a couple minutes in the village b/c the sun is going down, but we get to see the very cool, ingenious homes of Knowledge and his community, while also purchasing some nice crafts the local village woman beautiful weaved from the local planets in the Moremi.

Day 27: After saying a sad ‘goodbye’ to Oddballs we hop back into our 4-seater plane to fly back to Maun….to continue our journey north to Chobe National Park. A 20 minute-flight later we’re back in the Meme driving the long route to our next stop-over, ‘Kasane,’ because mere 3 hour route we were planning to take to Chobe is flooded.
8 hours and 28 road-side elephant sightings later its pitch-black and we’re struggling to see the road with Meme’s dim headlights the only light for miles. Due to all the potholes, rain and necessary elephant sighting stops, we weren’t making it to Kasane and have to find a place to ‘park it’ before we end up in the back-end of an elephant crossing the road. Luckily after 1 nervous driving hour later we find the ‘A Touch of Africa’ lodge where we fork over a good amount of Pula to spend the night.

Day 28: Up early to get to Chobe, we leave Pandamatenga and just 200 klms later we’re in the border town of Kasane, refueling, buying groceries, getting phone credit, etc….preparing for our stay in Chobe.
The minute we enter Chobe we’re awe-struck with all the different wild-animals, realizing our mere 27 klm drive to our campsite, Ihaha, is going to be amazing!! Passing more kudu, impala, monkey’s, baboons, elephant….we also cruise past warthogs, wildebeest, giraffe, some crazy large lizards and some other animals we’re still trying to define.
Ihaha is perfectly situated right on the Chobe Riverfront where all the animals congregate (and I mean ALL) …..hippo, crocks, herds (prob 50) elephant, etc. Sitting in our lounge chairs (unfortunately smelling monkey poop) we enjoyed the priceless view until the rain came (and didn’t stop for days).
At 10pm, as we’re comfortably reading in our tent we hear the loudest elephant alert we’ve ever heard. As Ryan jumps out of the tent and runs to Meme, just 3 feet from the tent, I proceed to jump out of the tent to stare straight into the face of an unhappy elephant peering down at me atop the small hill just behind our tent….frozen, with Ryan yelling ‘just run’ I back into the tent, freak out a bit, and then jump out the back and run to the car. You can probably guess what came of that night – yep, we slept in the Meme as the herds of elephant marched past our car and baboons pelted the ground with more ‘free smells.’

Day 29: Realizing we finally acquired our first flat tire of the trip pulling into our campsite (luckily) Ryan most impressively changed the tire, affixing our hopefully trusty flat. Also to our amazement the rain came down all night and didn’t look like it would stop for days; therefore we made the agonizing decision to drive back to Kasane (35 klms) to get a trusty tire put on so we could drive around the park without worry.
Just a couple minutes later, change of plans – it must have rained more than we realized and getting out of the park took, not only 3 hours, but we came 1 inch of flooding the entire car as one of the many pools of water rose to our windows. Thankfully, Ryan skillfully mastered the Meme and we managed to get out of the park without getting attacked by the lion (we only later heard was roaming around).
Affixing new tires, washing clothes, having coffee, buying groceries…we decided to stay in Kasane for the night…camping safely alongside a family of hungry, curious mongoose and a very beautiful sunset over the Zambezi.

Day 30: Luckily Kasane’s just 10 klms from the Botswana/Zambia border so we arrived early (and cocky) at the border to take a ferry across the Zambezi. More surprisingly, and defeating was the shocker we had to fork over $300 in fees to get into Zambia….and we had NO US dollars, no kwacha, only 100 rand….ahhh!!
Among all the crowds of peopling banging on our windows for money, rides, food, etc, one nice young guy took our unfortunate circumstance as a grand way to make some money and score himself a ride to Livingston. Magically producing the money we needed he ushered us through the 6 posts where we had to ‘pay up or ferry back.’ 2 hrs and 230,000 kwacha later we were aloud into Zambia and on our way to Livingston with our new friend riding along happily in the back.
After withdrawing 1 million kwacha we handed 700,000 over to our new friend, not the 800,000 he tried to get out of us. Throwing our stuff down at our little grass hut abode at JollyBoys pack-backers we were off again for Vic Falls – luckily just 10 klms up the road. Again – WOW – words can’t describe – only pictures do justice – but just some justice.

Day 31: ‘We’ve just got too, we’re so close,’ we decided – check out Zimbabwe. Leaving Zambia border (this time much easier on foot) we crossed the beautiful and famous bungee-jumping bridge overlooking the Zambezi to enter Zimbabwe ‘for a small fee,’ just $50.
After soaking ourselves viewing the other side of Vic Falls we decided to have some tea at the famous 5-star Vic Falls hotel overlooking the Zambezi and just 1 klm from the border. After being escorted through the brush by a friendly Zimbabwe guard we sat down at one of the classy hotels we’ve ever dined in……which turned out to be one of the most bizarre meals ever! Turns out this classy hotel, with its recently manicured lawns and impressive appearance didn’t have any crème for coffee or tea. Turns out they didn’t have but a couple random things listed on the menu; therefore they brought us what they had – 2 cocktails (with different names but tasting the same), bread rolls and butter and a beautifully prepared fish from the Zambezi. 2 strong cocktails later we decided we would brave into Vic Falls city just up the street. The town initially appeared to be ‘fine’ (especially compared to the rest of the country) but we realized, within minutes there was nothing to buy, no money to withdraw from the cash machines – just loads of people wandering around aimlessly looking for the odd white tourist who just tip-toed over the border to try and steal a glimpse at Zimbabwe’s demise.
A day like that should only be closed with a booze cruise up the Zambezi we decided… as did 10 other ‘steamed up’ 20-somethings from around the world looking for a good view, nice piece of meat for dinner and some free booze.

Day 32: Bye, Bye Livingston…bye, bye Zambia (and Zimbabwe)……hello, old friend Namibia. Couple minutes, stamps and friendly greetings later, we’re back….not ‘home,’ but cruising the beautifully secluded and empty Caprivi Strip westward. Surprised at the tar roads we make some good-headway to the center of the Caprivi and decide to pull-over at a random campsite in the middle of no where, hoping for a ‘wild animal-free sleep.’ Situating us right on the water so we can see some hippo and other animal we resolve we’ve ‘made it this far,’ and settle in.
After 3 hours of grilling our still-uncooked chicken over ‘trick wood’ we scarf down our beans and corn and call it a night among the starriest sky we think ever exists.

Day 33: Next stop, 463klms later – Rundu in North Eastern Namibia. This small town of, well, not much did provide us with gas, groceries and a nice, grassy place to pitch our tent. Having hear there was a Swiss lodge serving authentic Swiss food we raced over to the location to find out the restaurant was no longer running….it seems the Namibia’s and those visiting Rundu didn’t really have a taste of Swiss food….what?

Day 34: Only 888klms from home we decide there’s no rush in getting back home so we stop to see a huge Meteorite that landed in the middle of ‘no-where Namibia’ 80,000 years ago – pretty cool and random. It’s only noon, we’ve already covered 300 klms and there isn’t much else around to see or enjoy……we figure – mine as well go the distance with Meme one last time and sleep in our beds after 34 days sleeping on the ground.

Back home in Ongwediva, reflecting on the trip of our lives…wishing we could have physically shared it with you all, none the less hoping you enjoyed the verbal ride.