Antarctica to Zimbabwe – Day 70 – Namibia

I never thought I’d say it feels good to see a 6 on the clock when I wake up, but here we are.

We crashed hard after landing in Windhoek yesterday, partly due to the 30 minute-long visa application process.

But we’re feeling a bit perkier today, having gotten close to a full night’s rest in what is objectively a fantastic hotel:

Shame we only stayed here for 10 hours.

Off to breakfast, where they have both a continental buffet and hot options:

Starting with a delicious hot chocolate

I have the English breakfast

With waffles for the kids

We finish packing and meet our guide, Ewald, at reception for 8 am. Bags are loaded into the safari vehicle, and we sit down to go over the briefing.

First question Ewald asks is what we’d like to get out of the trip – animals remain our focus, but we’re also very much aware that Namibia is renowned for its otherworldly landscapes.

We step through the other details of our trip – where we’ll be staying, the extensive travel times between destinations – and then it’s time to mount up and be on our way.

First, though, we make a quick stop to pick up some cash and essentials. None of my bank cards work on the Namibian ATM, but I am able to get a credit card advance.

The essentials part proves easier – there’s a Spar grocery store in a nearby mall, and my wife is out with a case of water before I wrap the ATM. Then we are on the road.

While leaving Windhoek, we pass by one of the more expensive suburban neighbourhoods:

There seems to be a huge spread in suburban construction in the area.

We then drive past Heroes’ Acre, a monument to Namibian freedom fighters and where former presidents are buried:

Namibia did not become independent until 1990. Before that it was South West Africa – a colony of South Africa, and prior to that it was a German colony.

There are a broad range of ethnic groups within Namibia, including the Ovambo, Kavango, Damara, Herero, Nama, Caprivian, Busmen, Tswana among others. The total population is roughly 2 million people.

Namibia has had its highest rainfall in a full decade, and so it is remarkably lush – much more so than any of us were expecting. Ewald expects there will be good weather for another 3 or 4 years, but then another drought for up to 6 years.

Unfortunately, the rain has come at a heavy price:

Bridges and other infrastructure have been heavily hit by flooding.

But mostly, we just drive – taking in the remarkable scenery:

And the occasional naughty donkeys:

One of the most prevalent forms of transport here is the “Kalahari Ferrari” – a donkey-pulled cart that offers a form of low-cost public transportation for locals.

We make a brief photo stop to admire some interesting rocks:

More rocks! Limestone, this time:

The hills are quite striking, both due to the unexpected plant growth and the presence of iron oxide (rust), which gives it a striking red hue:

We enter the Naukluft mountains on our way to Sossusvlei – everywhere we look, life finds a way:

There’s a pale yellow-green grass that’s particularly striking:

But we get our wish for more wildlife – baboons!

The juveniles scale the fence with ease:

While an older fellow takes some time – or perhaps watches to make sure everyone gets across safely:

We also spot a monitor lizard and a black mamba – but sadly I was too slow to get photos.

Next stop, Solitaire – one of the last refueling / jumping off points prior to heading deep into the desert. It’s been serving travellers for more than 60 years:

We stop at Cafe Van der Lee for a quick meal before setting off again.

My wife has a cheese and pesto sandwich:

My daughter has chicken nuggets:

And I have the fish and chips – though I’m somewhat surprised when the fish isn’t breaded:

It’s still delicious, though, and the sauce is a great mix with their crispy fries.

We then stop in at the Solitaire bakery, which is rewowned for their apple pie and other treats:

I get the pie, and it’s very tasty – though it has raisins for reasons I cannot fathom:

The scenery here is also quite striking:

But it’s soon time to hit the road once again.

On the way to Dead Valley Lodge, we spot some petrified dunes:

And a tree with a weaver’s nest. These nests can be complex structures housing many birds, offering protection against the elements and predators. The largest recorded weighed several tons.

I managed a slightly-obscured photo of the birds themselves:

We carried on to the outskirts of the Sesreim Sossusvlei Namib Desert National Park – to Dead Valley Lodge.

It’s a luxury resort with amenities including a bar, pool, internet, and so on.

While we’re not nearly as remote as we were when we stayed in the Sahara, we still get much of the desert feel – without the joys of showering via ladle, or dealing with a chemical toilet.

The views aren’t quite Sahara-worthy, but they are pretty darn good:

I’d like to say that we promptly set to taking beautiful photos of our rooms for your benefit, but we did not – instead we bagged up our laundry and cancelled our evening plans.

We had originally been scheduled to do a sunset climb of the nearby Elim dune, but we were just toast after the long drive – departing at 8 am this morning and not arriving until after 3 pm. Our Land Cruiser did its best to air condition the cabin, but it just wasn’t able to keep up with this desert heat.

But I did take the time to pull the photos off the Dead Valley Lodge’s website:

Photo courtesy of Dead Valley Lodge – Dead Valley Lodge Namibia

Each room is a luxury semi-permanent tent with manufactured plank flooring. Cooling is provided via an evaporative cooler – not quite the same as air conditioning, but very effective in the desert heat.

So rather than trudging up a hot dune, we go for a swim:

Pay no attention to the wonky aspect ratio of this photo – it has nothing to do with me somehow covering the lens with my finger three times while taking it

No skip-ball this time as the chairs around the pool are all occupied, but I invent a game called “depth charge” which is basically just skip-ball played underwater. The kids don’t quite enjoy it as much as skip-ball but they play it for more than 10 minutes, which is pretty good considering the coldness of the water. (Or refreshingness, as I see it.)

By the time we’re showered and dressed, the sunset is underway:

I’m sure the view from atop that dune is pretty great, but so is the view from poolside with a cold lemon-gin in my hand.

It’s not long before the sun has officially set:

And we’re off to dinner:

Barbeque tonight, with a wide range of traditional and game meats. The rest is all done buffet-style, which is fine by us as it will let us get to bed early.

It’s very tasty, but the only problem is that the chefs have a tendency to drastically underestimate the doneness of the meats. So “medium” is blue-rare, and “well” medium rare.

We all manage to get fed, but it’s an inefficient process – a lot of meat gets discarded as a result. At least they’re thorough with the chicken.

Back to our rooms, where I attempt to post the day’s update. Unfortunately, we suffer a string of defeats – our website is blocked by the Lodge’s firewall, and then the internet itself slows to a crawl.

So I go outside to try my hand at night-sky photography:

I’m using the wrong lens, and I have no idea what settings I should be using – I’m essentially just propping up the camera on a Kleenex box and going for long-ish exposures of 15 to 20 seconds. But I’m pleased with the initial results.

But then it is most definitely time to pass out, particularly as we have yet another early start tomorrow so we can reach Sossusvlei.

Will we manage yet another 5 am wakeup after two back-to-back travel days? Stay tuned to find out…