The drive from Brandberg was, in short, about seven hours of sand. Haha! Luckily, though, my route took me back through Swakopmund, and at lunchtime. So I went back to Fork ‘n Nice for another helping of the best fish ‘n chips on the planet. After a couple of hundred miles the terrain finally started to become a little more interesting. Suddenly, there were hills and then mountains as I got closer to my next stop, Naukluft Mountain Zebra Park….
There really wasn’t much difference in the scenery driving inland from the Skeleton Coast. Lots and lots of remote desolation, sand, and very foggy, misty air. Eventually the air got drier and warmer and I was able to stop and wipe the coating of brine off the windows. I haven’t been able to see out the side windows or the mirrors in a few days. Yuck! Brandberg is actually a small mountain range in a part of Namibia known as…
A relatively short five hour drive from Windhoek and I’ve reached the edge of Namibia, on the Atlantic coast, specifically the city of Swakopmund. Swakopmund is considered the adventure capital of Namibia. It’s true, if you want to go parasailing, skydiving, boating, surfing, or riding dunes, this is the place. The city, however, is just a quiet, peaceful seaside town. Namibia was a German colony in the late 19th century, so many of the businesses and streets have German names…
It’s a relatively short drive north from Otjiwarongo to our next stop, Etosha National Park, Namibia’s premier wildlife park. After checking in at the gate we made our way to our first “camp”, Okaukuejo. The camp is actually more like a little village or apartment complex. Then after checking in for our accommodation, we went straight to the Okaukuejo watering hole where you can sit on park benches and watch animals come by to drink. You don’t really even have…
I got my 4X4, my camping gear, groceries, and I picked up Mom. Now it’s time to hit the road, so we headed north toward the town of Otjiwarongo, where we’ll be spending the next two nights. First we have to take a detour through the small Okonjima Game Reserve. Pretty much as soon as we enter the gate, we see two white rhinos. Moms first time in Africa, first safari, and she bags a pair of rhinos on the…
From Maun I said goodbye to Botswana and made my way to the next country on my list, Namibia. I was supposed to have an hour and a half connection in Johannesburg, but my flight from Maun left thirty minutes late, and my flight from Johannesburg got changed to thirty minutes earlier, so an hour and a half turned into a thirty minute frantic sprint through the Johannesburg airport. I sprinted, cut in line at immigration, sprinted, cut in line…
The drive from the Mababe camp in Chobe National Park to the Moremi Game Reserve in the Okovango Delta was long and, as all drives in this region, bumpy and sandy. I didn’t mind so much, though, because even though we weren’t in a national park or any kind of game reserve for most of it, it still felt like we were. There were still animals to see the whole way there. I also got introduced to a new antelope…
After my visit to Victoria Falls, I spent one more night in Kasane before starting an epic fifteen day tent camping safari through northern Botswana. Strap in and get comfortable because this post is pretty epic too. My journey started with a cruise up the Chobe River, just west of Kasane. The Chobe River marks the border between Botswana and Namibia in these parts and right in the middle is Sedudu Island. Apparently, Botswana and Namibia had to fight over…
As promised, I boarded a plane in Gaborone and winged my way all the way to the most northeastern tip of Botswana, Kasane, where I’ll be gearing up for the next leg of my journey. Kasane is mostly a base for safaris, where warthogs and baboons roam the streets and it’s not safe to walk around after dark for fear of lions, hyenas, and elephants. Out in the bush, warthogs are always hard to photograph because they’re pretty shy and…
I had about a five hour drive from Mashatu northwest to my next stop, the Khama Rhino Sanctuary. I checked into my little chalet and rested up for the next days activities. The Khama Rhino Sanctuary was started in the 1990’s in an attempt to save the near extinct rhino population. It’s been a pretty good success too. They currently have around 35 white rhinos (I’ve heard different numbers from different sources) and 4 black rhinos, all guarded by round…