In 2018, my dear friend Jeremy visited Namibia. His wildlife pictures were extraordinary, so I kept Namibia in my mind for a future trip. I almost visited Kruger National Park, in South Africa in 2020, instead. Covid canceled those plans, and this year has become my year of the bucket list. I spoke again to Jeremy and decided on Namibia.
I was fortunate enough to convince my friend Brittany to accompany me. I worried about the road conditions and getting a flat tire in the middle of nowhere. She flew to Chicago, and then a few days later, we began our journey to Namibia.
There were two flight routes we could take. Fly to Johannesburg, with a twelve hour layover, or fly to Frankfurt, Germany, with a seven hour layover. I love German bakeries, so the choice was obvious. Our first flight went smoothly. Then we sat in Frankfurt airport, eating apfelstrudel and having coffee.
Once we reached the seats of our next flight, I noticed multiple flight attendants talking on the phone. I couldn't think of a scenario where this would equal good news. An announcement followed, first in German. By the reaction of the other passengers, it was clearly not good news. The English announcement explained that while loading the plane, someone damaged a step. They had an engineer examine the damage and it could not be fixed in time for the city curfew. We were instructed to deboard the plane and go to the airline's help desk.
We exited the plane and followed the long line of other passengers through the airport. We lined up by the help desk in chaotic fashion. After about twenty minutes without an update, someone stood up on the desk and explained that the plane was rescheduled for a 5:00 AM departure. We should be at the airport by 3:00, so it made sense to stay in the airport.
We found a place to sit and I walked around to find a place for a snack. We relocated close to a convenience store and bakery that were still open. At just past 1:00 AM, I received an update on my phone that the flight had been delayed again until 9:00 AM. I quickly maneuvered to the airline desk, where again, there was chaos. I was third in line and people were now demanding hotels. After waiting for close to a half hour, they had still not booked a single hotel room. Eventually, they got it sorted and I was given a room in a hotel fifteen minutes away.
The taxi driver asked if there were others that would need a ride. Once he was aware of other potential passengers, he became erratic on the road, speeding and swerving. At the hotel, we were informed that the hotel shuttle to the airport didn't normally operate early in the morning, and we should have been given a second taxi voucher. Additionally, the shuttle worked for three hotels, and ours was the third stop, so there may not be room for everyone. I decided to play it safe and book an early morning taxi.
We slept until 5:30, and I checked the status of the flight. It was on time, so we returned to the airport. Fortunately, the flight took off on time. These days I book extra nights at the destination, to compensate for potential delays and allow for rest and recovery, so I booked us two nights in the Namibia airport's city. Rather than arriving at eight in the morning, we arrived at eight at night.
We were given an immigration form to fill out, while landing. I used my pencil. The immigration officer refused it. It had to be filled out with a pen. Brittany lent me her pink pen. Pink ink was acceptable.
I stopped to get a sim card, as data was unavailable in the country for my pocket wifi. I withdrew money at an ATM before we left the airport, and the money came out in South African Rands rather than Namibian dollars. Apparently, the two currencies are linked and they are used interchangeably. I used the bathroom. As I was leaving, the attendant demanded a tip. I had no change, so gave him the equivalent of $3 to appease him.
Our hotel was beautiful, but the ceiling over the bathroom was open. This style does not please me. Unfortunately, Namibia loves this style, and so every hotel except one was equipped with similar bathrooms.
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| An amazing breakfast across the street. |
That first morning, we had a meet and greet session with someone from our self drive tour company. The man spoke with an Afrikaans accent. He gave us metal water bottles with our names printed on the side, a map with suggested driving routes, some reusable bags, and a wildlife identification book. He gave us suggestions and answered our questions. We downloaded a travel app called Travel Key, which gave details of our itinerary and allowed us to download everything ahead of time, in case we did not always have internet.
An hour or so later, we were picked up and transported to the car rental facility, where we accepted our Suzuki Jimny. We hadn't booked until April, so their usual, larger vehicles were no longer available. It had a weak engine, so we were advised that it may not go all the way to 120 kph. Hills would prove a challenge for the engine. Luckily, most of the country is flat.
The vehicle came with two full spare tires. We stopped at a Spar grocery store on the way back to the hotel, where we picked up water and some snacks. Brittany struggled to find vegan items. The next morning, we began the drive down to Sossusvlei. I became reacquainted with driving on the left side of the road.
Brittany spotted a giraffe not far out from the city. We also stopped for a group of baboons who ran across the street behind us. Some others were in a tree and jumped down and fled as we approached. We chose to go through Spreetshoogte View Point, which allowed us to see a bit of the landscape from above.
We stopped for gas, as advised, in a tiny hamlet called Solitaire. I had read ahead of time that it is customary to tip gas attendants. It is full service throughout Namibia, where they clean your windows and check your tires. We also filled a small canister with gas, that we kept belted to the roof of the vehicle, as gas stations are few and far between. The lodge was about an hour south, on roads even worse than the horrible ones we had used to get here. The highlight of the drive was spotting a warthog right on the side of the road.
Overall, it was a long day of driving, lasting about six to seven hours. We would stay at the lodge for two nights.
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