Namibia 2: A dead forest in the desert and a sandy beach bordering sand dunes

  That night, Brittany saw hyenas while grabbing something from the car.  I never would see hyenas on our Namibia.  Our lodge warned us not to leave our shoes on our porch, because hyenas might grab them.  I was tempted to do so, in order to lure them out...

  The next morning we ate breakfast and left with a tour group before sunrise, heading for Sossusvlei.  I normally don't like tours, but I knew that this would involve driving on sand.  We ended up driving past tourists that had become stuck in the sand midway through the day.

  There were about ten of us in the large vehicle.  We stopped twice for photos, and for the guide to talk about minerals in the sand.  The morning was overcast with only small bursts of sun.  This made for interesting pictures.  I would have liked to take more pictures as we drove, but the windows didn't seem to open.  We spotted Oryx in the sands, and learned that they can go weeks without water.  

  We stopped for an hour, for people to walk up one of the dunes.  Having done this enough recently , I chose instead to walk by myself toward a sand formation that was interesting.  I was unable to reach it in time to be able to get back to bus when they asked us to be back.

  The next stop was Deadvlei, a forest dead for hundreds of years.  I was excited to see some scarab insects nearby.  As the guide descended with the group into the bigger forest, I went off on my own and looked around.  Brittany chose to stay with the group.  Apparently, people were confused as to why I went on my own.  

  Lunch was a short distance away.  The guide served us a picnic that he, himself, made. The guide attempted to make something vegan for Brittany, but it did not look the part.  One of the couples on the tour had also been on our disastrous second flight.

  The last stop was at the Sesrium Canyon.  By this point, I wasn't feel great, so I stayed at the top.  The group took a brief walk down to the bottom and then back.  We had been running late, so it was brief.  The vehicle had two gas tanks, but we started with one empty.  We stopped for a full fifteen minutes to fill the tanks, which I thought was not very respectful of our time. 

  The following day was spent driving north toward Swakopmund.  Shortly after departing the lodge, we encountered two springbok, who were galloping together.  They darted to the side of the road.  The sides of the road was fenced, but there were gaps made over time by the wildlife.  One of the springbok ran into the fence.  

  We stopped again at Solitaire for gas and watched some of the ground squirrels running around.  

  The terrain was fairly uninteresting until we reached the Kuiseb Pass, with rocky, rolling mountains around us. 

  We road descended and continued through a flat desert until we reached Walvis Bay, where we finally reach tarmac.  We drove thirty minutes along the road until we reached our destination in Swakopmund.  The winds were fierce, with sand blowing over the road.  We were the only ones at the guest house, which was a twenty minute walk to the city center.

  We walked into town to check out a few of the handicraft stores that I had bookmarked.  We encountered multiple beggars, which focused only on white tourists.  Some were children.  One was disabled.  The first craft store was a miss.  As we were walking back, we entered a very tiny shop. Brittany was not impressed, and waited outside.  I bought a hat for sun protection, along with a small wooden oryx.  

  The final shop was by far the best, named Rogl Souvenirs and Gallery.  We spent quite a bit of time there and bought a whole bunch, including a small metal statue, a decorative banner, a pillow, some magnets, and bracelets.  Just around the corner was Cai Thai Tai, which had incredible dumplings and a huge and awesome vegetable spring roll.

  We picked up breakfast for the following morning at a gas station convenience store.  Our guesthouse only gave vouchers to be used with cafes in town, but with the twenty five minute walk, and our early pickup the next morning, we needed to provide for ourselves.  We were picked up at 8:30 for our tour of Sandwich Bay.  We were lucky enough to find out that we were the only ones in the vehicle that day.  The guide was middle aged, and a lifelong local.

  We traveled south for Walvis Bay, where we stopped for just a few minutes to view hundreds of flamingos.  Meanwhile the driver prepared the tires for traversing sand.  

 The previous days had been stormy, and he did not know how this would affect the tides that needed to be low in order for us to get out to the bay.  Luckily, things had calmed down tremendously from the day before.

Seen alongside the road.

  We drove across a narrow road near the Walvis Bay Salt Works.  There were more flamingos on our sides, as the shallow man made lakes were perfect for them to feed.  We reached the ocean and then drove a short way south, alongside another vehicle from the same company.  It was explained that they were sticking together due to the previous days' inclement weather.  We stopped a short while after, to stretch our legs and have a look at the algae that had been brought inward, due to the storm.

  We continued south until we reached a merging of sand dunes and the beach.  We drove up onto the dunes, until we were at a peak overlooking Sandwich Bay.  We walked down the dunes while the driver drove to the bottom and began preparing our picnic lunch.  Brittany and I walked into the bay, and sat down while we waited.  We noticed many bird skeletons.

  At lunch, we shared food with a talkative older couple from Scotland, and another more quiet couple.   I had forgotten to notify the tour group that Brittany was vegan and that I do not eat seafood.  

  We drove back to the top of the dunes and then north, parallel to the beach.  We saw two ostriches along with a few packs of springbok and some deer.  We passed dunes that were beginning to grow, with plants holding them together.  We encountered a few seals near the end, one baring its teeth as we passed close.

This is a snap that Brittany took.

  Once back, we walked into town to visit Cafe Anton, which allowed us to use our breakfast vouchers.  I ordered a flat white, as well as a whole bunch of pastries and a cake slice.  I brought some of it back to the guesthouse.  Brittany had tea.  A man walked up to us, asking where we were from and what our names were.  Then, he made a hard sell of some trinkets, as an alternative to outright begging.  I said, "no," a few times.  He was not deterred. Brittany was very uncomfortable, and so I had to be much more firm with him, to get him to leave. 

  Brittany was hungry.  The Thai place was closed that day, so we chose a Chinese restaurant with mediocre reviews nearby.  Someone else tried to stop us, in order to sell trinkets.  When that didn't work, he pivoted to asking if we needed navigational help.  The restaurant was up a wide spiral staircase.  The food was just ok.

Namibia 1: The Challenging Journey

   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.  

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.