Trawal to Cape Town
The scenery was beautiful as we came out of the mountains. Rolling green hills, pastures and fields seemed to go on forever. There were yellow wildflowers, grazing sheep and cows, and the odd small farm. Brian gave up the valuables he’d been guarding for us, and we prepared for our arrival in Cape Town. Some […]
Highlander’s Birdfield Wine
More crazy weather at Highlander’s Camp. The rain is coming down in buckets, and the wind is howling. We stay inside all day reading and playing games: table tennis, Scrabble, darts with one dart, massage, etc. All our tents are inside the garage on the cement. Only Rowan and Lee-Anne have bravely set up theirs […]
Cederberg
We spent two nights in the Cederberg Mountain area at Highlanders Camp. On the drive there we stopped in the town of Springbok. The town was bustling on a Saturday morning. The people looked faded, tough and weathered. Springbok rose up from the copper mining industry of Namaqualand. The first copper mine was established in […]
Orange River
We crossed the border back into South Africa at Vioolsdrift. Our camp is near the border, and you can pretty much swim the Orange River between Namibia and South Africa from our camp. I can get air time for my South African SIM card now. We’re back in contact. That being said, it’s been wonderful […]
Fish River Canyon
Fish River Canyon is the destination of a long drive day (640km). The canyon is the 2nd largest in the world (the Grand Canyon is first). It measures 160 km in length and 27 km wide at the widest spot. It’s 550 km deep. The scenery of the area reminded us of Arizona, with high, […]
Sossusvlei: A Walk in Namibia with a Japanese Guide
We drove through Namib Naukluft Park on the way to our desert walk from Sesriem (gateway to Sossusvlei).This southern region of Namibia is dry, nestled between two deserts: the Kalahari and the Namib. The area of the national park spans 50,000 square kilometers, and comprises one of the largest conservation areas in Africa. Sossusvlei Dunes […]
Sandboard Namibia
Clearly Swakopmund is a tourist town. Hotel managers, activities instructors and shop-keepers all wait for the next crop of tourists to roll in be it on overland trucks or in group tours from Germany (most likely). Tourists are ripe for the picking, too, looking for adventure and ready to embrace a new experience. At the […]
Swakkie Parasail
Swakopmund is truly an adrenaline capital, and our trip optional activities included sand boarding, quad biking, fishing, sky-diving, sea kayak, etc. We chose para-sailing for our first activity. It was a great experience, though hiking up the dunes in a harness laden down with glider wasn’t easy. After a brief instruction from the pro, we started […]
Cape Cross Seals and on to Swapokmund
The Cape Cross Seal Colony is a breeding reserve for the Cape fur seals who lay and play along the shore. Seals are truly smelly, but it was fun to watch their antics: fighting, nursing, barking, swimming. We continued down the Skeleton Coast (named for all the shipwrecks dotting the shores). The seas are trecherous, […]
Spitzkoppe Bushman Paradise
We spent the night bush camping near Spitzkoppe, a huge collection of boulders and rock formed by the collpse of a huge volcano and subsequent erosion. Spitzkoppe is now called the Matterhorn of Namibia. The landscape was striking, and reminded us a great deal of Arizona or southern Utah. There were some bushman rock paintings under one of […]