Namibia
A country of vast extremes and subtle contradictions
By Kyla
From the crash of cold ocean water on a misty desolate beach crammed with seals to a lion pride napping under a shepherd’s tree on the baking hot savanna, Namibia does not disappoint for moments of beauty and wonder at the natural world.
It is not lost on me that this country’s independence is younger than me. From a tourism perspective, especially one catered to self-drive camping zealots, it is well organized and full of potential.
For Walter, perhaps he would have preferred a big city? Namibia is the 2nd least populated country in the world* so there are exactly zero moments of feeling lost in the crowd. It is the perfect place for overlander-type travel. We did what trusted sources had recommended, and rented a 4x4 truck outfitted with 2 rooftop tents and all the necessary camping and (light) rescue equipment.
iOverlander app in hand (which conveniently can be used offline), we bumped along the mostly gravel roads - 2900km in total! We did book ahead for popular National Park or town campsites which had been recommended and so had a rough itinerary and the security of certain confirmed sites.
*after Mongolia for those wondering.
Etosha National Park - wildlife abounds
Our first wildlife sighting on the drive north from Windhoek to Etosha - a warthog scampering on the side of road. Man can they move. As we entered the park, we saw zebra, springbok and then….GIRAFFE! As we drove to our campsite in the park, we stopped at a waterhole to view elephants, hyenas, and a secretary bird. There is nothing like that first feeling of seeing these animals in the wild. It is an emotionally strong feeling that, like the birth of your child (okay, slightly less emotional), can never be replicated. There will never again be a first time that I watched elephants spraying water in the wild.
Our five days in the park involved driving, parking, and watching. Highlights were a pride of nine lions sleeping under a bush, a honey badger digging, a journey** of giraffes just loping down the road in front of our vehicle, and rhinos butting heads and grunting during a sundowner.
**a group of giraffes is called a “tower” when they are still and a “journey” when they are moving!
Twyfelfontein Heritage Site - preservation of natural history
A completely different landscape of heaped round red rocks and mountains greeted us at our next destination - Twyfelfontein. In this area, we took guided walks through a ancient petrified forest and an astoundingly preserved area of rock engravings. Equally interesting as the sights, was talking with our tour guides trained at a national institute. They are content with the secure job, but sometimes stationed at these national historic sites far from their families and native communities.
Cape Cross and Dorob National Park - desolate and vast
Arriving at Namibia’s coast, the temperature was 20 degrees (celsius) colder! We camped right on the beach but this was no tropical holiday. The wind, mist, and crashing waves added to the miles of desolate landscape - flat salt pans, desert, and lichen fields. Highlight of this area was a colony of > 200,000 Cape Cross seals (they are a species of sea lions but called seals, I’m still confused). The stench of decaying fish kept the boys away but I enjoyed watching as there were massive males on land for breeding as well as blind little pups clearly just born mewing for their moms.
Swakupmond - holiday town, adventure sports, and FOMO
This coastal town is the hotspot for local Namibians going for a beach holiday. As such there is plenty of tours and adventure activity offerings. We tasted a bit of these with quad biking and sandboarding in the dunes.
At this locale, an inner confrontation with my FOMO became eminent. For those new to the term, FOMO = Fear Of Missing Out. It is a real affliction, manifesting in the feeling that you need to do everything offered in life or you will be at a disadvantage and/or will have have missed a prime opportunity for something.
This FOMO especially creates an internal struggle when embracing Slow Travel - which inherently means NOT doing every top-ten-touristy-must-do thing. Slow travel allows for a deeper connection or appreciation of places visited. And since we are traveling for many months, slow travel also ensures that we don’t burn through our budget in the first weeks!
In our family, I seem to be the one more affected by FOMO, and am learning to be satisfied by the experiences we are living and not dwelling on that “amazing $200 tour that everyone has to do”. I was reminded of a childhood book of Walter’s called “Minosaur”. In it, a dinosaur loses his friends on the playground because all the toys are “Mine, mine, mine!”. I am conscious not to become a “Moreosaur” and want “More, more more!”. There are benefits to those days not spent driving/ touring/ seeing another animal/ attraction/ site.
Sesriem and Sossusvlei - hot beyond compare yet shining in beauty
From the coast we headed back inland to the heat of the Namib desert. My travel notes are line after line of hyperbole of temperature extremes. I kept thinking of new idioms, like the warm waft of wind was like opening an oven door when baking. I felt I would never not be dusty again, with sand in every crevice. I even got poetic:
Feel like I could bathe
In a vat of oil
For days
To heal the cracks
And a final thought written down: “Just when I thought it couldn’t get any hotter…” (little did I know that in Madagascar’s coastal rainforest in a week, I would be wishing for this dry Namibian heat!)
Naukluft Mountain Zebra Park - hikes, plateaus, canyons
As our self-drive plans veered back North towards the capital city end point of Windhoek, we stopped in the Naukluft mountains for a beautiful plateau to canyon hike. This would be a wonderful area to visit for more extensive hiking not during the dry hot season (did I mention it was warm?).
At our campsite in Windhoek, I finally looked in a mirror. Gray hairs accumulate faster when you haven’t stared at them in 3 weeks, but every one was worth it. Slow travel can always be longer, but 3 weeks in Namibia was a good amount of time - one week to get bearings, 2nd week to feel the rhythm, and a final week to feel the trip coming to a natural close.
First off, I didn't know that about the names for groups of giraffes! Very cool little tid-bit. Second, good for you and your family for taking things slow--it's a much better and much more intimate time with the country.
Wow, what an incredible adventure you had in Namibia! Such varied landscapes and so much wildlife spotting! I too seem to be the one in my family that gets FOMO; it’s a hard part of slower longer term travel that isn’t thought about much before hand.