Namibia

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8. January 2019

Namibia… you directly start to dream. We had a picture in our head of us crossing the beautiful steppe of Africa in our car. We were planning to see the wonderful cities like Windhoek– Swakopmund and the Etosha National Park, and of course our personal highlight, the small city Lüderitz.

This dream stopped one week before we reached Namibia, because there was no SUV available. We checked a lot of rental companies like Britz, Avis etc. but everything was fully booked. Normally we could book a car 1-2 days in advance but this time it was not possible..High season! So we had to go for a non SUV and we picked a Toyota Yaris. When we reached the airport we drove directly to our hotel in Windhoek.

Our vehicle for our Namibia road trip. XD

Windhoek

When we reached the city we checked in to the Hilton hotel. The city is not what one would consider typical Africa, but you can find a lot of great colonial buildings.The influence of the Germans is very easy to see. A lot of German restaurants and pubs, German street names, for example Bismarck or Beethoven street and the famous christ church – the German towns landmark!!

Christus church

2 days later ……We started our adventure. Everything was packed and ready and we could start our big adventure. Our first goal was to drive south as far as we would get on that day. The navigation was very easy. For example 180 km straight then right and another 180 km straight.

During the drive it was never boring for us, for the whole time we listened to the German radio which was very interesting and funny for us. The radio was like a dating show and they were trying to sell a lot of stuff like ebay. For example, people were trying to get rid of an old cooker and would include the place where it can be collected, like Beethoven street 15, very funny ….

When you are on the road in Namibia you will lose yourself in the nowhere

Stopover at the quiver trees forest

A free running horse cross the road. <3

The Quivertrees Forest

The roads were really great , especially when you keep in mind that your are in Africa. At least for the first part of our journey. Great landscape in every direction. Sometimes we passed a small village and after that just more landscape for along time. But you always have to be aware that at anytime an antelope or a springbok or maybe even an ostrich can run across the road in front of you.

The first night at our lodge

We booked the first night of our journey while on the road, it was sooo beautiful. The name was ,, Alte Kalkhöfe Lodge,, This accommodation were owned and organized by a very nice family from Namibia. The whole area looked hundred years old and we could see a lot of machines from the past. The rooms were clean and the food was great. It was really an awesome start to our road trip.

Great view <3

Old petrol station

Lüderitz

The next day we decided to drive to Lüderitz and had a few miles ahead of us. Lüderitz is an old port city on the Atlantic and the center of the diamond coast in southern Namibia. Very interesting for us. Many old houses of the then diamond boom adorned the city. It was still a bit quiet and there were hardly any tourists to see.

The climate was, in comparison to all the other cities in Namibia, quite cold and windy. This is because the city is directly by the cold Atlantic ocean. But for us it is was a great temperature because we are from the north of Germany and we are living directly by the North Sea. 🙂

Left the lutheran rock church in Gothic Revival style

In the city Lüderitz you can do a couple of things, like a nice boat tour. During the boat trip you have the chance to see seals, penguins and dolphins. Such a nice variety from extreme heat and desert to cold and the great ocean. For us the most amazing place was a place called Kolmanskop, a real ghost town.

Kolmanskop

A place in the middle of the desert. The history starts in the small village at the 14th of august in the year 1908, at this time Kolmanskoop was one of the richest cities in Africa .We couldn’t believe what we saw,it was so amazing, the German influence is hard not to notice Many houses can still be visited today, but on the other side a couple of houses are dillapitated and covered by the sand of the desert. A few houses are still like they would have been in 1908 and it is every interesting to visit. It was unbelievable that the municipality had its own butcher, an ice factory and its own pub with bowling alley. Each family got one ice block per day and 20 liters of drinking water a week for free. They even had a hospital with the only X-ray machine in Africa. For us it was one the best place in Namibia !!

The dining room

A bowling alley

Information

Entrance: 4,50 EUR
Opening times: 08:00 am – 01: 00 pm

Duwisib

On the way to Duwisib the route worsened and we started to wish that we could have rented an SUV. It was getting quite hilly and the route had a lot of dirt road. Sometimes we had to pass huge puddles, some which looked like a small lake. It was quite tricky to reach our next lodge (because of the road ) but the place was so great and it was located at an old castle. We were very lucky and the lodge was only for us, there was nobody there except the owner Jürgen. Duwisib Guest Farm

The streets getting worse

And sometimes you can find a turtle in the middle on the streets.

We wondered .. how can you live like this? It is beautiful here but it is so lonely. No neighbors, no supermarkets, absolutely nothing! Jürgen told us for him it is like paradise. He could not live anywhere else, he told us you that get too used to it very fast. Over dinner we talked a lot, at least till midnight. The food was awesome. Everything was prepared and fresh and he hunted the meat himself…. Delicious !!

The 1908 built castle Duwisib. The castle was built by Hans Heinrich von Wolff. Today the present castle is in Namibias state property.

Information:

Entrance fees: 66N$ (3,90)
Opening times: daily von 09:00 am – 01:00 pm

Soussusvlei

The next day we started quite early, because our plan was to drive to Sossusvlei, but it was more difficult than we expected. The road was getting worse and worse and the day was getting hotter and hotter. Most of the time the temperature was over 40 degrees and we had the air con working on full power all the time. The small stones on the unpaved road were getting bigger, like small rocks and unfortunately we hit a couple of them and of course it did not feel pleasant.

Nice to see the balloons

You can book your balloon rides at Namib Sky

The highest dune in the world!

Finally we reached our destination … A perfect day on the highest dune in the world. The bad road and all the big rocks were quite stressful and the street was shaking us all the time. From the gate on where you pay the entrance fee the roads are very good for sure. From the entrance you need another 45 min to reach the meeting point where all the tours the dunes are starting. From the meeting point you have to take a shuttle directly the to dune 45.

The view from the top of the dune is just sooo awesome!! Despite of the extreme heat we are soo overwhelmed of the beautiful nature.

Down on the other side of the dune is the Dead Vlei. A dry slat pan with up to 900 years old camel-thorn trees surrounded from oranges and a great dune landscape.

This coulisse .. and all the pictures ..You have to experience it by yourself. It is at least 1000 times more awesome than in all magazines.

Dead Vlei Salzpfanne

Information

Entrance: N$ 80 (4,80 EUR)
Children (6 – 16): free
Vehicles (max. 10 seats): N$ 20 (1,20 EUR)
Accommodation: We Kebi Safari Lodge

An accommodation we can absolutely recommend. The chalets are surrounded by a dreamlike panorama. The food is served fresh and is simply delicious.

Swakopmund

With approximately 25000 inhabitants belongs Swakopmund to one of the biggest cities in Namibia, how cute is that … The percentage of german people is in this city extreme hight.

Small boutiques, book shops, hair dresser and pubs, were decorating the small and very cute pedestrian area in Swakopmund .On the menu of the german Hofbräuhaus was a Wiener Schnitzel -knuckle of pork and black forest cake … More german is not possible, so of course we had to go inside.

The German Brauhaus

Last but not least der E T O S H A Nationalpark

At the end of our trip through Namibia, our goal was of course so see the B I G F I V E. First we decided to drive through the national park with our own car, but we chanced our mind because our car was no 4 wheeler. So we decided to book a guided group tour for the next morning.

At the beginning we saw for a long time no animals at all and were just driving through the nice landscape. Suddenly our guide was driving with full speed behind us we could only see a huge dust cloud. There is a leopard !!!! But we couldn’t see anything. The leopard was hiding quite far away behind a rock. Incredible that our guide could see the animal from so far away, but we are sure that a good guide nows all the place where the animals like to hide. But anyway we had no chance to see the leopard.

Anyway we saw a couple of different animals, how you guys can see on our pictures.

Zebras <3

: A meerkat

: Elephants at the waterhole

: Zebra couple

: another elephant

: a female lion

: a little “Bambi”

hey hey 😉

Conclusion:

Together we were leaving our foot prints in Namibia. The landscape in Namibia is for us on of the most beautiful country in Africa. We had a lot of luck with all accommodations and the food was always great and very delicious. And it was also a great adventure to drive through the country by ourselves! We will never forget this great journey and we definitely coming back!