Doug and Kerry Hudson in Namibia, southern Africa

We were feeling sad when we left Doug's parents behind in Cape Town. To make matters worse, by the time we were on the plane to Johannesburg, Kerry’s nerves were shot to pieces, despite the Rescue Remedy she'd gulped down, and she needed some very tight handholding. We made it to the gate in time for boarding, at which point we were separated in the crush. By the time Doug reached her in her seat, Kerry was in a blind panic, fearing that we were seated apart. Doug spent the entire two-hour flight to Windhoek trying to calm her down, but he thinks it was the enormous gin and tonic that finally did the trick. A very nice man called Alice collected us at Windhoek Airport and drove us to the Windhoek Country Club, where we crashed out absolutely exhausted from our stressful day.

After a delicious breakfast at our hotel, we met up with the others in our tour group. In total there were eleven of us, including Klaus, who was to be our driver and guide over the next nine days. The group was just the right size, and consisted of varied backgrounds and nationalities: English, Austrian, Swiss, Dutch, German and South African.

Our tour started with a ride around Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It didn’t feel like a capital city, being so small. We think Norwich and Bournemouth are bigger than Windhoek! Windhoek retains a lot more character from when Namibia was a German colony, than from when it was South African subsequently.

Leaving Windhoek behind us, we drove through some extremely arid countryside, and picnicked at the top of the Gamsberg Pass, impressed by the beauty of the mountains. It was a long day of driving and we arrived at the luxurious Sossusvlei Lodge in the early evening.

The next day we were up at literally the crack of dawn to drive out to Sossusvlei in time for sunrise. This is where the river ends and sand dunes begin, continuing to the Atlantic sixty kilometres away. These are no ordinary dunes, but enormous, star-shaped dunes of copper-red sand. The highest measured 388 metres high, which was difficult to believe but true. Our tour bus only made it so far, and we covered the remaining distance to the dunes in specially adapted 4x4 dune "taxis". The taxis seemed to be competing with each other, making it quite a crazy experience.

The atmosphere at Sossusvlei was magical, and the quality of light exceptional. We had a lovely picnic breakfast, shared with the many resident sparrows, then set out to walk up the nearest dune to get the full view. Once at the top, we ran down the steepest part of the slope, getting sand all over us! This was so exhilarating, we can’t tell you how much we laughed. It took months to remove all the sand from our boots though.

After a lazy afternoon reading, dozing and swimming to escape from the furnace-like heat, we visited the nearby Sesriem Canyon. This was pretty but not as spectacular as Sossusvlei, but then what is?

Our destination the next day was Swakopmund, Namibia’s premier coastal resort. Like Windhoek, this town also remains very German. On the way there, we saw the welwitscha plant, a species unique to Namibia that only has two leaves. We also visited the moon landscape, which was just like being on the moon. Next stop was Dune Seven, a hundred metres high and very steep. Apparently the South African army train their soldiers there by making them go up and down it seven times, with full packs. Doug went up it just the once and nearly threw up from the effort. The difficulty was that the sand starts flowing around your foot each time you make a step, so you only advance an inch at a time. Proud of his achievement, he duly ran all the way down! From there it was a short drive to the coast, where we saw thousands of pink flamingoes. We could have watched these beautiful creatures for hours.

We stayed at the divine Hansa Hotel in Swakopmund, and had the next day to ourselves to do as we pleased. If you ever go to Swakopmund, make sure you stay at this hotel, because the food there is just superlative. Klaus offered to take us to the quad-bike adventure centre, to organise an exciting ride through the dunes. Once kitted up with helmets and goggles, and briefed on how the quad bikes work, we set off. Before we had even reached the dunes, Kerry had swerved to the left and then to the right before ending up in a hedge. Doug wasn’t much better, as he drove right into her bike when he tried to pull up alongside to see if she was okay. From then on, things went much better and for the next hour we tore up and down the dunes, thrilling with the speed and adrenaline. Part of the excitement was riding on such powerful machines with only a very limited amount of control over them! It was such a superb experience, we wondered whether normal driving would ever be the same again.

Our highlights the next day included the Cape Cross seal colony, and arriving at the exquisite Twyfelfontein Lodge. There were thousands of seals in the colony, grunting or sleeping on the rocks, or frolicking in the sea. The seals were a delight to watch, as were the black-backed jackals that were hanging around. Twyfelfontein Lodge nestles among giant, red sandstone boulders in the Damaraland hills. After our buffet dinner there, the kitchen staff emerged and sang traditional songs to us, complete with the throaty clicks that form consonants in their language. This lovely touch made our day.

The next day our group made its way to Etosha National Park. On the way we stopped to see rock engravings made by San bushmen thousands of years ago. The images represented wild animals such as giraffe, elephant, and rhinoceros. The interesting thing is that the images were apparently used to teach the children about the different animals, because they were too young to go on the hunt themselves. We also saw a geological formation called the organ pipes, and a petrified forest that was formed when a great flood many thousands of years ago washed tree trunks from North Africa to this place. Our guide around the petrified forest was very interesting, and told us some interesting snippets about the tribal customs and traditions.

Within minutes of entering Etosha, we had seen giraffe, springbok, zebra, wildebeest, hartebeest, kudu, and gemsbok. It wasn’t long before we’d seen some elephant, although they were all heading away from the waterhole in different directions, as if they had fallen out. The Halali Lodge where we stayed had its own waterhole, and in the evening Doug saw some white rhino and, best of all, a leopard.

The following day and a half we spent driving around Etosha from waterhole to waterhole, watching the fantastic wildlife. Our highlight of the whole Namibian trip had to be all the lions we saw. Until you see one in the flesh just a few metres away, you cannot appreciate just how powerful and deadly these noble animals are. By the end of our time in Etosha we had seen well over twenty-five lions on eight different occasions. We had also seen so many elephants that we didn’t even stop to look at them any more! You have never seen such an abundance of wildlife, and the amazing thing was just how habituated they were to the vehicles. The only creature to run away when our vehicle approached, was a hyena. Everything else just remained where it was, either munching or drinking or dozing away, completely unconcerned.

At one stage, we were looking at some lions resting under a thorn tree at the roadside, when someone in another vehicle pointed out we had a flat tyre. We drove on to somewhere a bit safer to stop, and we got out and changed the tyre. As we did this, we kept a careful lookout for lions on the horizon. Would you believe it, just as we had finished changing the tyre a big male appeared and he was heading in our direction! Luckily we had time for everyone to hop onto the bus, and it turned out he was only going to the waterhole, but nevertheless it was still an exciting moment!

After Etosha we made our way back to Windhoek. We did have a couple of stops on the way, however. The first of these was a crocodile farm. The fearsome adult crocodiles were huge and inscrutable. Our guide told us that although they get used to his voice, they never, ever lose their natural instinct. You could release into the wild a crocodile that has been in captivity for 25 years, and he will have no problem catching food. The most shocking part of our tour was the hothouse where the young crocodiles are kept. The atmosphere is kept at a constant 32 degrees and very humid, so that the crocodiles grow at the optimum rate. When you add to that the pungent stench of ammonium from their urine, it really hits you in the face as you go in. Kerry could not stay there longer than a few seconds, running out gasping for breath! Everyone on our tour agreed that this was the most disgusting smell they had ever experienced.

Our other stop on the way to Windhoek was the Ombo Ostrich Farm. Our charismatic guide Lucas led us round and entertained us no end. Doug got to sit on an ostrich named Milli Vanilli, and received a feather as a momento. We also learned about the lifestyle of the Herero people, seeing how they live and how the woman must respect the man. Doug wore the traditional hat and stick used by the Herero to show that the man is married. During lunch there, we presented Klaus with a gift to remember us by. He was well chuffed, but he deserved it for working so hard to make our tour so special. Later in Windhoek we all went our separate ways, which was sad, but we were already looking forward to returning to Pietermaritzburg, Lou, Rowley and the dogs.

World Trip >> Africa >> Namibia

Last updated: Sunday August 27, 2006