Namibia

From the Okavango we headed west towards Namibia. The first hundred or so Kms were nice hardtop but then we turned onto the road towards our chosen border crossing to enter just south of Khaudum park. Its 150kms to the border via Drotskys cave that went from graded dirt with deep sand patches to flat out deep sand tracks that would become a permanent feature of the next 4 days driving. A lot of it spent chugging through in first, second or if you were really lucky third.

            Still first stop was Drotskys cave which according to the guide book was free and there was no development there. On arriving it turned out there was some form of development and it wasnt free, but still a bit of a way off from having a finished camp site or even office. Im not sure a few weather beaten bits of ply count.

A lady informed us it was run by the community trust now and we should have brought permits to enter. The town was some 36 kms on.

However the guy who checked them was in Maun so apparently it didn’t matter and as she worked for the government as a tour guide we could have the cave tour anyway.

Not entirely sure we weren’t being set up for some later post tour payment stitch up we did get a nice tour from her. You still need to provide your own torch.

There was a good (flock?) of bats that came streaming out from holes as we woke them with our lights.

After we signed the book and left without a penny being asked for, very nice for a change. I felt guilty I had mis-trusted her earlier. Its not that we wouldn’t have paid a fee as long as it was reasonable its just no one would tell us what it should be and we had that nasty feeling you might be about to get tapped up for some unreasonable amount.

We then bush camped near the Aha Hills on the way to the border. The Aha Hills barely pass as hills but Botswana being mostly flat I guess they are a rise of some sort.

By this point the track to the border was just a sandy track and we arrived at the Garden shed that was the exit point for Botswana, It was all very easy going and laid back here as the officials strolled in from their tea break outside and did the formalities for us. There were no other customers and probably wouldn’t be today. The vehicle log had a few days where nothing had passed through on wheels anyway.

A quick disinfectant spray and we entered Namibia in a similar way. Although they did want to check engine numbers this time but other than a passport stamp there was a lack of any other paper work or fees.

A hour hunting round the small town of Tsumkwe for someone to change our money had us heading north again along the sandy road into Khaudum national park.

As mentioned earlier you are supposed to have at least two 4x4’s, 100 litres of water each and provisions for 3 days to enter. I would still recommend this but actually its not that bad as there was drinkable water at the campsites which are free as they are no longer maintained but they seemed to be in alright order to us, with working showers, toilets and even a bath! A first for any campsite ive been on I think. It did all look a little run down and abandoned having a slight ghost town feel to it with just squirrels running about. The old donkey boiler still worked though if you could be bothered to gather wood for it and light it which we did of course. Some of the best hot showers I’ve had yet.

I think Kahudum is one of those little remote wildernesses that will eventually end up like the rest of the much more touristy parks.  Not that they are at all bad but Khaudum has its own special remote feel.

We didn’t see the park ranger until the following morning as we past his office which was closed up the day before when we entered. Its only a mere $8 a day for car and 2 to visit here. He gave us some tips on where lions had last been seen and we headed on to explore further.

In our a whole time exploring the place we only saw some guys capturing elephants for another park with their trucks on the first day. Other than that the place was apparently deserted, I can see why you need the supplies they recommend, it could be a long wait for someone to find you if you did get stuck or break down. The further south you went the sand was even worse, and there many hours/days? of chugging through deep sand which I have definitely had enough of!

Elephant truck escaping

Animals wise I think there are lots there but it was very dry even at the rivers and it was hard to see them in the bush but there were still lots of Ele’s and a good smattering of other animals. You just had to be a bit more patient to see them.

Never saw the lions though, just their tracks.

 

We headed north through the park and camped at the top site with good views over the river/waterhole area. The following day it was a mere 2 ½ hour pull through more deep sand (sensing a theme here?) then finally the wonderful black hard stuff taking us on to Grootfontein.

Did I mention it was sandy? and dusty so dusty!

A couple of days staying at the very good German run  Marori campsite saw us trying Zedbra, Kudu, Gnu, Impala and Eland on the BBQ. Checked out the world’s largest Meteor and then headed north to Ruacana Falls.

On the way north again we were stopped at an animal fence where they generally confiscate items from your fridge. I think they are supposed to check you have no fresh beef or milk onboard although they seem to want different things at different points. Mainly what they are lacking in their own fridge I suspect. This time we ran into a bigger problem than losing dinner, a policeman who wanted to see our licence (check) and cross border permit. This we had no idea about and the cross border thing and spent considerable time explaining that they had made no mention of it at the garden shed border post of Dobe. We did suggest phoning but surprisingly Dobe has no links to the outside world. After some time the policeman agreed to let us go without fining us $250 US as long as we promised to get it at Ruacana’s border.

Ruacana falls were well, lacking in water, I had read that the dam/PowerStation now meant they only flowed properly when it had been really raining. There was however the chance to check out the old power station the victim of a Cuban attack during the Angolan war sometime in the 80’s I think.

Also there was a chance for a bit of illegal border crossing and I managed to get boots on Angolan soil without being spotted/shot.

Oh and you cant get the cross border permit here despit it being a much bigger crossing. The other Ruacana border apparently, onwards.

 We stopped in the beautifully located hippo pools community campsite at the bottom and it served as the start to a route we wanted to take along the river that forms the Namib/Angolan border to Epua falls. No hippos though only crocs and thieving monkeys.

Epua falls were much more spectacular and the winding road along the river is very scenic and has a large number of Himba peoples living along it of whom the ladies look fantastic with their extravagant hairdos. 

Next up was a blast down to the Skeleton coast park. Arriving to late to enter the park we stopped up in the campsite by the gate. Bleak is the best I can say about this place. Kinda like the rest of the skeleton coast though I guess only with toilets.

Landy dipping her toes in the south atlantic

The skeleton coast was as bleak and windswept as I had imagined and I cant think of a worse place to be shipwrecked in the old days when it was up to a 1000 km hike through the waterless desert to get out. There are a few rusting legacies dotted along the coast and an even a more recent one which had run aground after an engine fire so the guys selling rocks on the shore (possibly the crew) informed me. Before asking for any food and water we could spare.

  

The chill wind had dropped the temperature from the 30-50 degree range we had been used to, and after the windy chilly night before (+6 degrees!),  we have opted for a nice warm bed in a proper room with four solid walls in Swakopmund