Day 177 (15/11/09) Livingstone (Zambia) to East Caprivi, Susuwe Triangle Nature Reserve (Namibia)
Nambwe 4x4 Camping S17 52 30.5 E23 19 02.7
Susuwe Rangers Post S17 45 35.8 E23 20 38.2

Debbie: Today was our most frustrating day on our entire trip. We left Livingstone just after 8 and were pleasantly surprised by the very good tar road up to Sesheke and the border. Getting out of Zambia was quick and simple in a rather organise chaos of a border post. We drove over to the Namibian border and were stuck by the fact that it was the fanciest looking border post building we had seen so far on tour. We soon found out that the building was the only impressive thing about this border post... The queue for immigration was loooooong so first thing I did was join the queue while Andrew went to sort out the vehicle. There were tons of people sitting to the side of the queue on a wall under a nice shady tree while the line for immigration extended way out the door and meant I had to stand in the sun for 45 minutes before I got inside the building. And then just as I felt I was about to get to the front of the line to be served by only 1 immigration official who kept answering her cell phone or running off to the tea tray did I notice that all the brothers and sisters sitting on the wall had joined the queue right in front of me. When I protested I was told that they had booked their places .... An hour or so later we had been stamped into Namibia. We had just jumped into the vehicle when a guy wearing a shabby green overall taps on the window and demands to search the vehicle. When asked why he said he was “vetinary control” and needed to check for items which we were not allowed to take into the country because of foot and mouth. When he looked at the fridge he asked if we had meat. I said yes. He said he needed to confiscate it. I said that under no circumstances was he to touch my meat until I had seen an official document stating that he was allowed to do so as there was nothing to tell me I wasn’t allowed meat – no posters, no notices, no nothing. He called his colleague over and she produced a very shabby looking piece of paper – with no date on it - stating that things like beef, pork, sheep and goat were to be removed from anyone’s possession and either cooked or destroyed. Knowing how I had packed the fridge I told them that all we had was chicken, which was not on the list, and a piece of boerewors and that I would cook it there and then as I was not prepared to give it up. Then I asked if they were being “so strict” on the foot and mouth issue where was I to go to get my car sprayed.... “Eish” she replied “we cannot spray your vehicle cause we have run out of water” .... so I had a little rant about how I was being made to cook my borewors in the blazing heat when they can’t even spray my car and to me that is one of the biggest carriers of foot and mouth!! Anyway I didn’t want to argue too much as I didn’t want her to search our fridge properly and discover that I had ham, sausages and bacon in there as well ... so we cooked our borrie in 30 degree heat on the tarmac. As soon as it was cooked we sped off into Katima Mulilo to get some cold drinks and rolls for our lunch. Turns out the borrie was not great – it was the kind of meat you take to a bring and braai and then tuck into someone elses fillet steaks instead – so we could have saved ourselves the sunburn and aggravation and given it up. We continued down the Caprivi on a very good and straight road to a campsite that Jo and Franci had told us about called Nambwe. We had to call in at the rangers station first to pick up our park permit and were very surprised at the cost – N$70! So cheap compared to what we have paid in the rest of Africa. Numbwe campsite was rated as one of our best campsites this whole trip. You get your own little site with a tap, green grass, braai area and river view. We saw a bit of game in the park – buffalo, hippo, impala, reed buck and evidence of elephant. The park was swarming with bird life. We made comms with Peter and Katrien and will meet them on the 20th in Windhoek.


Day 178 (16/11/09) Susuwe Triangle Nature Reserve to Bwabwata National Park
Ngepi Campsite S18 07 01.2 E21 40 12.9
http://www.ngepicamp.com/

Debbie: After a peaceful night we were on the road again heading for Ngepi. Everyone we have met enroute has said that we have to come to this campsite. It was an easy 3 hour drive from Numbwe so we arrived before lunch. The campsite has potential but I think its got a bit grubby and we were put in campsite number 4 which I don’t think is one of the best spots as we were close to the bar and therefore had everyone walking passed us. I was also a little bit disappointed cause we had to pay extra if we wanted to park on the nice grass but you were allowed to pitch a tent on the grass and I didn’t see how much more car tyres could damage the grass as a tent would .... so instead we had to park in the path and have everyone walk passed us. We did have our own view onto the Okavango river and Andrew being Andrew went off and arranged for an afternoon of fishing. Just before we got on board our “boat” we met the captain and I was not so pleased to notice that he was blind in one eye and partially in the other – I appointed myself right away as the one to keep an eye out for hippo’s as Id seen but plenty floating around the river from our campsite. Then we got onto the boat which was literally 2 canoe’s with a platform in the middle and an 8cc engine which we were soon told was not working so well ... After about an hour on the river I noticed a big storm coming in and mentioned the words “I think we should go home” which were not appreciated by Andrew or our captain. Well about 10 minutes later they were only talking about going home cause suddenly the storm hit us. Howling wind which blew us across the Okavango followed by huge rain drops, followed by lighting and then hail. To top it all off the boat engine cut out and the captain could not get it started for about 15 min. There were no life jackets and it was all a bit too scary for my liking. We eventually made it to land looking like drowned rats and I immediately went to complain to the manager asking him how he had the cheek to make me sign an indemnity form to go on a boat he already knows is not working properly. It proceeded to rain for most of the night.


Day 179 and Day 180 Ngepi to Etosha
Namutoni camp
Okaukejo camp

Debbie: We left Ngepi early and hit a very good but dead straight road to Etosha. We filled up with fuel in Rundu and stopped in Grootfontein for some awesome pies and apple strudel pies for lunch. We arrived at Etosha early afternoon and immediately I knew that this game park was going to be totally different to any other park I’ve been to. To start with the reception for Namutoni was 100% cold from the aircon so we could cool down as it was over 30 degrees outside. The campsite was quite nice with grass pitches and trees but full full of people – most of them spoke German or Italian. The bathrooms were spotless considering the amount of overland trucks in camp but I guessed this was cause of the German side of Namibia. The park itself was interesting landscape. The only place you saw game was at a water hole – otherwise you just drove through lots of dry dry landscape nest to the Etosha pan. We saw lots of lion, gemsbok, springbok, kudu, hartabees and some warthogs. We spent our second night at Okaukuejo. The campsite was nothing more than a sandy patch with very little shade but the camp had its own watering hole which you could sit around and watch the animals come down to drink.


Day 181 Etosha – Henties bay- Swakopmund
Desert Sky backpackers S22 40 52.7 E14 31 39.9
www.swakop.com

Debbie: We left Etosha around 0800 and decided to take the more scenic route via the desert along to the coast. Well there was not much to see out there but sand, sand, the odd ostrich and more sand. We hit the coast at Henties bay. We could see the tumble weed blow into this town it was so dead. It was lunchtime so we pulled into the local pub called Pirates for a nice fresh pizza and beer and as they had a TV Andrew got to catch up on some cricket – RSA v Bangladesh. The pizza took about an hour to make but it did taste good. That afternoon we did a short drive to Swakopmund where we stopped for the night at Desert Sky Backpackers. We camped in their parking lot but at least had access to the kitchen and decent bathrooms which had hot water – this was essential as the temperate had dropped from 34 degrees in Etosha to just 17 degrees on the coast. We had time to walk around Swakopmund which was also a bit dead but we were told that come December these coastal towns heave with GP tourists and you had to queue for bread and milk. Back at the backpackers we made dinner and had a few drinks with the other backpackers who were staying there and travelling on public transport – boy was I glad we had Bwana after hearing their stories!


Day 182 Swakopmund – Walvis Bay – Windhoek
Puccini House Backpackers S22 34 09.2 E17 04 38.0

Debbie: We left Swakopmund and decided to travel down the coastline a bit to Walvis Bay and then cut through the Namib-Naukluft Park. Once again it was rather barren and we were not allowed off the main road as we didn’t have a park permit. We saw a few springbok and the usual ostrich. We got to Windhoek on fuel fumes as the fuel fairy had forgotten to visit us last night and there is but nothing bar sand en-route when it comes to fuel stations so we were lucky to have made it. We pulled into another backpackers where Peter and Katrien had booked us a spot. It was great to catch up with them again and hear about their adventures in Botswana. When it came to dinner we all decided to go out to Joes Beer Garden with is a local tourist haunt in Windhoek. Their speciality is of course game meat so we all tucked into various sorts of antelope fillets, draft beers and dom pedro’s for pudding. It was a huge restaurant and packed with overland truck’s but lucky they were seated in another section.

Day 183 Windhoek to Sossusvlei
Sesriem NWR Camp - S24 29 05.6 E15 47 49.1

Debbie: After sleeping on the hardest bed ever we woke up early to change a rear shock. Lucky Andrew had changed one before it was easy enough for him to replace it in record time. Funny how both have been on his side of the vehicle – when I suggested maybe he had drunk one too many beers on tour he didn’t agree and suggested maybe it was one of my many curios I had bought that had added the extra weight! Today we dash of to Sossusvlei and will meet the Belgium’s in 2 days time as they have already done this section of the itinerary. We camped at Seriem campsite which was expensive (N$600) compared to other campsites (N$100) and its not that much more special than any other campsite but it does mean you are in the park and therefore allowed an hour head start to get to the dunes for sunrise which you can’t do if you stay outside the park as they are sneaky sneaky and only open the park gates to outsiders an hour later. There were tons of overland trucks and also 4x4 hire cars all filled with Germans in the campsite and we were unfortunate enough to have a very noisy overland truck next to our camp spot.


Day 184 Sossusvlei to Luderitz
Shark Island Campsite S26 38 03.0 E15 09 06.4

Debbie: We were up at 0415 so we could start driving at 0500 to get to Dune 45 in time for sunrise. It was a 45km drive to Dune 45 and we had to keep up with the many overland trucks who had the same agenda as us. It was quite a climb up the dune and there was lots of huffing and puffing from all the overlanders as well as me. We then drove on to see Sossusvlei as well as the Dead Vlei. My advice to anyone about to go to Sossusvlei – don’t stop at Dune 45 with the hundred other tourists to see the sunrise. Proceed on to the Dead Vlei and climb the dunes there to see the sunrise – you will be the only one there (for about 30 minutes)! The last 5km to Sossusvlei you either have to walk, take the shuttle or if you have a 4x4 you can drive. Having done a bit of sand driving in the last 6 months we knew the drill – drop your tyre pressure a lot, low gear, high rev’s, get out before the sand heats up and don’t bloody stop – that’s how you make it through the sand. Well we watched these wannabe 4x4 experts drive in and could spot who was going to get bogged down. As we watched the crowds roll in we decided to get moving. It was also hell of a hot – 32 degrees at 0900. Bwana is behaving like a horse going home – his nose has been pointed South (towards home) and he is galloping away at the 100km / hour mark which makes these long desert and dust roads a bit more bearable. We are back to everything being covered in dust again and I’ve given up trying to keep things a bit clean. Next stop – Luderitz.


Day 185 Luderitz
Shark Island Campsite S26 38 03.0 E15 09 06.4

Debbie: We only managed to crawl out the tent around 09.00 today as it was freezing outside and really misty – very strange considering we were right on the beach and in the middle of the desert. Peter and Katrien arrived in time for lunch and then we decided to drive around the Luderitz peninsula area as the Lonely Planet (now called the Lying Planet) mentioned lots to see including flamingos..... we didn’t see anything mentioned in the guide book. Most of the drive lies outside the Sperrgebiet prohibited diamond area so we were all on the lookout for small sparkly things in the sand. We drove to Halifax Island (S26 39 19.8 E15 04 57.5) to see a big penguin colony but we couldn’t see much with all the sea haze around. Next stop was Dias Point (S26 38 07.7 E15 05 27.5) – a very windy spot but we could see some Sea Lions nearby. Then it was back to the Shark Point campsite for dinner.


Day 186 Luderitz to Brukkaros crater
S25 53 09.0 E17 46 54.0

Debbie: First stop today is Kolmanskop Ghost Town which was once a substantial diamond mining town and is now deserted. Once again the Lying Planet had us zooting all over Luderitz to get a permit for the town – eventually someone told us we could get the permits at the entrance to the town. We sent the boys into the local Spar for some meat and they managed to find meat as well as a stax of beers and were banned from doing any future shopping and demoted to car guard duties when outside the next Spar. Kolmanskop was interesting but as soon as it started to get hot we decided to move on to the Brukkaros Crater. It was so hot and we were just a few km’s from the crater when we heard a peculiar sound ... we had had a blow out on our rear tyre. Our tyres were so hot I think that we had just hit a rock in a bad place and that caused it to burst. So in the 40 degree heat we changed the tyre in record speed. The boys loved the drive up to the crater as it was definitely a 4x4 track. The crater was not that amazing but it was a very scenic campsite until the sunset .... then the most awful wind got up and was so bad we couldn’t put up the tents for several hours and had to sit inside our cars. None of us got much sleep that night.


Day 187 Brukkaros crater to Keetmanshoop
Quivertree Forest
Giants Playground

Debbie: After not having much sleep last night we packed up camp and headed 100km to Keetmanshoop where we could stock up on supplies as well as sort out our tyres. Then we went to look and camp in a Quivertree or Kokerboom Forest. By lunchtime the temperature was up to 40 degrees so all we had the energy to do was sit in the shade and drink beer. The farmer also had a few orphaned animals so at 1700 we got to see him feed his Cheeta, Warthogs and Meercat family. Then we went 5km down the road to look at the Giants Playground which was quite a weird sight – basically it’s just tons and tons of rocks scattered about but all in funny shapes and sizes. After 15min there it was back to camp to have sunset beers and a braai – we are showing the Belgium’s how a proper braai is done.


Day 188 Keetmanshoop to Fish River Canyon
Hobas campsite

Debbie: Yet another night of not much sleep. We were eaten alive by mozzies all night. To treat ourselves we found a Wimpy and had a breakfast to cheer ourselves up before hitting another dirt road to the Fish River Canyon. Most the roads in Namibia are dirt – good dirt – but we suck in SO much dust that everything is covered in dust. I’ve given up cleaning things until we get onto tar roads again. We arrived at the Canyon and set off too see it – there were only a couple of view points to see as they now don’t allow hiking or any form of leisure walking around the Canyon. It was so blimmen hot that we didn’t stick around too long staring into the Canyon. We were also a bit miffed as we had paid N$60 (SADAC) and N$80 for the Belgium’s each and the view point huts and shade were all neglected and run down so we wondered why we were charged so much. We camped the night back at the park gate and we were pleased to see that we were the only ones there .... that is until 1700 when 2 full full overland trucks pulled in. You could see they had just arrived from Cape Town as the new recruits were as pale as can be. Despite the noise they made they did give us something to look at as we were near the pool and we got to watch this lot around the pool. Lucky there was no bar at this campsite so they all went to bed pretty early.

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