namibia

Solitaire (2018)

The highway to Namibia, where I endured a torturous wait in the blazing heat before getting picked up by a minivan full of Zimbabwean migrant workers! My first glimpse of Namibia proper, I think? Somewhere after the border? Or possibly later, in the Khomas region. I didn't document this well. This empty campsite in the Namib desert was where we pitched up our tents for the first couple of nights on the tour. Magnificently sparse. Gorgeous scenery surrounding the campsite. The sunsets around here were breathtaking. Did a short hike to escape an irksome guide, and managed to have this all to ourselves. Namibian skies do incredible things during dusk. See previous caption. My childhood love of 'The Lion King' was instantly rekindled by this absolutely insane colour palette. Who knew that it was actually real?!?! I'm not a morning person as you all know, but what I caught of sunrise was also pretty damn cool.

Sossusvlei [inc. Deadvlei, Windhoek] (2018)

Most of the images that I had in my head of Namibia were from Sossusvlei. It was absolutely necessary for me to be here, and it did not disappoint. from wiki: "Sossusvlei is a salt and clay pan surrounded by high red dunes, located in the southern part of the Namib Desert, in the Namib-Naukluft National Park of Namibia. The name "Sossusvlei" is often used in an extended meaning to refer to the surrounding area (including other neighbouring vleis such as Deadvlei and other high dunes), which is one of the major visitor attractions of Namibia." This is one of the highest sand dunes in the world. It's known as 'Big Daddy' and peaks at roughly 325m at the back there. Dunno if you've ever attempted to climb a giant sand dune before, but it's not easy. The sand works against you, slowing down your usual pace, swallowing your feet, often even burning you because of the sweltering sun. But it's a good challenge and good fun to boot! This is the giant clay pan that was referred to earlier. My camera failed to capture just how red these dunes were. It makes for a startling, stirring effect. You really feel like you're on another planet. I'm fairly sure this is what other planets look like in films. I think because they do a lot of filming in Namibia. Isn't this absolutely fucking insane? Looks like Mars, is actually Earth. Me and my two German friends casting giant shadows over a 300m+ sand slope. We'd later run down this to the bottom, which was much fun. (Going down >> going up when it comes to sand and prob a few other things.) That clay pan again. Sorry, I'm gonna indulge with these images because obv. A pano that doesn't even begin to capture how spectacular a landscape this is but is nonetheless pretty fucking spectacular. I made it up to the top just fine. Everyone else had stopped at this point, and they were busy admiring the scenery and taking photos. I noticed that it was possible to go farther, where no one had yet made a trail. I do not pass up the opportunity to be a trailblazer, nor do I pass up an obv photo that's screaming for me to be in it. This is the result of the path that I made. As iconic an image as I'm ever likely to be in. (And, after I did this, *everyone* else decided to follow and do the same thing, right down to the same stupid pose, lol. But they kept their shirts on.) I owe those two German girls who were on tour with me big time for these pics! Alright, back to startling landscapes sans Reehan. Oh wait nm, here's me again. Descending the dune this time. Coming down is oodles of fun: the sand swallows your feet and slows you down, which is much more enjoyable than the same phenomenon occurring during one's ascent! Got down to the clay pan and had to break out the panos. Those tiny things that look like ants at the bottom of the dune are actually human beings, which hopefully gives you some idea of the sheer scale of this mutha they call 'Big Daddy'. Another pano to give you an idea of what I was surrounded by. Notice the trees in the distance, which we'll return to anon... Cannot get over how humans are rendered insignificant mites by these sandy behemoths. Back to those trees from two pics ago. Here's a closer look. Yeah, you thought the dunes were insane, but they're not even the most insane part of this landscape. from wiki again: "Deadvlei is another clay pan, about 2 km from Sossusvlei. A notable feature of Deadvlei is that it used to be an oasis with several acacia trees; afterwards, the river that watered the oasis changed its course. The pan is thus punctuated by blackened, dead acacia trees, in vivid contrast to the shiny white of the salty floor of the pan and the intense orange of the dunes. This creates a particularly fascinating and surrealistic landscape, that appears in innumerable pictures and has been used as a setting for films and videos." This is seriously some of the most insane shit I've ever seen in my life, my jaw was permanently agape and I was just walking around in sheer awe for about an hour despite the fact that it was close to midday and the sun was friggn' brutal. Dalí MUST have visited Namibia at some stage as a kid, no? Surely. You have to pinch yourself to remind yourself that this is reality, because the entire place just feels like one totally absurd surrealist fantasy and you're like how the fuck can I possibly be walking around in this and how the fuck can stuff like this possibly even exist on our planet what I will not apologise for the abundance of these pics. Death has never been more intoxicating. You're not meant to touch these trees, they're (understandably) seen as part of Namibia's national heritage. I was so enthralled and dumbfounded by this landscape that I, for once, didn't even bother to insert my shirtless self into the equation for Insta-glory, despite the fact that it's a place of outstanding natural beauty. This is nature at its most preposterous, so gobsmacking and alluring that even someone like me just has to take a step back and admire and applaud and try and take it all in. This day in the dunes and the pan = one of my fave days as a traveller anywhere. Later in the day we went to another photogenic dune ('Dune 45', I believe), which we also climbed. The heat was too much, though (it was midday at this point, dunno why our dumbass guide didn't bring us here *after* lunch), and one of the girls started feeling faint so we promptly had to return to the car. My footprints on Dune 45 before beating a retreat. This is a terrible pic of me but I'm enclosing it to illustrate what a sweaty, burnt mess I was by this stage in my African travels. All that time in the sun had turned me into the brown Iggy Pop. This remains the darkest I've ever been in my life! After recovering our senses, we headed down to Sesriem Canyon later in the afternoon. It was cool, as canyons always are. Seen better, but good to be here. Honestly, the main allure of this place was the respite from the heat that it provided! Check that shade. We stopped in Windhoek to break up the journey to a national park in the north of the country. This worked out to be convenient for me because: A) I'd run out of clothes (underwear) and desperately needed to do laundry; and B) To protect myself from the midday sun, I'd put on my hiking boots to climb 'Dune 45' (I'd been walking around in flip flops everywhere else at Sossusvlei), but the combination of heat and sand had destroyed my boots and made the soles come clean off both of them, which meant that not only did I not have clothes, but I also didn't have shoes. I wasn't too bothered about the boots, actually, cos they're stupidly old and I want to buy new ones anyway, but I wanted them to last me until the end of this trip so I used the day in Windhoek to take them to a repair shop. There's a collection of meteorites in the city centre, which is just about the most interesting thing that's going on here. I spent a fair amount of time walking around the city. Windhoek seems pleasant and functional compared to the other major cities I've been in on this continent, but bear in mind that it's considerably smaller - it has a population of about 300,000 (whereas places like Nairobi and Dar es Salaam have over ten times as many people). There's also this hundred year old church, which is like, the city's only notable landmark. It's absolutely tiny inside, but pleasant enough. Despite the smaller scale of everything here, Windhoek isn't safe to walk around in after dark, so I eventually retreated back to my guesthouse and chilled for the rest of the evening.

Etosha National Park (2018)

After beginning my African adventure with an epic safari in Masai Mara, I'd passed up opportunities to do the same in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana, so by the time I reached Namibia I was itching to spend lengthy amounts of time with animal friends once more. Etosha National Park provided the perfect opportunity to do so - home to a giant salt pan and several species of animals that cluster around its numerous waterholes and, at over 20,000 sq km in size, one of the largest national parks on the continent. Here's one of the aforementioned waterholes, populated by numerous giraffes, zebras, and ostriches. And here's another one featuring a herd of elephants who were throwing their weight around like assholes! I will always love elephants, but I'm quite sure they were deliberately bullying the poor springboks you can see in the foreground here in order to get as much water as possible for themselves! There was even a baby elephant (considerably larger than the springboks) who was stomping and stamping and displaying his authority over them! Poor things. A closer look at those moody elephants. Is there ever such a thing as too many elephant pics? Nope. Etosha is a fascinating place. The numerous waterholes mean that you're almost guaranteed animal sightings, but then there are endless stretches of relatively barren ground, where it kinda merges with the giant salt pan and nothing seems to exist. I think I enjoyed this safari a little less than the Masai Mara because of those long stretches. There's also the fact that we weren't in a 'proper' safari vehicle for this one (just using the company's minivan, which limited what you could see to the windows), and also the fact that you have to keep to the roads whereas at the Masai Mara you can go off-track a bit. There was also the fact that we were still with the horrendous guide that I mentioned earlier, who, after a few days with us, had learned to tone down the rambling and offensive monologues a little. But not much. My favourite was when he openly pondered about how herbivores such as elephants could reach such colossal sizes when they have such (supposedly) poor sources of nutrition. I saw what was coming next - he then moved onto humans, and was like, how can people who eat only plants possibly be as healthy as those that don't. This coming from a dude that can't walk uphill for more than two minutes at a time without panting and heaving and needing a break, being said to a guy that was the first to the summit of Kilimanjaro on his day, and who'd just sped up one of the tallest sand dunes in the world with considerably more ease than anyone else. I pretty much stopped communicating with him after that point. This was after numerous stories of how the various animals in the park taste, and what the best way to hunt them is. Stupid, vile guy. Back to the animals. This is a bird of some sort but I don't know what species it is, I'm sorry. I just like the image, so I'm including it anyway. We were lucky to see many, many lions (sadly no leopards, though, which is a shame as they're meant to be quite common in this park). Most of my photos are shit because I was hindered by the limitations of the vehicle I was in, but I like this one of a lioness in the golden grass. There's something about the zebras' patterning which makes them so perfect for the landscapes at Etosha, imo. Saw more zebras here than anywhere else during this trip (and I'd seen them pretty much everywhere)! Have also never seen so many ostriches hanging out together before, but they all seem to be good mates here at Etosha, which is great to see! A cluster of impala friends. Probably the worst animal to be born as in the African savannah, alas. I love them all the same. And aren't they just gorgeous up close like this? Witnessed a failed lioness hunt (may try and upload the video at some point), and after expending so much energy, one of the lionesses came over to a nearby waterhole to quench her thirst. Amazing how EVERY other animal made haste and left the premises as soon as they saw her coming. The ostriches in the background weren't really at the waterhole anyway, but they were giving her a wide berth nonetheless. Also amazing how, despite their size and strength and ferocity, lions can be so damn cat-like sometimes, like when they're lapping up water. I like the shot of her walking away as well. Another one of the lionesses involved in the chase, cooling down and yawning after exerting herself. Right next to our car. This one gives a new meaning to 'zebra crossing', eh! Oryx. Beautiful animals, and such intimidating horns! Safari day two began with zebras (inc. a baby!) and elephants first thing in the morning. What makes me sad is that although there are shit tons of zebras about and you see them everywhere, they really don't want anything at all to do with stupid humans, which I totally understand, but... it's the way that they look you in the eye, assess your threat/asshole level, and then swiftly move off in another direction that upsets me. Move away for sure, but to look and judge and dismiss first? That hurts. These two lovebirds spent the entire time at this waterhole canoodling and making googly eyes at each other instead of drinking the water, which was absolutely adorable and which also allowed our dear springbok friends to be brave enough to drink for themselves. (Although every time one of the pair moved a step, the springbok would rush off out of the water again!) An army of zebras! Oryx and springbok friends. Thirsty, domineering elephant + all three of the species from the prior two pics. Something pretty cool. An entire herd of elephants walked right past our car as they were heading to a waterhole. Totally did not give a shit about us at all. Here they are crossing the road! And then again, safely on the other side, heading for the good stuff. Love these guys so much. The badass secretary bird. Google them! Obligatory reminder re: Namibia's otherworldly landscapes, and the fact that so much animal life seems to thrive inside this particular one. Springbok friends + lone wildebeest grazing in background Absolutely adore this shot of these zebras. More zebras, this time with the giant Etosha salt pan visible in the background. Springbok + elephant in the distance I know it's kinda impossible to see, but this marked only the third time that I'd ever seen a rhino saw I wanted to include this shot for my own memories. He's lying under the tree farthest back, in the centre of the shot, napping in the shade. We drove back this way about an hour later, and he was actually standing up in the very same spot! But as soon as we slowed down, he plonked himself back down again. He was CLEARLY just pretending to nap cos he didn't wanna deal with dumbass humans, and that's fair enough. Looked as incredible as all rhinos always are from the brief glimpse that I got. You can drive out to the edge of the salt pan. It's one of the only places in the park where you're allowed to get out of your vehicle. I guess because you can see everything (inc. danger) for miles around you. Naturally, this called for a photo. Adorkable giraffes! Giraffe, zebra (he had two other zebra friends who are out of shot), ostriches, and lots of springbok hanging out at this waterhole. Two things happening here: springbok often congregate under the shade of a big tree during the day. But there were hundreds of springbok in the vicinity here, and they were ALL doing the same thing. The reason being... ...this rather spectacular male lion, who'd decided to take over this waterhole here for himself. The cheeky jackals in the shot were clearly trying to troll him or sth, but every time he looked up they sprinted off as fast as their legs could carry them. This guy was probably the most handsome lion I've ever seen. Finished the day with an elephant who was chomping on thorns right next to our car. Spectacular. After this, it was back to camp for one last evening with the other pair on my tour. Despite camping, we were in the grounds of a rather fancy lodge, so in the evening we went and grabbed far too much beer, cider, wine, and tequila, and then stayed on by the pool for 2am swims. All of which resulted in a hangover from hell the next day. The first part of the 'tour' had ended, and I was grateful to be rid of that awful guide, but I still had an extra couple of days left on my package, and this time I was alone with the tour operator's manager ("do you eat chicken?") to accompany me.

Swakopmund [inc. Cape Cross, Walvis Bay] (2018)

The final part of my Namibian adventure involved getting to a coastal town called Swakopmund. If it weren't for the sand and the (slightly) better weather, it'd remind me of my hometown (Worthing, Sussex) - which is very much NOT a positive association for me. Swakopmund was part of the tour that I'd had to sign up for. It's a popular tourist destination for Namibian locals in particular. Very pretty seaside town, German colonial influence still felt in places, Atlantic Ocean air, etc. Water is cold af, but never mind. Thanks to aforementioned hometown, I have approximately zero interest in pretty little seaside towns. However, Swakopmund is the closest large town to a place called the Skeleton Coast National Park - a remote, mostly inaccessible stretch of coast populated by shipwrecks and whale bones and all sorts of other eerie shit. I'd been seduced by it long ago, and along with Sossusvlei, it had produced many of the key images of Namibia in my mind. Sadly, when they say the Skeleton Coast is inaccessible, they really mean it. My tour operator had no idea about how to get there (although they were pretty shitty and useless). Apparently, it's not really possible to see that much on the road - the distances are enormous and there's nothing in the way of accommodation, which makes #touristing difficult. They recommended that I take a scenic flight over the coast instead. Now, that sounds ridiculously extravagant, but I'd actually gone significantly underbudget on this trip (I always underestimate how thrifty I can be when in backpacking mode), so the money to do a scenic flight was there. Unfortunately, the scenic flights themselves were *not* there. It wasn't possible to fly over the coast on the days that I was in Swakopmund. A real shame, really, as I'd heard nothing but amazing things about those flights, and seeing the Skeleton Coast was a big part of what drove me to visit Namibia. Anyway, as a result, I was stuck in a fucking seaside town that looks like Worthing for a couple of days, sharing an apartment with the tour company's manager who was annoying af. Woe is me. The old lighthouse in Swakopmund. It's stuff like this that differentiates it from places like my horrendous hometown. There's also some old German colonial architecture left over, which is nice to look at. I have no idea why the tour company's manager decided to drive me over here. On the one hand, his doing so spared me having to endure the godawful guide. On the other hand, the manager - while overly courteous and considerate to 'clients' like myself - spoke to people as if he were an emperor and others were his servants to be ordered around. He was a pretty testing person to be around, even if he was outwardly pleasant to me. I think he just wanted a seaside vacation, but I dunno. Anyway, I tried to get away as much as poss, hence why there are lots of photos of these buildings. Swakopmund was founded around the turn of the 20th century by the Germans, and the overwhelming majority of non-Namibian tourists today are Germans too. I guess it must feel like a slice of home away from home, in the same way that many places in the former British Empire remind me of home. Cool buildings. Not much going on in this town though, despite the number of tourists. It all felt very sleepy. The girls had left the tour after Etosha, so I really was just looking for any excuse to spend time away from everyone involved with the tour operator lol. SEALS!!! After arriving in Swakopmund late afternoon and doing the tourist rounds, we rested up and then drove out to a place called Cape Cross the next morning. Cape Cross is actually on the Skeleton Coast, and I think it was one of the first areas in this region to be claimed by European colonialists (in this case, Portugal in the 15thC). It never became a proper settlement, however, and today it's home to a seal colony that's thousands-strong. Headstone here is for a pilot that went missing, I think. Aren't they gorgeous? Puppies of the ocean. Now, don't get me wrong - I am fully here for seals, much like I am for most mammals (humans, cats, orcas, and pandas excepted). But the smell here was fucking RANCID. Like, the most noxious, putrescent malodour that I think I've EVER encountered anywhere - 'toilets' in Uzbekistan and Yunnan included. It's this horrific combination of rotting fish and salt and shit that asphyxiates you as soon as you step out the car. I genuinely thought I was going to vomit so many times, and the only way I was able to control myself was by actively trying to shut off my sense of smell, and smothering my nose and mouth with a jacket that I had in my backpack that stank of laundry detergent (it was freshly laundered). I'd walk for 30 seconds or so, and then have to stop and breathe the fabric in order to continue. Went on like this for a good 20 mins. Good thing seals are really fucking cute cos otherwise I wouldn't have lasted more than a few seconds The other thing is, seals make a terrible noise. Sounds like a cross between sheeps screaming and donkeys braying. Kept having to remind myself how awesome it was to be walking in the midst of a seal colony, cos half of my senses were like: NOPE. It WAS awesome though. Being able to see so many seals up close just doing their thing was a great privilege. And although they're definitely much more elegant in water than they are on land, it's still super engrossing to watch them I keep talking about seals, but these guys are actually fur seals who have much more in common with sea lions than they do actual seals (notice the ears, for a start). Some of them are actually culled in this colony, which is not something that I was thrilled to hear, but apparently it has something to do with maintaining fish stocks. Who knows. Elevating 'beach bum' to a whole new art form. There were a few among them who CLEARLY played up for my camera. Such posers! One does not resist seal pups. Default mode of seals on land: snoozing. Often directly underneath the boardwalk that I was on. This dude was the biggest poser of them all. Saw me walking past, gave me a wink and a nod, kept on smiling as I leant in for the shot. Very amiable fellow. No there are not enough seal pics yet. The little ones made my heart squeal with delight. Maternal love. Picture perfect. Really hope that humans no longer use this as a shelter of any sort! One day, seals will take over the world. It's amazing how big some of them are, actually. You wouldn't wanna get on the wrong side of them. And the smell could be bottled up and used as a WMD! Unbelievably gorgeous. Rest peacefully, little friend! The roads in this part of Namibia were probably the most deserted that I've experienced on this entire trip. So I was unable to take that scenic flight over the Skeleton Coast, but on the way back from Cape Cross I *did* see this. A shipwreck. An Indian fishing trawler, the Zeila, which got stranded in these notorious waters in 2008. It's a decade old, still surprisingly intact, a ghost from years past. Amazing to see it, and to get a little taste of what the Skeleton Coast has to unsettle us. Missed it on the journey to Cape Cross due to fog. Can't imagine what the rest of the Skeleton Coast must've looked like when enveloped in the mist Went back to Swakopmund for lunch and then drove to another nearby seaside town called Walvis Bay. Which, also, looks just like Worthing. Except for the fact that it has friggin' FLAMINGOS on its beach! Lots and lots of flamingos! Never thought I'd see flamingos on a BEACH before, but here they were. Always cool to see them! Another thing that distinguishes Walvis Bay from Worthing - sand dunes. Not just any sand dunes either - they only have THE highest sand dune in the entire world here. Dune 7 is even higher than Sossusvlei's 'Big Daddy' which I'd climbed a few days before. 383m. I wasn't gonna attempt the climb (late in the afternoon, heat was crazy, I'd run out of water), but then I saw others attempting it and was like 'I'm fitter than them...' and figured I'd start walking up and see how far I could get without water and then... ...I found myself ascending, as I'm prone to doing... You'd probably want to mount a dune like this as well, tbf. Finally found myself at the top, and here is Dune 7 in all its glory. Magnificent. This was my last stop before returning to Windhoek the next day, whence I took a flight to Cape Town for the final part of my adventure. Namibia had been exasperating in parts, but images like this made it worth all the aggro tbh. I'd love to return one day.

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