NAMIBIA 2011

"The only man I envy is the man who has not yet been to Africa - for he has so much to look forward to." 

Zebra drinking at Etosha National Park

I have been fascinated with Africa since I went to visit Tanzania with my father and my brother in 2004.

Once, while I was looking at African landscapes on the web I stumbled upon this picture. 

 I thought to myself: this place looks amazing, I need to go there. It was Sossusvlei in Namibia. After convincing my father to do another trip with me I wrote an email to a local travel agency.

*Advice:* I think that to experience at its best the local traditions and habits its better to book your trip through a local agency than to book it from one located in your country. In fact, a local agency will know much more about what it's worth visiting, where to stay, where to eat.. etc

After modifying the itinerary a hundred times, we were ready to leave for Namibia.

Thanks to my father miles we traveled with a "free ticket" from Rome to Windhoek via London and Johannesburg. 

The shortest  way would have been to travel from Munich or Frankfurt because there is a direct flight to Namibia(Windhoek) with Air Namibia which I took the following year ( Yes, If you are wondering, I liked Namibia so much that I came back the next year).

Day 1: Windhoek

When we arrived we were met by our driver Nelson who took us to the hotel for a little rest after a long journey

Hotel: Vondelhof Guesthouse

Restaurant: Joe's beerhouse 

Day 2 Africat foundation - 3 hours drive

Hotel: Okonjima Lodge

The second day we left Windhoeck in the morning to reach the Africat Foundation. 

This foundation is toward the north of Namibia and the Etosha National Park. AfriCat foundation provides an environment for previously non-releasable large carnivores to hone their hunting skills in a 20 000-hectare (50 000 acre) (200km²) nature reserve, on Okonjima. Carnivores learn to become self-sustaining which gives them the opportunity to return to their natural environment.

As soon as we arrived we went on the afternoon tour to spot cheetahs. It took us 4 hours to find them and the guide told us we were very lucky because they had made their first kill ( a poor zebra). After spotting the cheetah we had a little  snack into the bush during sunset.

The next morning we went on a safari to spot some leopards which I think are very elusive and they camouflage well with the environment. They are so majestic; one of the most beautiful animals together with lions. 

Day 3/4/5  Etosha National Park - 3 hours drive

Hotels: 1 night Okaukuejo Resort             2 night Halali Resort 
             3 night Namutoni Resort

The Etosha national park is huge,so we spent 3 days wandering around ( in the car obviously). 

Etosha means ""great white place", referring to the color of the salt desert soil forming 25% of the park area. 

You can either sleep in hotels which are inside the park but nonetheless well protected or inside those hotel but in camping mode which means on the top of your car ( yes, you have the possibility to built a tent there )

*Advice*: If i have to be honest I won't suggest Namibia as a first option if your main activity will be safaris. Namibia is really arid and therefore the landscape is not as green as in Tanzania but rather yellow and white. Furthermore, I don't know if the national parks' rules changed in the last 10 years but when I went in Tanzania we didn't have to follow the road with the car but we could wander wherever we wanted. 

In Namibia it wasn't like that: you must follow the road, therefore it's very rare to see some species of animal. In Namibia you drive to reach artificial ponds which are put there to attract and help the animals. 

So  as soon as you reach the pond you stop your car and wait for the animals to arrive. 

It was nonetheless an amazing experience to see animals drink from there, especially seeing the giraffe drinking and the elephants playing with each other in water.

As I said before the hotel are inside the park so you room will most likely have a view to the pond.

The first night at Okaukuejo Resort was amazing because we saw lions/ rhinos which are really rare and giraffe drinking at night 

Another curious thing we saw was a pride of lions eating a dead elephants:here's the picture 

Day 6 Kaokoland - Epupa Falls - 5 hours drive

Hotel: Epupa Camp (where I had one of the best meals here. It was some kind of meat and I still remember and dream of it after 5 years)

After 3 days wandering through Etosha we went up north at the border with Angola to see the Epupa falls and the land where the Himba tribe live. The falls are nice but nothing special after seeing Iguacu in Brasil and Vicoria falls in Zimbabwe but the landscape and panorma is really nice. In the morning we went to see the falls and then to visit an Himba village. Me and my father were the only tourists so we had a great opportunity to ask questions, with the help of an interpreter, and to visit the village. We talked with a lady from the village who was very surprised about the what we told her ( especially by the fact that a person could marry just one person at a time)

After the visit to the village, we went to visit a school and I left them some pens/ pencil and notebooks I had brought from Rome.

In the afternoon, we went kayaking with my father on the river

Day 7 Damaraland - 5 hours drive

Hotel: Can't remember the name !!!!

Lunch : Twyfelfontein lodge 

After a 5 hours drive we reached Damaraland with its rugged landscapes and open fields. The landscape is amazing, it seems it goes on forever.  

What we saw: 

-Petrified forest is a deposit of large tree trunks that have "turned to stone" through a process of diagenesis, which according to Wiki" is is the change of sediments or existing sedimentary rocks into a different sedimentary rock during and after rock formation, at temperatures and pressures less than that required for the formation of metamorphic rocks."

Again according to wiki "it is believed that the trees were swept downstream by a large flood and covered by alluvial sands. Deprived of air, the organic matter could not rot and decay, but instead, over millions of years, underwent silicification, whereby each cell is individually fossilised and the appearance, if not the colour, of wood is retained. The surrounding sands became sandstone, which is now eroding away"

-Twyfelfontein: is known for more than 2,000 rock paintings and stone-age graffiti on the sand stone. it is believed that these drawings have been made by the ancestors of the modern San( Bushmen) the date is uncertain but it is thought that the earliest drawings may have been made more than a thousand years ago. They mostly represent hunting scenes ( elephants, rhino, giraffes, sea lions) many of which are represented along with their fingerprints.

I did not find the forest that interesting but i liked the drawings, more than that I enjoyed the vast landscape and the shape of the mountains. 

Day 8/9 Swakopmund surroundings - 4 hours drive

Hotel: Holiday Apartments 

During our 4 hours drive to Swakopmund, which is a city surronded by the Namib desert and the ocean we passed through the moon valley and the skeyleton coast. 

 

The skeleton coast is as creepy as it sounds; it is known for being particularly inhospitable and difficult to reach. it is difficult to approach due to the strong waves caused by the Benguala current. For these reasons the coast was called " the land that god created with anger" by the bushman and the " sands of hell" by the portuguese. The current name refers to the countless stranded shipwrecks along the coast.
After this creepy experience we went to visit Cape Cross which is mainly known because of a large if not huge colony of seals (10.000 thousands).

The only thing I remember is the awful smell that I had to endure.

Then we went to see the Namib desert with its infinite dunes. 

The next day we went to visit Swakopmund which is is a beach resort and an example of German colonial architecture and then on a boat cruise to spot dolphins, sea lions and pellicans

Day 10 Namib Desert (Sossusvlei) - 3 hours drive

Hotel: Hoodia desert lodge

On the road towards the desert we passed Tropic of capricorn.

This was 100% the favorite part of my trip. I can't describe the magnificience of this place. 
The scenery as you approach the dunes will leave you breathless. You know when you see pictures of something on the web and you think: I am sure this picture is photoshopped, the dunes won't be as beautiful in reality. So when I arrived at dawn I was not prepared to see this amazing sight. The dunes are as you see in the pictures if not better. We climbed one dune and then we went to Sossuslvei which is a salt and clay pan surrounded by high red dunes. 

*Advice*:Bring water or you will stupidly faint twice like I did ;)

Day 11 Back to Whindoeck and then back to Rome 

NAMIBIA IS an amazing country: the people, the landscapes, the food, the animals, I loved it so much that i came back the following year.. stay tuned... :) :)