We were fortunate to see some of Africa’s finest wildlife in Etosha. This gorgeous giraffe was grazing at the top of a tree right next to road, giving us a great view.
This black backed Cape Jackal was soaking up the arvo sun, not seeming to have a care in the world.
We saw zebras everywhere throughout Etosha, but these lovebirds were especially cute.
What’s not to love about the springboks?!
I never got tired of seeing a Gemsbok – with those huge horns, they’re stunningly majestic.
This huge lioness was sunning herself in the grass no more than a metre away from the road. Although she acknowledged our presence with the landy, she wasn’t too bothered by us.
With perfect timing, we parked at this watering hole just in time to see a herd of about 40 elephants crushing their way through the trees for an afternoon drink. The zebras, giraffes and springbok that were already there quickly moved to the side and let the ellies enjoy for about half an hour.
One of the baby elephants imitating his elders. He was very playful in the water, but as soon as the herd left, he protected himself between the legs of his mum and the other ellies.
One of the highlights was seeing this huge male rhino. He had a fresh cut bleeding on one of his ears and plenty of scars and scratches all over his leathery skin. After being told of their limited status in the park later that day, we felt very fortunate to have spent so long admiring this guy.
One of our campsites in the north of Namibia had these two warthogs wandering around every afternoon to cut the grass. Cute in a sort of ugly way!
My favourites, meerkats!! Paul spotted these guys out of the corner of his eye while we were driving down the coast towards Swakopmund. When we stopped, three immediately ran into their holes, but these two were just so curious they kept popping their heads up to check us out.
This is what much of the landscape looks like in Namibia – a dry, desolate moonscape. It was one of the most boring countries to drive through, but rewarding once we reached each destination.
The northern entrance to the Skeleton Coast National Park. There wasn’t a whole lot to see, but it was an impressive landscape to drive through.
Our only wild camp in Namibia was on this very windy beach, surrounded by fishermen.
After already crossing the Tropic of Cancer and the equator, it was nice to pass through Capricorn aswell!
The amazingly red dunes at Sossulvlei. We were lucky enough to see the colours of the dunes change at sunrise and sunset. One of Namibia’s highlights!
Deadvlei. The white clay pan contrasting against the barely surviving trees and striking red dunes makes for a pretty amazing sight.
The dunes kept changing colours as the sun went down, with our shadows getting longer and longer.
All smiles! Getting up at 5am was definitely worth it to see the sunrise while drinking our morning coffee at the top of the dunes.
Welcome to Namibia. I’ve never seen so many roof tents in my life.
This is Muckie, the 1 year old Springbok who was rescued and raised by a wonderful German couple. She is absolutely gorgeous and kept us company while camping at their place in Helmeringhausen. And, as you can see, she loved Paul!
And she loved our landy
After Rogier’s accident, we helped pick up his belongings and the landy was a true African donkey for a couple of days, packed to the rafters.
Kolmanskop, the famous ghost diamond town near Luderitz definitely lives up to its reputation.
Kolmanskop
Kolmanskop
There’s not too much to see at Diaz Point, but this humorous sign took our minds off the gale force winds (for a second).
The Fish River Canyon is the second largest in the world and is one of the most impressive natural features in all of Africa.
Compared to the rest of our trip, Namibia was just so easy. We loved being tourists and meeting so many other travellers, although I’d be lying if I said we didn’t miss being challenged.
Admiring the full moon over Sossulvlei
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