Durch Afrika: Namibia – Swakopmund to Fish River Canyon (05.07.-15.07.2009)

Washing too many clothes was not a good idea. When Claudia wakes up in the morning, she cannot move her right arm. After discussing if we should go to Windhoek or to Swakopmund, we decide for Swakopmund, hoping that the warmer climate there will ease the shoulder pain. During the drive to the coast, the landscape changes from savanna with the typical yellow grass and trees and scattered mountain formations to dry desert shortly before Swakopmund. Fortunately, the temperatures rise from 12 to 22 degrees.

We find a nice campground directly at the beach and enjoy the warm temperatures, the sound of the waves and the crying sea gulls. However, after a terribly painful night for Claudia, we think it’s better to see a doctor. The diagnosis is an inflammation of the shoulder muscle which requires to rest the arm in a sling and some medicine. It takes a couple of days until the pain gets less. So, no more clothes washing for Claudia, lucky her!

Swakopmund is said to be more German than any German city. We really can confirm this. In the shops, everybody speaks German, the streets have German names, and the restaurants offer real German food. We feel like home and enjoy the city for a couple of days.

From here, we make day trips to the Skeleton Coast which has its name from the many shipwrecks that can be found along the coast.

We also visit Cape Cross where the biggest seal colony of the world can be found, at times more than 200.000 seals. Already from a distance you can hear their noise and smell them. Nothing for the faint hearted!

On our way to Walvis Bay, Namibia’s main harbor, we are reminded of the start of our trip: huge dunes along the road, but also sandstorm!

After some nice days in Swakopmund, we head for the Namib Desert. Most of the drive is on gravel roads…

Even though the off road tracks are very good, and are even used by 2x4, we witness a car spinning and almost flipping over. We help the shocked English couple to get the car back on the road and to fix the two damaged tires.

We stop for the night in Solitaire, a place in the middle of nowhere, just a gas station, a shop/bar, a bakery and a campground. The next villages are 200 km away. A nice experience, and we like this place.

The next morning starts with two surprises: it’s raining for the first time since months, and 14 km after Solitaire, one of our tires blows up. Fortunately enough, we can stop the car without any problems, but the tire is completely destroyed…

… this driver was not as lucky :-(

One of the highlights in Namibia are the sand dunes around Sossusvlei. The red and yellow dunes are the highest of the world, the highest one - “big mamma” – 325 m! We enjoy climbing some of the dunes like the famous “Dune 45”.

The distance to our next destination is rather long and after a break in Keetmanshoop, we arrive after two days at the Fish River Canyon. This canyon is the biggest of the Southern Hemisphere. We make a walk along the rim and enjoy the breathtaking views down to the river 550 m below. Unfortunately, it’s not allowed to hike down without special permit.

Our last night in Namibia should be the coldest of our trip. When we wake up in the morning, the tent is frozen and the car is covered with an ice crust. So we are looking forward to go to Ai-Ais, the hot springs at the other end of the canyon. But even here it’s not warmer at all and we continue in one shot to South Africa.

Namibia was great, but it would be even better to have done it one or two months later when it’s warmer. We also noticed that the whole country seems to be fenced. Possibilities for wild camping are very limited, but on the other hand, the campgrounds are in very nice locations, there is plenty of them, and they are very clean. We really enjoyed our time in Namibia, but we also look forward to our final and last country: South Africa.