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Southeast Africa

January - March 2023
  • Philipp Jacobius
A 65-day adventure by Philipp Read more
  • Philipp Jacobius

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  • Philipp JacobiusTravelerSoutheast Africa
    Waking up with sunrise.
    We actually have a lot of space in the tent.Our morning view.Breakfast time!!Overlooking the entire campsite.The access road to the campsite.We crossed through a "river"Overlooking a dried out river canyon.A very random picnic spot along the way.

    Heading West toward the coast.

    February 12, 2023 in Namibia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Once the sun was up we were wide awake, but it wasn't for the first time. In the early hours of the night, Anne went out for a quick toilet break. Upon her return, once she had reached the ladder back to our tent, she (and I!) was startled by a snort and a stomp, seemingly very nearby. She flew up the stairs, and while we always had a flashlight in the tent, we couldn't find it in that moment when we needed it most.

    As much as we strained our eyes, we could not make out what the large shadow was that we could make out not too far away. We heard the stomping of heavy hooves, and more snorting. It was surrounding us for more than an hour, and we were completely clueless as to what was "stalking" us.

    Once the sun was up, the mystery quickly got resolved. On a nearby hill we could clearly make out a small group of wild zebras! Reflecting on the sounds we heard, we concluded that it was likely a zebra that got intrigued by our nightly traipsing around.

    After doing some yoga and stretching, I got out the cooking gear and ended up cooking for the first time along our journey. Porridge with butter roasted apples and canned peaches as sweetener.

    After breakfast, we started the journey along the northern border of the Namib desert, toward the Atlantic coast. Next stop: Walvis Bay.    Read more

  • Philipp JacobiusTravelerSoutheast Africa
    On the desert highway headed to Walvis Bay.
    Quick time-lapse showing the desert highway.Anne drifting through the beach.A forest of algae.

    Hitting the beach at Walvis Bay

    February 12, 2023, South Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    After continuing our ride along the northern fringes of the Namib Desert we arrived in Swakopmund. It was the first place in some 36h or so where we had a working mobile signal. We did some quick research on what there is actually to do on Walvis Bay and found out about a flamingo bay and some sort of peninsula worth checking out.

    The first flamingos we spotted heading into the city. The city itself, hosting the second largest airport in the country, was an industrial hub hosting the most important harbour in the country where essentially all of the import and export was happening at. We didn't really warm up to the city, it had a very strange US vibe to it. Extremely wide roads, a ton of gas stations, indistinct architecture concepts.

    The flamingos were cool, and we headed further toward the peninsula we had read about. On the way there we passed large salt pans, big pink basins where the sea water was evaporated to later harvest fresh sea salt. The salt industry seemed very big, but since we had never heard of Namibian sea salt we figured that it was most likely a local product that wasn't exported all the way to Europe.

    At some point the road seemed to head directly into the ocean. It was a strange construction, with flamingos and other sea birds in the shallow waters on either side of us. Eventually, the road just stopped, close to where the raging ocean surf was battering the sand beach (it was high tide). One lonely fisherman's truck was parked at the dead end, but we spotted a lot of tracks leaving the tarred road and heading off towards the sandy beachland to either side of the track.

    In the briefings we had received, we were told to reduce the tire air pressure to 1.5bar before entering deep sand. Deflating the tires increases the width and therefore traction on the sand. Our truck was well equipped, with pressure gauges, and even a mobile air compressor so we could inflate the tires ourselves after bashing some sand.

    But... Neither of us felt like deflating the tires in the midday heat. I was driving at the time, and we both agreed to dig out the car in case we get stuck. I will admit, I was quite worried, if not afraid, to get stuck. Anne had more of a "let's just do it and deal with the fallout later" mentality, which did convince me to go off the road in 4WD, but I was extremely nervous. I did a quick trip down to the beach, while almost getting stuck on a small dune.

    I decided that I had had enough and steered us straight back to the tar road - letting out a big sigh, grateful that we didn't get stuck. Anne, contrary to me, hadn't had enough. So we changed seats and she took the truck for a spin. She handled it gracefully and didn't get us stuck. It was a fun few minutes when we were gliding across the sand.

    We had gotten hungry, though, and decided to head to the city for some lunch. On the way, we passed alongside some sort of algae fields, which was pretty interesting to look at and touch. Once we had stable signal again closer to the town, we quickly came to realize that a lot of the lunch places were closing at around 3pm. It was already 14:30...

    I had selected one place that looked promising at our lunch destination, but we soon learned that the kitchen was officially closed. They did allow us to order a quick pizza though, so this became our lunch. Stuffed and with half a leftover pizza newly added to our fridge, we headed on toward Swakopmund.    Read more

  • Philipp JacobiusTravelerSoutheast Africa
    The promenade to nowhere.The two attendants fixing the tire. Money well spent!The patched tire.Sunset and pizza leftovers.

    The infamous Swakopmund and a leaky tire

    February 12, 2023 in Namibia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Swakopmund was... Interesting, and bewildering. The city was definitely more focused on tourists than Walvis Bay was, despite only being 45min apart from each other. Swakopmund had a turbulent past during the German colonization, and there were obvious traces of it all around.

    There were many houses built in German-seeming architectural styles, and with German names plastered on the front. "Gemeindehaus", "Pension am Bahnhof", "Villa am Strand", etc. But it all seemed off. The ultra-wide streets were often badly maintained, there were elegant promenades that had a luxurious conference center on one end and then ended suddenly in the middle of nowhere.

    We had an extensive walk around the city on a Sunday afternoon, and it seemed that the city was quite empty - similar to German cities where Sundays are the days where nothing is happening. I read somewhere that around 13% of the city's inhabitants still spoke German as their first language. And we did hear German spoken at quite a few corners of the city. It just all seemed quite odd.

    We had booked a campsite 14km outside of town, with a camping spot right at the beachfront. But before going there we had to stop at a gas station to fill up the tank again. In many African countries there are gas station attendants filling up the car, and they usually always offer to clean the windshield while the tank is filling up. This time, things were no different. Until they knocked on the drivers side door and made me aware that we had a flat tire!

    The first thing we did was test the air pressure in all of the tires. The flat one had a remaining pressure of 1.4bar. Another one had barely 1.8bar. Two tires were alright. Suddenly it clicked for me. The reason we hadn't gotten stuck in the deep sand earlier today was because we had received a flat-ish tire on the desert gravel road! Of course, driving with a flat tire is not a good idea. Fortunately, the helpful attendants immediately offered to patch up the tire.

    All I knew was that we had booked tire and windshield insurance with our rental van, so before agreeing to anything with the attendants I called the agency to ask about the correct procedure. They said if it is fixable they should fix it, I keep the receipt, and they reimburse me. The guys had already completed the preparations, and were just about to widen the hole so they could insert the filler to patch it up. I asked them for a receipt, and they said it was not possible to issue a receipt as it was something they were doing on the side for some extra income.

    They quoted around 11€ for labor and materials to patch up the tire, and both Anne and I decided it was an acceptable loss to not be able to claim that back from the insurance. After some 15min patching time one of the tires was patched up and the other one with reduced pressure was determined to not be leaky but incorrectly filled.

    Arriving at the campsite we found out that it was the most expensive, and most luxurious campsite we had visited so far. We had our our private building that housed a bathroom, a toilet, and a kitchen including fridge. We enjoyed the leftover pizza while watching the sun sink below the horizon, and made some calls to our respective families that evening.

    Unfortunately, upon returning to our campsite, we learned that the electricity is shut off from 21:30 to 07:30. This was hugely inconvenient as we had the habit to charge all of our devices overnight, and would have to start into the workweek on empty batteries. But we were sure we could resolve the situation in the morrow.    Read more

  • Philipp JacobiusTravelerSoutheast Africa
    Perfect for a refreshing morning dip.
    Our work setups. Ergonomy is very important!The second coffee shop baked their own bread in metal mugs.Another ultra-wide street with nothing on it.

    A busy day of work in Swakopmund

    February 13, 2023 in Namibia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    There was a storm the previous night, and we had strategically positioned our camper on such a way that our luxe camper building was shielding us from most of the crazy wind. When we woke up, it was a lot calmer, and we decided to go for a quick morning dip into the ocean. Everyone else seemed asleep and we didn't want to carry our wet stuff for the whole day, so we decided to go skinny dipping.

    The ocean was surprisingly warm compared to the same ocean's temperature in Cape Town, 1500km further down south. Though it was still far from truly being considered warm. Refreshed like this and ready for a busy day, we decided to skip our own provisions and immediately head back into Swakopmund to do some work from a popular coffee shop, and enjoy a proper breakfast from there as well.

    The coffee shop was great (they even laid an extension cord to our table so we could charge our devices!), and the internet speeds were good enough for passable quality Zoom meetings. At some point I decided to head to the store of the other mobile provider, as the one we had a SIM from was out of signal range annoyingly often. I waited for 45min until it was my turn, only to then be told that I either need a residency certificate or a statement issued by a local police department stating that we were camping and allowed to receive a SIM card. This of course seemed completely absurd to me, and I wouldn't even know how to ask for such a statement from the police. The closest station was at the opposite end of the city anyways.

    I shared my findings with Anne and we decided to make it work with the SIM we already had, and around lunchtime we got kicked out of the coffee shop we were in because they were closing at 14:00. We packed up our work setups and moved on to the next coffee shop on our list, where we ordered lunch. After Anne's last meeting (her Mondays are incredibly busy), we packed up, went grocery shopping for the days ahead, and went away from the coast, direction Northeast.    Read more

  • Philipp JacobiusTravelerSoutheast Africa
    Approaching the Spitzkoppe.
    Our spot for the night.A gigantic boulder that hosted a lot of bird nests in the crack.A 360 video of where we stayed.A small fragment of the night sky, taken with my phone. It doesn't do it justice.

    Stargazing at the Spitzkoppe

    February 13, 2023 in Namibia ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    We didn't want to stay another night in Swakopmund, as we didn't deem it super exciting after all. So we continued in a northeasterly direction, away from the Atlantic. Our destination was called the Spitzkoppe, a small conservation area surrounding an interesting shaped series of hills. It was a recommendation from one of Anne's colleagues who was familiar with the area.

    After getting lost in the tiny Spitzkoppe village and hitting the wrong campsite, we had to backtrack through the village to get to the correct campsite. The difference between the sites was stunning. The first, incorrect one, offered a few camping spots and some tents for rent.

    The one we had originally planned to go to was community owned and already within the Spitzkoppe park, right under the rock formations. With the last rays of sun we managed to check in, and seeing how we had a day of work ahead of us, we decided to book a guide to climb up one of the peaks the next morning at 6am. It was not possible to move around the park without a guide, and we came to experience the local nature, so this was a must for us.

    After the formalities were arranged we headed inside the park, and were stunned. It was absolutely beautiful, especially in the light of the setting sun. We ate some leftovers and fresh pineapple for dinner, and headed to bed not before extensively gazing at the milky way and wide buffet of stars that opened up above us. Anne managed to see a beautiful shooting star as well, I was contend with stargazing ☺️    Read more

  • Philipp JacobiusTravelerSoutheast Africa
    Morning glow highlighting the Pontok range, part of Spitzkoppe.
    A cactus skeleton.Our guide Gotthard leading the way.Some spots were tricky to navigate for tall people.The actual Spitzkoppe.We walked a lot in the shade as the sun was on the other side of the peak.The entirety of Spitzkoppe village.Selfie time!360° view from the top.Discussing life with Gotthard.A tiny crack we were walking through to see some paintings.A wedged boulder.A painting of dancing bushmen.A zebra painting. The white color is made with clay, bat droppings, and egg whites.A rhino painting.

    The third Pontok and Bushmen Paintings

    February 14, 2023 in Namibia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Welllll, the day wasn't off to a good start. We had set our alarms to 05:30am so we could pick up our guide at 06:00. At 05:40 I came to the conclusion that I had no idea where the car keys had gone. They were definitely somewhere around, as I had unlocked the car in the morning, but where were they now?

    After a considerable effort by the both of us, I finally found the car keys in the folds of one of the sleeping bags in the back of our truck. We left super late and only managed to pick up our guide Gotthard at around 06:15. That soured my morning mood considerably 😒 We were actually quite worried that the guide might leave if we show up late, but we got lucky.

    We loaded Gotthard into our truck, and drove deeper into the park, in order to climb up the third Pontok peak. It was quite literally a climb up, as there were many spots where we had to use our hands and knees to climb the steep slope. Along the way we learned more about Gotthard, his family history, his connection to nature and guiding, the local village and the life within it, the handling of investors by the community, the local flora and fauna, as well as some geological tidbits of info.

    This was exactly the type of hike I enjoy a lot, but the morning key episode was still lingering over me for the entirety of the climb up. Only once we got to the top my mood started to improve, as I breathed in both the windy air from the very top of the rock formation, as well as gorged my eyes on the beautiful view below me.

    Gotthard convinced us to take a unique photo opportunity (pic below), and we had a quick snack as an early breakfast. We were running a bit late, as we had to hit the highway again before 10:00 so that Anne could facilitate an important call with her team. The Spitzkoppe area itself was a dead zone when it came to phone signals. So, the decision was taken to try to make good time on the way down.

    The track up, and down, is moderately challenging due to the very steep slope. But nonetheless we almost managed to set a new speed record for the descend 😉 With the few minutes of extra time that we gained on the way down, we decided to have Gotthard show us some of the ancient cave paintings that were found in the area.

    I have to say they were a lot more interesting than how it sounded like initially. Our guide was able to explain the different intricate details that were painted by the bushmen some 4000-6000 years ago. They were drawing what they experienced and observed, for the next tribe to know what to expect from the area. The bushmen were nomadic hunters and gatherers.

    After a brief goodbye it was time to hit the road again. We had a very amazing morning (with a wake up snag) and were ready to start energized into the day.    Read more

  • Philipp JacobiusTravelerSoutheast Africa

    An aborted breakfast and workday

    February 14, 2023 in Namibia ⋅ 🌬 33 °C

    The previous day we had very good signal along the highway that led to Spitzkoppe, so our goal was to hit the highway in time for Anne to make her 10:00 meeting. I would take the time and prepare a proper breakfast while she was in the call.

    Well, our relaxed plan was thwarted by reality, when we discovered that the signal at the same spot a few hours later was essentially non existent. Anne was able to connect for 30 seconds, long enough to open a Zoom room and let the participants in, and that was it. I had already begun making breakfast, but had to now pack everything together very quickly and race further along the highway.

    At some point closer to the next town, called Usakos, the internet connection was stable enough for her to rejoin the meeting, having missed almost 30min of it. She finished the call from the car while parked on a gas station parking lot. As the temperatures were climbing and climbing continously (the car showed 45 degrees, and my phone said it was 38 degrees), we decided to move out of the car (we had to run the engine periodically to cool down the truck with the AC) and into the only bistro of the town (at least the only one that was listed on Google).

    We went in and ordered fresh juice, pancakes, and a salad. Only to then be told that none of these things were in stock, and actually the only thing they could offer was fried chicken with fries and soda drinks. Not really what we felt like at 11am, so we passed on that offer. The place had wifi, which worked for about an hour. We're not sure what happened then but it suddenly stopped working, and there was no way for us to get any work done online. Our phones also lost connection. We were suddenly in a blackout zone again.

    After growing quite frustrated with the situation, we decided to throw the towel, at least in regards to trying to get any work done productively. We had tried every avenue, and failed to get an internet connection, so the plan was decided upon to drive onwards, in direction of the Etosha National Park, which we envisioned as one of the highlights of our trip and expected a lot of encounters with nature there.

    (no pics taken from all of the frustration we had built up)    Read more

  • Philipp JacobiusTravelerSoutheast Africa
    The road to Etosha
    The broken key.Letting out the frustrations of the day from the roof while enjoying the road.First rhino we spotted, immediately after entering the national park.A herd of zebras crossing the road.Sleeping lion.Pretty sunset from our camping spot.Sunset over the watering hole.

    A long ride with plenty of rewards

    February 14, 2023 in Namibia ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    As we were leaving Usakos, we encountered a little hiccup with our plans - the car key fell apart! The key is connected to the remote through a little pin, and apparently that pin broke, so now our key had two separate parts. That made turning it in the ignition very difficult. The drive north would take us another five hours or so. Deep into the wilderness.

    With a bit of difficulty I managed to twist the key by lodging it somehow in the remote, but they came apart as soon as we started driving. Fortunately, we would pass through a medium sized town along the way. Once there I called the rental agency and asked for advice, and they recommended us to go to a garage and ask them for help to fix it.

    So we did, and while I was inside the garage talking to the mechanics our car alarm went off - with Anne still sitting in the car! The mechanic who held my keys and I ran out and managed to turn it off, but we were confused as to why it happened. They were unable to fix the key, but managed to lead a piece of steel wire through the pin hole to make sure the key does not fall off the remote anymore, which was constantly happening and super annoying. As he was finishing up the key, which was now impossible to fold together since the wire was sticking out, the car alarm went off again, and I started thinking of all kinds of unpleasant scenarios.

    After a solid delay, due to the key issues, we arrived at the southern gate of Etosha National Park. We had to fill out some forms and were told we had to make payment of our park fees 17km down the road in the first camp. We were also told to hurry up, as our intended destination Halali camp was about an hours drive away and closed their gates in an hour.

    Oh dear. We had not anticipated how tricky it would be to make this trip without stopping. Even before getting to the pay point we spotted multiple rhinos, plenty of zebra, and some other animals. Once we had paid, our streak did not end. By the time we arrived at the camp (two minutes before closing), we had spotted herds of zebra and giraffe, all types of antelopes, a family of lions sleeping lazily on the roadside, a spotted hyena playing with its cub, six rhinos (both black and white rhinos), ostriches, and another type of bird that reminded me of emus but wasn't an emu.

    At the camp, we quickly parked our truck, and went to the infamous Halali watering hole, where the park authorities had constructed some viewing stalls and floodlight for visitors of both animal and human nature. On the way there, we heard a car alarm go off in the distance, and just looked at each other with worry in the eyes. When we got to the watering hole, we didn't see any animals, but were bitten a lot by mosquitos, so we headed back to our truck to set up the tent and prepare some dinner.    Read more

  • Philipp JacobiusTravelerSoutheast Africa
    Some friendly Zebras.
    The roadblock.Look at that model pose!Some chipmunks seeking shade under our truck.

    Morning game drive by ourselves

    February 15, 2023 in Namibia ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C

    Well, my worst fears came true during the night. The car alarm went off four times, and the only reason we could think of was the key that was causing some sensors to malfunction. Anne slept through most of the alarms, but in total they went off six times, three times in the late evening and another three times spread throughout the night.

    In the morning, albeit a bit groggy from the constantly interrupted sleep, we went for a game self - drive before sitting down to get our work done. We had some cheese on crackers for breakfast on the road, and set off on an itinerary I had guesstimated to be around 90min long, the time we had before Anne's first meeting of the day. We were visiting the park during wet season, which meant, quite literally, water everywhere. This made it harder to spot animals because they were not concentrated around the watering holes, seeing how they could find water deeper in the bush, well away from humans. It also meant that some of the roads were muddy messes with gigantic potholes.

    As we were driving along the road I had chosen, well away from the main road, we noticed some fresh poop on the road. Lo and behold, just one more turn and suddenly there was a roadblock - a moving roadblock consisting of a herd of elephants. I was able to count at least 16 of them, though I'm sure there were more out of sight.

    I'm a confrontation between car and elephant, we would be on the losing end, therefore we kept a safe distance to them, which also meant we were unable to overtake them for quite some time. Once they had cleared the road, suddenly there was a giraffe gracefully crossing the road right in front of us. She posed like a model for us, before heading off into the bush.

    We continued our loop, along a road unfittingly called 'Rhino Drive" because we could spot a single rhino, and made it back just in time for Anne's meeting.    Read more

  • Philipp JacobiusTravelerSoutheast Africa
    Sunset.
    Mother rhino with her calf.

    Guided evening game drive

    February 15, 2023 in Namibia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    After struggling with the Wi-Fi at the camp during the day, while still making it work somehow, we went on a guided night game drive. After sunset tourists are no longer allowed to drive by themselves, so if we wanted to explore during darkness this was our only chance.

    There were two other participants joining the drive, an elderly couple from Australia. Our guide was knowledgeable, but we didn't get to see all too much. In the dusk we spotted mostly pretty birds. After darkness had fallen, we went around from watering hole to watering hole, and at a spot called Rietfontain we saw the highlight of our game drive. A mother rhino with her calf.

    The Australian guy fell asleep multiple times during the drive, and my eyes were really hurting from the strong winds that we were exposed to at the open back of the safari vehicle, and beyond some African wild cats we didn't get to see any other noteworthy animals until we got back to the camp.

    Fun fact: The locals call it a game drive. Safari is merely a touristic term that locals cannot identify with. You go on a drive to see game (another word for wild animals). So it's a game drive. Simple 😉    Read more

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