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Overlanding Through Africa
  • Happy Days Travel
  • Mark Wade
  • Happy Days Travel
  • Mark Wade

Overlanding Through Africa

This is the big one - the trip we have been planning since before the pandemic! We will be overlanding from South Africa 🇿🇦 to Kenya 🇰🇪 passing through 9 other countries and taking four months. Read more
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  • Overlanding Through Africa

    Brunch at Oranjezicht Market

    June 24, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    We had a lie in this morning and then walked down to the Oranjezicht market for brunch. If we lived here, we’d be at the market every weekend! We were spoilt for choice, but in the end we settled on a proper French galette topped with egg, cheese, Parma ham, tomatoes, and rocket. Mark also had avocado on his. It tasted amazing!! We bought some other bits to have in the hotel later, and then came back to pack and get caught up with my posts before we embark on the next leg!Read more

  • Overlanding Through Africa
    A great quote on the wall at Never@Home, Green Point

    The next leg of the journey begins

    June 25, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ 🌬 14 °C

    We were up at a reasonable time this morning, ready to move over to the other branch of Never@Home in Kloof Street. We booked an Uber to take us there with all of our luggage 🧳. When we got there, we were too early to check in, so we stored our bags, and after some discussion, we decided to get City Sightseeing bus tickets and go back to the waterfront for lunch. There is hardly anything open in the city on a Sunday!

    Outside Never@Home, we saw the truck and met the crew - Laban, our guide, Patrick, our driver, and Henry (H), our chef. All three are from Kenya 🇰🇪 and have just completed the trip from Nairobi down to Cape Town. They all seem really nice! The truck is more like an old Dragoman truck with a couple of tables that seat 4.

    At the waterfront, we went to Cape Town Fish 🐟 Market. Mark had a False Bay seafood platter, and I had chicken schnitzel.

    After lunch, we had a last walk🚶‍♂️around the waterfront markets and shops before boarding the bus to do the blue route again. It hadn't been part of the plan, but we had a few hours to kill, and Mark's legs weren't very good, so it was the perfect solution. It was very pleasant to drive along the spectacular coast road again on a sunny afternoon 😎.

    Back at Never@Home load shedding meant that there was no power. We had forgotten that load shedding even existed here! We've had no issues since we've been in Cape Town
    and assumed that it was the same city-wide. But no, it turns out that it's only in Green Point that the power stays on! I've no idea why!

    We checked in, left most of our luggage in the storage room, and went to our room. We were so glad we had decided to stay in Green Point for the whole time we were in Cape Town! Our room had bare concrete floors and no heating. It was very cold! There was no TV, no storage space, only one socket in a very inconvenient place, and the safe was on a very high shelf and totally inaccessible! The bathroom was very small compared to the one we had had in Green Point.

    We went downstairs to the bar, which was open to the street and consequently very cold. They couldn't make me a coffee as the power was off, and they had no sugar-free soft drinks! Mark ordered a beer 🍺 (10 rand more expensive than the other branch!), and I went across the road to Starbucks for a coffee ☕️ 🙃. We were not impressed with Never@Home Kloof Street at all and were glad we were only here for one night!

    At 6pm, we went to reception for our welcome meeting. We had to go outside, so Laban kept it brief as it was rather cold 🥶! We gave our insurance details and introduced ourselves. There are 21 of us in the group, so it will be a full truck! I'm not sure how we'll manage after the luxury of all the space we had on the last leg!

    We are a mixed group - 3 other Brits, 5 Australians, a couple from New Zealand, some Canadians, a Danish lady living in Spain, 2 Americans, a Russian, and a few others that I don't know about yet! 😀 We are definitely not the oldest in the group, which is nice!! 😂🤣

    Laban explained about tomorrow, and then we went our separate ways. We ended up going for dinner with John and Trisha from New Zealand 🇳🇿. We didn’t really need a full meal, but went along with it 😀. Mark had ostrich steak, and I had chicken curry 🍛. Both were very good. Two restaurant meals in one day - we won't be making a habit of it! The company was good, though.

    We had a pleasant evening before going back to the room to listen 🎶 to Elton John performing live at Glastonbury. He was closing the whole festival. It will probably be his last concert in the UK before he gives up touring for good. It was a fantastic set! We thoroughly enjoyed it - but it meant that we didn't go to bed until after midnight! Luckily, we haven't got an early start tomorrow 😀.    Read more

  • Overlanding Through Africa
    A recycled man at our lunch stop 😀

    Cape Town to Zanzibar day one

    June 26, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    We weren't leaving until 10am today, but we were up at 7.30am to walk up the road to Arnold's restaurant where we were having breakfast. It was a very good cooked breakfast with toast and coffee ☕️, the perfect start to the day. We sat with Mona from the US, Natasha from Russia 🇷🇺 who lives in Canada 🇨🇦, and Sarah from the UK 🇬🇧. It was nice to start to get to know everyone. Some of the group are on the truck as far as Victoria Falls. Others, like us, are on until Zanzibar. So far, I think John and Trisha are the only ones going all the way to Nairobi.

    Back at Never@Home, we packed our bag, collected our other luggage from the store, and waited for the truck to be open. When it was, we realised how limited we are for space, especially on a full truck! We managed to get one of our big bags in a locker and arranged with Laban to store our other one, which we don't need until Zanzibar, under the truck. We then put our other packs in our other locker and chose a seat. We will be moving seats every day to make it fair for everyone. It is rather full, but I'm sure we will all settle in. There were a few moans from first-time overlanders who expected a bit more luxury!

    We were late getting going as a couple of people were late to the truck, and one girl didn't turn up at all! However, we were on the road by 10.30am, and heading out of Cape Town. We have had an amazing time in the city, but we were glad to be back on our journey!

    Two and a half hours in, we stopped for lunch at a service station that had a range of restaurants. We didn’t want a full meal, so opted for a toastie and a coffee ☕️. In a way, we will be glad to leave westernised South Africa 🇿🇦 and get a more authentic African food experience!

    After lunch, we drove through stunning scenery for another couple of hours to reach the Highlanders camp site on a vineyard. Once there, we had a briefing from a staff member about the camp site and a lesson from Laban about how to put up and dismantle a tent ⛺️. We are lucky on this trip because we have brand new tents and poles - not rusty old ones like we had on the last leg!

    When we had put our tents up and sorted out our stuff (a real mission as 20 people tried to access their lockers at the same time!), we went up to the bar area for a wine tasting. It's really beautiful here. The setting is amazing!    Read more

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    Wine tasting

    June 26, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    The tasting room and bar area was lovely - decorative bunting, a log fire, sofas, a pool, long wooden tables, and spectacular views of the vineyards and the mountains behind.

    Eleven of us from the group were doing the optional tasting, which was scheduled for 5pm. Nine of us were on time. Two didn’t turn up. Roly, who was conducting the tasting, wouldn't start without them as he had already cut the cheese. We had been told to be on time and to let him know if we changed our minds! I was dispatched to locate the missing two. It transpired that it was the same couple who were late for last night's meeting and for the truck this morning! A pattern is developing! Nobody knew where they were. I returned to the tasting room. By now, a GAdventures group had arrived on site, and Roly had to leave to do their introductory meeting. We were left waiting for him to return.

    Fortunately, Sparky, the owner, stepped in to do the tasting with us. We got started at about 5.40pm. We had 6 wines 🍷 to taste - a chenin blanc, a pinotage, a shiraz, a sweet rose, a sparkling rose, and a fortified wine, along with some brie, a blue cheese, some camembert, and a cheddar with sweet chilli 🌶. We enjoyed the chenin and the two reds, but the rest were too sweet for our taste! We bought a bottle of the pinotage and impressed our fellow travellers by drinking it out of the proper glasses we were given at Constantia! No plastic cups for us on this leg - at least, not until we break the glasses! 😂

    It was a really enjoyable tasting, especially talking to Sparky. We didn’t finish until ten past seven, by which time most of the rest of the group were sitting on the truck (there had been a brief rain shower) waiting for us so that we could all have dinner 🍽! It wasn't our fault we didn't start on time 😀.

    For our first dinner of the trip, Henry had made us pumpkin 🎃 and potato soup 🍲 followed by beef stew with rice 🍚 and vegetables. It was all very good!

    After dinner, some of the group went back to the bar, some went straight to their tents ⛺️, and we stayed with the rest sitting around the camp fire swapping stories. We turned it in at about 10.30pm.    Read more

  • Overlanding Through Africa
    Our last South African Spar!! 😂🤣

    Our last stop in South Africa

    June 27, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ 🌬 11 °C

    We didn’t sleep particularly well - we have a couple of very loud snorers in the group! We'll have to take note of where they pitch their tents ⛺️ tonight! 😂 There was a storm overnight, too, but it was relatively dry by this morning.

    We got up just before 6 as we had to have our tents down and be ready for breakfast by 7. I was first to the showers. By the time I came out, there was a queue! The joys of a big group!!

    Henry had made us sausages and fried eggs 🍳 for breakfast, along with the usual toast, cereals, and bananas 🍌. It was a welcome start to the day. The usual suspects missed it as they were too late! There were 3 tents ⛺️ still up at 7.30am. Laban ended up taking them down so that we wouldn't be late leaving. It's my only bugbear on a trip like this - people who can't be on time and follow simple instructions! On the last leg, we didn’t have anyone like that. This time, we have a few! Hopefully, they'll improve as time goes on!!

    Laban has split us into 3 groups to help with chores. Mark and I are in different groups - I'm in Chobe, and Mark is in Etosha. Today, I am on pot washing detail, and Mark is assisting with cooking. I'm very happy to learn that we will be flapping on this trip - no tea-towels required! 😀 It's like being back on a Dragoman truck! There were people who didn't participate this morning. We'll see what happens tonight!

    We left a wet campsite by 8.10am, heading for lunch at Springbok, our last scheduled stop in South Africa 🇿🇦. We have had an amazing seven weeks in this country, but are very much looking forward to seeing what Namibia has in store! 😀    Read more

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    Hello, Namibia!

    June 27, 2023 in Namibia ⋅ 🌬 16 °C

    From Springbok, we drove on to the border with Namibia 🇳🇦. As we did so, the scenery became increasingly dry and rocky. However, contrary to all expectations, as we arrived at the border in Vioolsddrift, the heavens opened! The unexpected heavy rain continued through the whole of our first night in Namibia – just our luck!

    Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, has as its western border, the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. Although it doesn’t border Zimbabwe, less than 200 metres of the Botswanan right bank of the Zambezi River separates the two countries.

    Namibia gained independence from South Africa on 21 March 1990, following the Namibian War of Independence. Its capital and largest city is Windhoek. It is the driest country in sub-Saharan Africa and has been inhabited since pre-historic times by the San, Damara and Nama people. Around the 14th century, immigrating Bantu peoples arrived as part of the Bantu expansion. Since then, the Bantu groups, the largest being the Ovambo, have dominated the population of the country.

    Today Namibia is one of the least densely populated countries in the world. It has a population of 2.55 million people and is a stable multi-party parliamentary democracy. Agriculture, tourism and the mining industry – including mining for gem diamonds, uranium, gold, silver and base metals – form the basis of its economy, while the manufacturing sector is comparatively small.

    The border crossing into Namibia took a while with so many people in the group, but we all got through without issues. On entry to Namibia, we immediately crossed the Orange River, which marks the border with South Africa. From there, it was just a 20-minute drive to our first campsite. Felix Unites. We arrived just before 5, so Laban did a quick walk around with us to show us where everything is before it got dark. It looks like a lovely site, right on the banks of the river. We were warned that it’s caterpillar season, so we shouldn’t pitch our tents under any trees, and we should be careful as we walked around site. Apparently, if any part of your skin touches them, they leave a sticky residue that causes severe itching and a rash. Just after getting this warning, we came across one. There’s a photo attached to this footprint. You can’t really tell from the picture, but it was about 15 centimetres long. Its markings were incredible!

    After the orientation, we managed to get our tents up between showers. Mark’s group was on kitchen help duty, so he went to chop veg while I sorted out stuff on the truck. The same couple who have been late for everything haven’t yet participated in any of the truck chores! I took the opportunity to have a word with her in the washroom. I was very polite! She took it quite well. As we came out, her partner joined us, so I repeated it all to him. He thanked me and promised that they would do the necessary from now on!

    While dinner was cooking, some of us went to the bar to enjoy a drink around the firepit. There are some lovely people in the group. It’s nice to get to know them better.

    Henry prepared pumpkin soup followed by pasta bolognaise for dinner. It was warming and filling – just what we needed with the downpour going on! It was blowing a gale, too!! So much for desert conditions! We were late having dinner, so by the time we’d washed up (my group was on dishes duty), all we wanted to do was go to bed, hoping for a better night’s sleep than last night.    Read more

  • Overlanding Through Africa

    A wet night at Felix Unite campsite

    June 28, 2023 in Namibia ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    So much for the hope of a better night! It poured with rain non-stop, and the temperature plummeted! We were both awake from 2am as the seams of our new tent were leaking and all our bedding was soaked! The joys of camping in bad weather! After a sleepless few hours, we got up and started trying to dry stuff out. Everyone had similar stories when we got together for breakfast! Henry had made pancakes for us, with baked beans as an alternative. There was some confusion about who was in the washing up group this morning, so I stepped in to make sure everyone knew what they should be doing. I’ll probably get a reputation for being bossy, but I don’t care – it winds me up when people aren’t pulling their weight!

    After breakfast, there was an optional canoeing activity on the Orange River. The inclement weather put several people off! In the end, just eight people went. I took ‘team photos’ and photos of the cool bus they were going in! With fewer people in camp, we spread all our stuff out to dry and moved our tent into the sun when it appeared. We then went for a walk. This place would be amazing in better weather. The scenery across the river is spectacular, and the pool is in the perfect spot to take advantage of the views. I can’t wait to get to some warmer, drier weather so that we’re not constantly saying, ‘This would be lovely in the summer!’ 😂

    Following our walk, I bought a wi-fi voucher as our Solis doesn’t work in Namibia. As we get further off the beaten track, it will be harder to keep up with my posts, but I’ll do my best!    Read more

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    Driving through Namibia's vineyards

    June 28, 2023 in Namibia ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    I spent an hour or two posting and sorting out photos before the others got back from their canoeing trip. The sun did appear briefly, so we were able to get some shots of this beautiful site. We then took down our partially dry tents and packed away before lunch. Henry cooked us chicken drumsticks, spicy rice, and salad – all very good.

    After lunch, we were back on the truck for our drive to our next stop at Fish River Canyon. As we drove further into Namibia, the landscape became even drier, although we did pass miles of vineyards. This is a recent development in Namibia. The Namibian wine industry is still in its infancy, with wine being produced in small quantities by just a few wineries. Most of the grapes grown in Namibia are destined for use as table grapes for export to Europe rather than for wine. One of the challenges of viticulture in Namibia is that the country is quite dry, which means that irrigation is usually necessary. It is also situated closer to the equator than its neighbour, South Africa, so it is outside of the traditional (but now challenged) ’20 to 50 degrees latitude’ rule of thumb for areas suitable for wine production.

    Having said this, Namibia does have a long history of wine production, beginning when the country was colonised by Germany in 1884. The first vineyards were planted by German Roman Catholic priests in mountain valleys near the capital, Windhoek. They produced a white wine and a potent schnapps called ‘Katholischer’. Production stopped in the late 1960s when the last wine-making priest died and classrooms were built where the vineyards had been.

    Since Namibia’s independence in 1990, several small-scale winemaking businesses have developed along the orange River. We saw the accommodation where vineyard workers are housed. These are basic huts made of wooden canes and corrugated metal. They are small and have no running water. Ablution blocks are shared.    Read more

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    Hobas Campsite

    June 28, 2023 in Namibia ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Just beyond the vineyards, we turned off the tarmac road. From then on, we were seeing desert conditions as the rocky landscape gave way to sand.

    At about 3.45pm, we arrived at Hobas campsite, our home for the night. We had half an hour to put our tents up and get organised before we had to be back on the truck for the 15-minute drive to the Fish River Canyon.Read more

  • Overlanding Through Africa

    Fish River Canyon

    June 28, 2023 in Namibia ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    We left Henry behind to prepare dinner. Patrick dropped us off. We had a 2.5 kilometre walk to a sunset viewpoint where he would pick us up again. We could go at our own pace. We began by walking up to the edge of the canyon for our first view of it in all of its splendour. There was a real wow factor as we looked down in to it.

    Fish River Canyon is the largest canyon in Africa and the second most visited tourist attraction in Namibia after Etosha National Park. It features a gigantic ravine, which is about 160 kilometres long, up to 27 kilometres wide and almost 550 metres deep in places.

    The Fish River is the longest interior river in Namibia. It cuts deep into the plateau which is dry, stony and sparsely covered with hardy drought-resistant plants. The river only flows intermittently. It usually floods in late summer. For the rest of the year, it becomes a chain of long, narrow pools.

    We took plenty of photos, and then set off to walk back to the pick-up point. As the sun sank lower in the sky, the colours on the rocks kept changing. It was hard to stop taking pictures! At the viewpoint, we waited for sunset. Patrick and Laban brought us a curious selection of snacks and drinks to have while we waited. There was sweet red and sweet white wine, coke, sliced cucumber, pieces of cheese that were still a bit frozen, biltong (which was labelled as ‘moist meat’!), and squares of milk chocolate (mint and fruit ‘n’ nut varieties). We might have raised our eyebrows at the choices, but we appreciated the gesture. Nathan from Australia made a ‘sandwich’ with all the ingredients we’d been given in one go. Nobody else fancied trying it! 😂

    When the sunset itself came, it wasn’t that good because of the build up of cloud, but the light on the rocks before and after the sun went down was stunning!

    Back at camp, Henry had got a fire going which was very welcome as we were all pretty cold. For dinner, he’d made a delicious vegetable soup followed by lamb leg steaks cooked on the braii served with crushed potatoes, coleslaw, and vegetables. The lamb was really good!!

    After dinner, we stayed by the fire chatting. We didn’t stay up late, though, as we have a very early start tomorrow.    Read more

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    A long driving day

    June 29, 2023 in Namibia ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    I set my alarm for 4.45am as I wanted a shower before other people got up. In the event, I didn’t need the alarm. I woke up just before 4!! I was first in the showers, and we had packed up and taken our tent down well before the 6am deadline. It was drizzling throughout – you know, the fine stuff that gets you wet! 😂 We chatted to Henry as he prepared French toast for breakfast. He’s been doing the job for about 12 years and absolutely loves it. He always chooses to do the long trips if he can. He then gets a longer block of time at home with his seven-year-old daughter between trips.

    Most people were up and organised on time – apart from the usual suspects who complained that we were already packing breakfast away when they hadn’t had anything! Which part of 6am breakfast, 7am departure did they not understand??

    Anyway, it was still dark and wet when we set off, but, thankfully, the sun soon appeared and it was shaping up to be a lovely day. We were in for a long travelling day today, with 518 kilometres to cover to get to our next camp. We are now out of the comfortable westernised South Africa and into the wilder part of our trip. We can now expect ‘bushy bushy’ toilet stops! 😂 Our first came a couple of hours in to our drive at a picturesque spot near a bridge over the Fish River. There was little cover, so we had a long walk to find a bit of privacy! Welcome to the world of overlanding!

    Back on the truck, I went to get my diary to make a few notes, only to discover that it was sodden! The rain must have got to it overnight. Because I’d written a lot of the entries in fine point felt pens, the colours had run and everything was illegible!! All that effort gone to waste! I was gutted!! Usually, I keep my travel diaries to look back on in future years. I guess I won’t be doing that with 2023’s!

    The scenery as we continued our drive was very stark and barren, but we did see several springbok galloping along the side of the road. They are so graceful! They were the only sign of life in this largely uninhabited area. We did come across one small settlement called Bethanie. We filled up with fuel here and took the opportunity to use flushing toilets! We bought a couple of bits in the local shop and got our first Namibian dollars in our change (you can use South African rand everywhere here).

    At lunchtime, we stopped for an hour on the roadside and set up a temporary kitchen. We had salads, grated cheese, and cooked meat to make our own sandwiches. The weather was warming up nicely with plenty of sunshine – very welcome after the wet, cold conditions we’ve been having.    Read more

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    Sesriem Campsite

    June 29, 2023 in Namibia ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    After several more hours of driving through barren landscapes with little sign of life apart from a few farmed oryx and kudu, and a couple more bushy bushy stops, we finally arrived at our campsite at Sesriem, which is within the Namib desert national park. Whilst we waited to be allocated our pitch, Laban told us about the huge weaver bird nest hanging in the tree by reception. Tiny weaver birds nest in groups of between 25 and 40. I remember seeing a lot of these nests when we were in Kenya many years ago. He also showed us a desert date tree. These trees are all over this area. They don’t have fruit, but they do have large crescent-shaped seed pods which fall off in spring. The seeds are poisonous both to humans and to animals.

    Once we had been given our pitch, we quickly put up our tents and went to get a drink from the bar. We took them to an area behind the swimming pool where Laban had told us we would get the best views of the sunset. It was lovely to relax with a cold drink after such a long driving day. We sat with a number of our group, chatting mainly about the places we’ve been and those we still want to go to! When the sunset happened, it wasn’t spectacular as there were absolutely no clouds in the sky, but we still got some lovely photos. Back at our camp, Henry had made a potato soup followed by spaghetti with chicken and vegetables in a tomato sauce. It was as good as usual.

    After dinner, we contemplated the stars for a while. With zero light pollution, the night sky looked amazing! None of us stayed up late as we have another early start tomorrow.    Read more

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    Sunrise at Dune 45

    June 30, 2023 in Namibia ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

    We were up at 5.15am this morning with instructions to be sitting on the truck ready to leave by 6.20am. The gate out of the park opens at 6.30am, and we wanted to be first in the queue to set off on the 45-minute drive to Dune 45. The aim was to get there in time to see the sunrise. We didn’t have breakfast before we left, but I had had the foresight to make a flask of coffee last night, so we were at least able to have that!

    When we arrived at the dune, we set off to the top to get the best view when the sun rose. Dune 45 is the oldest dune in Namibia. Its name comes from the fact that it is located at the 45th kilometre of the road that connects the Sesriem gate and Sossusvlei. It stands at over 170 metres tall and is composed of five million-year-old sand that is detritus accumulated by the Orange River from the Kalahari Desert and then blown here. It is red in colour because of the amount of iron oxide in the sand. Younger dunes are white, not red.

    It was freezing cold and blowing a gale as we started out. Laban advised us to climb on the corner of the dune, preferably stepping into someone else’s footsteps. I set off with good intentions, but soon faltered. The wind was really strong and I felt very unsteady on my feet. About a third of the way up, I stopped and sat down to wait for sunrise. I was soon joined by Kris and Trish. I noticed that Mark, Natasha, and Kim had stopped a little further up. We watched the changing sky for a while, but it was bitterly cold with a biting wind. Other people were climbing the dune past us and we were getting sand in our faces. It wasn’t much fun, so we descended before the sun actually appeared. It really didn’t matter. We still saw the sunrise from ground level, and were in the best place to see the dune turn a vivid red in the sun, and to see the shadows cast by the trees on the dune. Nature certainly put on a show for us! We both took some lovely photos.

    As the rest of our group started to descend, we went back to the truck, where Henry had the kettle on and was preparing bacon and eggs for us all. It was so welcome!! We thawed our hands on our cups of tea and coffee, and enjoyed our breakfast as the sun came up. Perfect!!    Read more

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    Deadvlei

    June 30, 2023 in Namibia ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    From Dune 45, we drove for an hour to reach Deadvlei, a white clay pan in the heart of the Namib Desert. The name means ‘dead marsh’. The clay pan was formed after rainfall when the Tsauchab river flooded, creating temporary shallow pools where the abundance of water allowed camel thorn trees to grow. When the climate changed almost a millennium ago, drought hit the area, and sand dunes encroached on the pan, which blocked the river from the area. Deadvlei is surrounded by the highest sand dunes in the world, the highest being Big Daddy at 325 metres. The trees died, as there was no longer enough water to survive. The remaining skeletons of the trees are now black because the intense sun has scorched them. Though not petrified, the wood does not decompose because it is so dry.

    We parked in the car park and transferred to 4x4 vehicles for the drive to the start of the hike to Deadvlei. The scenery on the way was stunning. The hike was not particularly long (about 4km there and back), but it was steep in places, and the soft sand had our calf muscles aching! For me, it was easier to do it barefoot! It was worth it, though, for the sight of the flat pan and the dead trees standing there. Some trees had fallen over because tourists had touched them or climbed on them. This was despite the signs telling them not to!    Read more

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    Sossusvlei

    June 30, 2023 in Namibia ⋅ 🌬 21 °C

    Having retraced our steps, we went on a tractor and trailer to Sossusvlei, a salt and clay pan surrounded by high red dunes, before heading back to the truck. It was a bumpy ride, but one that had us all laughing!

    At the truck, we had lunch. Henry had prepared salads and tuna so we could make our own sandwiches. It was sunny and warm, but still breezy, as Mark discovered when the top of his sandwich blew off!! 😂    Read more

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    Solitaire

    June 30, 2023 in Namibia ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    From Deadvlei, we continued our drive, stopping at a one-house town called Solitaire for toilets and to stretch our legs. It’s a crazy place with broken-down cars and petrol pumps around the grounds and an on-site bakery started by Percy Cross, aka Moose McGregor. The bakery is famous far and wide for its apple pie. Most of us tried it. It was still warm from the oven and tasted really good! Just as we were going to get back on the truck, we saw some strange-looking animals behaving just like meerkats. They turned out to be ground squirrels. They were happy to pose for us! 😊

    While we were there, I bought a book written by Dutchman Ton van der Lee, who lived there for a while. I’ll look forward to reading his account of life in the Namibian wilderness.    Read more

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    'Bushman's' camp

    June 30, 2023 in Namibia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    From Solitaire, it was a short drive to our camp for the night. We were hosted by ‘Bushman’, an expert in desert survival. After putting up our tents, he took us on a drive across his property, stopping frequently to explain about the flora and fauna of the area, as well as survival techniques if you were to get lost in the desert, and all about the fascinating bushmen, the only people to have ever survived in this area without water. It was all fascinating. Bushman’s enthusiasm for his subject was infectious. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with him. We finished our drive with a stunning sunset.

    For dinner, Henry had prepared pumpkin soup followed by traditional African food – pap, chicken stew, cabbage, and chapattis. Laban explained how to eat it for the people who had never had it before. The stew and chapattis were tasty, but I’m still not a fan of pap! 😊    Read more

  • Overlanding Through Africa

    Sunrise at Bushman's

    July 1, 2023 in Namibia ⋅ 🌙 10 °C

    We were leaving at 8 this morning so we had to have tents down and be ready for breakfast by 7. Henry had made us a sausage casserole with potatoes and fried eggs for breakfast. I opted for eggs! In between eating and washing up, we watched a lovely sunrise and some of us went down to Bushman’s garden to take photos of his amazing cacti!Read more

  • Overlanding Through Africa

    Tropic of Capricorn

    July 1, 2023 in Namibia ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    From the campsite, we drove for just 25 minutes to the sign marking the point where we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn. We took the opportunity to take some group photos.

  • Overlanding Through Africa

    Driving to Swakopmund

    July 1, 2023 in Namibia ⋅ 🌬 27 °C

    We then drove on, on rough winding roads through spectacular desert mountain scenery until we started dropping towards the Atlantic Ocean. The desert was at first totally flat and devoid of life, but as we neared the sea, plants began to appear, thriving on the sea mists.

    Our destination was the town of Swakopmund where we were going to have a break from the truck and stay in bungalows for three nights.    Read more

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