I’m the first to get up and I use the time to heat up the donkey shower. It’s a good feeling to be up first and to do good for the group. Since I really learned to enjoy off-road driving here in Namibia I’m very much looking forward to the route today: Van Zyl’s Pass is waiting! I’m eager to find out what it’s really like. All the stories I heard and read, how much of it is true?

For breakfast we prepare “Geröstel” (fried potato chunks and onions) left-over in the fry pan. It tastes fantastic! While we have breakfast a Himba boy from the nearby village shows up to collect the campsite fee. As many other campsites in remote areas the Van Zyl’s Pass camp is a Namibia community project. Since the boy doesn’t speak English he simply hands us a brochure with the fees neatly listed. His eyes glance hungrily over our rich breakfast table and we give him some oranges and fill a plate with Geröstel for him. His bony body makes it obvious that at least part of the community lacks ample food supply.

Pumping the tires again once the vehicles are out of the river bed

As the campsite is located in the middle of a sandy river-bed we had to release some air from tires before returning to the road to Van Zyl’s pass.

The drive through the mountains to the pass is simply fantastic! The extremely rugged road and the very slow pace that results from that is responsible that at least the co-driver  can enjoy the scenery. The pass itself is less demanding than anticipated. It is very demanding for the cars obviously but with a car like the Land Rover TD4 it’s fine as long as the driver is alert. You don’t need to be an off-road super-guru. You shouldn’t attempt that route alone, though. If your car breaks down you’re lost. youtube.com has a number of videos that give you a good impression of the pass.

It's customary to tell the world that you (or your car rather) mastered Van Zyl's Pass

The sandy earth road in the Marienfluss valley on the other side of the pass is pure horror, though. It’s extremely corrugated and even if you race along with 80km/h it feels like your car is going to fall apart any minute. If you go slower it’s even worse…

The 60km to Camp Synchro seem endless. I just want this to be over, it’s most definitely the flip-side of the off-road medal. After I hit a stone while trying to navigate around particularly bad bump in the road the warning lights start flashing automatically. The respective button on the dashboard doesn’t indicate they’re flashing though and they can’t be switched off either. I’m just happy that the tires didn’t get damaged. In moments like this one realizes how heavily we depend on our vehicles in such remote areas.

Marienfluss valley between Van Zyl's Pass and Camp Synchro

I’m in a foul mood because of the road conditions and I’m angry at myself for letting this influence my mood. I want to be more calm and more positively thinking. We’re on vacation after all. Many people envy us for that. And here I am swearing at a road in bad condition – not very “grown up”. In this mood I have little hope that a pretty camp is expecting us but Camp Synchro is a very positive surprise. It’s like an oasis at the Kunene river. We find lovely spots for our cars overlooking the river and we settle for yet another romantic dinner around candles, torches and a small fire. I even manage to fix the flashing warning lights by disconnecting the primary battery for a second.

→ Namibia 2009 photos

Passing Okongwati we stop again at the “gas station” we stopped at a few days ago while on the way to Epupa. In the region we’re headed to every drop of petrol counts. The Okongwati gas station is off the main (gravel) road hidden behind a few shacks. You’ll miss it if you simple drive through the village from Epupa to Opuwo or vice-versa. It’s everything from ordinary as it’s got now gas pumps. A quiet lady who doesn’t speak English sits in front of a shack that stores a 2-3 barrels of diesel – and regular if you’re lucky. Sometimes there’s gas and sometimes there isn’t. The gas is transferred from the barrels to you car with canisters or old pet bottles. The fact that this procedure inevitably takes time doesn’t matter. It feels real, we’re in Africa after all.

Gas station in Okongwati

We’re already accustomed to the fact that gas stations in Africa are run by women because men apparently can’t be trusted in southern Africa when it comes to handling money. The boys who help the lady are happy that Thomas presents them with a pair of bright yellow rubber gloves.

The first several kilometers on the D3703 lead us on a narrow soft sand-road through almost lush groves. It’s wonderfully quiet and peaceful. There are no other safari cars and apart from a few Himbas every now and then we don’t see a single soul – it’ll stay that way for the rest of the day. Usually we stop when we see Himbas and give away corn flour or the like. They however would rather have “sweets, sweets”. Thomas & Sandra often give away LolliPops to kids which Akiko & I disapprove of. On the other hand we feel bad to deny them the goodies we ourselves would have liked as when we were kids.

A few kilometers after Okauwe the dust road is supposed to turn from south to south-west. Both my map and the GPS map say so. In reality it’s a little different. There are many tracks in the sandy savanna. When the GPS keeps insisting that we have left the imaginary route we turn around and start looking for the turn that we must have missed. The route we were following isn’t even listed on the GPS maps.

The road condition is getting worse (very rugged) as the day gets longer and longer. Shortly before we reach the Van Zyl’s Pass campsite near Otjitanda we stop at a Himba village. We try to tell the chief that we would like to take a few pictures in exchange for flour. Of course, he speaks neither English nor Afrikaans but our hands proof to be a wonderful secondary communication tool.

The stench in the village is atrocious for our sensitive western noses. The Himba live on the same ground as their goats. Hence, there’s goat and dog poop everywhere. Inside their clay huts the stench is a mix of cold smoke, sweat, excrements and rancid butter. This world is fascinating and repulsive at the same time. I very strongly feel that we shouldn’t even be here, that we should leave these people along. I feel that we’re destroying a precious unique culture just by being here, by taking photos and by letting the Himba see our western gadgets.

Traditional Himba village

The sun will soon set and we have yet to drive some 10km until the camp. In Otjitanda our eyes become big as some brand new solar panels appear next to the road. Apparently, the state installed them to power the water pumps in the tiny village. I hope that our guides don’t stop to take pictures as we’re hungry and don’t feel like putting up our tents in darkness; we’re running late already.

The Van Zyl’s Pass campsite is super pretty and very private. The other two sites appear to be unoccupied and we feel like the only people on this planet. Yet, despite this remoteness there are water tanks for the showers and the toilets at the camp! Apparently they weren’t expecting anyone today – the water pipes are all dry. We follow the pipes back from the showers towards the tanks and eventually find two valves that were closed.

I’m tired, particularly my head is tired. However, Akiko’s presence comforts me. 2 Panadol help against the pulsing head ache and we spend a cozy evening with our friends under the African sky.

Dinner at Van Zyl's Pass campsite

→ Namibia 2009 photos

Despite the lack of quit in the morning I’m looking forward to this day. Our guides planned a short real 4×4 tour along the Kunene towards Ruacana. The plan is to be back by 2pm to have enough time to swim in the river, take pictures – and to relax in the deck chair for once.

The trail along the river is true Land Rover country. It’s not accessible during the rainy season and although it’s less than 200km from Epupa to Ruacana it would be a tough and long day trip in this terrain. Our plan is to follow it for a while, have lunch at some scenic spot and then return.

Beautiful 4x4 trail along the Kunene

At little further east from our camp we see crocodiles sunbathing on sand banks in the middle of the river. For once I’m happy that I can watch from the shore and keep a safe distance to the animals It’ll turn out to be the highlight of the day.

We meet many Himbas – almost exclusively kids. They’re happy to get matches, vaseline, corn flour and apples from us when we stop. We also leave some of our empty 5l water bottles with them as they have to carry water from the river to their homes. Surprisingly, some of the kids speak a little English. We learn that there’s a Himba school not far from Epupa that they attend during the week. Today is Saturday, they’re off. When we ask them where their parents are we hear: “At the bar, they like to drink alcohol”. Puhh, what a sad situation. I feel sorry for them.

Himba kids mount our Land Rovers

My Land Rover drives almost without me controlling it, it’s fantastic! To further familiarize myself with the car’s capabilities I loosen the grip on steering wheel during a rather steep 80m ascent. Climbing slowly the tires find their way between the rocks and gutters without my control on the wheel. It’s a good feeling. Off-road rocks! Akiko, too is thrilled. Although she has no interest in driving herself we’re a perfect team because the enthusiastically navigates us through the rough terrain. She leans out the window to spot the best tracks.

Decoration-ladden Himba

During this day trip I ultimately realize that I should have brought two SLR cameras instead of one. Constantly switching between super-zoom and wide-angle lenses is sooo troublesome.

→ Namibia 2009 photos

We get up early enough to see the sun rise over the savanna – beautiful. The weather is crisp and a heavy wind (going on all night already) make preparing breakfast more difficult than usual. Since we take our time and watch birds that we feed with chunks of apple we need to hurry cleaning up and putting the tent down. We have a long day ahead of us, all the way to the Namibia/Angola border to Epupa Falls.

Bird-watching at Hobatere camp

Along the way we drive through Opuwo the “capital” of the Kunene region. Stefan the guide calls Opuwo a shithole (Drecksnest in German). I don’t find it charming either and I guess the town has got two faces, at least. I’m glad that I come across the mayor’s Christmas message only after I return home otherwise I would really have expected a prospering town. Opuwo suffers from the usual “side-effects” when strong tradition in rural African areas clash with the 21st century western culture: poverty, neglect, prostitution, crime and alcohol abuse. On the other hand there a few pretty logdes for tourists in the vicinity. Mobile phones and traditional Himba co-exist next to each other.

Impression from Opuwo, the supermarket we used was more western-style, though

Pumping gas becomes an ordeal because we’re once again surrounded by groups of kids and young men. No all of them are friendly looking in my opinion. My western need for security is being probed. Marga gets herself into trouble with (self-declared?) army officer because she takes pictures of an old and rusty army truck without asking for permission. The heat builds up but the spark doesn’t jump and we get a away unharmed.
Shopping is a little easier. At the parking we pick 5 “security guards” out of a group of some 20 kids for our three Land Rovers. We “pay” each one with a can of Coke. On the recommendation of Marga & Stefan we buy corn flour, sugar and bags of Bic ballpoint pens in the super market to give away to Himbas.

In Opuwo the tarred road ends. For the next 10 days gravel roads, some better, some worse, will be our constant companions. Namibia’s north-west is Himba-country. They, too, will become companions in that if we see people at all, they’ll most likely be Himbas. They wave from the dusty shoulders of the gravel roads when we pass them. From time to time we stop and donate a bag of corn flour or something similar. Otherwise all we leave behind is a giant dust trail. Some of the Himbas yell at us angrily if we don’t stop. I can’t really hold it against them as we’re invading their territory to a certain extent. Looking negatively at the whole development one could say that every safari car that travels these roads adds to the deterioration of their culture.
It definitely isn’t a good sign that even the small kids a long the road claim that taking photos isn’t free: “No photo, $10″ they demand (10 Namibian dollars are about 1.3 US $). A herder boy tells Akik0: “Give me your shoes.” They ask for “sweets” and “pen” as a pen makes them look educated and hides their illiteracy.

Namibian kids begging for sweets and pens

The gravel road seems endless, Epupa Falls seems light years away. It was too ambitious to drive all the way from Hobatere to Epupa in one day. It’s certainly doable we you rush it but we’re on vacation and stopping every now and then is more than just a mere necessity. When we finally arrive at Epupa the best spots at the campsite are already occupied, of course. With a bit of luck we manage to squeeze two Land Rovers next to each other and Marga’s & Stefan’s next to our adjacent neighbors. There’s only enough time for a quick stroll around before it gets dark around quarter past six.

At Epupa there are three options in terms of accommodation: the Epupa Lodge, the Omarunga Camp (tented camp), and the campsite next to the camp. For African means Epupa is quite green thanks to the water of the Kunene river. Palm trees grow along the river and the climate is mild even in July (i.e. African winter) which means that it’s comfortably warm in the tent at night. In summer, however, it’s 40° C. The campsite is well equipped, the sanitary installations are quite new, the showers are romantic (again, no-roof-starred-sky-showering) and they even practice waste separation.

Campsite at Epupa Falls

→ Namibia 2009 photos

In the morning we get up at dusk and enjoy a hot shower to warm up – feels great. Again, I’m surprised how good the infrastructure is. Soon after we prepare a wonderful breakfast starter – papaya cuts with sugar and Greek yogurt (plain yogurt). Tip: always look for Greek yogurt in Namibia! Akiko is incredibly helpful and cooperative preparing  and clearing breakfast, I’m sooo proud of her. It’s important to have people like her when you travel with a group.

The way back to the main road from the Waterberg Plateau seems never-ending, but I will get used to gravel roads over the course of the next three weeks. It certainly wasn’t worth it coming out here for just this one night.

We head north-west. Thomas and Stefan both run over a guinea fowl (each). They linger in herds on the shoulder of the road and if their escape strategies are absolutely unpredictable.

Might as well be in Australia I guess...

Wherever we stop, kids and teens try to sell us jewelry, “crystals” (usually polished white stones) and makalani nuts. It’s a little uncomfortable because we’re not (yet) used to that but we learn quickly how to say no. After all we want to be friendly and nice and yet we also don’t want to fill our baggage with stuff we might throw away at home. I feel sorry for the kids and teens. The idleness in which they seem to be caught is overwhelmingly sad.

In Outjo we stop in front of a super-market. Side note, I recommend using the one at the south-east end of the village. Before we even get out of the car we’re surrounded by a group of kids who all want something from us. I feel a little uneasy and queasy. Again, I have to learn quickly to deal with situations I’m not comfortable with. In the west we’re not used to being imposed on. One guy carries a wooden stick, he seems to be the leader of the pack. Marga asks him to watch our cars and we’ll bring hime and his deputies something to eat from the super-market. Although I’m happy to hit the road again that experience will prove to have been important for me in terms of “letting the African culture in” i.e. dropping some of my guards.

In Kamanjab we stop for gas. Although we carry spare cans on the roof of the Land Rovers we make a habit out of pumping gas at each gas station along the way. That’s certainly not un-wise in Africa. Kamanjab is dreary and bleak. At the gas station a few herero women in their traditional dress sell jewelry. Friendly teenagers try to sell makalani nuts. They’re a lot less touting than groups in other places. Of course, one of their first questions is “where are you from”. We don’t tell them right away that we’re from Switzerland but engage them in a little chat about what they know about Europe. Quite a bit, we learn. When we tell them that our country lays between Italy and Germany they’re at loss. When we finally unveil the answer they all yell “Hopp Schwiiiz!” (“Go Switzerland” in Swiss German). Now it’s our turn to be speechless! We burst out with laughter.

Entrace to Hobatere Camp decorated with antlers

After another 70km we finally arrive at Hobatere campsite. The camp is an naturalist’s dream – simply marvelous! There’s hardly any information about this community campsite on the Internet and I don’t know how you’d book in advance. The Hobatere Lodge is 1km away, they might know. The campsite is very basic and luxury at the same time. There are regular toilets aaaaand a hot shower! To build them black canvas is wrapped around trees and bushes. The foundation is made of concrete but there’s no roof – the star-laden African sky acts as the roof.  The water for the shower is heated up by a fire that burns underneath an old gas bottle turned into a boiler. When you wait taking a shower until the sun has set it feels like warm rain falling from the starry sky.

Outdoor shower and sink

We also try to fix the fridge built into Thomas’ Land Rover. Unfortunately, we have to learn that the tools the car is equipped with are lousy. Another lesson learned: make sure the tool set is complete when you take over a rental car in Namibia. We also notice that we weren’t given spare fuses for each appliance. With fuses from Stefan’s and my car we manage to get by…

→ Namibia 2009 photos

So, we get up at 8 and already now what little luggage we brought to Namibia is spread chaotically around our room. This bothers me a little…the safari hasn’t even started and already certain items seem to have gone missing. Frantically I try to put everything back to a sensible place in our luggage, constantly assessing the expected periodicity of use of the item.

After a quick breakfast we’re picked up by our guides Stefan & Marga in order to run the last errands in Windhoek before we’re off for the wilderness. We shop at a large US-style supermarket located inside a mall in the center of Windhoek. The goods at display all look tasty but it’s hard to tell for us what we really need as we don’t know what our guides already bought for us. Food management during our safari is basically their responsibility. To be on the safe side we buy 20l of water per person in large 4l containers. Since the sleeping bags that came with the Land Rover’s camping equipment really don’t look like their made for temperatures below 10°C we also buy some extra blankets for our roof-top tent beds. Also, since we didn’t bring too much cash to Namibia (advise by travel agency) we try to withdraw cash from the ATM machines in the mall. We have to try out a few until we find one that is willing to accept our Maestro cards AND sputter out cash.

While loading our Land Rovers I realize that Akiko and I really travel light. Compared to the other two cars ours is half empty. I realize that we really didn’t bring a lot of luggage, indeed. Again I run through my mental packing list to see if I can come with items we forgot at home. I can’t and, therefore, I try to calm down.

Then, finally, we hit the road and head north towards Waterberg Plateau. I quickly get used to the Land Rover and to driving on the left side of the road. At a large BP gas station on the outskirts of Windhoek we have the Land Rovers checked for water, oil, gas, and tire pressure.

Last check at the gas station before leaving civilisation as we know behind for a while

In Okahanja, the next major village, we make a brief stop. There’s a nice craft market, many people hang around aimlessly. I wonder what they’re up to all day long. I feel watched and this makes me uncomfortable, ill at ease. Are we safe here? Getting used to Africa isn’t easy in the beginning…
At a nice liquor store (bottle store) we buy beer for Akiko and soda for me. Again, I notice that we buy less than the others in our party. What’s wrong with us?

Along the road from Okahanja to Waterberg we encounter the first “wild” animals: special species of sheep, baboos, small wardhogs, and a bush bock.

Waterberg plateau

The camp at Waterberg is neat and clean and we’re surprised about the sanitation. The camp ground might as well be somewhere in Europe. When Marga tells us that all the other camps on our route will be much less “luxurious” I wonder what to make of that comment. Is she joking? Is she trying to scare us? Or is she simply trying to set our expectations straight? I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough.
When we put up our roof tent for the first time we realize that whoever prepared the car and its camping equipment for us packed a ladder extension that doesn’t fit the ladder properly. I get angry that this anonymous African – and Africans in general – and his sloppy work. Not that it couldn’t happen elsewhere in the world… I get loud, hectic, and also a bit frustrated since also the tent itself isn’t as expected. The fact that Stefan’s Land Rover’s ladder extension doesn’t fit either doesn’t exactly improve my mood. After some hammering and bending I manage to make them both fit, though. Meanwhile Stefan & Marga prepared dinner and my mood curve points skywards sharply Life is good now and I apologize to Akiko for my behavior.

→ Namibia 2009 photos

We’re supposed to get picked up by a Bushlore agent (the car rental company), but there’s no one waiting for us. To be frank, we halve expected that. So, after a while we call them, they call back and another 30min later the agent arrives. We’re not quite sure which of the various excuses are in fact true.

The agent drives us to the Okavango guest house where we’ll pick up our Land Rover and where we’ll spend the first night. The first impression matches the image we got by looking at their website. Everything is nice, neat and clean. Of course, it’s cold to use the outdoor pool. After all it’s winter in Africa. Our room is also cold; too cold to feel comfortable and the air condition/heater is only able to produce cold air. We’re happy about the extra blankets in the closet.

At the guest house we also meet the other Swiss couple who booked the same self-drive safari tour as we did. We’re immediately taken to Thomas and Sandra, they seem very nice and considerate and are only a few years older than we are. We’re relieved! It’s the first time we ever booked a guided tour. No knowing the guides and the other folks did bother us slightly and we just hoped to meet likable people.

Sandra and Akiko chat and enjoy the last warming rays of sunshine as the sun sets. Yes, the light is intense in Africa.

Then we finally take over our Land Rovers from the agent. He seems somewhat in a hurry and we’re a bit overwhelmed by all the new impressions. We make a crucial mistake. Since both Land Rovers are apparently exactly alike (according to the agent) he only shows and explains to us the camping equipment in one care exemplarily. That way for example we don’t notice that on one car the extension for the roof-top tent ladder doesn’t fit the ladder. Ouchh… However, we’re surprised how “complete” the camping equipment is. There’s even a first-aid kit that seems reasonably well equipped. Despite the tiredness, we couldn’t sleep on the night flight from Europe to Namibia, we’re full of beans. The anticipation is huge.

After 5pm a Kuoni (tour operator) representative stops by and apologizes for the troubles we had with the Bushlore agent at the airport. Also, he brings more documents and brochures with information about Namibia. Most of it is a copy of what we’ve already got. Despite that, we think it’s a nice touch that he came by to make sure the guests got to their accommodation safely.

Finally, we also meet the guides that Kuoni hired for this tour: Stefan & Marga from Germany and South Africa respectively. They run their own little travel agency Active-Reisen in Germany and they are Africa experts. Also to them we’re taken immediately. We’re totally happy and are convinced that this small party of 6 will function well.

Stefan & Marga take us to Joe’s Beerhouse for dinner. This, however, doesn’t make me too happy as this restaurant/bar is mentioned in every travel book which makes it less appealing for me. Nonetheless, the sun sets close to 6pm, it’s getting really cold and we’re off to the Beerhouse – not knowing that it’s more or less an open-air restaurant. Despite my reservations I’m pleasantly surprised by the Beerhouse. The decoration really is interesting and the food on our neighbor’s plates looks and smells delicious. Pity it doesn’t hold up to it…it certainly doesn’t help that the food gets cold so quickly.

→ Namibia 2009 photos