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

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