Getting around
This is more a travelling and planing blog so if you are looking for my daily life, you’ll have to look somewhere else :)Skukuza Airport – on our way home
We have started our 24-hour journey back to Stockholm. Today the weather changed and we got the sun back and the heat with that. Bur we are not complaining too much. We had a last Game drive this morning and came very close to some lions.
Right now we are at the airport Sukuza. I must say, it’s the finest airport I’ve ever seen. Very small and so clean and built with such effort to make it look nice. What about this Baggage claim?
But also the interior is quite fine.
These lines will be the last of this part of my blog. Every journey has its ending and so has this. We both are very satisfied and we have found some spots we like to come back to. But first there are other parts of Southern Africa we like to explore.
Kruger National Park
After a night in Johannesburg we flew to Skukuza, an airport inside Kruger. It just took us 50 minutes to get right inside the park. We were picked up by the lodge driver who drove us to Hoyo Hoyo lodge, just som 90 km from Skukuza. But we needed 2.5 h for the transfer but the transfer was more of a game drive. We saw some hippos, buffaloes, elephants and many different kind of antelopes. But no cats.
Hoyo Hoyo lodge is without any fences so you are not allowed to go out when it’s dark. We have no mobile coverage nor normal landline. No TV and of course no Internet. We communicate with VHF/radio between our huts. Yes we live in a hut, very luxurious, but still a hut. If we want to got to the pool or the lounge, we have to call for a security man t o come and get us.
The lodge has built a waterhole right across the river (dried out for the moment) so we got greeted by elephants just as we arrived.
We go for Game Drive two times a day, early morning and late afternoon. All other time it feels like we only eat and sleep. The weather is cold for the season, like 20 / 25 degrees and we have a little rain every day. So the pool has not been so popular yet. We still hope for tomorrow, our last day here.
We have managed to see the big five and even got to see two cheetah hunting a flock of Zebras.
We have seen Leopards and Lions twice. Couples, singles and in a flock. Even one Leopard in a tree, that was really nice.
Tomorrow we fly back via Johannesburg and Munich to Stockholm.
Sossusvlei and and Deadvlei
The dead trees you see in the pictures are more than 4 000 years old. They stand in the #1 Namib tourist site Sossusvlei and is many photographers dream to be able to visit. As we came there were lots of people with big cameras (me being one of them) looking for nice angles.
We came here directly from Swakobmund. The first night we camped in tents at the Sesriem Campsite Namib-Naukluft National Park. On our way here we left the Tropic zone passing the Tropic of Capricorn.
We past a small village with 91 citizens, Solitaire. They had a sign with rainfall. Not much…
Desert mean that more water evaporates than is falling as rain. This amount of rain is far less than what evaporates. So we now were in a true desert, even the oldest one in the world. We were about to rise the tents and I was a bit concerned about how I would be able to sleep. But it was actually quite ok, the desert cools down and the night was pleasant. This time we slept on the roof of the car and that was much better. Even Stephan didn’t sleep on the ground. Another guide got bitten in the ear by an Jackal in just this camp so he slept in the car. Before we went to sleep we had an amazing sun set with very nice light.
The next day we got up early, we wanted to be the first in to the park and to se the dunes as the sun rises. So at 4 o’clock we packed everything, had a fast shower and went on to the camp. The gates opens at 5 and we were the first. It was still night and as we drove the daylight slowly took over. We arrived at dune 45, the most photographed dune in the world right in time as the sun came over the horizon.
After that we went on to Deadvlei. Marta, Stephan and Masha climbed up a part of Great Daddy, the dune overlooking Deadvlei. I stayed down and toke som pictures of these amazing trees.
Maybe you can see them up on the dune?
Our last night in Namibia we spent in Le Mirage an extremely nice lodge. Masha and I even booked the room in the tower to get the experience of sleeping under the stars.
It was amazing!
Now I’m back in Johannesburg. The next 4 days we will spend in Kruger Park looking for cats. We will live very remote without any Internet or even mobile service. So this blog will now rest for a while. I would like to say thanks to Stephan for being such a great man helping us out with everything. If you ever would like to do some Safari or so in Southern Africa, contact The Fly in Safari Company. The will take very good care of you!
Dunes and Namibias own Crocodile Dundee
Sitting at the breakfast table and looking at pictures from yesterday. It was a day in the desert. First in the female one as our extra guide said, the dunes. We hires quad-bikes and went around the dunes, up and down, for an hour. It was fun and quite easy for all of us. We came across a very rear cameliont and stopped for a photo.
In the afternoon we went on a five hour desert drive with Namibia’s own Crocodile Dundee, Georg, as his real name is, was actually born in Frankfurt but moved here very young. His ancestors lived here before so it was more like coming home. He told us that when he was young and his friends went to play any sports he went to the desert. He likes to tell his story about the surrounding and we enjoyed the ride in his blu Land Rover, the first car I have travelled with in Southern Africa, that was not white.
He told us about the geology in the region and the local wildlife. We saw some plants that are over 2 000 years old. At the end we stopped at his desert cafe. Under a rock his made us tee and coffee and we could rest for a while in the shade.
Going back, the landscape shifted once again with the sun setting and bringing the shadows to life. It was a magical scenic view.
If you come to Swakobmund I can recommend you to contact Georg Erb instead of taking a normal desert tour. He drives away from the other cards, we actually newer saw another person on our 5 hour trip.
In to the dessert
The way from the mountains down to the coast has a lot to offer in aspects of scenery. It begins with mountains, dry river beds, some green trees and a lot of wild life. You can see springbok all the time and sometime zebra and giraffes. Birdlife is fantastic, we saw for instance the Secretary bird and an eagle. 
At the end we reached the Namib Dessert. All vegetation ended but there was still some wildlife. Ostriches and Springbok ran on the sand.
The last part down to the coast was juat a wide straight road with hardly any traffic.
We are driving with tents on the roof and the sing a nice single tune all the time. After a while you don’t here it anymore. But when you stop you appreciate the silence. It’s amazing how fast you can go on the gravel roads. Sometimes we cross a dry river bed and need to slow down a little. But otherwise we go somewhere between 90 and 130 km/h.
Swakopmund – another part of Germany?
We have spent the night in this very beautiful coastal town and it’s a quite strange feeling walking around here in this mixture of languages. I actually think i hear mostly german. My impression so far is also that it is more German “Ordnung” here than in Windhoek. It’s a much smaller town and therefore I guess the German population can make a larger impact on i the town.
Swakobmund means the mouth of the river Swakob, like Travemunde means the mouth of the river Trave.
Yesterday we want to a very nice sea food restaurant and had oysters, tuna/sole. Together with sparkling wine and desert we paid like 40 US $. The prices in Southern Africa are still on a very affordable level.
Today we will go quad biking in the dunes. I look forward to that. In the afternoon Stephan has a contact here that will take us on a special drive up in a valley.
Himba people
This morning we woke up with Swedish summer weather. Little rain, cloudy and some 20 degrees. So we put on warm clothing and rain gear because we are going to a very remote place in a open vehicle. The beginning was no fun, rain and wind on a gravel road and I was afraid of getting hit by flying stones from traffic. But all went well and we got of the main road an on to a small road that led to nowhere.
After 40 min drive on no road we eventually arrived at the Himba village. The are nowadays more dependent on the outer world but the try to live as traditional as they used to do. The women still don’t shower – ever. Instead they put a mixture made of okra and fat on their skin. They still dress traditionally. I recognised them as a very happy people and we could communicate through an interpreter. We had brought gifts from Sweden, pencils, paper and some toys. We newer saw them use it but the elderly people promised us to distribute them fairly among the children.
Grootberg
After a 3 hour trip on gravel roads we have landed in Grootberg. Its a lodge literarily hanging on the mountain side. We will stay her for one night and relax a little. Tonight we are going on a sunset drive on the cliff.
Tomorrow we are going to visit the Himba people. We will go in an open car off road to this very remote location.
Etosha National Park
Etosha is one of the largest national parks in Namibia and home to a lot of different animals. We stayed at Camp inside the park and it’s built right next to an natural waterhole. So we could actually just walk 50 meter from our tent to see some nice animals. The first evening we saw three rhinos coming to drink.
The next day Maria and I were alone at the camp because Stephan and Marta needed to get back to Windhoek to fix all the papers for her lost passport. In the morning Maria and I just sat at the waterhole watching all kinds of animals come to drink. Zebras, Oryxes, Springboks and more.
Later in the afternoon Stephan and Marta came back so we want on a game drive. Our goal was to see elephants and some cats. But we “only” saw some elephants. And wildebeests. And birds. So we were quite happy.
In the evening a thunderstorm made a nice background to our Braai (South African BBQ).
Windhoek game restaurant
So now I have had Oryx meat. And it was very good. Stephan told us that they treat game meat in a special way to get rid of the wild taste. So I was surprised that it was so mild in taste. It was like a very well hung filet. Together with some excellent Namibian Hansa beer made by the “Reinheitsgebot” it was a very pleasant experience. I did consider the Zebra steak but will save that for another time.
Right now we are travelling on some bumpy roads towards Etosha National Park. We pass quite a lot of checkpoints they don’t bother about us.
Getting around 