NAMIBIA
On Christmas day we have arrived at Windhoek airport. Even though we already had our visas, we still needed to do the queue with all the others and after about 40min or so, we picked up our luggage ( that lasted another 30 min) and then went straight to the little exchange office in the airport ( it’s a bank actually so the rate is quite convenient).
Obviously I needed a data SIM card and for about 30€ I have purchased a data plan for 6GB + 3GB after a week. It’s said to cover 95% of Namibia, but I must have travelled the 5% then as the network coverage was mostly off during the trip… just yesterday I had my data plan expire with 4GB and I activated the remaining 3…
The taxi guy from the airport charged us N400$ ( so 1€ is about 15 Namibian Dollars so you have an idea).
Namibia
Arriving at AM Weinberg Boutique Hotel very early, we didn’t have much to do but take a lovely breakfast and after check-in, we went directly to sleep after a 10h flight from Frankfurt, Germany. We spent the next days there…
There isn’t much to do in Windhoek as it’s a city and we weren’t there for the buildings you know; however, we did have a (long) walk from the hotel to the Christ Church and Independence Memorial Museum ( which was closed as it was Christmas ).
The restaurant on top was open, but personally I didn’t like my dish ( and yes, I am very pretentious as you well know). The view was lovely though.
On December the 27th Travel Namibia 4×4 Car Rental picked us up from the hotel.
We had a very long drive to White House Guest Farm where I did my first sleepover in a tent (the car’s tent that is). The place is clean and the food is quite good, but I was disappointed about the constant trouble with their bank.
They credited my card twice for the stay and it doesn’t show on their bank statement so I still need to sort that out with my bank back in Belgium.
Problem was solved upon my arrival back home and apparently, we weren’t the first case as they had many more probably it would be advisable to change banks?
Otherwise, very nice hosts and the camping site was great and safe.
A quick stop, some photos and then went from there to Luderitz – another long drive, but quite nice. Stood at Obelix Guesthouse for the night and just visited Shark Island and had dinner at a local restaurant. The guesthouse was ok, but honestly, if it wasn’t that windy there, we would have definitely spent the night in a tent…
It was actually in Luderitz that I spotted the first flamingos and was so focused on getting a good photo ( which I actually did ) – not knowing that I’d spot hoards along the way in another city.
We actually wanted to go visit the Ghost Town aka Kolmanskop, but after 13h you need a special permit to get in, so we visited that the next day, on our way to the next point on the map ….
I think that Kolmanskop (aka Ghost Town ) is a photographer’s dream! I suggest you go there early in the morning so you avoid the horde of tourists that visit the town.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have the chance to do the guided tour that started at 10 am, but if you go there I’d really recommend taking the tour and learning more about the abandoned city. Btw, we paid at the gate so unless you’re going there like at sunrise, you can also purchase your tickets at the entrance.
After this, our destination was Sossusvlei! It’s quite the drive actually…
It took us about 6h30 to get there… everything is so far apart in Namibia. Being used to a “long drive” of 1h in Belgium, you can imagine the patience I needed to gather to get from one place to another over there.
Also, the roads aren’t very good.. most of the roads in the Namib Desert are gravel roads and you cannot go over 80km/h… I mean you could, but then you risk having a flat tire or even wore… an accident!
Luckily our car was very well equipped and a great one for these situations – thank you, Travel Namibia 4×4 Car Rentals!
Ok, so Sossusvlei is definitely a big big highlight of the trip! I mean it’s an amazing area and I absolutely love the desert so I felt kinda like home 🙂 ( maybe it’s my Scorpio gene).
Even though you’d think there is desert and that it wouldn’t be much to see, well, you are wrong ! There are lots of animals in the area and you can do some game ( that’s how it’s called) daily. In Sossusvlei, we stood at Dead Valley Lodgewhich was conveniently located inside the National Park. Obviously, we went one morning to catch the sunrise at Deadvlei… it was breathtaking!
One of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. Actually the area is beautiful regardless the time of the day… I wish I could have stood awake 24/7 so I won’t miss anything!
There is much to see here and sadly, we had to leave the next morning for our new destination … that you’ll find out in my 3rd and last part about my trip in Namibia.
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Kisses,
