We slowly made our way north, and another big highlight was waiting for us: the Sossusvlei Dunes and the Sesriem Canyon. Unfortunately, the roads got worse the further north we came, but we still made it just in time to climb the famous Dune 45 before sunset, after we quickly checked in at the campsite. It was a bit windy, but we had lots of fun running up and down the dune and enjoyed a sundowner (sprinkled with sand) before driving back to the campsite.
We had a very short night ahead of us and quickly cooked some pasta for dinner. To get rid of the sand, we also jumped under the shower before going to bed, and soon again, our alarm clocks woke us up early the following day. We wanted to drive into the park right when the gate opened one hour before sunrise. We hoped to make it to the Big Daddy Dune for sunrise, the biggest and most famous dune in the park, which lies 65 kilometers from the entrance gate. It is about 350 meters high and the biggest dune in the world you can climb. It was nice to drive in the park (on a perfect tarmac road) while the day slowly began. We arrived shortly after sunrise for the perfect golden hour and first walked around Deadvlei, a salt and clay pan at the bottom of the dunes, which used to be an oasis with several camelthorn trees that later died due to a drought in the area. The remaining skeleton of the trees give a beautiful picture in the white contrast to the white pan in front of the dunes.
Of course, we also wanted to climb Bid Daddy, which looked very exhausting to the looks at the other tourist who directly started the climb. They looked tiny on the tip of the,dune, and it seemed like they didn’t make any progress.
Since it was still very cold when we left the camp early in the morning, we wore too many layers of clothes and almost died of a heat stroke on our way up. But it still turned out to be a lot of fun, and running down the dunes afterward was a lot easier and made up for all the struggles in the first place. We ate a small lunch back at our cars and then drove straight to the lodge outside the park, where we met Melissa, our pilot, for a scenic flight over the dunes. It was a bumpy flight but so impressive to see the dunes we just climbed up and down from a bird’s view.
After the flight, we still had to drive to our next sleeping spot, Ababis Guest Farm and campsite. Luckily, it was not too far away, and when we arrived, we were warmly welcomed by Uwe, the German owner, who showed us around the campsite and quickly heated the donkey showers so we could get rid of all the sand. We cooked dinner and chose a nice bottle of wine to go with it to celebrate a beautiful day as well as my parents’ 36th wedding anniversary 😊
The following day, we decided to leave without breakfast and directly drive to Solitaire, a small town on the way to Swakopmund. The bakery there is very famous for its delicious “Apfelstrudel.” Of course, we also wanted to taste it, and it was very yummy indeed. We then continued on a terrible gravel road (African massage included) to Swakopmund, a town on the coast of Namibia. The weather along the coast differs greatly from the hot and dry climate inland. It is mostly windy and cooler, so when we arrived at the campsite, we quickly concluded that it would be nicer to rent an apartment for the three nights we planned to stay here. We found a place on Google maps and contacted the owner, Armin, who was happy to host us for our time in Swakopmund. Armin recently bought the placesiteopened the guesthouse with his mom, who were fabulous hosts. They invited us to join them at a restaurant for dinner, where a band played live music and we enj,oyed a fun evening together. On our first day in Swakopmund, Tom and I had to sort out some things again. We wanted to check the draggling steering wheel of our Defender and therefore went to a mechanic shop while my parents went on a sightseeing tour through the city. Luckily, Swakopmund is a city where you can get everything sorted. The mechanic quickly diagnosed our problem and sent us to another shop where our wheels got adjusted, and the Defender ran as smoothly as ever again. Before we returned to our apartment, we stopped at a place where a German was building camper vans, and he’s doing a fantastic job. He showed us around his workshop, and we saw some pretty cool examples of camper cans – lots of inspiration for a future trip in another vehicle, maybe 😊 Afterwards, we met with my parents again for dinner, for which we reserved a table at the famous Jetty Restaurant, and we were not disappointed by the tasty seafood.
For the next day, we booked a tour to Sandwich Harbor, a place further south along the coast, where the dunes meet the sea. For once, we left our Defender and jumped in the back seat of another car to enjoy a tour where we did not have to drive ourselves. Unfortunately, Tom was not feeling very well and needed a day to rest, so he decided to stay home. My parents and I enjoyed the tour a lot. We spotted many flamingos and other birds saw the pink salt lakes, and got the whole rollercoaster experience while driving up and down the dunes.
When we got back, Tom felt better again, so we went out for dinner one last time before leaving Swakopmund again the following day. We got up early and drove to the grocery store to stock up again for the next couple of days. Our destination today was the Spitzkoppe, a famous rock formation in Namibia also known as the “Matterhorn of Namibia.” A local community is running a rustic camp there with very spacious sites. Before dark, we went on a short hike to see some of the old rock paintings.
The following day we continued to the Erongo Rocks, another rock formation a couple of hundred kilometers away. On the way, we visited the San Living Museum, where the San people show you how they used to and still live today. We went on a bush walk with a san warrior, who taught us many interesting things about their life and culture. From there, it was not much further to the Erongo Rock Lodge and Campsite, where we planned to stay for two nights. Once again, we were warmly welcomed by the owner, Didi, who put much effort into his place. The campsites are very spacious and beautifully built into the rocks. We enjoyed the camp a lot and hiked up to the viewpoint early the following day, before the sun got to hot. As a treat for the morning exercise, we went to the neighboring lodge, where we enjoyed the afternoon at the pool and celebrated our “travelversary” (1 year on the road!) with a bottle of bubbles. To top it off, we cooked a Swiss cheese fondue once we returned to our campsite, which my parents had brought along with them. We couldn’t have asked for a better way to celebrate this special day.
For the next few days, we wanted to leave the official roads and explore beautiful Damaraland off the beaten tracks on some 4x4 roads. Before we headed off, we drove to Uis, the last town in the area, where you could stock up on fuel and some basic groceries. We stayed at the Daureb Isib Campsite, a lovely campsite where we also enjoyed some delicious cake and coffee while planning the last stops on our offroad-trip for the upcoming days.