Namibia 2021 schedule, recap and pictures

First we spent a couple of days in GocheGanas to ease into the experience of the coming weeks and to relax with a massage and good food. During the morning safari we saw some nice first features of the Namibian wildlife and environment, including our driver getting stuck in the dry riverbed. 😉

Next day, off to our next stop: Mariental. In Mariental we used the rooftop-tent for the first time. There was pretty much no one at Lapa Lange Game Lodge (gamelodgenamibia.com) when we were there, which is a shame as it is a nice place with private facilities for each campsite.

From Fish River Canyon we drove south to go around the Canyon and make our way via the Orange River to the main road to Luderitz, a coastal town enclosed by the Sperrgebiet and the NamibRand NP. Just outside Luderitz one can find the German ghosttown of Kolmanskop.

After Luderitz we carry on towards the dessert location of Sesriem. The coldest nights of our trip are approaching we read on the whether forecasts, so we change our plans from rooftop camping to staying at the Le Mirage Resort & Spa (mirage-lodge.com). Unfortunately the forecast also does not look to good for hot air ballooning so we decide to just drive into the NP for a hike to Deadvlei and the top of the Big Daddy Dune [68J2+QX Sossusvlei, Namibië].

Swakopmund

In Swakopmund it was time for some relaxation, fun, good pizza and german beers. For the fun part we went sandboarding, which was probably even more fun than we had anticipated.

Spitzkoppe is the destination in Namibia to watch the stars. It has simply no light polution (applies to more places in Namibia of course) and clear skies pretty much each and every night. We stayed at the community campsite which offers fantastic spacious sites all around the Spitzkoppe area with private (drop-toilet) facilities. There is no electricity, nor any running water on your campsite so it means really going back to basic for a night (or more if you stay longer). From Spitzkoppe we took the little traveled D1918 to Henties Bay, a nice route towards the coast, pretty much dirt road from start to finish.

Henties Bay was a stop-over we chose between Spitzkoppe and Palmwag with the plan to drive along the Skeleton coast. Unfortunately on the day of our departure from Henties Bay the quite common fog was hanging over the coast so we decided to take the C35 route instead which takes one past the gemstone areas around the Brandberg. The drive is scenic at times with the Brandberg on the left and the Spitzkoppe on the right. Along the route one may try to find gemstones or alternatively purchase them at the various stalls along the route.

At Palmwag we traded in our roof top caming option for a more glamping style tent with a private bathroom , braai and outdoor kitchen. The next day we set off on another game-drive in the Palmwag conservation area. Next to spotting various animals and trying to track them we also were reminded of a paragraph in our Travel Guide which tells about a trainee guide that got lost in the Palmwag concession area and was found at the Skeleton Coast, all the way at the back end of the area. Fortunately our guide did not get that lost, but it did take 1 1/2 hour more than initially planned to arrive back at the lodge for lunch. The Palmwag area is distinct with its large green bushes (euphorbias) all around and red rocks scattered all over the place resulting in a far more red rocky environment compared to most of Namibia.

From Palmwag we set off on our route to the wildlife highlight of our trip. 3 days in Etosha, the route took us past some Grootberg and various other nice sceneries with plenty of wildlife on the route as well. After a quick stop in Kamanjab for fuel and groceries we went North to the Galton Gate, our entry point of Etosha.

For Etosha refer to the separate Etosha page. In short we went from West to East through Etosha, starting at Dolomite Camp, followed by one night in Halali and the last night in Namutoni.