Cairo to Cape 2010 Blog
Blog 12 - Namibia and South Africa
Back on the road and this time we made our way to the border of Namibia. The border crossing was painless and quick and before long we were driving through the Caprivi strip. This area of Namibia was under dispute for many years and it is only in recent years that tourists could travel this road. For the first time on this expedition it felt like we were driving on country roads back in Australia. The long straight stretches that seemed to go on forever, the perfect tar sealed roads without a pot hole in sight; all we needed to do was to change the signs warning of Elephants and African Wild Dog crossing for Kangaroo and Emu!!!
We arrived in the small one horse town of Divundu - the town consists of a service station, a small general store and a bank. We turned off the main road and weaved our way through villages for about 20kms before turning off on a small dirt track to the campsite.
 Mokoros at Ngepi |
 Namibia Delta experience |
The drive was long so to know we did not have to drive for a couple of days was welcomed. We spent a day exploring the Northern Namibia delta in Mokoros and then on safari in the game park, a few of us also went fishing while others went on a village walk to see how the locals live. Our time in the Delta did not disappoint and most of us could have spent a few more days relaxing on the shores of the Okavango River while swimming in the croc proof cage or taking an open bath overlooking the river.
It was time to move on and our next stop was Etosha National Park. Etosha is Namibias No.1 game park, famous for the Etosha Pan surrounded by animals roaming the Africa savannah. We were a little disappointed with Etosha as over the previous few weeks this part of Namibia had had a large amount of rainfall meaning the grass was high and green and waterholes all over the park were full. Although the concentration of animals was not as great as we had hoped, the park still provided a couple of fantastic days with diverse landscape and herds of animals.
 Bill calming a cheetah |
 Bruce the cheetah whisperer |
Definitely one of the main highlights was patting domestic cheetahs at a local farm followed by feeding cheetahs. This really was a once in a lifetime opportunity to spend time with the Worlds fastest land animal - which in reality is nothing more then an oversized domestic cat. Everything about the cheetah is oversized... what stood out the most was the purring when scratching behind the ear...
The thing that stands out about Namibia is the desert landscape and dirt roads everywhere. There are only a couple of tar roads crossing the country with most of the roads being dirt. For most of our time in Namibia we took the back farm roads giving us a unique insight into how Namibians live off the beaten tourist track.
We made our way along the desert roads to the Skeleton coast. I have never seen nor experienced much a desolate place. The plains are wind swept, the ocean crashes onto bleach white sand with no sign of life anywhere to be found. It is no wonder these treacherous waters and the coastline was called Skeleton Coast; truly nothing survives out here. Although the land is desolate and wind swept there is a natural beauty making this area of coastline spell bounding.
 Seals, Cape Coast |
 Skeleton Coast |
We drove along the salt roads - roads literally made of salt; I don’t think I have ever driven on salt before. We stopped at Cape Cross and the Worlds biggest seal colony. Tens of thousands of seal laying on the beach sunning themselves while others frolicked in the freezing cold waters.
After a couple of days of being windswept we finally made our way to Swakopmund. A funny little German village in the middle of the desert. A couple of well deserved rest days to catch up on administration and do some washing.
Dune 45 was our next stop, and the Worlds biggest free standing sand dune before reaching the town of Aus. From Aus we went to Luderitz to the abandoned old diamond mining town of Kolmanskop - during the tour I looked around and saw everyone kicking the ground (me included) to see if, by some miracle, we could kick up a diamond!!!
Our final stop in Namibia was Fish River Canyon - Africa's answer to the Grand Canyon. Impressive, it certainly was, as we stood on the rim looking down.
From Fish River Canyon we crossed our last border into South Africa and drove the final couple of days to Cape Town. The group was a little quiet as we all realised the end of our epic intrepid expedition was near. 4 months, 10 vehicles, 22 people – what an expedition, what a group of travellers!
 Dune 45 |
 Kolmanskop, Namibia |
We arrived in Cape Town (Debs and Thiemo were there to meet us) on Sunday afternoon. The initial plan was to enjoy a final meal at the African themed restaurant Mama Africa - but when Debs was trying book it found out they had all of a sudden decided not to open on Sundays... a final reminder that Afric does not work like clockwork! Not to worry, we had a brilliant meal down at the Waterfront, exchanged stories of our highlights and laughed at our anecdotes.
Our final group activity was a wine tour through Stellenbosch. A day exploring wineries and tasting South Africa's best with a very quaint lunch served in one of the winery restaurant...
We have had our highs and we have had our lows over the past 16 weeks; but overall we have had an amazing experience that has left many of us with the Africa bug....We will be back!
16 weeks across Africa with Africa Expedition Support.
Debs and Thiemo would like to thank Bill, Kate, Barbara and Tracey for their photos and contributions to the blog.
Many thanks to Bill, Kate, Anna, and Phoebe, Mike and Steve, Bruce and Hilary, Pete and Barb, Ian and Leanne, Mike and Linda, Jenni and Barbara, Bert and Carol, Harry and Evon, Steve, Tracey and Kim for another successful Cairo to Cape guided self drive expedition.
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