I just returned from the most surprisingly amazing places I have ever visited. Namibia is a gem, complete with everything from huge, rolling dunes to sunny coasts to vast mountain ranges. Over four days we traveled 1900 miles and had a great time. I went with my three neighbors, Alex, Callie and Kristine. We left at 8:00AM on Saturday morning and drove up the N7 highway to the border in our little white Nissan Tiida packed with gallons of water, three bags of apples and oranges, bread, peanut butter, jelly, chocolate and one Cosmo magazine. We drove straight up to the border of Namibia, only stopping a couple times to make PB&J's and to get gas. The South African side of the border was organized; the Namibian side not so much. It took us about an hour to get across the border. Namibia must be a more popular destination than i originally thought because there were about twenty people trying to get through the border. Callie had been in contact with the hotel we were supposed to be staying at but they had refused to give an address and failed to answer the phone, so we didn't know how to get there. We ended up driving a couple hours north of where we intended to stay so we could be more sure of finding a hotel. Where we ended up was the Canyon Hotel, a nice place that gave us extremely cheap adjoining rooms. We had a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant before falling into a deep sleep. Driving all day takes it out of you.
Strange rock hills on the road
Sunrise from the Canyon Hotel
We woke up early the next morning because we had to backtrack to get to the Fish River Canyon. This canyon is the second biggest one in the world and it was beautiful. Unfortunately, we had to drive for a couple hours over the bumpiest dirt roads you've ever seen before getting to the canyon. Our little Nissan, affectionatly called 'Tidds' by the four of us, had trouble on the roads. We were worried she would get a flat tire or just fall to bits without warning, so we took it very slow. Eventually we made it to the canyon. It was worth the drive. While exploring, we ran into another group of study abroad students who happened to be traveling through Namibia. They also had a Tiida and theirs was proving to be as much of a struggle on the dirt roads as ours. After a little chat with our friends, it was time to drive up to the desert.
Fish River Canyon
Tids at the canyon
Fish River Canyon
It was another long stretch of driving before we made it to our hotel. This time we stayed at the Desert Camp near the entrance of the Sossusvlie National Park. Again, we had to drive along dirt roads to get there. Close to the end of the drive we were on a road that weaved through a mountain valley and we saw the most brilliant sunset. There weren't any clouds so you could literally see the layers of color changing from red to orange to yellow and so on. It was unbelievable. The Desert Camp was such a treat. This place was amazing. We stayed in luxury tents, which may not sound like much on paper, but were beyond what I thought a tent could be. These tents weren't the kind you take down at night, and had electricity, comfy beds with the softest linen, a beautiful bathroom and a cozy atmosphere. It was my favorite place we stayed. The Desert Camp was part of a larger string of hotels around the Sossusvlie area and the closest one was a super nice hotel called the Desert Lodge. The Lodge offers delicious buffet dinners and Camp lodgers are welcomed there for dinner. The dinner was amazing. There were these great appetizers complete with a yummy soup and bread, salads, pastas, etc. Then for the main course you went up to a grille where there were selections of meat and a chef grilled them up for you right there. There was a huge selection of meat including ostrich, springbok, warthog, zebra, and a bunch others I cannot remember. I had sprinbok and zebra. It felt kind of strange eating zebra but it was delicious. Then, of course, there was dessert. A beautiful and delicious desert dessert. I think I tried everything. After dinner we headed back to our luxury tents and slept. We had an early morning the next day.
Luxury Tent
Beds in our luxury tent
In the morning we woke up super early, intending to get to Sossusvlie right when it opened at 6:30AM. Little did we know, Namibia participates in daylight savings time so it's an hour behind there. So, we ended up getting up at 5:15 and were at the gates before 6:30. But in the end it worked out because we got to beat the crowds. Sossusvlie was unlike anything I've ever seen. The park has some of the largest sand dunes in the world and they were magnificent. I never knew sand dunes could be so enormous! Most were as tall as buildings. A major highlight of the park is Dune 45, one of the largest dunes in the park. You have free reign in the park and can climb around on all the dunes, but Dune 45 is the major exploration point for most people. We parked and climbed up the side of the dune. It was a lot harder work than I anticipated, but we did better than most people. I guess we spent a lot of time there because eventually we were all alone on the dune. It felt great to be the only people as far as you could see in the middle of a desert on the top of a huge dune. After a little photo shoot we decided to run down the side of the dune. It was pretty steep and a long ways down, but your feet sunk into the soft sand so it was impossible to fall. Running down was such a cool feeling. The sand was warm but not hot, and it was so soft and cozy to lay in. We probably took twenty minutes to get down, not because it should take that long but because we kept stopping and laying in the sand, rolling around and loving it. When we finally decided to leave the dune, we made some PB&Js and continued to the end of the park. At the end of the road we had to leave our cars and get into a jeep taxi to go to the Sossusvlie valley where we explored the desert some more before leaving the park.
Dunes
Dune 45
View from Dune 45
Walking up the dune
Callie, Kristine, Alex and Me on Dune 45
View from Dune 45
Sossusvlie Valley
Luderitz
Coast of Luderitz
Luderitz
In the morning on Tuesday we explored the town. We started with the coast, which was rocky and very pretty. From there we went to a little coffee shop in town. It was such a cute little place that I would have never expected to be in Namibia. After a bit of coffee and tea we drove out to Dias Point, one of the highlights of Luderitz. We had to drive about thirty minutes through a 'Diamond Recreational Area' (whatever that means, because want kind of recreational activities can you do in diamond mines?), along yet another dirt road, to get there. It was a desolate drive, with nothing but rolling hills of beige dirt, but Dias Point was worth it. There were a few buildings, marooned boats, and a random coffee shop that had a sign advertising 'tea, cake and beer'. Of course, we stopped inside. The place was full of what art history calls 'found objects'; bottles, driftwood, clocks, shells, netting, beer advertisements. Pretty much anything you could find, including stained glass windows on the doors. It was a cool place with outdoor seating and a small playground of recycled tires and various other 'found objects'. The specialty of the shop was oysters. Luderitz is big on oysters, with restaurants and bars (the few of them in the town) advertising their oysters and other edible sea creatures. So we decided to try the oysters. Why not? We were in a coffee shop on the coast of Namibia that happened to sell oysters, miles from nowhere. Each of us got two oysters. They were huge! I'd never seen oysters so big, but then again I'm not well versed in oysters, having only eaten them once or twice. They were cold, and I was surprised at how salty they were. It was as if the guy had gone right down to the shore, picked up eight oysters, put them on a plate with sea salt and lemons, and set them down in front of us. Regardless of whether or not we liked them, it was a really fun experience and we all cleared our plates. From the oyster bar/coffee shop we walked out to the Dias Point monument, a large stone cross on the top of a rocky cliff originally erected by a Portuguese explorer. It was really windy, even by Cape Town standards, and we kept getting blasted by ocean sprays. I can't explain the view from Dias Point. It wasn't monumental, and we didn't really see much because there wasn't much around, but it was striking at how removed we were. I had the feeling of being marooned on some desert island completely cut off from civilization. I guess it wasn't far from the truth, minus the marooned part. When we returned to the car, we discovered we'd lost a hub cap. Oh well.
Coffee shop on Dias Point
Oysters
My kind of place
View from Dias Point
View from Dias Point
We left Luderitz around one in the afternoon and drove to the border. The ride was breathtaking. We took a route through a national park and it was pretty much mountains as far as you could see. The Orange River made an appearance from time to time, making the drive even more beautiful. We made it through the border right after dark and intended on staying at a hostel on the Orange River on the South African side. After driving forty minutes on the worst dirt road I've ever experienced without catching a glimpse of our hotel or anything else for that matter, we turned around and started the eight hour drive back to Cape Town. At one point, when we were passing a truck, we ran over the biggest porcupine in the world. There wasn't really a choice. It was run over the porcupine, run off the road, or swerve into the truck. So it was goodbye porcupine. It got the last laugh, though, as when we pulled into a gas station a couple hours later we found we had a completely flat tire. The situation was laughable. It was 4:30AM, we were in some nameless South African town at a gas station, with seven guys working to switch out our tire for the spare. They pulled out a quill that was probably ten inches long and as thick as a pencil. Luckily, flat tires (as well as missing hub caps) were covered by our insurance so we made out ok. We got into Cape Town at 6:00AM Wednesday morning.
My trip to Namibia was the perfect way to end my semester. I've been to all the border countries now, and Namibia was my favorite by far. It was the most surprisingly beautiful place I've ever been. I hope to someday get the chance to go back to Namibia, one of my favorite places on the planet.
-Sarah
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