Archive for September, 2008
Sesriem: Sossusvlei and climbing Dune 45
September 16th, 2008It was a long drive on gravel roads from Windhoek to Sesriem, the gateway to Sossusvlei (a desert pan) and the apricot-red sand dunes, including the famous Dune 45 — so-called due to it being 45km from the camp. Along the way, we stopped off for apple pie at the ‘village’ (read: petrol station and […]
Windhoek: A 4×4 car. With tents. On the roof.
September 15th, 2008Today was a very exciting day. For today was the day that we collected our rugged Nissan 4×4 off-road, modified for African camping roadtrips, complete with two roof-mounted pop-up tents! For those who care about cars, the features and gadgets are as follows: Nissan 2.4l Hardbody high-clearance pickup truck with hard-enclosure over the boot-thingy. Two […]
Filed in Namibia
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Windhoek: Time to relax
September 12th, 2008After returning the Mercedes to Windhoek, we’ve had a few days in Namibia’s captial city whilst we wait to pick-up the 4×4 and start our tour. We’ve made good use of the well-stocked supermarkets, fast internet and cafes in town, and relaxed in the sun at the hostel where we are camping. It was a […]
Filed in Namibia
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Windhoek: Broken tent, no more
September 11th, 2008Riaan from the Cymot camping store in Windhoek very kindly (and professionally) fixed our broken tent pole. No longer do I have to duct-tape the whole thing together each time we want to put the thing up. And it certainly works better than the plastic inside of a cotton-reel that we tried. Thanks Riaan, kudos […]
Filed in Namibia
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Windhoek: Tower of giraffes
September 10th, 2008You may recall that in Zambia I spent a long time scouring local markets to purchase a wooden giraffe – a replacement for my original giraffe, bought in 2000 and subsequently broken by my clumsy dad (I know, I know the earthquakes were really to blame dad!). Dave and I spent an even larger part […]
Daan Viljoen Game Reserve: Self-drive safari
September 9th, 2008Whilst we still had the services of our Mercedes hire car which we used to travel from Maun, Botswana to Windhoek, Namibia, we took our first self-drive safari in the Daan Viljoen Game Reserve near Windhoek. Humans notwithstanding, there are no predators in the reserve and so we were able to walk around quite freely […]
Filed in Namibia
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Maun to Windhoek: Crossing into Namibia in style. In a way.
September 8th, 2008We took advice from a number of overland truck drivers and tour leaders, locals and fellow travellers about our options for getting from Maun, Botswana, to Windhoek, Namibia. Flying is the most popular way, but the tickets are about US$300 each. With four of us, chartering our own aeroplane with pilot wouldn’t be that much […]
Filed in Namibia
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Africa Insight: How long does it take to…?
September 5th, 2008Everything takes much longer than one would imagine over here. As an example, let me share with you today’s task, which was to organise a 4×4 camping-car for an imminent tour of Namibia. We are currently in Botswana, the car-hire firm is based in Namibia, next door. Our mobile phone does not work in Botswana […]
Okavango Delta: It should have been a wonderful experience
September 4th, 2008I’ve already been to Botswana once before and not visited the Okavango Delta, so this time I didn’t want to miss out on this highly regarded natural site. Whilst some tourists take a scenic flight over the delta to comprehend is sheer size, I prefered to get a little closer to the waterways and take […]
Filed in Botswana
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Kasane to Maun: Early morning, dead legs, hard travel
September 3rd, 2008We needed to get from Kasane, the gateway town to Chobe National Park, to Maun and the Okavango Delta. We were told that it could be done on public transport, although any further details were sketchy at best. The early bird catches the worm and we packed-away our tent in darkness at 04:20 to get […]
Filed in Botswana
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