2021-Abril y Mayo. Namibia en 4x4, Solo, 2 meses, 11.300Km

Photo of(32) 2021-05-14 Puros Community Campsite

(32) 2021-05-14 Puros Community Campsite

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Sigo en Sesfontain, me levanto a desayunar por la mañana y hablo con el dueño de la "Guest House", quiero preguntarle sobre la ruta que quiero hacer, pues son casi 700km por la zona más deshabitada de Namibia (Kakaoland) y no habrá otra gasolinera ni ciudad importante hasta que llegue al final.
Me dice que la primera parte de la ruta, hasta la frontera con Angola, es fácil y la segunda parte, hasta Okongwati
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no tanto pero que es pasable.
Muy amablemente me da su móvil y el de su mujer y me promete que si me pasa algo, le llame por el teléfono por satélite, que irá a ayudarme (glups..)
Bueno, de todas formas, me quedo más tranquilo, e inicio la marcha. Primero voy a la gasolinera y sorpresa: "Sorry no Diesel" la primera en la frente!. Le pregunto cuando tendrá el Diesel y "uhm, no idea"....
Así que solo hay dos opciones, quedarme sentado o seguir. El siguiente pueblo es Purros a 100Km.
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Allí solo vende Diesel de garrafón, como se dice, que muy acertadamente, el dueño del Guest House me ha dicho que no use nunca, pero decido explorar a ver qué veo. Así pues, sigo hasta Purros y me voy directamente al "comunity camp site"
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Después de registrarme, le pregunto al chico que atiende, por la calidad del Diesel que venden en el pueblo y me dice "Good Good", de todas formas le cojo por banda y le pido que venga conmigo, prefiero que esté delante y no solo yo, turista a timar.
Hay otros intrépidos exploradores como yo repostando, así que me quedo más tranquilo, de todas formas, me cobran más del doble del precio normal y mi cartera se resiente, hace ya muchos días que estoy en zonas que no admiten el pago con tarjeta y voy escaso de Cash...
Una vez repostando y tranquilo en ese aspecto, me voy a recorrer la zona con el coche. Purros está en el margen del rio Hoarusib que llega hasta el mar en la Skeleton Coast, lleva agua, así que no se puede ir por su cauce como pretendía.
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Subo a lo alto de una colina y la vista alrededor es espectacular.
Después ya bajo al camping, y me dedico a mis labores, como lavar ropa y hacer la cena y a las 19:15, como es habitual, ya que se pone obscuro como la piel de un lobo, me subo a mi cuarto de dormir.

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I'm still in Sesfontain, I get up for breakfast in the morning and talk to the owner of the "Guest House", I want to ask him about the route I want to do, since it is almost 700km through the most uninhabited area of Namibia (Kakaoland) and there will be no other gas station or major city until you reach the end.
He tells me that the first part of the route, up to the border with Angola, is easy and the second part, up to Okongwati
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not so much but that is passable.
He kindly gives me his mobile and his wife's and promises me that if something happens to me, I will call him on the satellite phone, that he will come to help me (glups ..)
Well, anyway, I stay calmer, and start the march. First I go to the gas station and surprise: "Sorry no Diesel" the first on the forehead !. I ask him when he will have the Diesel and "uhm, no idea" ....
So there are only two options, stay seated or continue. The next town is Purros at 100Km.
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There he only sells jug Diesel, as they say, which, quite rightly, the owner of the Guest House has told me never to use, but I decide to explore to see what I see. So, I continue to Purros and I go directly to the "comunity camp site"
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After registering, I ask the guy who attends, about the quality of the Diesel they sell in the town and he says "Good Good", anyway I take him by band and ask him to come with me, I prefer that he be in front and not only I, a tourist to cheat.
There are other intrepid explorers like me refueling, so I stay calmer, anyway, they charge me more than double the normal price and my wallet suffers, I have been in areas that do not allow payment by card for many days and I go Short of Cash ...
Once refueling and calm in that regard, I am going to tour the area with the car. Purros is on the bank of the Hoarusib river that reaches the sea on the Skeleton Coast, it carries water, so you cannot go through its channel as you intended.
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I go up to the top of a hill and the view around is spectacular.
Then I go down to the campsite, and I dedicate myself to my work, like washing clothes and making dinner and at 7:15 p.m., as usual, since it gets dark like a wolf's skin, I go up to my sleeping room.

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(45) 2021-05-27 Namutoni Camp

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I leave Oukuejo very early, well, today at almost 9 o'clock and I want to get to the "Namutoni rest camp", which is the one closest to the East gate of Ethosa.
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All day I circle the banks of the "Salt Pan" and long lines of animals can be seen in the distance that are walking along it, not far from the shore. I imagine it is easier that way to see predators from afar. Fortunately it is not very hot, the altitude is more than 1000 meters high and at night it is quite cool, really.
I go through countless "water holes" with different fortunes and around 3:00 pm I arrive at the camp.
They make me another price even better than in the previous one and I go back to stay in another little house all to myself.
Today however I am tired and I do not go at night to see bugs. There is not much tourist here and the restaurant is practically empty at night (the crisis that does not end).
An Englishman I met in Sesfontain sent me an email and encouraged me to meet him at a campsite on the banks of the Okawango River, the same one that later forms the Okawango Delta in Botswana, and I am encouraged because it is more or less in the area that I still have to visit from Namibia.

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Photo of(46,47,48) 2021-05-28/29/30 Nkwazi Camp

(46,47,48) 2021-05-28/29/30 Nkwazi Camp

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Salgo de Ethosa temprano, camino de la ciudad de Rundu, al norte de Namibia, cerca del rio Okavango, que discurre camino de Bostwana, donde muere en el delta del Okavango.
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La carretera es larga y pesada, una recta interminable donde si te descuidas te quedas dormido al volante sin darte cuenta, afortunadamente está asfaltada, aunque no es muy ancha. El tráfico es escaso sin embargo.
Una vez en Rundu, voy al N´Kawazi Lodge, situado a orillas del río. El lugar es muy agradable, tiene mucho césped, zona de acampada y varios bungalow. Como voy enchufado me dan el más grande a precio rebajado. Una casita con tres camas, baño y agua caliente con el consabido "Donkey".
Por la tarde me llevan a visitar los poblados que están cercas para comprar verduras, son muy pequeños, pero hay muchos. En toda esta zona hay mucha agricultura y ganadería.
Me enseñan un campo comunal, que trabajan unas 45 familias juntas. Aquí¬ compro tomates y cebollas y un pan recién hecho que está exquisito (para mi gusto).
Pasamos un rato largo charlando con las mujeres, pues por más que pregunto nadie me dice claramente donde están los hombres, haberlos los hay, pero no parecen trabajar en los campos.
Toda esta región está en una doble crisis, por una parte, la caída del turismo por el coronavirus y la sequía tan grande que tienen este año, aquí¬ y en Angola, de donde viene el rio Okavango.
Por la mañana me voy a dar un paseo por el rio en una barca que comparto con unas mujeres angoleñas que están celebrando una boda que tendrá lugar en una semana.
Son muy divertidas y se han traído hasta champan a la barca y bastante comida.
Al día siguiente voy a Rundu a comprar al supermercado. Como todas las ciudades medianas es un caos de gente en el centro, donde están los bancos y la zona comercial. El supermercado, como todos a los que he ido, tiene de todo, menos aceite del bueno, que echo en falta desde el primer día, pues cocino con uno de soja.
Me intentan sacar dinero, como es lógico, turista="hombre rico", y no dejan de tener razón.
Se ha pasado el fin de semana muy rápido y el lunes partiré de nuevo a la siguiente etapa de mi viaje.

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I leave Ethosa early, on my way to the city of Rundu, in northern Namibia, near the Okavango River, which runs on the way to Botswana, where it dies in the Okavango Delta.
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The road is long and heavy, an endless straight where if you are careless you fall asleep at the wheel without realizing it, fortunately it is paved, although it is not very wide. Traffic is sparse however.
Once in Rundu, I go to the N´Kawazi Lodge, located on the banks of the river. The place is very nice, it has a lot of grass, a camping area and several bungalows. Since I'm plugged in, they give me the biggest one at a discounted price. A house with three beds, bathroom and hot water with the usual "Donkey".
In the afternoon they take me to visit the nearby villages to buy vegetables, they are very small, but there are many. In all this area there is a lot of agriculture and livestock.
They show me a communal field, where about 45 families work together. Here I buy tomatoes and onions and a fresh bread that is delicious (for my taste).
We spent a long time chatting with the women, because no matter how much I ask, no one clearly tells me where the men are, there are some, but they don't seem to work in the fields.
This entire region is in a double crisis, on the one hand, the fall in tourism due to the coronavirus and the great drought that they have this year, here and in Angola, where the Okavango River comes from.
In the morning I am going for a ride along the river in a boat that I share with some Angolan women who are celebrating a wedding that will take place in a week.
They are very funny and have even brought champagne to the boat and a lot of food.
The next day I go to Rundu to shop at the supermarket. Like all medium-sized cities, it is a chaos of people in the center, where the banks and the commercial area are. The supermarket, like all the ones I have been to, has everything, except the good oil, which I miss from day one, as I cook with soybean oil.
They try to get money from me, as is logical, tourist = "rich man", and they are right.
The weekend has passed very quickly and on Monday I will leave again for the next stage of my trip.

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(1) 2021-04-13 Aranos Hotel

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Photo of(0) 2021-04-13: START Town Lodge Windhoek

(0) 2021-04-13: START Town Lodge Windhoek

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Photo of(2,3) 2021-04-14/15 Kalahari Game Lodge

(2,3) 2021-04-14/15 Kalahari Game Lodge

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Video on Youtube
I leave the Aranos hotel very early and head towards the Kalahari Game Lodge which is near the Transfrontier Park in South Africa. Unfortunately I will not be able to visit it as I intended, since the border at this point is still closed due to Covid.
The first part of the route is the M39 road that runs parallel to the Nossob river.
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It is a gravel wagon but very well maintained that does not have any problem, all the time we are circulating surrounded by fences of the local farms, there is no place to make bivouacs.
After a while the road turns south, before reaching the Botswana border and becomes the D1022. The last section of this track runs parallel to the Kalahari Game Lodge until it reaches the C15, from where we can reach SA
This last section is very beautiful and fun because it is all red sand, we circulate through the Namibian part of the Kalahari.
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The track is divided into two lanes in almost its entire length and therefore there is no danger whatsoever when traveling it. The sand in some sections is loose but in general very compacted as it is a relatively frequented path. Anyway, it is convenient to come here with a 4x4.
Once on the C15 we immediately arrive at the Kalahari Game Lodge where I stay in the camping area.
It is very well equipped, it has a small individual house with sink, washbasin, shower and toilet and the Donkey to heat the water.
The next day I sign up to visit the largest area of this lodge where they keep the lions, which can only be done in a car from the complex and with a guide and later I visit another area of free circulation for clients.
In total I do many Kms and the day flies by. I can see countless deer, some giraffes and other animals.
Video on Youtube

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(4) 2021-04-16 Canyon Roadhouse

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I leave the Kalahari Game Lodge very early in the morning. My idea is to first go along the D503 road, which I have good references about, as it must have a lot of sand and be similar to the D1022 I did a few days ago.
Indeed, it is a very sandy road that crosses the sand dunes one by one, with continuous ups and downs. You go through many gates that you have to keep closed once you have crossed. The whole field is very green now, although I imagine that in the Namibian summer this will all be very dry.
It is a fun tour, in general and not very difficult for a 4x4.
I continue the route to get to Hobas, but the road is very long and I decide to spend the night at the “Canyon Roadhouse”. It is a hotel decorated with many vintage cars both outside and inside the restaurant. The afternoon has spoiled and it begins to rain.
I have dinner at the restaurant and go to my room to prepare the route for tomorrow.
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(5) 2021-04-17 Hobas campsite

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I leave the Canyon Roadhouse very early in the morning, on my way to Hobas, the entry point to see the Fish River Canyon.
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The tourism crisis due to Covid is evident in the low presence of tourists. A nice place with a good restaurant. I stay in the area of the campsite that has many trees and shady areas and I go out to visit the canyon.
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The Fish River Canyon is located in Namibia. It is one of the longest canyons in the world (certainly the largest in Africa), as well as the second most visited tourist attraction in Namibia.
It presents a ravine 160 kilometers long, 27 kilometers wide and depths of 550 meters in some places. It has been eroded over the course of 650 million years by the forces of water, wind, gravity and the movements of the earth.
The Fish River is the longest inland river in Namibia, but its current flow is modest compared to the volume of water it discharged in the past. It cuts through the plateau that is today dry, stony and sparsely covered with drought-resistant plants.
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I walk all the tracks enabled for cars, some in worse condition than others. When I find myself in the most remote area of the park, where there is no one since most tourists do not enter here, I have the first puncture of the trip. More than a puncture, it is a blowout, since the wheel has a large hole in the tread. With great difficulties, due to the heat at this time, I manage to change it without further consequences.
Once back at the campsite, I ask for help to raise the flat tire to the side of the car. It weighs a lot and I feel unable to lift it by myself, so I put it in the trunk.
Video on Youtube

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(6) 2021-04-18 Ai Ais Spa

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Salgo por la mañana temprano, de Hobas camino de Ais Ais, pero antes, hago una última visita al cañon a la salida del sol.
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Me desvío para volver al “Canyon Roadhouse” porque allí tienen servicio de reparación de neumáticos. Sin embargo, al atenderme me indican que el daño del neumático es muy grande y no se pude reparar, así que debo comprar otro nuevo, sigo pues mi camino hacia Ais Ais, por esta zona no hay ninguna ciudad importante así que deberé esperar para encontrar una.
Llego a Ais Ais y el lugar está cerrado porque unas inundaciones se han llevado parte de las instalaciones. Afortunadamente está el encargado y me deja quedarme, siendo el único cliente del lugar. Acampo en la zona de camping con el coche.
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Ais Ais: The resort lies at the southern end of the Fish River conservation area and offers a welcome respite to visitors, especially hikers at the end of their walk through the Fish River Canyon.
The main attraction at the resort is the spa complex. The extreme heat heat of the springs date back to 1850 when they were discovered by a Nama herder searching for his lost sheep.
/Ai-/Ais, which means "burning water" in one of the local languages, refers to the sulphurous hot springs which are found in this area.
As with all thermal springs, the water is supposed to have natural curative properties, and is especially beneficial for sufferers of rheumatism. For the more energetic, there are some enjoyable, but sometimes arduous walks into the canyon, especially pleasant in the late afternoon when the shadows are long, and the heat off the rocks contrast with the cool sand.
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El río trae bastante agua todavía, la temporada de lluvias acabó hace muy poco y hago una excursión rio arriba por un sendero.
Desgraciadamente piso una serie de pinchos de un árbol que me atraviesan la suela de los zapatos y debo regresar para extraerlas una a una. “Africa no es para Sissies”.
Ahora entiendo mejor porque la mayoría de los locales llevan botas de suela muy gruesa. Tomo nota para la próxima.
Saco el dron y hago muchas fotos aéreas del rio y de las instalaciones del complejo, Hay muchos trabajadores en la reconstrucción y espero que se habrá de nuevo pronto porque es un sitio muy bonito.
Youtube Video

Google maps

I leave Hobas early in the morning on my way to Ais Ais, but before that, I make one last visit to the canyon at sunrise.
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I take a detour to go back to the Canyon Roadhouse because they have a tire repair service there. However, when they attend me, they tell me that the tire damage is very large and cannot be repaired, so I must buy a new one, I continue on my way to Ais Ais, there is no important city in this area so I will have to wait to find a.
I arrive at Ais Ais and the place is closed because floods have washed away part of the facilities. Fortunately, the manager is there and he lets me stay, being the only customer in the place. I camp in the camping area with the car.
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Ais Ais: The resort lies at the southern end of the Fish River conservation area and offers a welcome respite to visitors, especially hikers at the end of their walk through the Fish River Canyon.
The main attraction at the resort is the spa complex. The extreme heat heat of the springs date back to 1850 when they were discovered by a Nama herder searching for his lost sheep.
/ Ai- / Ais, which means "burning water" in one of the local languages, refers to the sulphurous hot springs which are found in this area.
As with all thermal springs, the water is supposed to have natural curative properties, and is especially beneficial for sufferers of rheumatism. For the more energetic, there are some enjoyable, but sometimes arduous walks into the canyon, especially pleasant in the late afternoon when the shadows are long, and the heat off the rocks contrast with the cool sand.
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The river still brings a lot of water, the rainy season ended very recently and I hike up the river on a path.
Unfortunately I step on a series of tree spikes that pierce the soles of my shoes and I have to go back to extract them one by one. "Africa is not for Sissies."
Now I understand better why most of the locals wear very thick-soled boots. I make a note for the next one.
I take out the drone and take many aerial photos of the river and the facilities of the complex. There are many workers in the reconstruction and I hope it will be back soon because it is a very beautiful place.
Youtube Video

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Photo of(7,8) 2021-04-19/20 Norotshama River Resort

(7,8) 2021-04-19/20 Norotshama River Resort

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2021-04-19:
Tras pasar un dia en Ais Ais tomo camino de Noordoewer:
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Noordoewer is a town in southern Namibia. Its name means 'North Bank' in Afrikaans, in reference to the north bank of the Orange River, on which it is located.
Noordoewer, the border post between Namibia and South Africa, is perched a short stretch away from the flowing waters of the Orange River.
The village lies opposite the South African town of Vioolsdrif, to which it is connected by the road bridge which forms the northern end of the South African N7 and the southern end of the Namibian B1.
Noordoewer is known for grape production and canoeing and is an important border post on a crucial transport route between the two countries. It is planned to upgrade its status to that of a town.
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Curiosa ciudad donde ves grandes plantaciones de viñedos en un entorno desértico, gracias al rio Orange, que hace de frontera.
Aussenkehr:
Me dirijo ahora a Aussenkehr, en paralelo al Orange River, podemos ver los campos de viñedos que cubren toda la zona.
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Serbian immigrant Dušan Vasiljević bought the farm Aussenkehr in 1988 to develop grape production, after a previous, similar project had failed.
There is less than 50 millimetres average annual rainfall but the farm includes 15 kilometres of riverfront and has a government-approved quota to draw water for irrigation from the Orange River.
The Norotshama River Resort is located on the farm as a tourism venture.
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De camino saco fotos del rio que pasa por un cañón muy bonito.
Finalmente me alojo en el Norotshama River Resort, un lugar muy agradable en la orilla del rio.
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Casi no hay nadie y ya me he acostumbrado a cenar siempre en un comedor donde soy el único cliente, eso sí, no hay que esperar nunca y te atienden muy rápido...
2021-04-20:
Al día siguiente, me dispongo a recorrer esta zona:
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Es un poco difícil la ruta, pero merece la pena, puedo ver todos estos árboles y el camino discurre por unos cañones preciosos.
También recorro la ruta "Gamchab 4WD-Trail" documentada en:
Gamchab 4WD-Trail
Podéis ver un video de la ruta en:
Youtube Gamchab 4WD-Trail

(9) 2021-04-21 Tom Cabin

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I continue to the city of Oranjemund, already at the mouth of the Orange River. The road runs parallel to the river on the north face, the south being the RSA. It goes through several very beautiful canyons where you can see some eagles and our beloved baboons. Soon we entered the area of the Sperrgebiet NP.
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The landscape changes to large dunes as we approach the sea, the temperature drops sharply and it is time to put on a jacket.
I stop at one of the many “picnic spots” that are on all the country's highways. They are shaded areas, a table and litter bins to rest on the edge of the roads.
I arrive in the city of Oranjemund.
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And I go to the beach, although the day is very cloudy, I visit the entire area including the bird watching area.
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Then I go to the well-known Spar, which is really very complete, to eat something and do the shopping.
The city is beautiful and seen from the sky it is like a green polygon in the middle of a sandy desert. Leaving the area is totally prohibited as it is all diamond area, and restricted. Posters are not missing ...
I try again to buy a tire for the car without success ...
It's time to find where to sleep today, I had thought about camping in the picnic area on the beach, but the fog gets even thicker and I don't feel like it, so I ask at a small hotel in the area. It is full (I congratulate you on that, having seen what I have seen), but it lets me sleep in the doorway and access the interior for very little money. I spend the remainder of the afternoon chatting with the man who has worked all his life in the diamond mines. He tells me the story of the discovery of the Portuguese ship “Bom Jesús”.
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Since he had all the researchers staying here for months and he shows me a lot of photos on TV.
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However, the most bountiful discoveries of the shipwreck were the collection of 1,845 copper ingots weighing approximately 16-17 tons, over 2,000 gold and silver coins from multiple contemporary maritime powers, and 105 different elephant tusks weighing close to 2 tons. The discovery was unusual in that all of the ship's contents were able to be recovered and cataloged without interference from scavengers due to the highly secure nature of De Beers mining operations in the area.
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One of the coins clearly reads:
"In hoc signo Vinces"
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The Kingdom of Portugal had used this motto since 1139, according with the legend in Lusíadas.
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Photo of(10,11) 2021-04-22/23 The Cormorant House

(10,11) 2021-04-22/23 The Cormorant House

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2021-04-22:
I leave Oranjemund before the sun rises, today we are going to Luderitz, a coastal city too, but we have to surround the entire Sperrgebiet as it is a restricted area due to diamond mining, I go back by my steps again following the Orange river where we see the rise Sun. You can see the fog produced by evaporation that then provides water to the vegetation of this desert. We pass through the city of Rosh Pinah, where I can finally buy a new tire. We continue to Aus and there I stop for a moment to visit the remains of a former prison camp from the First World War. You can read this somewhat curious story for us here:
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It should be remembered that Southwest Africa, or present-day Namibia, was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 to 1915, when it was occupied by South African forces fighting on the side of Great Britain during World War I.
I follow the route and soon I stop to see if I am lucky and I can see what are called the "Horse of the Namib Desert" (Namib Desert Horse). The Namib Desert Horse is a wild horse found in the Namib Desert of Namibia. It is the only wild herd of horses to reside in Africa, with a population ranging from 90 to 150.
You can check his story here:
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Indeed I can see a small herd drinking from a well of water that they have at their disposal.
Leaving Aus, where the prison camp and wild horses used to be, circulate parallel to the train tracks that come from the capital, you can see many abandoned stations, although the track is in service, its story is this:
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The development of Aus as a small trading post began around 1883, when the harbor of Angra Pequena, discovered in 1447 by Bartholomeu Diaz, became more and more important for the German Reich under Adolf Lüderitz. Aus connected the inland around Keetmanshoop with Lüderitz. In 1890 the Germans officially declared Namibia as so called Crown Colony and the harbor town of Lüderitz developed into an important trading post for German South West Africa. From here more and more soldiers of the German “Schutztruppe” arrived in the country, followed by armed disputes between the German army and the indigenous inhabitants of Namibia.
At the end of 1904 the war between the Nama and the Germans erupted and more German soldiers had to be brought into the country for the “protection of the peoples”. For this reason the construction of a railway connection between Lüderitz and Aus was authorized by the German government. Until today the construction work is praised - within one year the complete distance of 120 km was completed. The fact that more than 1000 “local railway workers” died during this construction is however forgotten every now and then.
Anyhow the railway station of Aus developed into a small town with a hotel, cafés, police station, church and some shops and enterprises in the years to follow. As from 1907 the valuable Karakul sheep were bred all around Aus. When in 1908 the first diamond was discovered near Kolmanskop close to Lüderitz, the development of Aus accelerated even more. Even a German school was built in the years to follow.
With the start of World War One the German time in Aus came to an end. The German Schutztruppe and the police were interned and this prisoner of war camp can still be visited today. South West Africa came under South African governance. Lüderitz lost its importance, as the harbor in Walvis Bay was developed and the railway line from South Africa brought many of the needed products into the country. Hence Aus also lost its importance.
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Here is mentioned the war between the Namas tribe and the German colonial army that we will see now.
I arrive in the city and go first to "Shark Island Camp Site" to look for accommodation, in this small peninsula there was a concentration camp product of said war:
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Tens of thousands of people were killed when colonial forces brutally suppressed uprisings by two of the country's main peoples, the Hereros and the Nama, killing most and driving others into a desert (the Omaheke Desert in eastern country) where many starved to death. The survivors ended up in camps where they were used as slave labor. They died of cold, malnutrition, exhaustion and violence. It is estimated that as many as 65,000 of the 80,000 Herero living in Southwest Africa under German rule at the beginning of the colonial period perished, as well as perhaps 10,000 of an estimated 20,000 Nama population. Since 2015, when Germany formally recognized that atrocities committed there could be classified as genocide, the country has been negotiating a restorative justice agreement with Namibia that will set a global precedent. ..................
Once the accommodation is finalized, I will eat and take a walk around the city, I will be here for a couple of days because I want to visit the coast that is beautiful.
2021-04-23:
In 1488, while homeward bound from his pioneering voyage around the Cape of Good Hope into the Indian Ocean, Bartolomeu Dias sailed into the inlet presently known as Lüdertiz Bay.
At the extreme western promontory of the bay he raised a padrao, dedicating it to Sao Tiago (St James). Since the padrao was erected on St James's Day, being 25 July in the Christian calendar, the date of its erection can be fixed as 25 July 1488.
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I get up before the sun rises and walk all around Luderitz, old whaling stations, the Bartolomeu Diaz cross, the abandoned city of Kolmanskop.
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Curious ghost town that struggles not to disappear among the dunes. and a last few laps around the city.

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Photo of(12,13) 2021-04-24/25 Sesriem Campsite NWR

(12,13) 2021-04-24/25 Sesriem Campsite NWR

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2021-04-24:
I leave Luderitz and retrace my steps to Aus again, there I turn north to my next destination: Sossusvlei.
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The journey is long, almost 500km of dirt road, gravel, sand ... where going over 80 is no longer convenient. I finally arrived at around 3pm and he put me up at the campsite at the entrance of the national park, the Sesriem Campsite NWR.
Once I have recovered, I am going to visit the Sesriem Canyon which is a couple of kms away.
Curiously, it is full of water, it is seen that this year the rainy season has hit hard.
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I continue and I will visit the Elim Dune
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A few km
I come back at night and have a quick dinner at the campsite bar
As usual, although this is a very touristy area, there are relatively few people.
At the door of the national park, a few meters away, there are several more campsites that are quite full, I imagine that the reason is that being outside, they do not pay the park fees, which are per days.
2021-04-25:
Earlier today I went to visit the Deadvlei, which is a dry lagoon with dead trees for about 600 years. The arrival path was very sandy, so it was time to deflate tires to pass, fortunately without incident. This time I have met tourists mostly from South Africa, and some Italian.
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Then I went to the Dune45.
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Although I did not dare to go up, you have to do it at sunrise or earlier to see it from above, it was already very hot when I arrived.
This time I decided to use the kitchen of the car and I made myself a fried chicken that I have frozen. Beer in the bar and to bed, tomorrow it's time to leave for Walvis Bay, although I think it will take me two days to get there. I want to go through these mountain passes: The Spreetshoogte Pass and The Gamsberg Pass,
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I will sleep in the second port, in some bivouac.

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Photo of(14,15,16) 2021-04-26/27/28 Kleines Nest B&B

(14,15,16) 2021-04-26/27/28 Kleines Nest B&B

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2021-04-26

I leave Sesriem very early, on my way to Walvis Bay, the route is a little over 400 km and passes through 3 mountain passes. A few kms from the start I have a new puncture, the second in 2 weeks of travel, fortunately soon I will arrive at "Solitarie" a very picturesque place that was once very important because it had one of the few gas stations in the area and is turned into a place of refueling, food and lodging.
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They have a wheel repair service there, but unfortunately the damage is too great so I have to buy another new tire, they assure me that I will find it in Walvis Bay.
So I continue on my way and soon we arrive at the first mountain pass called "The Spreetshoogte Pass".
Four Scenic 4x4 Mountain Passes in Namibia
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... he sharp bends and steep gradients are not bad news for intrepid explorers. These two aspects of the pass combine to provide travelers with unrivalled views of the dramatic landscape below the pass. It is best to drive in the afternoons as the landscape in the later afternoon sun is truly gorgeous and offers some awesome photographic opportunities ...... ............
Indeed it has several very strong climbs that I only go up in first gear, fortunately the steepest sections are concreted. It is finally overcome without further difficulty.
The second pass comes later and is called "The Gamsberg Pass"
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The pass is one of Namibia's most popular passes and it is in fact the highest and the longest pass in the country. Its elevation and the fact that you overlook the Kuiseb River in the valley below it make it one of the most scenic 4x4 routes you can travel on in Namibia. .........
Later we find the last step which is the "Kuiseb Pass":
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.. is a mountain pass at an elevation of 905m (2,969ft) above the sea level, located in central Namibia. It's one of the highest roads of the country. The road to the summit is called C14. It's mostly gravel / tar with some steep sections (1: 9). The average speed is 70 km / h. The road crosses the Kuiseb Canyon and runs along the border of Namib-Naukluft Park between Solitaire and Walvis Bay. Though the pass can become impossible to navigate during rainy season, it's an easy voyage most of the year. You should concentrate on the road as there is a considerable drop should you run out of road.
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The last part of the route, as we approach Walbis Bay, is much more sandy and has many small dunes, the wind is very strong and the sand perpendicularly crosses the road, filling it with sand.
Once in the city, I look for accommodation and have dinner in a very nice restaurant built on top of the sand and the sea.
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2021-04-27

In the morning I go to look for my tire and I will see if they have stock of one similar to the ones I carry, but shortly after talking to the manager the power goes out and I have to stay with it in a few hours. So I go to see the area called "Pelican Point" which are large lagoons dedicated to obtaining salt and the peninsula that is all sand without any path, although in the far north it has a "luxury" hotel called " Pelican Point Lodge ".
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Before I can enter the area they stop me at a checkpoint, and make me pay the corresponding toll for tourists. Anyway, the manager is very nice and invites me to be his guide and take me around the peninsula in my car (after payment of course, but a modest amount to be honest), I have my doubts because the car weighs a lot, but he He assures me that he has been there for many years and that there is no problem. Indeed, we started the trip through virgin sand, very beautiful indeed, although unfortunately there was a lot of fog and I could not see the entire landscape, we crossed the entire peninsula and passed by the hotel, which in the fog seemed quite mysterious, but it was very beautiful the truth. We passed several groups of sea lions and finally after a few hours, we returned. We only had a small blockage that with a little shovel and lowering pressures we solved immediately. After this pleasant tour, I return to the tire dealer, fortunately there is electricity, but there is no stock, so they promise that tomorrow it will be here and I therefore extend my stay one more day.
I take this opportunity to go to the SPAR on duty and refill the car's fridge.
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2021-04-28

Today's excursion is to go to "Sandwich Harbor" which is a lagoon south of the town of Walvis Bay where formerly whales were fished and hunted.
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It is a very tourist destination in the area and fortunately (for me) due to the tourism crisis, there is practically no one and I can enjoy the surroundings. My guide tells me that there are usually thousands of people in the area.
The excursion by car is very beautiful, you go through the virgin sand all the time and in the last section the dunes reach almost to the water and you have to drive on the hard sand.
You have to do this excursion taking advantage of the low tides, otherwise you will remain trapped in the area until the new tide.
We found a young couple stuck in the sand and got them out in the car in a moment.
We return in the afternoon with the tide already rising and it is noticeable how the wet sand area is getting shorter, the effort for the engine is important and it is noticeable how the fuel needle goes down due to the high consumption
Once in the city I go to a gas station where they clean cars and give them a good bath to remove all the sand and salt, especially, which is very destructive to cars.

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Photo of(17) 2021-04-29 Tiger Reef Campsite

(17) 2021-04-29 Tiger Reef Campsite

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Today I have traveled little by car: only 30 km to reach the city of Swakopmund, north of Walvis Bay. It is really a very beautiful city, on the seashore, and as Wikipedia says:
"It is one of the best preserved examples of German colonial architecture in the world. It is one of the few places outside the US or Europe where a significant minority of the population speaks German and has German roots."
You can read more information about the city here:
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First I go to the offices of the NWR (Namibia Wildlife Resorts) that manages the entrances to the national parks for tomorrow's excursion, a permit for a day without sleep costs 200 RANDs, about 17 euros. With the permit in hand, I dedicate myself to touring the city.
First I visit the National Marine Aquarium of Namibia.
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It is not very big, but you can see many different species of marine animals in very large ponds.
Then I visit the "Swakopmund Museum".
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I really love this museum and spend a long time in it, many industrial artifacts from the country's history in the 19th and 20th century, history of the Namibian peoples, German settlers, replicas of house rooms, an old pharmacy , from a dentist's dispensary, German police uniforms from when it was a colony, etc.
Next, I walk around the city, and what for us would be the promenade.
Large and long white sand beaches.
Finally I go to one of the campsites in the city, which is to the south, at the mouth of the river Swakop.
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And once settled down, I go for a walk around the mouth to enjoy the beach.

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Photo of(18) 2021-04-30 Erongo Plateau Camp

(18) 2021-04-30 Erongo Plateau Camp

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Salgo de Swakopmund con el propósito de recorrer la ruta de las Welwitschias. La ruta tiene varias partes, primero se pasa por un pasaje espectacular que se llama "Moon Landscape", luego por las llanuras de las Welwitschia y finalmente salimos por el oasis de Goanikontes.
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Recorro toda la ruta que está marcada por puntos de interés donde se encuentran los mejores ejemplares.
Al final de la ruta veo un complejo industrial enorme y es una extracción de uranio, me encuentro a unos de los camiones de la compañía haciendo no sé qué cosas (mejor no saberlo) y paro a preguntarles detalles del camino. Me encuentro el camino previsto cortado, así que rodeo por el oasis de Goanikontes para salir a la carretera B1 que lleva a Usakos.
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Una vuelta enorme, pero no tengo más remedio. Una vez allí me encuentro un pueblo muy animado, pequeño, pero con tres gasolineras juntas, lo cual me asombra, y a mucho turista repostando y comiendo. Sigo mi camino porque el rodeo me ha hecho perder muchísimo tiempo y se va haciendo tarde.
En vez de ir por la carretera principal me meto por una vía de servicio que va paralela a la vía del tren y que inesperadamente resulta ser una ruta preciosa, muchos árboles, paso por puentes del ferrocarril hasta que llego a Omaruru. una vez allí giro al Oeste porque mi idea es recorrer la zona denominada Erongo región.
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The Erongo Region is a geological wonderland. Its centre is formed by the Erongo Mountains a 130 million year old volcanic ruin with breath taking rock formations and landscapes. Over thousands of years Magma, which cooled down subterraneously formed impressive natural scenarios dominated by massive granite boulders. Especially at dusk these landscapes offer beautiful photographic motives. The mountain range is also home to many interesting ancient rock paintings.
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Recorro la carretera, pero se va haciendo de noche y es imperativo buscar donde dormir, sin embargo, al entrar en esta región, ya no puedo hacer vivac porque está prohibido así que me voy al camping “Erongo Plateau Camp”, que es muy bonito al estar situado en la ladera de la montaña con unas vistas espectaculares hacia el norte. A poco ya se hace de noche y toca cenar algo y descansar, finalmente han sido más de 400Km de pistas.

Google maps

I am leaving Swakopmund with the intention of traveling the route of the Welwitschias. The route has several parts, first we pass through a spectacular passage called "Moon Landscape", then through the plains of the Welwitschia and finally we leave through the oasis of Goanikontes.
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I walk the entire route that is marked by points of interest where the best specimens are found.
At the end of the road I see a huge industrial complex and it is a uranium extraction, I find one of the company trucks doing I do not know what things (better not to know) and I stop to ask them details of the way. The planned road is cut off, so I go around the Goanikontes oasis to get onto the B1 road that leads to Usakos.
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A huge lap, but I have no choice. Once there, I find a very lively town, small, but with three gas stations together, which amazes me, since a lot of tourists are already refueling and eating. I continue on my way because the rodeo has lost me a lot of time and it is getting late.
Instead of going along the main road, I take a service road that runs parallel to the train track and that unexpectedly turns out to be a beautiful route, many trees, I pass over railway bridges until I reach Omaruru. once there I turn west because my idea is to go through the area called Erongo region.
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The Erongo Region is a geological wonderland. Its center is formed by the Erongo Mountains a 130 million year old volcanic ruin with breath taking rock formations and landscapes. Over thousands of years Magma, which cooled down subterraneously formed impressive natural scenarios dominated by massive granite boulders. Especially at dusk these landscapes offer beautiful photographic motives. The mountain range is also home to many interesting ancient rock paintings.
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I walk the road, but it is getting dark and it is imperative to find a place to sleep, however, when entering this region, I can no longer do bivouac because it is forbidden so I go to the “Erongo Plateau Camp” campsite, which is very beautiful being located on the mountainside with spectacular views to the north. Soon it gets dark and it's time to have something to eat and rest, finally there have been more than 400 km of slopes.

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Photo of(19) 2021-05-01 Spitzkoppe Tented Campsite

(19) 2021-05-01 Spitzkoppe Tented Campsite

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In the morning I get up at the Erongo Plateau campsite and I am infinitely grateful for the baths with a large hot shower, after having breakfast and packing up everything, I go west, this time my destination is to reach Spitzkoppe.
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A little before arriving, I leave the main road and take a very small lane that leaves a town and heads there, I do it to enjoy driving through the countryside. Soon I see that an SUV is following me at a certain distance, as I am going very slowly, I turn away to let him pass, but nevertheless the car also stops and does not overtake, a little surprised I keep going. After a while we pass a lot of various forks but the car is always behind me, we pass small towns and the same, I am beginning to wonder what they want, but they neither approach nor overtake.
After about 30 km we hit the road and I stop, they stand next to me and ask me how I'm doing, of course! and they tell me that it is the first time they have seen a tourist go down that road and they were worried! haha, well, they say goodbye very kindly and I move on. Soon I arrive in Spitzkoppe and look for accommodation at the campsite.
Once installed I travel the entire park with the car from top to bottom taking photos and looking for where the first part of 2001 was filmed, an odyssey in space !! but obviously I can't find it.
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The Spitzkoppe Mountains were also the filming location for 2001: A Space Odyssey in the "Dawn of Man" sequences.
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Spitzkoppe, also known as the Matterhorn of Namibia, is a cluster of huge mountains that appear out of nowhere in the middle of a desert plain; one of the most remarkable places in Namibia without a doubt. Massive bare granite boulders make the landscape look like papier-mâché decor.

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Photo of(20) 2021-05-02 Cape Cross Lodge

(20) 2021-05-02 Cape Cross Lodge

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I leave Spitzcoppe and go around Mount Kleine Spitzcoppe, which is more than 1500 meters high, my destination is Henties Bay, on the coast, but I go around a lonely track that leads me through immense plains where I can not find more than a few houses.
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I cross the Omaruru river where I see a farm with many crops and trees, a small oasis in this desert.
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I keep going through more plains where you drive by track, although it makes you want to get lost in nothingness, but that is strictly prohibited in this country due to the ecological damage it entails.
I get to Henties Bay where I rest and go to the Spar to buy food.
At the Henties Bay gas station I am going to refuel and a new puncture appears in a wheel, it is fixed with the puncture kit, since it is Sunday and everything is closed. It is a temporary repair that I will have to fix as soon as possible.
Later came Cape Cross.
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Where an important colony of sea lions is found. I stay at the "cape cross lodge" in a room with a sea view, have dinner and enjoy a nice sunset over the sea.
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This is my first visit to the Skeleton Coast.
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Although I hope to return in a few days.

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Photo of(21) 2021-05-03 Brandberg White Lady Lodge

(21) 2021-05-03 Brandberg White Lady Lodge

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I leave Cape Cross after a good breakfast and head to Messun Crater, my first destination today.
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The route begins with a very corrugated track, which is a little torment, the supports of my tablet in the car fly off and some of my fillings, after a few kilometers I reach the crater itself, impressive. I think it is the most beautiful route I have done so far. I stop several times to take photos and fly the drone.
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The Messum Crater is not a meteorite or asteroid impact crater, it is part of an igneous ring complex on an once active volcano the center of which collapsed. It consists of a wide flat basin of 18 to 25km in diameter surrounded by a ring-shaped range of hills and dates back about 130 million years. The entire formation consists mainly of quartz-rich basalt.
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Further on, the route approaches the Brandberg massif, impressive mountains of more than 2500 meters.
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We parallel them for a while and pass near the White Lady, although I do not stop to visit her.
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I continue on the route and stay at the white lady lodge on the banks of the Ugab river, where elephants are usually seen, although when I ask at reception they tell me that they are not in the area these days due to the lack of water.
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Photo of(22) 2021-05-04 Twyfelfontein Country lodge

(22) 2021-05-04 Twyfelfontein Country lodge

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I leave early in the morning on the way to Twyfelfontain, the first part of the route is a long and lonely road of about 90 km in total, a very dry area where the cars abandoned next to the trail give an idea of the difficulty. After a few hours driving he reached the Twyfelfontain area proper where there are many areas of interest. First I visit Burnt Mountain:
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A hill formed by lava that has beautiful colors.
I continue to see the Organ Pipes:
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What are basalt columns that look like the pipes of an organ ... there is nothing like the imagination ...
Then I am going to visit the so called Twyfelfontain Rock Engraving which is the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in Namibia famous for its petroglyphs.
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There, with the help of a friendly guide who takes care of me, we only go through the entire area of the petroglyphs in detail.
Finally, I stayed at the Lodge in the area:
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A very nice place, which like many other places gives you dinner and breakfast included in the price of the room.

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(23) 2021-05-05 Vivac

iOverlander

I leave Twyfelfontain at sunrise because today's route is very difficult and I want to take it slowly and calmly.
I go back a bit through my steps through Burnt mountain but I immediately turn off to visit the Doros crater, for this I take a track that leaves me as close as possible although the rest have to be done on foot.
I do not dare to go alone because that is why I have the drone, so I raise it to the top and take photos and videos of the crater.
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Doros Crater
Just south of Twyfelfontein, northwest of Brandberg, is the Doros Crater (or Doros Craters, as it is sometimes called). A permit from the NWR, and a full 4WD expedition, is needed to get into this remote concession area in southern Damaraland. The geology's interesting here, and there's evidence of early human habitation. ......
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I keep going, this time I'm going to go into the "Desolation Valley". It is more than 100 km through one of the loneliest and most desert passages that I have seen so far, the route is very very slow due to the amount of stones that the road has that make it impossible to pass a scarce 15 or 20 km / h . The risk of destroying a tire is very high because they are very sharp stones of volcanic origin that break like flakes that look like razor blades. Fortunately it does not happen, although for that I have two spare wheels and a lot of water and food.
Unfortunately, when I was taking videos with the drone, an eagle must have mistaken it for a pigeon and wham, it took it right under my nose when it was about to land, a little further it released it and fell silent, but as expected it has not survived. So I won't be able to take more aerial photos and videos for the rest of the trip.
It gets dark before I can finish, so I camped at the edge of the road. The night is long because an electrical storm and heavy rain break out that does not let me rest because of the noise.

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(24) 2021-05-06 Igowati Lodge

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I wake up in the morning tired, the thunderstorm has not let me sleep much, so I have to decide what to do today. On the one hand I am very close to the entrance of the Skeleton Coast National Park, but on the other I have not been able to reserve accommodation within the park, which is an essential requirement to be able to stay.
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Finally I decide to go to the nearest town where there is telephone coverage, not only Wifi, so I can book accommodation online and pay online. The town is Khorixas and I ended up staying at the Igowati lodge which is right next to the gas station and the supermarket. I take the opportunity to buy, refuel, reserve the accommodation in the park, wash all the clothes in the laundry and rest the rest of the day.

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Photo of(25,26) 2021-05-07/08 Terrace Bay

(25,26) 2021-05-07/08 Terrace Bay

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Listos todos los trámites para entrar en el “Skeleton Park”, salgo a las 7:30 como hago habitualmente, el camino no es largo, unos 200 km pero son carretera de grava, 80 km/h. de media aproximadamente.
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Paso por el control de acceso y me dan los permisos para entrar y pernoctar, pagando claro, por persona, por día y por coche.
Sigo adelante hasta que vamos acercándonos al mar, ya empiezan las grandes dunas a verse de cerca. Hay que entender que todo esto es un gran desierto de arena con dunas gigantes que llegan hasta el mar, por donde discurre la única carretera accesible de sur a norte.
Me alojo en Terrace Bay, aquí no hay camping habilitado alguno.
Me dan una pequeña cabaña enfrente del mar.
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La costa de los Esqueletos es un tramo de la costa occidental de África que se localiza en Namibia, donde la llegada de la corriente fría de Benguela produce densas nieblas oceánicas la mayor parte del año.
La característica básica de esta costa reside en el hecho de que el desierto de Namibia llega hasta el océano Atlántico Sur.
Los vientos soplan desde el interior del continente hacia el mar, con lo que cae muy poca lluvia, y el clima es completamente inhóspito. Por otro lado, hay un constante e intenso oleaje en las playas.
En los días de los botes a remo era posible desembarcar atravesando la marea, pero imposible volver a zarpar. La única forma de salir del sitio era caminar cientos de kilómetros a través del árido desierto. Esto y los numerosos restos de barcos naufragados que pueden hallarse a lo largo de la costa, consecuencia de la niebla, los vientos y el fuerte oleaje, han dado a ésta su macabro nombre.
El relieve es generalmente bajo, ocasionalmente interrumpido por rocas emergentes. La zona sur está formada por planicies de grava, mientras que al norte de Terrace Bay el paisaje está dominado por altas dunas.
Namibia ha declarado una zona de 16000 km2 como parque nacional, desde la desembocadura del río Ugab, en el sur, hasta el río Kunene en el norte. La parte norte del Parque está declarada área intangible. Entre los puntos destacables de esta zona se encuentran los castillos de arcilla de los Hoarisib, la montaña de ágata (Agate Mountain ), salinas, y la gran colonia de pinnípedos en cabo Fria.
La costa ha sido objeto de numerosos documentales sobre vida salvaje, en particular sobre la adaptación a la aridez extrema. Muchas de las plantas (como la extremadamente longeva Welwitschia mirabilis) e insectos del sistema de dunas de arena dependen de la humedad de las espesas nieblas marítimas que engolfan la costa y de los detritos comestibles traídos desde el interior por el viento. La adaptación de los pájaros se ha estudiado desde el punto de vista de su capacidad de termorregulación, estrategias de cría, nomadismo y su adaptación cromática.
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Como ya es mediodía no me queda mucho día teniendo en cuenta que tengo que comer algo, así que decido quedarme 2 días y disfrutar del mar después del Desolation Valley. Hago pequeñas excursiones en coche por los alrededores, me avisan que en algunas zonas hay leones, así que estiró las orejas, aunque veo muchos pescadores de caña en la orilla.
El sitio es agradable, la mayor parte de la gente, sino todos, son sudafricanos que vienen de turismo y la mayoría a pescar.

Google maps

All the formalities are ready to enter the "Skeleton Park", I leave at 7:30 as I usually do, the road is not long, about 200 km but it is a gravel road, 80 km / h. on average approximately.
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I go through the access control and they give me the permits to enter and spend the night, paying of course, per person, per day and per car.
I keep going until we are getting closer to the sea, the great dunes are already beginning to be seen up close. You have to understand that all this is a great sand desert with giant dunes that reach the sea, where the only accessible road runs from south to north.
I stay in Terrace Bay, there is no camping site here.
They give me a little cabin in front of the sea.
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The Skeleton Coast is a stretch of the west coast of Africa located in Namibia, where the arrival of the cold Benguela current produces dense ocean fogs most of the year.
The basic characteristic of this coast lies in the fact that the Namibian desert reaches up to the South Atlantic Ocean.
The winds blow from the interior of the continent towards the sea, with which very little rain falls, and the climate is completely inhospitable. On the other hand, there is a constant and intense swell on the beaches.
In the days of rowing boats it was possible to land across the tide, but impossible to set sail again. The only way out of the site was to walk hundreds of kilometers through the arid desert. This and the many wrecks of ships that can be found along the coast, a consequence of the fog, the winds and the strong waves, have given it its macabre name.
The relief is generally low, occasionally interrupted by emergent rocks. The southern area is made up of gravel plains, while north of Terrace Bay the landscape is dominated by high dunes.
Namibia has declared an area of 16,000 km2 as a national park, from the mouth of the Ugab River in the south to the Kunene River in the north. The northern part of the Park is declared an intangible area. Among the highlights of this area are the Hoarisib clay castles, the Agate Mountain, salt flats, and the large colony of pinnipeds in Cape Fria.
The coast has been the subject of numerous wildlife documentaries, particularly on adaptation to extreme aridity. Many of the plants (such as the extremely long-lived Welwitschia mirabilis) and insects of the sand dune system depend on moisture from the thick sea fogs that engulf the shoreline and edible debris blown in from the interior by the wind. The adaptation of birds has been studied from the point of view of their thermoregulatory capacity, breeding strategies, nomadism and their chromatic adaptation.
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As it is already noon, I don't have much day left considering that I have to eat something, so I decide to stay 2 days and enjoy the sea after the Desolation Valley. I do little car trips around the area, they warn me that in some areas there are lions, so I stretched my ears, although I see many anglers on the shore.
The place is nice, most of the people, if not all, are South Africans who come for tourism and most to fish.

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(27) 2021-05-09 Palmwag Lodge

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I regretfully leave Terrace Bay and head to my next destination, which is the Palmwag concession.
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A huge expanse of land where many animals live, such as giraffes, zebras, reds etc.
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Palmwag is a Tourism Concession on Communal Land in northern Namibia.
It is located in the Kunene region, in northwestern Damaraland, halfway between Swakopmund and the Etosha National Park.
It covers an area of 400,000 hectares. An interesting tree species that are being found there palm tree Hyphaena petersiana. Wildlife species in Palmwag include leopard, lion, cheetah, mountain zebra, Angolan giraffe, springbok, kudu, and African bush elephans.
The reserve also has the largest population of south-western black rhinos in Africa; a local organization called Save the Rhino Trust protects them.
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The road is once again a gravel road without any more problems, almost 200km that takes me most of the morning. The landscape is still the same as "Desolation Valley", once we have left the Skeleton Coast.
I finally arrive at the Lodge and stay at the campsite.
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I take the opportunity to refuel again and fill the tank, all these stretches of many km and the distances between gas stations are increasing.
I appreciate that this car has almost 1000km of autonomy, although I have not verified it yet.
I take the afternoon to do one of the tours enabled within the concession.
The field is wet from the last rains and the canyons have water at the bottom. That makes it more difficult to see animals since they have many places to drink and they hide more.
Anyway, I see a very nice herd of zebras, although they get mad at me and almost confront me. There is no one else in the area and they must think they can with me.
I arrive at the campsite almost at night, have dinner and start making plans for the next few days.

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(28) 2021-05-10 Vivac

iOverlander
Me levanto por la mañana temprano a desayunar en el camping de la "Palmwag concession" y antes de salir me acerco a recepción a preguntar por la ruta que tengo en mente. Mi destino es llegar a Sesfontain, y hay una carretera que lleva, claro, pero yo quiero hacer una ruta más entretenida y hay una mucho más larga que va al oeste, hasta casi el límite del parque nacional Skeleton Coast" para luego subir hacia el norte hasta llegar al río Hoanib para luego subir por su cauce hasta Sesfontain. El río Hoanib, es uno de los más interesantes de Namibia.
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Allí en recepción están los Rangers de la concesión y me dicen que está tirada, uhm, ya me conozco yo el concepto de fácil en namibio, pero bueno, me animo y tiro para adelante tras repostar agua.
La primera parte es verde en lo que cabe, teniendo en cuenta el ambiente árido que hay por aquí, pero hay árboles y en algunas partes ¡hasta hierba! Sin embargo, es terriblemente lenta por las piedras. A las 12 del mediodía solo llevo 50km. De repente me acuerdo que tenía en mi tableta copiado los álbumes de Amaral, que memoria la mía! Así que por bluetooth al coche y a escuchar música.
Pasan las horas y el terreno se convierte en una llanura infinita que se pierde en el horizonte. ¿Qué hago yo aquí? Me pregunto en un momento de debilidad, pero sigo adelante. Al fondo se ven unas montañas y alguna vez llegaremos.
Siguen pasando las horas, Amaral sigue cantando, y la pista se mete por el cauce seco de un río, afluente del Hoanib. Ahora es más entretenido, tienes que ir esquivando agujeros y no quedarte atrapado en la arena, pero al final llego al río Hoanib. Allí hay un estanque de agua y se ven unas jirafas abreviando y muchos Baboons. Como ya son las 16:30 h no me tiempo a seguir, además de que estoy agotado, así que hago vivac cerca de allí para no molestar a los animales.
Está prohibido acampar en el cauce del rio Hoanib así que o hago vivac ahora o sigo adelante hasta Sesfontain, pero como son casi 100Km, prefiero quedarme y vivaquear.
Hace un calor del demonio.
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Tengo que esperar que el sol desaparezca entre las montañas antes de cualquier actividad así que leo un rato. Cuando salen las sombras cocino un poco y a las 7pm a la cama, ya es noche cerrada y me quedan 12 horas antes de levantarme porque hasta las 8 am no hay sol suficiente para conducir.
Mañana tengo que subir por el río, y no será fácil, seguro. Espero que esté seco como decían los Rangers...

iOverlander
I get up early in the morning to have breakfast at the "Palmwag concession" campsite and before leaving I go to reception to ask about the route I have in mind. My destination is to get to Sesfontain, and there is a road that leads, of course, but I want to do a more entertaining route and there is a much longer one that goes west, almost to the limit of the Skeleton Coast National Park "and then go up towards the north to the Hoanib River and then up its channel to Sesfontain.The Hoanib River is one of the most interesting in Namibia.
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There in reception are the Rangers from the concession and they tell me that it is thrown, uhm, I already know the concept of easy in Namibian, but hey, I cheer up and jump forward after refueling water.
The first part is green as far as possible, considering the arid environment around here, but there are trees and in some parts even grass! However, it is terribly slow on the rocks. At 12 noon I only have 50km. Suddenly I remember that I had copied Amaral's albums on my tablet, what a memory of mine! So by bluetooth to the car and to listen to music.
The hours pass and the terrain becomes an infinite plain that is lost on the horizon. What am I doing here? I wonder in a moment of weakness, but I move on. In the background there are mountains and some time we will get there.
The hours continue to pass, Amaral continues singing, and the track goes through the dry bed of a river, a tributary of the Hoanib. Now it is more entertaining, you have to go dodging holes and not get stuck in the sand, but in the end I reach the Hoanib river. There is a pond of water there and you can see some giraffes in short and many Baboons. As it is already 4:30 p.m. I don't have time to continue, besides that I am exhausted, so I bivouac nearby so as not to disturb the animals.
It is forbidden to camp in the Hoanib riverbed so either I bivouac now or I go on to Sesfontain, but since it is almost 100Km, I prefer to stay and bivouac.
It's hot as hell.
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I have to wait for the sun to disappear between the mountains before any activity so I read for a while. When the shadows come out I cook a little and at 7pm to bed, it is already dark and I have 12 hours left before I get up because until 8 am there is not enough sun to drive.
Tomorrow I have to go up the river, and it won't be easy, for sure. Hope it's dry like the Rangers said ...

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(29) 2021-05-11 Fort Sesfontein

Google maps
I get up early, at 6:30, have breakfast, wash myself, check the tire pressure and at 7:45 I start the route of the Hoanib river.
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I go back to the water hole where the giraffes were, but this time there is no living bug, so I continue. Unfortunately I go east and the sun hits my face all the time which is quite uncomfortable, sometimes I stop to rest. The river area has very big trees and I see more giraffes, but the elephants are begging.
Suddenly I see a huge dust cloud on the side of the road, between the trees, and my feverish imagination makes me think of a stampeding herd of elephants coming towards me, like this with their ears open and looking at me ... but no, it's just the wind and dust.
The route is not excessively difficult, but you have to drive very carefully, we are going along the bed of a river, with sand, areas of mud to avoid, a lot of undergrowth that sometimes makes it almost impossible to walk, sometimes the bed is very wide and others only 10 meters to pass with the car.
I see a lot of elephant footprints in the sand on the road and countless droppings, but I'm not good enough to see any herds and I'm sure I passed very close.
55km in total, almost 4 hours.
I finally get to Sesfontain, kiss the ground, and go for more Diesel and the grocery store, as usual.
This area is already very poor, we are in Kakaoland and the terrain is very arid and it rains very little.
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I am staying at Fort Sesfontain an old German military fort restored as a tourist hotel.
This is the last town with a gas station in the area, all the rest to the north, the border with Angola is very sparsely inhabited.
I have to think about the next destination, but I must first get advice from the locals here.

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Photo of(30,31) 2021-05-12/13 Sesfontein Guest House

(30,31) 2021-05-12/13 Sesfontein Guest House

Google Maps
2021-05-12:
A la siguiente mañana tengo la oportunidad de conocer al jefe local de aquí y por la tarde estoy un rato en su casa con la familia, lástima no entender su idioma local, pero en general hablan todos muy bien inglés, mejor que yo, ¡seguro! Me invitan a té y me cuenta sus aventuras cuando estuvo de turista en Alemania...un rato agradable.
Antes he tenido que ir a arreglar un pinchazo y cambiar un neumático que estaba en las últimas ya...
Por la tarde decido cambiar de alojamiento, en Fort Sesfontain no hay cobertura de telefonía y tampoco funciona la wifi y necesito sentarme y seguir planificando la ruta de los próximos días, así que me mudo a “Sesfontain GuestHouse” un agradable hotelito en el centro del pueblo. Los dueños son un matrimonio de namibios blancos, muy agradables, que se ofrecen a darme consejos de rutas para los días siguientes.
2021-05-13:
Por la mañana en Sesfotain no puedo dejar de pensar que mi excursión al rio Hoanib no salió bien del todo porque no llegué a ver a los famosos elefantes del desierto de Namibia que viven en los cauces de los ríos, como el Hoanib.
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Que era la razón principal de la excursión, así que decido quedarme un día más en Sesfontain y repetir la excursión, bajando por el rio hasta el límite del parque nacional de "Skeleton Coast" donde no puedo entrar.
Salgo por la mañana y los ranger me dicen que soy el primero del día, aunque luego veremos al menos 10 todo terrenos super equipados por este rio en dirección contraria.
Pronto vemos jirafas, algún antílope y de repente allí delante, en medio del camino por donde hay que pasar, una manada de 7 ejemplares con una cría, que vienen hacia el coche.
Aparco en un lado del cauce del rio para molestar lo mínimo, apago el motor, subo las ventanillas, rezo varias oraciones muy fervorosamente, y espero que vayan a pasar por mi altura.
Efectivamente pasan al lado de la ventanilla ignorándome totalmente, ya que están muy ocupados comiendo plantas del suelo y esas cosas propias de elefantes. así, que una vez que me seco el sudor sigo para adelante por el cauce del rio.
Pronto aparece otra manada de unos 5 ejemplares magníficos que igualmente me ignoran, aunque claro está, procuro no mirarlos a la cara fijamente.
Sigo ruta por el rio, ya llevamos 50 km y empieza a hacer mucho calor y vemos otro grupo de jirafas abrevando en una charca de agua.
sigo más adelante porque quiero llegar hasta donde más lejos se pueda y, efectivamente, aparece un cartel del Skeleton Coast Park prohibiendo la entrada al mismo.
Se vislumbra a unos km de distancia un resort de lujo, con su pista de aterrizaje propia y muchos bungalow mirando el rio.
Doy media vuelta dando por acabada la ruta y me voy debajo de un gran árbol a descansar.
La vuelta es más rápida y llegamos con los últimos rayos de luz a Sesfontain de nuevo, pasa a saludar al jefe y le saco una foto a otra niña de la familia muy simpática. A partir de mañana me internaré en Kakaolan, donde ya no hay ninguna cobertura de nada pues no hay ninguna ciudad importante por donde vaya a pasar al menos durante una semana.

Google maps
2021-05-12:
The next morning I have the opportunity to meet the local chief here and in the afternoon I am at his house with the family for a while, too bad I don't understand their local language, but in general they all speak English very well, better than me, for sure ! They invite me to tea and he tells me his adventures when he was a tourist in Germany ... a pleasant time.
Before I had to go fix a puncture and change a tire that was already on the last legs ...
In the afternoon I decide to change accommodation, in Fort Sesfontain there is no telephone coverage and the wifi does not work and I need to sit down and continue planning the route for the next few days, so I move to “Sesfontain GuestHouse” a nice little hotel in the center of the city. town. The owners are a very nice white Namibian couple, who offer to give me route advice for the following days.
2021-05-13:
In the morning in Sesfotain I can't help but think that my excursion to the Hoanib River did not go well at all because I did not get to see the famous Namibian desert elephants that live in the riverbeds, such as the Hoanib.
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That was the main reason for the excursion, so I decide to stay one more day in Sesfontain and repeat the excursion, going down the river to the limit of the "Skeleton Coast" national park where I cannot enter.
I go out in the morning and the rangers tell me that I am the first of the day, although later we will see at least 10 super-equipped SUVs on this river in the opposite direction.
Soon we see giraffes, some antelope and suddenly there in front, in the middle of the road where you have to go, a herd of 7 specimens with a baby, coming towards the car.
I park on the side of the riverbed to make a minimum of disturbance, turn off the engine, roll up the windows, pray several prayers very fervently, and hope that they will pass my height.
Indeed, they pass by the window totally ignoring me, since they are very busy eating plants from the ground and those things typical of elephants. So, once I dry up the sweat, I keep going along the riverbed.
Soon another herd of about 5 magnificent specimens appears that also ignore me, although of course, I try not to stare at their faces.
I continue along the river, we have already gone 50 km and it begins to be very hot and we see another group of giraffes drinking in a pool of water.
I continue further because I want to go as far as possible and, indeed, a sign of the Skeleton Coast Park appears prohibiting the entrance to it.
A few km away, a luxury resort can be seen, with its own landing strip and many bungalows overlooking the river.
I turn around, ending the route and go under a large tree to rest.
The return is faster and we arrive with the last rays of light in Sesfontain again, he goes to greet the boss and I take a photo of another very nice girl in the family. Starting tomorrow I will go to Kakaolan, where there is no longer any coverage of anything because there is no major city where I will pass for at least a week.

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(33) 2021-05-15 Vivac

Google maps
I leave Purros early in the morning, around 7:30 a.m. and go to Orupenpe, an intermediate destination.
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Orupenpe is so small that I pass by and I hardly see him, the 100 km traveled have been better than expected, the track was very good and well signposted. Along the way I already begin to see the famous statues of the seated stone men, which are scattered throughout the region and are the work of a local sculptor from the town. They call them the "Lone Stone Man".
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I have located several that do not appear in my guides so I will send the coordinates and the photos to Tracks4Africa.
My next waypoint is the "green drum" which is very close to the edge of the "Skeleton Coast" national park and therefore very far west.
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There are 4 of these drums that are basically colorfully painted oil drums filled with the signatures of intrepid explorers, like me, who venture into the region. They are located at the intersections of the most important routes.
This Green Drum is the furthest west, right on the edge of Skeleton Coast Park, where you can no longer enter.
The landscape in this area is basically desert, you can see in the distance the immense dunes of the park and not far away is the sea, about 70km I would say, in a straight line. The rest are the Orange, Blue and Red drum all in a horizontal direction East.
Soon I arrive at the Orange Drum.
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I am full of joy because I did not think that I would go so far in my trip, I get out of the car to take the usual photo that testifies to my feat and when I get out I hear the unmistakable whistle of the air coming out of a tire! NOOOO! before my eyes a wheel is rapidly deflating. ! I can not believe it! I put the air compressor on on that wheel and luckily more air comes in than comes out, so without the car noticing, I put the jack on it and thus save myself the thankless task of lifting it.
now what? It occurs to me to try the puncture repair kit ”and it seems to work, it has been on for half an hour and the air does not come out, although it will break in a few hundred kms, for sure!
Well I'm going out again and I get behind the wheel, what? a flashing light in the box tells me something's wrong! what was missing! I start the engine, the light goes out and it seems that the car is going, I stop and the flashing light again, work! In this very remote region if you have a breakdown, there is no human way to get the car back and you would lose it, well, you would have to pay a fee to the agency because here in the land of the Namibians there is no comprehensive insurance.
I evaluate the alternatives. The closest city is Opuwo.
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If I follow the planned route and then go to Opuwo it is more than 500km by tracks, if I look for the most direct route it is 200km, of equally bad tracks, so after wiping my tears I undertake the strategic retreat towards Opuwo.
It is 3:30 p.m. and you can circulate until 6:00 p.m. Although I am tired, I keep going and go back to Orupempe, from there and only 120 km to Opuwo, the road soon turns into a hell of stones, climbs, descents like I had not found until now. (Murphy's Law: "If something bad can happen, it will happen").
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At the end I camp on the river bed under the shelter of a stone wall, just where the animals of the field usually circulate, and indeed I see a couple of giraffes fooling around in the river, preaching each other. The camera is out of battery and the low light makes it not focus well, but still some video comes out.
I don't feel like cooking because I am so tired I have a Namibian beef sandwich with a glass of milk and go to bed!
I hope the car starts in the morning and doesn't leave me lying here ...

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(34) 2021-05-16 Abba GuestHouse

Google Maps
Me levanto del vivac y parto enseguida, a la salida del sol. Me quedan 100 km para llegar a Opuwo y el camino sigue siendo igual de malo, pedregoso y por una zona de montaña donde hay que subir y bajar continuamente, ya no más de aquellas llanuras inmensas de días atrás. La alarma dichosa ha estado toda la noche parpadeando en el cuadro, pero parece que no le afecta al motor. El parche de la rueda también aguanta por el momento, así que parece que llegaremos sin problema.
Por el camino veo más asentamientos de los Himba, poblados, cercados de animales, muchos parecen deshabitados, en otros se ve gente sentada a la sombra de los árboles.
El paisaje cambia totalmente, ahora es muy arbolado y se ve mucho ganado.
Por fin llego a Opuwo y me voy al parking del Spar, hago un video de la alarma y la mando al soporte técnico de la compañía de alquiler, ya solo me queda esperar el veredicto.
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Aprovecho para sacar dinero del cajero y hacer compras en el supermercado.
Voy también a la gasolinera a repostar y allí pregunto donde hay un taller de reparación de neumáticos. En la misma gasolinera reparan y venden. El diagnóstico es el que imaginaba: no tiene arreglo porque es un pinchazo en el lateral de la rueda, ese parche que le puse se romperá en cualquier momento. Afortunadamente en la tienda venden neumáticos y aparece uno de las medidas adecuadas, no es Mud-Terrain como las que llevo sino All-Terrain pero me vale igual. Mientras me cambian la rueda llega la respuesta de la agencia: es un indicador de avería del sistema de bloqueo de las puertas, pero que puedo seguir sin problema, insisto, y se reafirman. Bueno, pues antes de lo que pensaba está todo arreglado de nuevo: dinero, rueda nueva, compras, Diesel. Lo celebro en un restaurante comiendo en condiciones y me busco una guest house para pasar la noche.
Por la tarde me pongo a revisar la ruta que me he perdido y lo que me falta y tras varias cavilaciones decido continuar la ruta donde pinché la rueda, aunque esté lejos.
Calculo una nueva ruta para llegar allí sin repetir mucho el recorrido y me propongo salir mañana de nuevo para el Oeste.
Opuwo es una ciudad curiosa, es muy pequeña, creo que unos 15.000 habitantes, pero tiene un hotel bastante bueno y varios otros alojamientos muy aceptables, el Spar tiene de todo como es habitual.
Por la calle se pueden ver muchas mujeres Himba y Herero.
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Las mujeres Himba realmente impresionan muchas de ellas, las jóvenes andan muy erguidas y son fuertes, las mayores (no sabría decir la edad de ninguna forma) son las que más se dedican a vender artesanía. Los niños que me he encontrado, fuera de esta ciudad, son muy tímidos la mayoría con los extranjeros. Desgraciadamente los turistas no se cortan en sacarles fotos en cuanto los ven cosa que evito hacer siempre en público.
Con algunas de estas chicas me he reído a carcajadas porque algunas son encantadoras cuando se rompe el hielo. Les enseñé a usar mi maquina de fotos y sacarme fotos a mi y nos reímos un montón, no las de esta ciudad, que ya están acostumbradas a la tecnología moderna, sino a las que puede ver a muchos Km de aquí, en zonas muy deshabitadas, salvo por ellos.

Google maps
I get up from the bivouac and leave immediately, at sunrise. I have 100 km to go to get to Opuwo and the road is still just as bad, stony and through a mountain area where you have to go up and down continuously, no more than those immense plains of days ago. The blissful alarm has been flashing all night on the frame, but it doesn't seem to affect the engine. The wheel patch also holds at the moment, so it seems that we will arrive without problem.
Along the way I see more Himba settlements, villages, surrounded by animals, many seem uninhabited, in others you can see people sitting in the shade of the trees.
The landscape changes completely, now it is very wooded and you can see a lot of cattle.
Finally I get to Opuwo and I go to the Spar parking lot, I make a video of the alarm and send it to the technical support of the rental company, and I can only wait for the verdict.
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I take the opportunity to get money from the cashier and make purchases at the supermarket.
I also go to the gas station to refuel and there I ask where there is a tire repair shop. They repair and sell at the same gas station. The diagnosis is what I imagined: it cannot be fixed because it is a puncture in the side of the wheel, that patch that I put on it will break at any moment. Fortunately, the store sells tires and one of the appropriate sizes appears, it is not Mud-Terrain like the ones I carry but All-Terrain but it's just the same. While they change my wheel, the agency's response arrives: it is an indicator of a failure in the door locking system, but I can continue without problem, I insist, and they reaffirm. Well, sooner than I thought everything is fixed again: money, new wheel, shopping, Diesel. I celebrate it in a restaurant eating properly and I look for a guest house to spend the night.
In the afternoon I start to review the route that I have missed and what I am missing and after several reflections I decide to continue the route where I punctured the wheel, although it is far away.
I calculate a new route to get there without repeating the route much and I intend to leave tomorrow for the West again.
Opuwo is a curious city, it is very small, I think about 15,000 inhabitants, but it has a fairly good hotel and several other very acceptable accommodations, the Spar has everything as usual.
On the street you can see many Himba and Herero women.
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The Himba women really impress many of them, the young women are very upright and strong, the older ones (I could not say their age in any way) are the ones who are most dedicated to selling crafts. The children that I have met, outside of this city, are very shy most of the foreigners. Unfortunately tourists do not hesitate to take photos of them as soon as they see them, which I always avoid doing in public.
I have laughed out loud with some of these girls because some are lovely when the ice breaks. I taught them to use my camera and take pictures of me and we laughed a lot, not those of this city, which are already used to modern technology, but those that you can see many kilometers from here, in very uninhabited areas. except for them.

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(35) 2021-05-17 Vivac

iOverlander
Salgo de Opuwo y esta vez voy por una ruta que no está en los mapas que tengo, la he visto en las fotos por satélite. Voy a ir por la D3703 hasta el "Etanga Camp".
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y allí veo que sale una pista que más adelante se une con la carretera que va a Etanga pueblo, que sí existe y que debo coger para llegar de nuevo a Orupempe. Todo esto es simplemente un poco de cabezonería mía por querer llegar de nuevo al Orange Drum donde pinché y abandoné el plan original.
La pista no está mal de dificultad, no se ven muchas trazas de coches, pero al menos veo una de alguien que ha pasado por aquí quizás no hace mucho.
Paso por algunas aldeas y aquí si me miran como un marciano recién aterrizado pues no deben pasar muchos turistas salvo yo por aquí (esta pista no está en los mapas).
Todo va bien hasta que llego casi al final de esta pista "desconocida" cuando me veo que el suelo se hunde bajo mis pies y aparece un valle abajo, resulta que estoy en una meseta y la pista baja vertiginosamente hasta abajo.
Aquí sí que me paro a analizar la situación, la pista baja pronunciadamente encajonada entre piedras y está claro que si me tiro adelante y el camino se hace imposible quedaré allí empotrado, muy difícil veo volver a subir marcha atrás por un camino tan empinado y con curvas y encajonado. Bueno, aplicaré el procedimiento de bajar por tramos buscando siempre no pasar de un punto de no retorno: Me bajo andando hasta que veo un sitio donde podría dar la vuelta con el coche, si puedo bajar y puedo volver a subir, bajaré, sino no. Hago el primer tramo y me animo, es muy empinado, pero bajo sin problemas. Hago el segundo, ya ahora con menos aire en los pulmones y más sudores y bien, afortunadamente, en adelante, puedo seguir bajando con el coche sin más malditos tramos, porque el camino se abre y hay muchos sitios para dar la vuelta. Tras unos malos ratos, por fin llego al valle y sigo adelante, el valle es muy bonito, muchos árboles, alguna aldea Himba de vez en cuando y por fin llego al camino (que si existe) que lleva a Orupempe, ahora si hay muchas rodadas de coches aunque no veo a nadie nunca.
Llego a Orupempe y ya solo me queda el último tramo al Orange Drum, vuelvo a acercarme al Skeleton Coast y otra vez me maravilla el paisaje, me alegro de haber vuelto y tener la oportunidad de disfrutarlo de nuevo.
Sigo un poco más y llego de nuevo al Orange Drum, esta vez me bajo con el corazón en un puño por si se repite la maldición de dicho drum, pero no, los dioses dan el visto bueno para que siga adelante.
Un poquito más y llego al Blue Drum (el penúltimo drum).
17°47'27.3"S 12°23'17.7"E
Alguien se ha molestado en traer la carcasa de un teléfono público y una antena parabólica para hacer creer que hay una cabina en estos lares. Hay exploradores para todo, es evidente.
Después de tanto coche se va haciendo tarde así que busco un sitio para vivaquear en el margen de un arroyo (seco por supuesto). Arbolitos que hacen sombra y el sol que se pone allá por el horizonte. Esta vez me hago espaguetis con un filete pero antes miro en redondo por si hubiera depredadores con más hambre que yo (sería una lucha a muerte por la comida...).

iOverlander
I leave Opuwo and this time I am going along a route that is not on the maps I have, I have seen it in the satellite photos. I will go on the D3703 to the "Etanga Camp".
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and there I see that there is a track that later joins with the road that goes to Etanga town, which does exist and that I must take to get back to Orupempe. This is all just a bit of stubbornness of mine for wanting to get back to the Orange Drum where I played and abandoned the original plan.
The track is not bad in difficulty, you don't see many tracks of cars, but at least I see one of someone who has passed through here perhaps not long ago.
I pass through some villages and here if they look at me like a recently landed Martian, not many tourists should pass except me here (this track is not on the maps).
Everything is going well until I almost reach the end of this "unknown" track when I see that the ground sinks under my feet and a valley appears below, it turns out that I am on a plateau and the track descends vertiginously to the bottom.
Here I do stop to analyze the situation, the track goes down steeply boxed in between stones and it is clear that if I jump forward and the path becomes impossible I will stay there, very difficult I see going back up a path so steep and with curvy and boxed. Well, I will apply the procedure of going down by sections, always trying not to pass a point of no return: I walk down until I see a place where I could turn around with the car, if I can go down and I can go back up, I will go down, if not . I do the first section and I cheer up, it is very steep, but I go down without problems. I do the second, now with less air in my lungs and more sweat and well, fortunately, from now on, I can continue to go down with the car without any more damn sections, because the road opens up and there are many places to turn around. After a few bad times, I finally reach the valley and continue on, the valley is very beautiful, many trees, some Himba village from time to time and finally I reach the road (which does exist) that leads to Orupempe, now there are many car rides even though I never see anyone.
I get to Orupempe and now I only have the last stretch to the Orange Drum, I go back to the Skeleton Coast and again the landscape amazes me, I'm glad to have returned and to have the opportunity to enjoy it again.
I continue a little longer and I get to the Orange Drum again, this time I get down with my heart in a fist in case the curse of said drum is repeated, but no, the gods give the go-ahead for me to go ahead.
A little more and I come to the Blue Drum (the penultimate drum).
17 ° 47'27.3 "S 12 ° 23'17.7" E
Someone has bothered to bring the housing of a public telephone and a satellite dish to make believe that there is a booth in these parts. There are explorers for everything, it is evident.
After so much car it is getting late so I look for a place to bivouac on the bank of a stream (dry of course). Trees that shade and the sun that sets over the horizon. This time I make myself spaghetti with a steak but first I look round in case there are predators hungrier than me (it would be a fight to the death for food ...).

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(36) 2021-05-18 Camp Syncro

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I get up again with the freshness and after a breakfast of milk and cookies I continue on, the next milestone is the last drum, the RED ... from now on it will be all towards the North, to the border with Angola.
I stop at the Red Drum to take the usual photos that testify to such a great feat and a Himba girl with another child approaches me from behind.
She is very shy, but I give her a bottle of fresh water from the fridge and she cheers up a bit. Then I realize that it is a very poor present for such an occasion and I give him a carton of fresh Namibian milk.
I don't know what to do to break the ice, he tells me things, but the Himba language is not my thing.
............
The Herero language (Otjiherero) is a Bantu language spoken by the Herero ethnic group of Namibia and Botswana. In total there are 133,000 speakers. The Himba, who have a common origin with the Herero, speak a dialect of the Herero language.
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Well, I'm going to take some photos of them, taking advantage of the fact that they are alone ...! in this an older Himba lady appears and begins to question the girl with a very serious face ... after a long conversation between them, while I remained silent in case something fell, it seems that things are relaxing, so I return to my interest in photos ...
First I take some photos of the girl and the boy and their ornaments and in that I go to the lady to see if it sneaks in. I point to the ornaments around her neck and they fall down her back, and to my surprise she is startled and begins to arrange the ornaments in a flirtatious way. The girl starts laughing like crazy and I leave her my camera so she can take pictures of the lady ... after a few unsuccessful attempts, something comes out, in any case.
Things are more fun now, the lady laughs too and I ask her for more photos. To my surprise again, he sits on the floor without me saying anything and takes an artist's pose. Well, after a while entertaining he wants to sell me some gadgets that appear there (bussines are bussines), but I give him another bottle of milk and so happy.
I say goodbye to the trio and head north, I am entering the Marienfluss valley and it is 100 km of little valley until I reach Angola.
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Marienfluss: If you are driving, this is reached via Red Drum - a crossroads marked by a red oil can. There is a fairly new-looking Himba settlement at Red Drum. The Marienfluss It is covered with light scrub and the odd tree marks an underground river. A most noticeable feature of the Marienfluss is its 'fairy circles', These are circular patches without any vegetation.
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The route through the valley, I love it, it is surrounded by two rows of mountains that go from north to south in parallel and the valley in the middle, there are sections of very light green grass, others of sand, others of earth, areas of scattered trees , in any case the color contrast is incredible.
After those 100 kilometers of nothing, I finally reached the Kunene river that separates Angola from Namibia. There in the background the mountains of Angola ... a few tears of emotion for having reached the goal of my trip and I enjoy a while the landscape that surrounds me.
Link
I am heading to Camp Syncro where I will spend the night. It is a campsite that has some pitches right on the edge of the river and you almost touch the water.
I know a couple of Europeans there who say they have been traveling in Africa since they are 20 years old and are in their 60s now, they tell me lots of stories from their travels, I give them a frozen steak that I had in the fridge and we make a fire and we We divide it up among the three of us, have some very cold beers and spend a pleasant afternoon until it gets dark.
Before I have traveled the entire area in my car exploring as it is my duty and taking photos of the river.
Suddenly the stories of those climbers who reach the highest peaks come to mind and then perish on the descent from exhaustion and with my spirits restored I go to bed. Total! I only have 350km left to return to civilization through unexplored terrain.

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(37) 2021-05-19 Vivac

Google Maps
Me levanto tempranito y reviso a fondo el coche, aceites, presión de los neumáticos, que todo esté bien sujeto y después de desayunar voy a despedirme de mis amigos. Les vendo a buen precio 20 litros de Gasoil que les vienen de perlas porque no sabían si podrían hacer toda la ruta que querían o acortarla.
Después de intercambiar correos electrónicos y esas formalidades me dispongo a iniciar el largo regreso a la civilización. Tengo que llegar a Okongwati.
Link
Donde está la gasolinera de garrafa más cercana, calculo la distancia de nuevo y son 250 km creo, porque llevo ya 450km a cuestas desde Opuwo. Serán dos días, no creo que las pistas sean buenas y pueda hacer eso en uno.
Salgo pues con el ánimo levantado y recorro de nuevo Marienfluss por una ruta distinta dirección sur hasta el Red Drum de nuevo, cruce estratégico de caminos.
Mis amigas las Himba no están, pero veo un poblado bastante grande de ellos muy cercano, así que imagino estarán todos desayunando. A partir de aquí tengo que llegar a la Marble Mine, una antigua cantera de mármol ahora abandonada, donde hay un campsite donde podría dormir, pero antes he de cruzar el Red Drum Pass, un paso de montaña de mala fama.
Poco a poco me voy acercando, veo unas montañas que se acercan y el camino va tornándose más escarpado, y se va complicando con unas subidas bastante fuertes con mucha piedra grande que saltar por encima, son unos pocos Kms pero se me hacen muy pesados, por fin lo sobrepaso y llego a la Marble mine.
Para mi sorpresa el campsite está abandonado y en muy malas condiciones así que decido seguir adelante, todavía es temprano de todas formas.
Llego de nuevo a la región cerca de Orupempe donde el terreno es de nuevo muy llano pero debo girar al norte haciendo una U muy grande hasta Okongwati.
El camino es muy malo, realmente agotador, va continuamente subiendo y bajando colinas arboladas con mucha piedra y pendientes muy fuertes y cada vez estoy más cansado.
En estas me cruzo con dos señoritas Himba que van con un burro, una arriba y otra andando. Me saludan efusivamente como si yo fuera el esperado mesías y cometo el error de parar. Se me acercan corriendo y gritando como niñas llenas de alegría que casi me da susto. Una es más baja que yo, pero a la otra señorita no le llego ni al hombro. ¡Vaya hembra! Como es habitual van con todos sus adornos Himba cubriéndoles el cuerpo.
Llevado por mi gran corazón abro la nevera dispuesto a darles más leche pero descubro que se ha roto un tetrabrik, todo el fondo de la nevera está lleno de leche y los demás tetrabrik se están rompiendo y saliéndose la leche por la humedad.
Como tengo varias botellas de plástico de agua vacías me dispongo a rellenarlas con la leche y dárselas, lleno la primera, luego la segunda y última y parece que no voy a tener suficientes botellas, pero aparece la primera de nuevo y esta vez vacía, vaya con la señorita Himba, ¡que saque!
¡Finalmente se van riendo con sus botellas y su burro y yo me quedo sin leche, pero bueno! algún día llegaré a la civilización y me desquitaré.
Sigo adelante y cada vez hay más signos de ganado y poblados Himba, así que no veo como hacer vivac por aquí sin que me descubran, consulto mi base de datos de vivacs en Namibia y veo que hay uno cerca al lado de una presa que forma un estanque de agua.
Con mucha dificultad llego allí justo cuando se pone el sol, el sitio es muy bonito, pero antes de darme cuenta se hace de noche.
Resignado me tomo a obscuras una cerveza que me traje del Camp Syncro, un sándwich y a la cama.

Google maps
I get up early and thoroughly check the car, oils, tire pressure, that everything is well secured and after breakfast I am going to say goodbye to my friends. I am selling you 20 liters of Diesel at a good price, which is great for you because you did not know if you could do the whole route you wanted or shorten it.
After exchanging emails and those formalities I am about to start the long return to civilization. I have to get to Okongwati.
Link
Where is the nearest gas station, I calculate the distance again and it is 250 km I think, because I have already been driving 450 km from Opuwo. It will be two days, I don't think the tracks are good and I can do that in one.
So I leave with my spirits up and I go back to Marienfluss along a different route heading south to the Red Drum again, a strategic crossroads.
My friends the Himba are not there, but I see a fairly large village of them very close, so I imagine they will all be having breakfast. From here I have to get to the Marble Mine, an old marble quarry now abandoned, where there is a campsite where I could sleep, but first I have to cross the Red Drum Pass, a notorious mountain pass.
Little by little I am getting closer, I see some mountains that are approaching and the road is getting steeper, and it gets complicated with quite strong climbs with a lot of large stones to jump over, they are a few km but they are very heavy, I finally get past it and reach the Marble mine.
To my surprise the campsite is abandoned and in very bad condition so I decide to move on, it is still early anyway.
I get back to the region near Orupempe where the terrain is again very flat but I have to turn north making a very big U to Okongwati.
The road is very bad, really tiring, it goes continuously up and down wooded hills with a lot of stone and very steep slopes and I am getting more and more tired.
In these I come across two Himba ladies who go with a donkey, one upstairs and the other walking. They greet me effusively as if I am the expected messiah and I make the mistake of stopping. They come running up to me and screaming like girls full of joy that almost scares me. One is shorter than me, but I can't even reach the other lady's shoulder. What a female! As usual they go with all their Himba ornaments covering their bodies.
Carried out by my big heart, I open the refrigerator ready to give them more milk but I discover that a carton has broken, the entire bottom of the refrigerator is full of milk and the other cartridges are breaking and the milk is coming out due to the humidity.
As I have several empty plastic water bottles I am about to fill them with milk and give them to them, I fill the first one, then the second and last one and it seems that I will not have enough bottles, but the first appears again and this time empty, go with Miss Himba, take it out!
Finally they go laughing with their bottles and their donkey and I run out of milk, but hey! one day I will reach civilization and take it out.
I keep going and there are more and more signs of cattle and Himba villages, so I do not see how to bivouac here without being discovered, I consult my database of bivouacs in Namibia and I see that there is one nearby next to a dam that forms a pond of water.
With great difficulty I get there just as the sun goes down, the place is very beautiful, but before I know it it is getting dark.
Resigned in the dark I drink a beer that I brought from Camp Syncro, a sandwich and to bed.

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Photo of(38,39) 2021-05-20/21 Ohakane GuestHouse

(38,39) 2021-05-20/21 Ohakane GuestHouse

Google Maps

Me levanto tempranito y me tomo las galletas a secas por falta de leche, con un poco de agua entran de todas formas.
El camino sigue siendo muy malo y ya tengo un chichón en la sien de darme con el cristal de la ventana por los saltos. Pero sigo avanzando poco a poco. En esto me salen dos niños Himba a pedir cosas a este turista despistado. Ya no sé qué darles y se me ocurre una bolsa de pollo en porciones congelada que llevo. Contentos se quedan, eso parece, porque sonríen mucho. Siguen insistiendo en explicarme cosas, pero yo sigo también insistiendo en no enterarme de nada. De todas formas, nos despedimos efusivamente y sigo mi camino.
¡Hay! esta vez se me lanza una anciana Himba y me hace signos con la mano en la barriga de que tiene hambre. Eso lo deben haber aprendido en la clase de cómo hacer sentir mal a los turistas incautos, y de nuevo paso a rebuscar en la nevera.
Veo una bolsa de queso de esas de las Hamburguesas y otra de jamón de york, y se la doy, pero no parece muy convencida. En la bolsa aparece la foto de una hamburguesa y el queso de marras, se lo señalo y le digo "queso" "queso" pero no parece tenerlo muy claro. Es lo que hay así que me voy corriendo antes de que la cosa vaya a mayores. De todas formas, ya me he quedado casi sin comida a base de repartir a diestro y siniestro.

Por fin llego a Okongwati y lo primero que hago es ir a una tienda que me recomendó el matrimonio viajero que conocí en Camp Syncro. Me dijeron que la encargada era una chica encantadora. Me presento y le doy saludos de su parte. Les recuerda muy bien, me dice, porque vinieron con mucha hambre y les hizo de comer. Se me abren los ojos y le pregunto si puede repetir la jugada, se ríe y me dice que por supuesto. Me presenta a su padre y a su familia y se va a la cocina.
Al cabo de un rato me trae una tortilla riquísima que no había probado nunca. Su inglés es perfecto, así que le pregunto que donde aprendió a cocinar tan bien y como habla ese ingles tan bueno. Me cuenta su historia: estaba en la india haciendo una ingeniería mecánica y tras 3 años se tuvo que volver por culpa del coronavirus. Me deja asombrado, le sigo preguntando y me dicen que todavía le faltan otros 3 años más y que espera volver cuando la situación allí se normalice, aunque la veo muy pesimista. Le digo que yo también soy ingeniero y se alegra mucho. Charlamos un rato más, le doy mi correo electrónico y me despido.
Viendo el entorno de donde se ha criado esta chica es asombroso que su padre tuviera la fuerza de voluntad de mandarla tan lejos y proporcionarle estudios avanzados.
Tengo que repostar antes de seguir así que voy a donde las garrafas. Me quieren cobrar una barbaridad y desisto. He visto que en el pueblo no hay ningún alojamiento, no tengo Diesel, no tengo comida, las tiendas son muy básicas y no hay nada frio. Decido pues volver a Opuwo, son 100km, pero la carretera es muy buena (estilo namibio de todas formas, grava y muchos pasos traicioneros de arroyos secos sin puentes) y llego en un santiamén.
Cuando finalmente llego a Opuwo está todo desmadrado: las gasolineras tienen unas colas larguísimas, los cajeros automáticos llenos de gente esperando en colas enormes, los restaurantes a rebosar de locales comiendo a raudales, estoy asombrado, así que pregunto que qué está pasando. La respuesta es muy simple: es día de paga, parece que cobran este jueves la paga del mes. Todos están como locos gastando. En fin, ya es por la tarde y desisto de comprar nada así que me busco otro hotelito y decido quedarme también el día siguiente para descansar.
Mi próximo destino si nada se tuerce serán las cataratas Epupa al norte, otra vez en la frontera con Angola, el mismo rio Kunene que pasaba por el Camp Syncro.
Link

Google maps

I get up early and take the cookies dry for lack of milk, with a little water they go in anyway.
The road is still very bad and I already have a bump on my temple from bumping into the window pane. But I keep moving forward little by little. In this, two Himba children come out to ask this clueless tourist for things. I don't know what to give them anymore and I can think of a bag of frozen portioned chicken that I carry. They are happy, it seems, because they smile a lot. They keep insisting on explaining things to me, but I also keep insisting on not finding out about anything. Anyway, we say goodbye effusively and I continue on my way.
There are! this time an old Himba woman throws herself at me and makes signs with her hand on my belly that she is hungry. They must have learned that in class on how to make unsuspecting tourists feel bad, and again went to rummaging in the fridge.
I see a bag of cheese from those from Burgers and another one of ham, and I give it to him, but he doesn't seem very convinced. In the bag there is a photo of a hamburger and the cheese of yore, I point it out to him and say "cheese" "cheese" but he doesn't seem to have it very clear. It is what there is so I go running before things get bigger. Anyway, I have almost run out of food based on distributing left and right.

I finally arrive in Okongwati and the first thing I do is go to a shop recommended to me by the traveling couple I met at Camp Syncro. They told me that the manager was a lovely girl. I introduce myself and I extend my regards from you. He reminds them very well, he tells me, because they came very hungry and he made them eat. My eyes widen and I ask him if he can repeat the play, he laughs and says of course. He introduces me to his father and his family and goes to the kitchen.
After a while he brings me a delicious omelette that I had never tried before. His English is perfect, so I ask him where he learned to cook so well and how he speaks such good English. He tells me his story: he was in India doing mechanical engineering and after 3 years he had to return because of the coronavirus. He leaves me astonished, I keep asking him and they tell me that he still has another 3 years to go and that he hopes to return when the situation there returns to normal, although I see him as very pessimistic. I tell him that I am also an engineer and he is very happy. We chat a bit more, I give him my email and I say goodbye.
Looking at the environment from which this girl was raised, it is amazing that her father had the willpower to send her so far and provide her with advanced studies.
I have to refuel before continuing so I go to where the carafes are. They want to charge me a lot and I give up. I have seen that in the town there is no accommodation, I do not have Diesel, I have no food, the shops are very basic and there is nothing cold. So I decide to go back to Opuwo, it's 100km, but the road is very good (Namibian style anyway, gravel and many treacherous passes of dry streams without bridges) and I arrive in no time.
When I finally get to Opuwo, everything is out of control: gas stations have long lines, ATMs full of people waiting in huge lines, restaurants overflowing with locals eating in abundance, I am in awe, so I ask what is happening. The answer is very simple: it is payday, it seems that they are charging this Thursday the pay of the month. Everyone is spending crazy. Anyway, it is already afternoon and I give up buying anything so I look for another little hotel and decide to stay the next day to rest as well.
My next destination if nothing goes wrong will be the Epupa Falls to the north, again on the border with Angola, the same Kunene River that passed through Camp Syncro.
Link

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Photo of(40) 2021-05-22 Kapika Waterfall Lodge

(40) 2021-05-22 Kapika Waterfall Lodge

Google Maps
Después de un día de descanso en Opuwo, salgo para la catarata Epupa al norte.
Link
Son solo unos 180 km y la carretera está bien, así que lo hago en un tiempo razonable. Paro muchas veces a sacar fotos o ver el paisaje porque hoy no tengo prisa en particular.
Llego a Epupa y voy recorriendo la zona para familiarizarme, es un pueblo pequeño donde viven unos cientos de personas en casas muy sencillas, la mayoría de madera como son habituales por esta zona, hay un pequeño centro de asistencia primaria y varios campings a la orilla del rio para dar a los turistas la posibilidad de ver las cascadas sin moverse mucho.
No hay muchos de ellos, pero se ven unos pocos coches.
Me voy a un bar que está en lo alto de una colina y desde allí disfruto del paisaje mientras tomo una cerveza fría. Me doy una vuelta por los alrededores y conozco a una señora Himba y a su marido con 5 hijos que viven en una pequeña cabaña alejada del pueblo.
El mayor de los hijos de unos 7 años habla un poco de inglés y se ve a la madre super orgullosa de que su hijo pueda comunicarse con un "extranjero" como yo, le doy una bolsa de arroz que tenia por algún sitio y otra botella de litro de leche y se deshace en agradecimientos himba. Me despido y me voy debajo de un árbol a tomar un sándwich, pasa una chica joven y me saluda muy seria en un perfecto ingles. Es el contraste entre las generaciones jóvenes y los mayores, tal como pasaba en nuestro pais no hace mucho.
En estos estados, que fueron hasta no hace mucho antiguas colonias, todavía hay una diferencia enorme en el poder adquisitivo de los nativos originales y los nativos "Blancos", ambos colectivos luchan por seguir adelante, pero queda mucho camino para que algún día puedan equipararse. Si hablas con alguno de estos "blancos" nacidos aquí desde hace muchas generaciones, te dicen: ¡¡nosotros construimos este pais con nuestro esfuerzo!! es una discusión en la que no vale entrar, el sufrimiento que unos y otros y entre ellos mismos se infringió a estos pueblos fue tan grande que muchos casi desaparecieron.
Pero hablando de cascadas: al final me acerqué a verlas, no son especialmente impresionantes porque el caudal viene muy reducido, pero son bonitas. Todo el valle por donde transcurre el rio está lleno de palmeras y árboles y hay muchos animales.

Google maps
After a rest day in Opuwo, I leave for the Epupa waterfall to the north.
Link
It's only about 180 km and the road is fine, so I do it in a reasonable time. I stop many times to take photos or see the landscape because today I'm not in a particular rush.
I arrive in Epupa and I go through the area to familiarize myself, it is a small town where a few hundred people live in very simple houses, most of which are made of wood as usual in this area, there is a small primary care center and several campsites on the shore from the river to give tourists the chance to see the waterfalls without moving much.
There are not many of them, but a few cars are seen.
I go to a bar on the top of a hill and from there I enjoy the scenery while having a cold beer. I take a walk around the area and meet a Himba lady and her husband with 5 children who live in a small hut far from the town.
The oldest of the children of about 7 years old speaks a little English and the mother is super proud that her son can communicate with a "foreigner" like me, I give him a bag of rice that I had somewhere and another bottle liter of milk and melts himba thanks. I say goodbye and go under a tree to have a sandwich, a young girl passes by and greets me very seriously in perfect English. It is the contrast between the younger and older generations, just as it happened in our country not long ago.
In these states, which were former colonies until not long ago, there is still a huge difference in the purchasing power of the original natives and the "White" natives, both collectives struggle to move forward, but there is still a long way to go before they can one day be equal. . If you talk to any of these "whites" born here for many generations, they tell you: we built this country with our effort !! It is a discussion in which it is not worth entering, the suffering inflicted on these peoples by each other and among themselves was so great that many almost disappeared.
But speaking of waterfalls: in the end I went to see them, they are not especially impressive because the flow is very low, but they are beautiful. The entire valley through which the river runs is full of palm trees and trees and there are many animals.

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(41) 2021-05-23 Camp Cornie

Google maps
I leave Epupa early after having breakfast, my destination is Ruacana which is about 100km along a road that runs along the banks of the Cunene river.
My plan is to sleep in a campsite on the way that is near the river.
I take the last photos with the first lights of the day of the town of Epupa and I head west. the road is in very good condition and follows the bank of the Kunene river all the time. The entire bank of the river is occupied by the Himba with small fences where they keep cattle and cultivate what seems to me corn, although I am not very sure. here they are already very familiar with tourists and the children jump into the car to ask for money, no doubt encouraged by their parents.
Others are not, they are little ones who carry a herd of goats and stare at you without saying anything. After about 40km I arrive at the planned campsite and find it abandoned. Anyway, I get off to explore and when I get back to the car some Himba ladies have already set up a snack bar for me to sell me crafts. I get out of this as I can and go to find another one not many km away.
This new campsite is run by a married couple of about 50 years of White Namibians, they are the perfect stereotype, explorers clothes, hat, shorts, sturdy boots, they live in a simple house and they have set up this campsite with their satellite internet.
They have several cars that reminds me of the Mad Max movie, but they are very nice and they ask me about my trip and my impressions of the country.
I walk around the surroundings without losing sight of the monkeys that surround me and I spend the afternoon sitting by the riverbank.
Camp Cornie

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(42) 2021-05-24 Okapika Camping

Google maps
I leave the campsite already with the intention of reaching Ruacana and the path is still good, but when I am about to arrive I find the path cut by a river with a lot of sand and water and at the bottom some stone steps to go up to the shore. There are two cars in front of me trying to pass and they do it with considerable difficulty. Before I can backtrack, I jump forward and lurch past it, but not get stuck.
Link
A little before reaching Ruacana, the road climbs and offers a very good panoramic view of the falls, but to my disappointment they are completely dry.
Link
There is a dam built on the Angolan side that cuts off the water flow and from what I read you only see water when they open the gates to drain.
I do not stay much longer to see the area because it does not seem interesting to me and a few km later I stop on the shoulder to consult the maps. In this a car stops next to me and a man asks me if something is wrong, after chatting he tells me that I am standing at the door of his campsite and that I stay and he invites me to a glass of wine.
I stay to chat with him and he offers me the best room he has at a camping price and I accept without hesitation.
He is a former French "intelligence" military man, he tells me, who has been in almost every conflict in Africa and the Middle East. He tells me countless adventures that I can't tell, but he's very nice and he even takes out his guitar and sings French songs for a while.
When I arrived I gave her a couple of frozen steaks that I bought and don't even remember where, but they are very good and the cook prepares them with macaroni.
He invites me to a glass of wine and gives me a glass of water filled to the brim with wine, so after dinner I shakily say goodbye and retreat to the presidential suite.

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(44) 2021-05-26 Okaukuejo Camp

Google maps

I leave at dawn, as soon as the doors of the enclosure open, and I go east, I want to get to the "Oukuejo rest camp", which is at the beginning of the "salt pan".
The route is beautiful, and I have the opportunity to see many animals, although many of the natural "water-holes" that I visit are dry.
The Oukuejo field is very large and has all the services, it can also be accessed from the south by a paved road and therefore it is very frequented by tourists, as always, most of South Africa.
Link
Link

At reception they give me a good price for a cabin near the water hole and full board, so I'm like a king.
This waterhole is one of the most beautiful I have seen and very early in the morning I can see a lion drifting near the water.
There is also a very tall stone observation tower from where you can see sunsets and sunrises.

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Photo of(49,50) 2021-05-31/06-01: Living Museum Ju-Hoansi Camp

(49,50) 2021-05-31/06-01: Living Museum Ju-Hoansi Camp

Google maps

I leave Rundu early with the intention of reaching the town of Tsumkwe, a little further south and east, near the border with Botswana.
For this I am going to take a secondary road of about 120 km until I reach a more "main" road that will take me to the city.
As soon as I take this road, a girl stops me and asks me to take her to a primary school that has to deliver the CV for a teaching position, as she catches me on the way, I climb her and we leave. The km pass and the school does not appear anywhere, we finally arrive and deliver the happy CV, but then there is no mobile coverage, not even the gods pass on the road and I don't care to leave it there, so I take it again to the city.
I leave again, already very late, and pass through the school again, the road that, although gravel, was quite good, suddenly becomes a sandy road, narrow, and with many potholes that make me go very slowly.
The area is full of farms, cultivated fields and many cows; lots of locals walking the roads, so at least I'm not going alone for once. Suddenly 2 gentlemen appear, one in uniform and the other carrying plastic drums and they stop me, as I think it is the police, I stop right away, but I realize that it is a private security guard from some farm. The man with the drums tells me a very long story and I put on my best face of "my not understanding", for some reason he swells up laughing and as I correctly imagine he wants me to take him, I show him the door and he gets on.
Soon we arrived at his destination and he filled me with a bottle of empty water with a white liquid that he poured from one of the cans, as I still had my face of non-understanding, he made the sign for me to drink it and we said goodbye affectionately. I keep the bottle, but it gives me that I am not going to drink it.
The road continues endless, sand and more sand, cow and more cow and then the gates begin, you have to get off, open and close it and continue.
When I'm opening a particularly heavy one that is making me grumble, I see a line of all city terrains coming from the opposite direction (posh TT), some cars have orange lights on the roof, from the rotary lights, so I say to myself: What are they doing in this remote place?
A white guy with a jacket comes down with logos of some organization and tells me to continue: "Enjoy your trip", I wait to the side for them to pass and when the penultimate arrives, he stops, the back window is lowered, A very elegant man appears who smiles and waves at me, closes the window and they leave ... a certain politician !.
Anyway, after hallucinating another little, I keep going, the sun getting lower and lower and this never ends.
My maps tell me that as soon as you get to the main road there is a "community rest camp" that are usually campsites managed by locals in the area.
Indeed I arrive at the crossroads, I see a house with a sign that says rest-in-nosequé, a fence, a door and I go where the house.
I get out of the car and it's a shop with a lady and several locals. I ask him if he has a place to sleep and he looks at me and says: here? He answers that yes, that he is not going to charge me anything and that I park next to the house.
It takes me a long time to realize that I have entered a family's house instead of camping, all the locals are sitting outside looking at me like a Martian. But they don't say anything.
As I have already eaten something, my brain finally clears up, so I go to get the lady, I give her a chocolate bar (a very precious commodity), I buy her a beer and I tell her I'm going ...
For some reason she seems disappointed, but I say goodbye and hit the road.
I can't find the happy campsite and my maps tell me that 15 km away there is a village "san" with a campsite. So I head there.
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I arrive at the crossroads of the town and I see a sign that it is 6km away. The road is even worse than the previous one, again sand and a lot of trees and weeds that make you can't get off the road.
In this I see three gentlemen laden with hoes, blankets and work items that stop me. Since they block the road I have no choice. I recognize them from the "San" ethnic group and again they tell me an endless story. One who speaks English tells me that if I take them, but I tell him that I only have one free seat, they insist, they insist, that they want to go up on the roof. At the end I feel one by my side and the other two, one on each side of the car up on the footpegs from the outside.
I insist on asking you if we go this way well to the campsite: YES, YES, CAMPING ... uhm? I'm sure they say it so I can shut up and take them.
So here we go, the car looks like an old-fashioned tram. After a while of circulating effusively greeting all the "san" that are on the road, we arrived at the town. It is all full of people and they surround the car.
Before I can even step on the ground, they show me the list of activities that they have established: songs, dances, night walks, shooting arrows and no more, all for payment, of course.
It turns out that in the town they have what is called here a "living museum" which is how they do not lose their traditions: they dress in the "San" period and recreate all kinds of activities of their ancestors.
Before they get disillusioned, I "buy" a batch of night songs and dances for today and more songs and arrow-throwing dances early tomorrow.
They take me on the fly to the campsite, they assign me a place (everything is empty as always) and after half an hour, after dark, they appear dressed in traditional clothes. The one who acts as an interpreter comes in a loincloth and the poor cold weather, and it is that in this area when the sun goes down, the temperature drops a lot, in fact, I sleep with a jacket and a blanket.
They do their songs and dances, and the truth is they are very funny, after a while they finish and say goodbye until the morning when the second part plays.
It gets quite dark (it is 7pm) I have a beer from the tent, a sandwich and to the roof tent, there are only 12 hours until I get up.
I get up at 7am and by 8am they are all here in loincloths again. At least the sun has risen and it is getting hot.
More songs and dances, they make a fire with sticks, like in the movies, we go for a while to follow the tracks of bugs and collect medicinal plants. They build me a full bow in a bit and we shoot some arrows.
I was worried if he would kill someone, but they put a bundle of herbs imitating a bug, and we got 3 at a distance to shoot the little arrows at the same time ... Who is the only one who hits the target? the great white hunter, without hesitation. The "san" ladies swell with laughter. But fortunately there are no hard feelings and they let me continue.
I ask them to also show me the current town and, already dressed in the 21st century, they take me to the children's school, to the store and to see their houses.
The school was very good, it made a very good impression on me (it's free), the teachers were in an internal meeting, sitting outside and I didn't want to bother.
The store is not very big but sufficient and the houses are very modest, made of wood and tin.
The morning progressed so I said goodbye, I had to finally reach Tsumkwe and I still had 100km to go.
When I arrived I went directly to the entrance of the Khaudum National Park, but the camp where I was going to sleep inside was under construction and they would not let me enter unless I left the other end of the park, which was impossible in my circumstances. they were very late.
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Wilderness is indeed the Khaudum's comparative advantage. The park, situated in north-eastern Namibia bordering Botswana, has less than 3 000 visitors annually and there are few tracks through the deep Kalahari sand. More elephants than people are seen around the park. It is a refuge for African Wild dog and Roan antelope, Lion, Cheetah and Leopard are also found here.
At least two 4x4 vehicles are recommended per party, at least three days' worth of food rations per person and 100 liters of water per vehicle.
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So Mo went back to Tsumkwe and stayed in a campsite, which is very good, to spend the night.
Tomorrow I will return to the Khaudum park, I do not leave without seeing it, even if it is only a part.

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(51) 2021-06-02 Tsumkwe Lodge

Google maps
I leave the Lodge in Tsumkwe very early and head to Khaudum national park,
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It is almost 50 km to get to the South gate, along a very sandy road where you have to circulate slowly, so it takes more than an hour to get there.
Once all the paperwork to enter has been formalized: permits, payments, I speak with the reception ranger so that he can advise me where to go on a 1-day visit, since I cannot sleep inside. We agreed to go to the "waterhole" called Tari Kora and come back, and that is what I will do with some small variations.
The park is very beautiful, although it does not seem as "dangerous" as they say, at this time of year, it is winter, and it is quite cold at night and a very mild climate during the day. The roads are correctly signposted and although they can only be done in a 4x4, they are not difficult. There are many areas of dried mud that indicate that not long ago all of this was filled with water from the rainy season. Yes, if a storm catches you inside, you don't go out until everything dries up. At this time of year here, in June it no longer rains.
There are very few animals in the troughs, as the ranger told me, since the park has not yet dried up and the animals have many places to drink. The animals that I see are all very elusive, you can easily see that they are not used to "humans" as it happens in Ethosa, that you have to honk the horn to get them to move away and even then they do not let themselves, here instead when I see them from afar they stampede.
There are lions and although during the tour I put my arm out the window several times to see if they were coming and I could take a photo, they did not show themselves.
In short, a park that is worth returning to and spending a few days inside enjoying it.
In total I do almost 100km inside the park and another 100km to get to and from the resort.

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Photo of(52,53,54) 2021-06-03/04/05 Otijiwa Safari Lodge

(52,53,54) 2021-06-03/04/05 Otijiwa Safari Lodge

Google maps

2021-06-03:

I leave Tsumkwe early because today I have to do quite a few km. I have to head south, towards the capital Windhoek, because my car rental period is coming to an end.
My next destination is the "Otjiwa Safari Lodge" about 530 km from Tsumkwe, about 200km is gravel and the rest is asphalt. I reckon it will take me all day to do this trail. Indeed, although I left at 8AM, I did not arrive until almost 5PM.
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This Lodge is one of the oldest in Namibia, as indicated on its website:
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Otjiwa Safari Lodge is one of the oldest game farms in Namibia, which offers about 25 different game species, this includes the White Rhino. Otjiwa is 12,000 hectares in total and have up to 22 water dams, each with its own natural habitat.
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I arrive and stay in one of the bungalows in front of a small artificial lake. The Lodge is very nice and the room is also excellent. I allow myself this little luxury as this will be my last destination in Namibia.
As almost always, there are no other clients in this resort and I dine alone in the restaurant.
Not counting today, the day of arrival, I will be here two more full days, so I check at reception the activities they have organized and I sign up for two: "Game Drive" and "Rhyno Drive". The first is a tour of the reserve in a 4x4 with a driver who gives you an overview of the place and the second is more specific and consists of trying to locate one of the 14 white rhinos in the reserve and approaching they.
It's late and after dinner, really good, all the waiters to myself, I retire to my room.
Once the sun sets, the temperature drops considerably, we are at an altitude of more than 1500 meters and, although I don't have a thermometer, I estimate that at night it drops to a few degrees above 0º.
My room has two beds and I roll up the blankets for both of them and put them on top for the night.

2021-06-04

In the morning I get up early and after having breakfast, great, by the way, I go for a walk around the surroundings.
I travel about 10km around the accommodation area, a very small part of the total of this reserve, but I enjoy the morning. I pass a group of resort workers who are making charcoal in a set of small ovens and greet them. They look at me like another Martian, just landed, but after making sure I'm on the right track, I continue on my way. I hear a few ferocious growls in the undergrowth, but I don't give it more importance. Unfortunately later I find out that in addition to the Rhynos, there are cheetahs and leopards at this resort.
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Anyway, I imagine that it would not be any of these cute animals.
In the afternoon I go to the "Game Drive". This time a group of clients have appeared and we are going in two jeeps to do this excursion. They tell me later that they are workers at the company that buys the charcoal from them. They are almost all White Namibians except a married couple (whose husband spends the journey talking on his cell phone) and two girls. The tour is nice and ends after sunset. I have forgotten to bring my coat, I wear my shirt sleeves, and I get terribly cold when the sun goes down.

2021-06-05:

The next morning I have an appointment for the Rhyno Drive, the other clients have left and I go alone in an SUV with the guide.
We leave before sunset, at 6:45 AM and the driver-guide is trying to locate the footprints of the rhinos on the road.
We come to a "water hole" and find footprints from that same morning. We continued the road without much luck and when we had almost lost hope, he stopped suddenly and told me that he had seen 3 white rhinos (I don't see anything beyond the car's engine).
He gets out and tells me to follow him in silence, following his footsteps. Obviously I do that and after walking a short distance he hides behind some bushes and tells me to sit on the ground. So I have already seen them, they are 3 huge white rhinos grazing happily on this beautiful morning. They are about 20 meters away and you can clearly hear them express their joy for such good pastures. I sit on the ground and I take photos and videos with difficulty. Being surrounded by brush, my little camera insists on focusing at close range and many photos and videos are out of focus, but still enough.
I look askance at the guide and as I see that he is calm, I cross my fingers and make an act of faith.
The Rhynos are getting closer and closer and the evil guide insists on whistling that according to him, imitates the Rhynos. Indeed when they hear it they raise their heads, I do not know if they are angry or happy but they react.
They approach up to about 9 meters away, the 3 monsters these, and I can't take my eyes off the horn they have, but finally, after a time that seemed like forever, they gradually moved away without bothering to prick us.
After this exciting experience we return to the hotel, the usual sumptuous breakfast awaits me.
The rest of the day is spent preparing the papers to do the PCR test that I need to return, checking the return tickets, dismantling the car and taking out all my belongings to put them in the suitcase, because the next day I will arrive in the afternoon to Windhoek and first thing in the morning I have to return it.
I'll still be staying in Windhoek for a few more days until the plane leaves. I gave myself a few days of margin to have time for the PCR and just in case something unforeseen, such as a breakdown, delayed my return. I didn't want to lose the plane tickets. I will take the opportunity to visit the city. It is not very big and in a couple of days you can see everything without problem.

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(55) 2021-06-06: END Town Lodge Windhoek

So I leave the resort early for what will be my last day of travel with the car. I am about 250Km from Windhoek and the road is paved with no problem. Near here I have a small national park, The Waterberg Plateau Park, which is only about 65 km away, so, although I will not be able to stay long, I decide to visit it.
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The Waterberg Plateau Park was proclaimed in 1972 as a sanctuary for rare and endangered game species. The park has played a vital role in breeding species for the restocking of other parks and conservation areas. Towering sandstone cliffs, dinosaur footprints, mysterious rock engravings and some of Namibia's most rare and valuable game species are synonymous with the Waterberg Plateau Park.
In 1904, Waterberg was the scene of a battle between Herero warriors and German colonial forces. The Herero fighters suffered a bitter defeat against their oppressors and thousands of lives were lost in the ensuing retreat across the Omaheke Region into Botswana.
The park has been zoned into management areas for wilderness, trophy hunting and tourism. Within the park Bernabé de la Bat Rest Camp is one of Namibia's most visited resorts, while thousands of surrounding community members receive training at the Okatjikona Environmental Education Center annually.
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The park centers on a plateau of compacted Etjo sandstone, some 250m high. This lump of rock, formed about 180–200 million years ago, is the remnant of a much larger plateau that once covered the whole area. It is highly permeable (surface water flows through it like a sieve), but the mudstones below it are impermeable. This results in the emergence of several springs at the base of the southern cliffs, hence the name Waterbergor "water mountain".
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It is a very rocky plateau, which can only be accessed by walking on quite steep and rocky paths. Rainwater seeps into the plateau and forms many springs on the surrounding cliffs.
When I arrive at reception they give me a map and I do a 1 day hiking route (1 day visit) where no guide is needed. Unfortunately this route does not reach the plateau itself, although it does stay very close. I should have slept here to do the other ones longer.
Anyway, it is a very beautiful excursion and fortunately it is not hot, rather cool. It is very steep and you have to climb many fallen rocks, more than once I am tempted to turn back, I might climb the last day of the trip, but finally I complete it and go back to reception.
It is Sunday and there is not much truck traffic, so I make the way to the capital in a reasonable time, at about 100km / h.
I go to the hotel, and I dedicate myself to disassembling all my gadgets from the car, taking out the luggage and cleaning it, I have to return it first thing tomorrow morning.
I will be here for a few more days, I have to do the PCR and several other procedures. It has been a long trip, but I have been able to visit everything I had planned without major problems.
Namibia is a very quiet country to travel, it does not have security problems, except in the cities as elsewhere, and it has many accommodations to improvise during the trip, especially in low season, as now. Because of the dates and because of the fall in tourism due to the coronavirus.

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Photo of(43) 2021-05-25 Olifantsrus Campsite

(43) 2021-05-25 Olifantsrus Campsite

Google maps

After having breakfast the next day with my French friend, the former intelligence officer, I decide to continue my journey around Namibia.
My next destination will be Ethosa National Park, a little further south.
Etosha
This national park covers an area of almost 23,000 km2 and is one of the largest national parks in the world with more than 114 species of mammals and around 340 species of birds.
To a large extent it is dominated or constituted by a "salt pan" which is a great plain of salt and other minerals without any trace of vegetation. They say that it can be seen from space, although I have not been able to verify it.
When it rains, it fills with a large amount of water and hundreds of thousands of "flamingos" can be concentrated. Now the rainy season is over (January to the end of March) and there are only a few natural lagoons with water left, although there is a lot of dry mud. Everyone tells me that this year has been especially dry anyway, wherever I have gone.
The name given by the Oshindonga tribe to this "bread" was "Etotha", which meant 'the place where no plants grow'. But the first Europeans changed it to 'Etosha'. As they do in many places with the original titles of cinema films.
This "bread" was formerly part of the great Kunene lake that was fed by the river of the same name, but that ended up drying up, leaving the plain full of salt and minerals.
Here you can see lions, giraffes, all kinds of zebras, rhinos, etc. etc. The entire park is fenced on the outside, although the animals are completely free inside. The park administration has arranged many artificial "water holes" so that the animals can drink and when you drive through the park what you do is go from "water hole" to "water hole" to have the opportunity to see the animals.
The drier the season of the year, the easier it is to see the animals, since they only find water in these wells. In the rainy season it is more difficult since it has natural water everywhere and the animals are more dispersed.
Inside the park you can only stay in the "resorts" that exist, which are completely fenced to prevent any animals from entering. The doors open at 7:30 a.m. and close at 6:30 p.m. at this time of year that coincides with daylight hours. it feels a bit like Jurassic Park.
The resorts are always built next to a "water hole", which in some cases is illuminated with low intensity spotlights that allow the animals to be seen at night when they come to drink.
It really is a show that lasts for hours and hours, you can see how the different species of animals get closer very little by little and in such a way that only those species that are not natural enemies of each other coincide in the water, how they become Agreement is a mystery to me, it will be a kind of unspoken "non-aggression" pact.
For some reason when the lions came they were always alone, they must be very unfriendly.
For this visit I have decided to travel the park from West to East, about 400km approximately, not in a straight line.
The western part of the park where I am going to enter (Galton Gate) was recently opened to the public and is very different from the rest of the park.
Therefore, after a long trip from Ruacana on an asphalt road with endless straight lines, where you have to be careful not to fall asleep at the wheel, I enter the park and they advise me to go to the first resort that is not too far from there. , about 70km, and that's what I do.
The "Olifantsrus Campsite" is small and only offers camping services
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I stay here because the day is already well advanced and I pass by the viewpoint of the "wáter-hole" for a while where people are with binoculars and all kinds of gadgets.
South African tourists at the campsite all follow the same protocol, it is curious to see them, when it is going to get dark they light a fire and have a barbecue. Braai they call him:
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And in all the descriptions of the campsites or camping areas it always appears as the most important comment, if there is Braai and firewood and of what quality.
So later I go to bed surrounded by campfires and the smell of firewood, which is not so bad anyway.