Postcards from Namibia
As we embark on our return journey from Windhoek, sitting on my stretched seat, I am hallucinating postcards from Namibia. When we first agreed upon this destination in the family, I was totally unaware of what to expect from this country. And when I told my friends that I was going to Namibia — I was shrugged off with reactions like — “Where is this country?”, “Do you mean Nambia, oh wait that’s Zambia?”, “Why don’t you go to South Africa or Kenya instead?”, “umm…okay”. And on the other side of this trip, this was my most satisfying experience ever. I am exceptionally over-awed by this country’s people, infrastructure, culture, lifestyle, food, warmth, sightseeing and this trip overall!
Usually, I pick an offbeat angle to describe my travels, but this destination was so unconventional that I’ve decided to give you a low down on my trip which, I hope, inspires you travel to this incredible country.
Namibia
· Flight- Travelling from Mumbai, we preferred the Ethiopian Airlines flight via Addis Ababa. It’s a nice and convenient flight and if you are a Star Alliance member, you can also cash on to some miles.
Internal Travel- As we were 5 of us, rather than opting for the mainstream Toyota Fortuner, which we saw in hundreds during the trip, we selected the Volkswagen Kombi and that we definitely our wisest decision. It has a 2–3–3 config, but we removed the middle seat from the second row and made space for our fully loaded icebox which was graciously lent to us by Namibia Car Rental. The boys ensured that it was always stocked with beers, coke, Schweppes, chocolate milk, etc. which was a necessity as we traversed 2,500 km in the country. The Kombi also was perfect for our voluminous luggage and ahem ‘leggage’.
· Food- Born into a typical vegetarian family, adopting to different palates has always been difficult for me, but surprisingly Namibian food was so tasty and Indian-friendly, that I didn’t miss the boring veggies that I eat in India. I think I am going to embrace some of their recipes in my regular diet.
· Culture- Culture is the deal-maker of any country and to say the least I am heart-warmed by the Namibians. We were chatting with this friendly Namibian police duo who told us that they are proud to be Namibians. In Namibia — Blacks and Whites have similar status and that Namibia is the most peaceful African country.
The rules of Africa are that when you see an African- whether he’s a shopkeeper or the police or even the bartender, you greet him, ask him about his day as he asks you about yours and then you move to business. If you directly talk about your work, it is considered rude in Namibia. As Mumbaikars, honestly, it took us a bit to adopt this, but as they say — “There’s no hurry in Africa.”
Windhoek: We landed in Windhoek, collected our Kombi from Namibia Car Rental and checked into Arrebusch Travel Lodge. It’s a huge resort in the center of the city, quite popular for tourists and campers staying ahead of and post their trip. We had booked a massive 2,500 sq. feet fully equipped 3 bhk villa which had a personal parking for the Kombi inside the villa, facilities like — kitchen cooktops with exhaust, washing machine, dryers, dish washer, 2 door fridge, TV, 2 bathtubs, barbecue, outdoor seating and a lovely lush lawn. Husband was totally impressed by the layout of the villa and decided to replicate one like this in the due course of his life. About 2 km from Arrebusch was The Groves Malls of Namibia which had a Super Spar outlet from which we stalked 18 beer cans, 3 ciders, 1 breezer, 1 750 ml Ciroc Vodka, mixers — all for Indian equivalent of 4,000 rupees. Namibia is one such country where the alcohol is much cheaper than water and you know the rest. ;-)
Sossusvlei: Next day, early morning after sumptuous breakfast at the Arrebusch Country Lodge, we made our way to Sossusvlei — to experience some Windows & Mac wallpapers. It was a 350 km drive from Windhoek and it took us 5 hours with meals stop. Around 100 km was tar road, on which we usually sped at 120 kmph but the next 200 km was gravel road, on which you can easily drive at 60 kmph.
For meals, we took a halt at Solitaire which the husband described the location as Radiator Springs from the movie — Cars. Festooned with old dented cars, rugged petrol pumps, this meal stop had a grunge look. All of the meal stops across Namibia had a restaurant, a tourist information shop, a curio shop, clean washrooms and a fuel station. We feasted on some Windhoek Lager and tasty chicken burger and chips.
After a not-so-bumpy gravel road drive, we reached and checked into Sossuslvie Lodge and I must say that it is one of the most exotic places I’ve ever stayed in. It’s right next to the desert, a pack of Oryxes or Wilder Beasts drinking water at the nearby waterholes is a regular sight at the lodge. In fact, when we took a dip in the pool, a group of guinea fowls greeted us. I think they were after our Windhoek Lagers.
At sunset, we were invited to enjoy a plush spread of dinner with salads, starters, breads, stir fry, exotic meats like Oryx, Zebra, Wilder Beast, Kudu, Springbok, Warthog etc. I relished the vegetarian dishes, but the husband and elder dongru went in for every meat they could lay their tongues on. When they got their well-done meat, they happily claimed themselves to be the predators of these wild animals — well what can I say :-P.
Next day, we had an early start to the day as the park gates of Sossusvlei open at 6.50 am and it was emeritus to reach their to reach their before the other cars. After a 50 km drive, we reached at the entrance of the Big Daddy Dune.
Since our Kombi was not a 4x4, we took a 12 seater 4x4 to reach the foothill of the dune. It is advisable to reach there as early as possible as to avoid the midday scorching temperature of the desert. Trekking on the dune was harder than I supposed it would be. Your feet would constantly sink in the loose sand and when you go one step up — you also come have a step down. The key to acing that trek was gentle but short steps.
Few thousand steps and nearly 2 hours later, we made it to the top of the dune and it was worth it. The peak gave away stupendous views of the surrounding dunes, sand as far as the eyes can see, Aladdin and Alibaba were unfolding their stories in front of my eyes.
After taking a few pictures and sipping some water, it was time for us to start our descend. The husband has a ra idea of running down the dune rather than tracing our steps of ascent. As ridiculous it sounded, elder dongru and I complied to it and we were on our way out and I must tell you that it was absolute fun! The hike that took us 2 hours to go up, we came down laughing our bellies off in less than 2 minutes.
As we came down, we were greeted by another wallpaper from Namibia — the Deadvlei — 6000 year old trees of Namibia, a wallpaper from my old Windows PC, the backdrop for many hindi songs, soothing to the sore eyes -what a bliss to see it — I said to myself, “I feel like I found life in the dead”.After our trek, we headed to Dune 45 for some family portraits. It is perfectly placed in the north south direction, so in the morning one side of the dune is completely lit and the other side is dark — another wallpaper revealed by this mystifying country.
Post this we visited the Sesireim Canyon which earlier constituted the Kuiseb river. We took a short 30 minutes hike in this troughs and gorges. To my mind, it was ordinary as compared to the other scenes of Namibia.
We also visited the Elim dune which wasn’t that great as such but we were delighted by a wonderful Animal-Planet-isque sight. An oryx crossed the road, which was followed by an ostrich. They gave their troop a clearance and then we saw 33 ostriches crossing the road, running with their tall slender legs, with the oscillating movements of their elongated necks. The pride of ostriches was chaperoned by another Oryx at the end who ensured that all ostriches crossed the road safely. We immediately concluded that in the jungle ostriches and oryxes are friends. Throughout our trip, you could always spot them together. Long after this sight, I kept wondering if I knew of a joke about ostrich crossing the road, if any of you remember that — please hit me up in the comments.
Swakopmund: From the dusty and blistering dunes, it was now time to experience the beaches of Namibia. We took a 400 km drive to Swakopmund — the German town of Namibia. Most of the way was gravel road, but since husband and elder dongru had gotten good hang of the Kombi, we sped along the routes. Midway, we came to another picturesque canyon and stopped for some pictures. A 2-min trek from the car to the top but the view was astounding.
To tick one of my wishes off my ’30 things to do before 30’ bucket list, the husband took me to throw myself off from a 10,000 feet high plane — yes, Skydive. We dived all for USD 400 with the best German facilities and precision — told you, there’s nothing to be disappointed when you are in Namibia.
For dinner, we went to Swakopmund Brewhouse to enjoy some German beers — Castle Lager, Castle Lite, Windhoek Lager, Windhoek Light, Windhoek Draught, Savanah Dry, Hunter Dry, Hunter Gold and Hansa Draught are some of the beers that we thrived on in our journey. Hansa Draught was the choicest for me among the lot.
The next day, we were supposed to go to Walvis Bay and husband told me that we are going to the beach so I dressed up In shorts and a beachy top but little did I know that I am going to be frozen by the cold breeze of the Atlantic Ocean. After reaching Walvis Bay, 60 km from Hotel Zum Kaiser, we were invited to be aboard on a seal and dolphin cruise.
Our captain, who was concerned about my legs turning the colour of the sea was kind enough to offer us extra hoodies and blankets. The five of us seated ourselves at the head of the ship, huddled under blankets, shivering from cold, trying to anticipate what’s next and unexpectedly an African Pelican came and sat on our boat just two feet away from me. Now I was shivering with fear. Those who know me know about my fear of animals can imagine how this must be for me.
Tucked away in Aai’s hug, I was literally gasping in fear from the bird still enjoying looking at how prettily it had been painted by nature. Before, I could get a moment to calm myself down — a seal jumped on our deck. It wooed everyone’s attention from the pelican as it glided from one edge of the boat to another. After posing for a few pictures, the seal made its way back in the ocean. Husband, who is an animal lover, petted and fed the pelicans. A sea gull actually snatched a fish out of the husband’s hand that he was holding for the pelican — that sight got everyone laughing.
All arrangements were made to keep us warm and consumed on the cruise. They constantly served coffee, hot liqueurs, beers, soda to the guests. After a few minutes, we got really comfortable in the cruise and started spotting seals, birds and other ships.
Our captain called us for lunch and told us that they were going to serve Oysters. She explained how Namibian oysters are world-famous and if someone had never tried oysters — this was their moment. I don’t know what it was — the cool ocean breeze, cuddly time with family, the vibe of Namibia that I decided to take the plunge. Elder dongru nicely spiced my oysters with Tabasco, oryx salt and pepper and a chunky slice of lime and then I went for a slurp. It was truly delicious — a delight that one should not miss. I got all the oysters left on the table and had a go at them. This experience was turning out to be so surreal. I felt like I was finally in love with Namibian aquatic life.
After a disappointingly distant and short halt near the seal island, we went back to the front of the deck where our friends pelicans were back. I also mustered the guts to feed them fish and take some pictures. On our way out, Mr. Seal came on-board to say bye. It was really unexpected that I’d enjoy the cruise so much. For me coming out of my comfort zone is most comforting feeling and I feel that I truly did it here!
Next, we loaded ourselves in a 4x4 for the most splendid highlight of our trip — “Sandwich Harbour — Where the Desert meets the Sea”. It is the only place on Earth where the huge sand dunes of the Namib desert coast the Atlantic Sea. Almost 2 hours into the desert, our 4x4 driver presented a culinary delight with delectable finger food and a pop of champagne — one of our memorable meals on this dream-like trip.
We retreated back to Zum Kaiser and enjoyed dinner and wine in an on-shore restaurant called Jetty, then called it a night.
Etosha
Crossing the Trans-Kalhari Highway, we drove another 500 km north on tar roads to reach Etosha and stayed at another exquisite property called the Etosha Village — where Oryxes, Kudus, Zebras roamed about freely like tame animals. Not only was this stay inside the forest area, but also it provided a fully private balcony for each of its 50 cottages, making it a unique combination of cozy and exotic.
We did self-driven forest safaris in our VW Kombi for the next two days. In Etosha, roads and areas are marked adequately so one does not need a guide to enjoy this park. The unique thing about Etosha is that you can see animals in plenty — not one or two but hundreds of animals together, crossing roads, drinking water, playfully tugging and creating a magical postcard right out of animal planet. Reaching the watering holes at the right time is the key. The only two things to remember are :
- Animals have the right of way
- Do NOT get off from your car in areas otherwise cordoned off from the animals.
Stories from Etosha:
Alas, with Etosha — this blissful dream concluded.Uff! I still cannot believe all that I saw with my naked eyes. Such a mesmerising journey- something that will always remain close to my heart. Our first African road trip — a blend of Desert, Sea and Forest - so complete and fulfilling. Given a chance, I would go back to Namibia in a heartbeat to revisit these postcards from the beautiful country.
If you do plan a Namibia trip, then do let me know in the comments and I am happy to share the itinerary and travel agent’s details with you.
Cheers!
