- My wife used fancy words - enjoyKAOKOLAND with its ever-varying magnificence!
From Midstream to Swakopmund - our 2 day journey was made to the Kaokoland departure point, a once-in-a-lifetime journey to explore the isolated and Wild Namibian North West.
Day 1 - Total Km’s: 316
Friday morning big excitement builds as the 4x4’s starting to arrive, packed and polished four 4x4’s, 14 people, and 1594km’s lying ahead.
From Swakopmund we hit the misty salt road, stopped off at Hentiesbaai to fill up the Jerry cans with fuel and tanks with water and off to the Skeleton Coast. Once we entered the iconic gates to the park, an eerie feeling approaches us as we know we are entering this remote area with its inaccessible shores which has given the Skeleton Coats its well-deserved name.
By mid morning the mist has cleared and the timeless beauty of the Skeleton Coast is revealed. Ghostly shipwrecks, windswept dunes and flat plains give way in places to rugged canyons and extensive mountain ranges with walls of richly coloured volcanic like rock. This is not the usual domain for humans, but those that visit are privileged to see one of the few places on earth where you can experience fearless solitude and become attuned to ocean echoes and desert silence.
9 km short of Torra bay we turned off towards Damaraland with its harsh stretch of burnt mountains, sandstone formations and rugged semi-desert landscapes. From there we continued south towards the Huab River where we camped out in the riverbed for the night.
Day 2 - Total Km’s: 305
Arise to an early start, we were aiming for Opuwa. Went back north through Palmwag, an oasis in the middle of dust-covered rocks towards Sesfontein, 3 punctures in 175 km, hopeful that we might get some fuel to top up the Jerry’s, and be able to repair the first of our badly cut tyres. With no fuel, no real petrol station facilities like we know it – we continue through Joubert’s Pass towards Opuwa, and at sunset we pulled in at the Opuwa hotel for the night.
Day 3 - Total Km’s: 192
And this was where the real off-roading started. Hello Kaokoland! We are off to the infamous Van Zyl’s Pass, the gateway into Marienfluss. We started to encounter the first Himba people on the hardly signposted, corrugated and stony roads. With only 192 km for the day, we spent the night in a sandy riverbed 8km away from Van Zyl’s Pass.
Day 4 Total Km’s: 128
We thought it was going to be a breeze of a day and can cover good ground, little did we know that the 8km run-up to Van Zyl’s Pass will take us 4 hours. The 4x4’s were tested to their limit, with the narrow coarse screed and jagged rocky track leading through the rugged Otjihipa Mountains, tired shaken bodies we reach the Marienfluss lookout point. It evoked a sense of peace and hope, the 300 000 hectare grass lands and its fairy circles speak of magic. With its abundance of space, peace and tranquillity is beyond any doubt one of the most magnificent sights we have ever seen. Then a Himba family, with their isolated existence and culturally rich lifestyle standing close by, stare at us while we admire the never-ending grass plains…
Now only a further 9 km down Van Zyl’s pass which is regarded as the most difficult pass in Namibia. Respected and even feared, people develop a strong desire to experience it. The gradients to be surmounted are quite extreme. Car-by-car, rock-by-rock we were carefully navigated down the mountain, advice-givers, navigators, back-seat drivers, photographers and the sweat-dripping drivers one-by-one, we made it through with a distinct sense of achievement. And AT LAST we can place our memory stone on the pyramids at the bottom of the Pass with our name written on it.
We took a breather at the bottom of the pass and cracked open a cold one. The kids having a race on the Himba donkeys, and the men chatting away about this adrenalin pass they had just mastered.
Then the utopian landscape of the Marienfluss valley, surrounded by the shimmering purple mountain chains of the Hartmann Mountains. Slightly soft but nevertheless negotiable sand roads leading through a slightly undulating grass savannah, leading us to the most beautiful site of the Kunene River, and brief glimpse of Angola. We had a quick shower at the local campsite and went back south to look for an overnight spot.
Around the fire that night the excitement still stirred about the doings of the day, the pass, the donkeys, the grass-lands, the Himbas the Kunene till everyone eventually fell fast asleep under the starlit sky.
Day 5 Total Km’s: 171
9:00 the morning after camp was packed-up we needed water to cool down with the sun hovering above us at an already 37°C. With great luck the Himba-Cattle was our giveaway to a refreshing waterhole against the side of the mountains.
The plan was to reach the Red Drum the previous day. Now Red Drum is not a hotel or a spa or even a shop. It is, in fact, just a painted red oil drum in what seems the middle of nowhere, but it marks the end of Marienfluss. The drum, along with a green and blue drum, is very important landmarks and all have GPS points – Probably the only oil drums in the world marked on maps!
Straight, bone jarring corrugated tracks, scorching temperatures and little animals, we managed to make it to Purros Campsite for the night.
Day 6 Total Km’s: 123
From here we drove in and along the Hoarusib River, splashing and playing our way through in the lion-track covered sandbanks. Get stuck, recover, swim, splash, play till we eventually reached the harshness of the vast Skeleton coast, completely different than before. With its remarkable contrasts it is difficult to visualise desert alongside an ocean. The Skeleton Coast seems to be in a world of its own. Whatever the reason, this piece of land was created to be so entirely different from anywhere else that comparisons are invalid. It is a part of Namibia that really must be seen to be believed. We spent the night in the Hoanib riverbed where the stories of the day became faint under the beautiful African sky.
Day 7 Total Km’s: 166
Big excitement awoke us early morning as a desert elephant walks a few metres away from our camp, calm and collective as he enters our space. In awe we are, at this giant creature surviving off Apple-ring Acacia pods and very very little water. With his dust covered body he gracefully ventures off. We pack up camp and ready to leave as we decide to go for a walk, as we reach the top of an embankment we basically came face to face with our desert friend. In full charge with the only thing separating us is the 5m height difference. Phew, that was close!
Through the riverbed we have to make our way back to Sesfontein as our fuel is starting to run dry. No luxury of aircon in fear that we might not make it back. Kids on the back of the pick-up in 47°C heat, sun, dust and ‘plofstof’ we work our way back through thick sand and gorges.
With a huge sigh of relief Sesfontein has got fuel, other than 6 days ago. We took it easy the rest of the day at the Ongongo Hot Springs till we eventually set up camp next to the Khowarib Schlucht River close-by.
Day 8: Total Km’s: 187
With a quick swim in the river the morning we wave Kaokoland farewell and made our way to Etosha Heights Game Safaris, a private lodge bordering 75km of the famous Etosha National Park. With a warm welcome, and fantastic hospitality, Etosha Heights Game Safaris organised this unforgettable trip and completed our holiday to a perfect ending.
And from there our 2 day journey started back, lost 1 tyre completely due to a side wall cut, 3 slow punctures and no spare we just just made it home.
But make no mistake this was no holiday – it was an incredible experience with much learnt along the way. From the word go we just fell in love with this wonderful country of Namibia. Namibia never fails to enthral us, to charge our fantasies and imagination. It is not possible to aptly describe the multi-facetted grandeur and harsh splendour of this desert country.
So now where to next in Namibia? - Damaraland is calling
)
)