Kaokoland

*** This is another good post. You want to open it on the blog, rather than on Facebook so you can see the videos and photos. There aren’t many car photos! ***

After the worst road in the world we drove through the Marienfluss.  All you could see for miles and miles was sand, with mountains in the distance. There were a few Himba villages, that had some stick huts with mud on the top. They also had corrals for their animals made of sticks to keep the wild animals out. We also saw fairy circles, which are circles with no plants in them. It was weird.

Then we went past some old drums. They were painted different colours. In the past they were put there to store petrol. But now there are funny things, like a computer keyboard that doesn’t work. A model caravan with a visitor’s book in it. We decided to ‘bang’ on the drums. See the videos:

Then we had a wild camp in a riverbed. It was awesome! We collected lots of wood and made a big fire. There were also pretty stones that was marble.  The most amazing thing happened at sunset. A giraffe appeared on the horizon and watched us. It looked a bit like a dinosaur, because to begin with you could only see from the neck up. Daddy thought it looked like the Loch Ness Monster. That night Mummy and Daddy found some scorpions with the UV light. They glowed green, but were actually really little.

The next day we had a good and a bad day. First it was a good day because we found some rock men. We found 2!! One was sitting next to a tree and another was on top of a hill of rocks.

It was also a good day because we saw lots of animals! There were ostriches, which we call battle chickens! We saw vultures, and a falcon. We saw lots of antelope, like gemsbok and springbok. We saw lots of zebra and in another riverbed we saw 2 giraffes. And then when we got close to our campsite we saw an elephant!

It was a bad day because in one of the riverbeds we burst another air spring. But that wasn’t the only thing. We couldn’t open the bonnet to get the jack. And when the air spring burst it also broke a brake hose. Daddy said a lot of bad words.  We had to drive 20km to the camp very slowly.

The next day we woke up to elephants in the campsite! There was a mummy and a baby! They went right next to our tent! We saw their tracks too! An elephant has a big footprint! It was amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

3

Van Zyl’s Pass (The worst road in the world)

*** You want to read this post on the website, not on Facebook, so you can see all of the photos. (Though there are lots of car photos!) Click the link… ***

After Epupa we drove to Van Zyl’s Pass. This was a road that Daddy really wanted to do.  The first day was pretty fun. The road was very bumpy. There was one bit where we had to go up a hill and some boys who were looking after their goats ran up next to us asking for ‘sugar’. We stayed at a community campsite, which was very sandy. We made friends with Beth and John, who were going to do the pass too. They had a landcruiser. And there was a group of Germans with 3 hilux cars.

The next day we did the pass. The start of the pass was fine. We caught up to the Germans really quickly.  Mummy, Genevieve and I had to get out and walk a few times, because the road was going up and down and was very bumpy. The road wasn’t very good.

There was a good lookout, about 2km from the end. We could see over a big plain called the Marienfluss.

After the lookout the road went straight down! Genevieve and I had to walk down hill for 2km! The road was very steep, there were lots of holes and big rocks.  Daddy had to get out and look at the road before he drove it. The car went on a big angle and Mummy had to hang off the side. I would not call this a very good road. I wouldn’t have wanted to be in the car. It was better to walk!

IMG_9164

Daddy did very well driving. I was glad when we all got to the bottom. Then we had lunch in the Marienfluss. Daddy had a cold beer.

 

2

Epupa Falls

We drove north all the way to border with Angola. On the way the road had lots of big dips. at the bottom of one dip there was a big bang and we burst another air spring. But we had a spare and Daddy fixed it.

We stayed at a campsite with a big pool. It was fantastic, but the bottom was a bit slippery. There were some cool lizards with orange and yellow heads!

We went to the Falls. They were big, but we didn’t see any crocodiles!

We have also seen some baobab trees. They have massive trunks and look like they have roots where the branches should be. We tried to put our arms round it, but it was too big!

We did see lots of Himba ladies selling bead bracelets and wooden bowls. When we come back to Namibia we are going to go to a Himba village. The ladies don’t wear any tops, but have lots of necklaces. Their hair is plaited and looks like it is covered in orange mud, except for the ends which are black and tufty.

2

The Skeleton Coast

*** Delayed Post – internet is not always available in Namibia ***

*** If viewing on Facebook, click on the link to see all the photos ***

After Swakopmund we drove north, and went up the Skeleton Coast. It is called this because there are lots of skeletons, animals and ships.

There were lots of shipwrecks marked on our map, but most of them have disappeared. There was one ship that we saw that was still obviously a ship. It was wrecked in 2008, and was called the Zeila. It was a fishing boat.

IMG_8935

Some of the shipwrecks only had a few bits of metal left. On one you could see the engine.

We got stuck in the sand and Mummy and Daddy had to do some digging. We also saw some wild african dogs. There were lots of animal tracks.  We thought they might have been made by hyena, jackals and wild dogs!

 

1

Swakopmund

*** Delayed Post – internet is not always available in Namibia ***

*** If viewing on Facebook, click the link to see all the photos ***

After Walvis Bay, we went to Swakopmund. Daddy’s knee was a bit better. He gave his crutches back to the hospital.

We did a drive called The Welwitschia Plains – A Scenic Drive. To begin with, we couldn’t see very far because there was a sea fog. The sea fog is important because it gives water to the plants.  It looks like there is nothing growing in the desert, but when we looked closely, the ground was covered in lichens. We gave them some drops of water from our water bottles, and they opened up. The lichens grow really slowly, less than 1mm a year. It was important not to stand or drive on them.

We also saw 2 different bushes. One is called the dollar bush because its leaves look like money. The other was called the inkbush.

We drove through an area called the moon landscape. It had lots of furrows caused by erosion of the ground. We also saw a stripe of dolerite rock.

Then we went to see a really old plant. It is more than 1,500 years old! It is called a Welwitschia Mirabilis. It looks like it has lots of leaves, but actually it only has 2! This was easier to see on the smaller plants. The leaves get all shredded. I thought they were cool.

 

2