Milou recently spent a little over a week across the border in gorgeous Namibia. She had the most amazing time, and kept a travel journal of all the adventures she and her friends got up to in the desert!
P.s – she also included the costs of all the campsites they visited so that you can properly plan an adventure to neighbouring Namibia, too!
We started our long journey to Namibia on a Thursday morning – packing our rented bakkie to the brim with all our gear.
- Thursday 05/07: Off to Namibia with my three roommates and our 4×4 named Aardwolf! Valerie and I bought a lot of groceries to bring with us on the trip – and of course we bought enough wine since alcohol is more expensive in Namibia (and wine is important!). We drove 600 kilometers this day towards the first campsite in Namibia, called Ai Ais.
Costs: R295 car tax and R105 for Ai Ais campsite.
- Friday 06/07: Time to go to the Fish River Canyon! This is the largest canyon in Africa, as well as the second most visited tourist attraction in Namibia. After being here for two hours it was time to head to Sossusvlei. Since the Sossusvlei was a bit too far away, we stopped at a small and cute campsite named Sterreprag.
Costs: R250 per person for the entrance of the Fish River Canyon and R90 per person for the campsite.
- Saturday 07/07: At around 9 am we drove up to Sesriem. This was a long, 300 kilometer drive. We explored the Sossusvlei and Doodvlei and took tons of pictures! After a long and tiring day, it was time for dinner at the campsite (aptly named Sossusvlei Campsite). The service was unfortunately not that great at the campsite, and in addition to the bad service there was also no water available at the campsite. Oh well!
Costs: R300 per person for the campsite.
- Sunday 08/07: At around 6 am I woke up with an awful pain in my upper lip. I woke up Valerie, and she started laughing because my lip was swollen up so badly! It seems I had been bitten by a spider! After laughing our guts out, it was time to look for a doctor. Luckily there was a very nice doctor on the campsite. After getting some medicine for my swollen lip, it was time to head to one of the most famous dunes in the Sossusvlei, named Dune 45. While we were exploring the environment, a guy came up to us and told us that we had a flat tire. Luckily the friendly man helped us with changing the tire. With a new tire it was time to drive to Walvisbaai. This was more or less a 300 kilometer drive. We stayed at Lagoon Chalets & Caravan Park. I would really recommend this campsite because of the relaxing atmosphere and neat and clean showers!
Costs: R130 per person for the campsite.
- Monday 09/07: We started our day with a breakfast at Hengel Club Walvisbaai. Sunday another unlucky thing happened: our windscreen broke! We had to take it to get fixed at Greg’s Motor Spaces. We had to wait for four hours, so we went to Dunes Mall to pass the time. Here we finally had some good Wi-Fi! After waiting four hours, it was time to head to Swakopmund. After seeing the lighthouse of Swakopmund we decided to drive further to Spitzkoppe. We parked Aardwolf at the Spitzkoppe Campsite and made Spaghetti Bolognese.
Costs: R150 per person for campsite.
- Tuesday 10/07: Unfortunately our day started with (another!) flat tire. After being helped with our tire, it was time to head to Windhoek. We spent some time arranging our stay at Urban Camp, and after that we wanted to have a dinner at one of the most famous restaurants in Windhoek: Joe’s Beerhouse. This is a great restaurant where you can even eat zebras and crocodiles! This was a very cool experience.
- Wednesday 11/07: We started our morning at a craft market in Windhoek. Next up, it was time to see some wildlife at N/a’an ku sê sanctuary. We met two very nice people who gave us some tips about where to go for dinner, and they invited us to watch the World Cup game with them. After seeing a lot of animals in the sanctuary, we had dinner at an African restaurant named La Marmite. The fish curry is definitely a recommendation! Once dinner was done, it was time to watch the Croatia vs. England World Cup game at a pub named Andy’s. It was a great evening with our new Namibian friends!
- Thursday 12/07: Time to head back to Cape Town! We drove almost 700 kilometers, before we finally stopped at the Orange River Rafting Lodge, and were greeted by the very friendly staff.
- Friday 13/07: Another 790 kilometers to go! We were still in our way back to Cape Town.
After driving more than 4000 kilometers, having two flat tires, a broken windscreen, a awful spider bite and meeting a lot of new friendly people we can truly say that we had an adventure-filled and absolutely great Namibian experience!
