Africa 2017: 4 Countries Camping Safari
Cape Town to Victoria Falls on the 21-day Nomad Safari. South Africa to Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe 31 August – 19 September.
I met a lovely young woman from Brazil on my Cape Explorer outing to the southern-most tip of the African continent. Fernanda told me she was embarking on a 21-day adventure, a camping safari leaving in two days and going from Cape Town all the way to Victoria Falls. One of the issues in looking into potential safari trips turned out to be the cost of flying in and out of different locations – adding about $600 to an already costly trip. For one week, the cost of a “non-participatory” camping safari (where they put up tents and do everything for you) was $1880 USD. This 21-day trip with Nomad was “participatory” and, with all the activities included, came to $1900 (no single supplement and no expensive flights!) I contacted Nomad and although the tour Fernanda was on was already booked, they had one single spot left on the same tour leaving two days after that. So off I went to buy the few things I would need to have with me – hiking shoes, sleeping bag, etc.
Day 1 – South Africa: Cape Town to the Cederberg Region
The tour started in Cape Town. We got everything loaded up into Roy (our truck) and the first stop was the V&A waterfront. Since I had spent a number of days there already, I didn’t need to snap any photos, but was glad to head into the shopping area as the store where I bought my gear had forgotten to remove one of the security tags. Although they weren’t open yet, there were clerks inside and I was able to wave them over and have them remove the tag! We continued to a viewing point to see Table Mountain, then provisioned up at a supermarket and headed north to the wine country. We stopped at one of the local wineries on the western cape for a tasting. None of the wines were memorable, and the guy seated to my right was delighted to be invited to finish up what was in my glass after the first sip of each taste. 😊 We continued north to the Cederberg region. We camped at a property that was an orange grove as well as a tea plantation. They prepared a “braii” (barbeque) for us which was quite good – grilled chicken heavenly spiced and salads. Their rooibos tea was excellent and I brought back some despite the lack of room in my overstuffed duffels.
Day 2 –Namibia to the Gariep (Orange) River
We continued north and camped just alongside the Orange river where it divides Namibia from South Africa. On the way, we stopped at the town of Springbock to provision. It was payday and even at 3PM the supermarket was jam packed and we waited on line for at least 30 minutes (or more). It was a long day driving (as most of the days will be), but lovely to see the transformation of the landscape from lush greenery to the various forms and colors of desert. Traveling in early spring, we saw more wildflowers and grasses than one normally would find, which was lovely.
Day 3 –Namibia to Gariep (Orange) River – Fish River Canyon
We started the day with a canoe trip along the Orange River, which was very scenic and got the blood flowing after just sitting for days. After lunch, we packed up and headed across the border to Namibia and further into the desert through Namib-Naukluft National Park. More beautiful scenery, more driving… though in Namibia the roads are terrible. We were bumping and bouncing along in “Roy” and I was glad to have brought my high-impact sports bra along, LOL!!!
Day 4 – Namib-Naukluft National Park
We continued through the national park, heading north and west into the rural areas of Namibia farmland (aren’t they all pretty much rural?) and then into the desert.
Day 5 – Sossusvlei Dunes and Namib-Naukluft National Park
We started the day early and climbed up Dune 45, the third largest in Namibia, witnessing a beautiful sunrise. We were at Sossusvlei Dunes in the park, and the following day was pretty much dedicated to play – ATV’s, skydiving, camel rides, etc. We stayed in a lodge at Swakopmund two nights, which was a nice change from pitching a tent each night. The good news is that I had my own tent, but that also means I have to do all the work myself, which I pretty much think is impossible. The tent structure being in 12 interlocking pieces that then need to be inserted into the corners of the tent. Unless you have someone holding one end, everything springs apart at the last minute and you get to start over again. ☹ People came over to help me, but schlepping the tent and the structure, rolling and packing, etc. were all done on my own. So, I was looking forward to having a break, and my own room, for the following two days.
On the way to Swakopmund, once we reached the Atlantic coast – which was quite a change from the hot dry desert, we were excited to be met by a riot of pink!!!!… flamingos! I had never seen pink flamingos in the wild before and they were awesome.
Day 6 /7 – Swakopmund
Swakopmund is nothing to speak of, and I wasn’t interested in any of the activities. I was more interested in getting my hair touched up (I was in desperate need), and just relaxing a bit. Going from a month of sailing to a full-on schedule with this tour was a lot. I also was planning to do some skype calling so I skipped the group dinners (glad to have an excuse to get into bed early rather than have a late evening).
Day 8 – Swakopmund to Khorixas
We had a leisurely start (10am) and provisioned up before heading out of town and deeper into the desert. We stopped along the way to view a washed-up wreck on the shore, but that wasn’t particularly interesting and I could have skipped that. A road was closed along our route so we needed to backtrack and take another way – as if we didn’t already have enough driving to do!!! We ended at Spitzkopf, late and almost missed our tour. It was interesting though, with some unique rock formations and some Bushman rock art, some of it dating back hundreds of years or more.
Day 9 –Himba Tribes: Outjo
We visited the Himba tribe village today. This was disappointing as it really is a mock village and the folks who live there are mostly interested in selling trinkets to the tourists. It was fascinating to learn some about how they live, but it wasn’t enough to offset how contrived the entire scene was.
We continued on to a compound in the desert where the Bushman people had formally lived. It was previously undesirable land that was hard to farm due to insufficient rainfall, but it was beginning to revive with a bit of recent tourist trade. The owner of the land had a lodge with a few rooms and sections for campers. He gave an absolutely wonderful and informative tour in the evening and it was here I got to see my first Namibian Mountain Zebra… striped in a slightly different pattern (all the way down their legs but not on their bellies) and smaller and sturdier than the standard issue – these little guys are tough but adorable. They come down from the mountains each night to drink from the pool the owner fills daily. It’s good for the zebra, it’s good for the tourists who love watching the zebra, and of course good for the local property owners.
Day 10/11 – Etosha National Park, Namibia
We finally reached Etosha National Park!!! Oh, and that means the active malaria region, so started my anti-malarial drugs today and will continue through the rest of the tour plus 7 days afterwards for good measure. Etosha is significantly different than the other parks I visited in South Africa. Actually, each and every park had its own feel and its own highlights. Etosha was all about the watering holes and all the animals (and a variety of them) were gathered there together. Etosha also has a large population of black rhinos, whereas Kruger was all white rhinos. We camped at two different campsites within the park, which were very nice and even had swimming pools!!! So, in the middle of Etosha park, in the middle of the dusty desert, we were frolicking and had a nice cool down. We did game drives in the early morning and late afternoon, then went to the watering hole next to each campground at night to see who might show up. It’s sort of like going to the theater, only better! On the second morning game drive, we didn’t even need to leave the campground before our first wonderful sighting… it was a “frech dachs” (German for “impertinent badger”)!!!! Yes indeed, an impertinent badger (that’s sort of redundant, actually) who had stolen a large tub of strawberry yogurt from some unsuspecting campers and was eating it happily. Note the standard zebra below do not have stripes on their legs but do on their bellies.
Day 12 –Etosha to Windhoek
We leave Etosha park for Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. On the way out of the park, we were gifted with the cutest black rhino standing right on the side of the road posing for us. Thank goodness, he was on my side of the truck and I had an unobstructed view. Had I been on the other side, I would have climbed over and onto (if necessary) my seat mate to get a good photo, so it was just as well. It was a very small rhino, so I thought it was a young one, but on further investigation, it turns out he was a a very old guy – you can tell by the worn-down horns… but cute is cute, right? Once in Windhoek, we were supposed to go on a tour of the city, but I somehow suspected that would be a bust, and needing to replace my flip-flops anyway, I opted for a shopping tour on my own. I found just the shoes I wanted and when I met back up with the group, they confirmed that the tour wasn’t worthwhile at all
Day 13 – Windhoek to Botswana
We enter Botswana today and the Kalahari Desert. We camp at a place where the San people (originally it was Sun people – the Bushman) inhabit and we go for a tour with a group of them to learn about how they live. This was much more informative and “real” than the Himba village, and in the evening, they danced for us around the fire and some of our group even joined in (I was tired and went to sleep).
Day 14-16 –Maun to Okavango Delta
We drove to Maun and stayed overnight and then prepared for our two days in the Okavango Delta – a highlight of the tour. We stayed in a lodge with tents, but the tents were already up and they had little cots in them rather than sleeping on 5cm mats. We did scenic river cruises both days and saw some wonderful birds and crocs. I was a bit disappointed to miss out on seeing a hippo – I thought there would be plenty of them like in St. Lucia, but they were hiding in the weeds (or so we were told). We did hear them calling from the lodge in the evening, so they were probably around. The second day we had the chance to go in the traditional canoes, or mokoros. It was interesting and enjoyable, followed by a nature walk and lunch on the island.
Day 17/18 – Okavango Delta to Namibia
After leaving the delta, we head back into Namibia for one night. The campground was about 30 minutes from the border, and somehow it didn’t really make sense that we go back into Namibia for the night and then return to Botswana the following day though we re-entered much further north… lots of time spent in immigrations and customs on both sides with a long drive north in between. The destination was well worth it though, as we arrived at Chobe National park and had a sunset boat cruise along the Chobe river. It was amazing to see all the animals right along the river – almost as if they were placed there on purpose and on payroll. Lots of ellies, the most anywhere in Africa.
The next morning, we had a sunrise game drive in the park and the highlight was seeing a pride of lions with three small cubs. We jostled for position with the other jeeps, but our driver was excellent and secured us a prime viewing spot, then followed the lions as they made their way along… fantastic!
Day 19/20–Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
We drove up to Zimbabwe and then into Victoria Falls. The falls are stunningly beautiful even if it was low water season. There isn’t really a town to speak of, as it is just there to support the tourists to the falls. This was the last day of the tour, and although it is supposed to be 20 days, we stayed overnight and the tour was officially over in the morning. We all said our goodbyes, and then I moved from the lodge to my backpackers, where I was to spend the next three days before flying out to Johannesburg.
A few days on my own, resting and relaxing, did me a world of good. By the time I flew on to Johannesburg and then back to Europe I was ready for my next sailing adventure!