Touring southern Africa

[DirtyHarry]

I have been in Africa for the last two weeks visiting a friend who lives in Cape Town. I visited once three years ago and have been eager to come back ever since. Cape Town is a very modern city with a Mediterranean feel to it. They have the coast, mountains, wine, culture... just about everything you could ask for. Even penguins! We did some deep sea fishing for snoek when I first arrived and did some hiking and sightseeing.

 

[DirtyHarry]

As part of the vacation we took a trip to Namibia for a week. We were supposed to drive my friend's Land Rover LR3, but it was in the shop so we rented a 79 Series Cruiser pickup. We drove north from Cape Town to Namaqua, where the desert flowers were in full bloom. This reminded me of Death Valley or Anza Borrego when they have the 100 year blooms.

 

[DirtyHarry]

From there we continued north into Namibia to Fish River Canyon. This is the largest canyon in Africa and rivals the Grand Canyon in size.

The Land Cruiser was underpowered but comfortable. It had an African Outback Products shell with an integrated tent and was fully kitted with drawers, an Engel fridge, and a fresh water tank. It wasn't cheap but we figured it was worth it since we never had to pay for a room during the whole trip.

 

[DirtyHarry]

From there we continued north to the dunes of Sossusvlei, which was the highlight of the trip. I have seen a lot of dunes before but never any like these before. They all have this distinctive spine at the top of them that makes the light very dramatic at sunrise and sunset.

We also got the chance to do some sand driving here but with a naturally aspirated 1HZ, a heavy vehicle, and skinny tires the Cruiser was not exactly a dune slayer.

 

[DirtyHarry]

We saw some animals but none of the Big 5. This is my third trip to Africa and I have yet to see a lion, but I figure that is a good excuse to keep coming back...

 

[DirtyHarry]

From Sossusvlei we turned back south, covering dirt roads for 1400 kilometers back to the border with South Africa. We took a different return route so we wouldn't have to cover the same ground twice. We drove across the dunes along the coast looking for shipwrecks, but we encountered a lot of gates and fences with mining operations. Namibia and South Africa are divided by the Orange River, which required a ferry ride to cross.

 

[locrwln1]

Very cool.

We are saving our pennies for our future trip. We were planning on a "photo" safari, but I kind of like the rent a vehicle thing and explore.

Jack

 

[DirtyHarry]

I thought that the rental worked out great. It was kind of expensive ($200 a day) but it was fully outfitted and we never had to rent a room. The surprising part for me was that every place we camped had hot showers and porcelain toilets, so it was very easy to go for an extended period of time.

I want to go back and start in Windhoek, Namibia and drive across Botswana and Zimbabwe to Victoria Falls. The Okavango Delta is supposed to be amazing.

 

[chicago]

Great stuff Harry and thanks for the pics and write up!!
Looks like a blast!!