Up until this point, our wildlife encounters had been limited to cows, donkeys and goats crossing, standing or laying in the road. As we drove into Etosha, we knew our luck was turning as a huge giraffe crossed the road just inside the gate. We got our permit at the gate and made our way into the park. After reserving our campsite, we started taking our time driving. Like most wildlife parks in Africa, we had to stay in our car in most areas – you never know what may be lurking in the tall grass!
We weren’t very far in when we noticed we were surrounded by zebra! We joked throughout the remainder of the trip that we thought the parks baited the entrance/exit gates as we saw more animals near those than within the park! Etosha was a fairly flat park, but we drove through and down roads to the different view points and pans. We stayed the night in the park – right next to a water hole, so were treated to seeing a couple rhinos at sunset!
From Etosha, we headed to Swakopmund – a city on the coast of Namibia that seemingly arises out of nowhere from the desert!
We had some fun stopping in the middle of the desert road to have some fun with the Defender and also stopped to check out the items the Herero tribe women made and sold along the way to the Skeleton Coast (which is known for its many shipwrecks). Photos below are by Chris Bennett.
Swakopmund is a very German city that reminded me a lot of Nice, France. There was a promenade and pier and it seemed almost tropical. We opted to stay in a hotel to freshen up, and treated ourselves to pizza and skewers at a restaurant for dinner. I was expecting kebab style skewers… This was my surprise!
From Swakopmund, we made our way to Sossusvlei, catching sunset at Dune 45 and spent the next day exploring the Deadvlei.
We left Sossusvlei sweaty and sandy. Next stop – a luxury African lodge!
AmyWhere But Here 