Here's an album of my favorite pictures of the trip :)
We started in the south at fish river canyon, the largest canyon in Africa. It had no water, but still very impressive.
Made our way West to Kolmanskop, an abandoned german diamond mining town engulfed by sand. The history and details were fascinating. It's a tiny town, and they had an ice-making factory and a train running through delivering the ice. Not mentioned on the tour were any black or working people. I assume such big fancy houses had servants? And that the diamond mining wasn't done by the Architect and Mayor whose houses we visited? Where the hell did all those people live?
Drove through more desert and ended up in Sesriem and Sossusvlei with Dunes and a small canyon to explore.
The campgrounds in Namibia are next level compared to anywhere else i've been. You get hot showers, pool, sometimes a restaurant and bar, outlets, fire and braai pit. But sometimes at 30$/person in the national parks... it's a little expensive.
Saw a bunch of animals at Etosha National Park. Lions, Cheetahs, Elephants, Giraffes, Rhinos, Austriches, Springbok, Impalas...
Next, we also visited a Cheetah sanctuary. It was scary honestly, these creatures are FAST! Apparently, they are endangered because Namibia is 90% farmland and Cheetahs eat livestock. So they get shot by farmers. And have no viable natural habitat. Some people open Sanctuaries where they enclose them and feed them meat every day. It's a bit of a controversial topic from what I heard.
Our final stop was the border of Angola where Himba tribes still live the way they have for hundreds of years before. Mud huts, clay in their hair, traditional leather hip-coverings. It was the most culturally different people from myself I have ever met. We went on a quick tour to a village with a Himba that left the village to learn english and now works doing those tours. And the differences from western society are huge. The chef has multiple wives, they are animists and communicate with ancestors through the sacred fire, have witch doctors/shamans and very different customs. The necklaces, hair and clothes they were are highly codified. I don't really have pictures, but it was awesome!
It was a 2 week trip, and we did just short of 8000 km. It was a lot of boring driving through the desert. But the highlights were worth it!. It was also the most expensive trip I have ever been on, now I kind of get why 80% of other people in the campgrounds were about retirement age. It was a fun and unique experience, but I don't think i'll be back for a while. I love big cities and funky food more than I like animals and nature. To each their own, but the trip I've been wanting to go on for ages is India. Maybe next year...
NikolaiFyodorov a couple pictures as promised :)
Those are spectacular photos of what looks like an amazing time. I love Namibia's history. A place I've read a hell of a lot about given that I've never set foot there. - Did you make it to Luderitz? - Were you travelling under your own steam, or were you with an organised tour? If the former, was it easy enough to hire a car?