Tag: Namibia

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From Namibia to Zimbabwe

It was time to bid farewell to Namibia and the early morning was spent packing. We left the camp shortly after breakfast as our departure time had been moved up. Once at the airstrip we waited for the third plane – a smaller Cessna 210 – that had been delayed taking off from Windhoek. John and Nick sardined themselves into the Cessna. The rest of the group got split between a Kodiak and the trusted Cessna Caravan. 

It turned out to be quite a challenge to find the pilots of the plane taking us from Windhoek to Victoria Falls Airport, but a few (missed) phone calls later we all got united. Luggage was also a challenge as was finding the VAT Refund location but after about a hour we were all onboard the Jetstream 41 and well underway. 

The crew were great and offered to circle the falls and those sitting on the right side got a premium view of the one of the world’s natural wonders. 

We zipped through the airport as much as that was possible when visas were purchased on the spot. The AndBeyond crew were waiting outside with two minibuses and a truck for our 23 suitcases. We were all excited to have most of the travel behind us and any remaining thoughts of waiting in line were forgotten when we had to stop for a large heard of elephant and later a beautiful male lion soaking up the sun. Both were roaming outside any kind of park – welcome to Zimbabwe!

The Matetsi River Camp turned out to be even more beautiful in real life. The staff gave us a very warm (dancing) welcome. After initial hellos a group of 11 set out for an impromptu game drive although it had already started getting dark. Journeys of giraffes, heards of elephants, impala and even an hyena were among the things we spotted. So good to be back on game drives!

We went back to our room after a quick dinner and spent a bit of time negotiating with decent-seized spiders. Most met our demands of either leaving the cabins or staying hidden.

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A Night Sky Like No Other

We had been warned of colder temperatures and wind and some of us woke up in the middle of the night as the increasingly louder sounds announced the weather’s arrival. 

Breakfast was served at 8:00. We met at the vehicles afterward and set out to find whatever wildlife the area had to offer – obviously with the usual request to see giraffes. Up until then, we had seen oryx, jackal, ostrich, and springbok. Fast forward a few hours, and you could add giraffe (yay!) and zebra to the list. 

The winds were blistering cold and two of the three vehicles got stuck in sand storms on the way back. One car, therefore, came back much earlier, and John, Nick, David, and Isabella left to race ATVs in the sand dunes. So much fun! Isabella, unfortunately, hit a sand dune at high speed and got thrown off the bike, but was ready to continue once she got the sand out of her helmet. Over the course of the afternoon, two more groups went, and only the very little once were left disappointed. 

The evening started with a lecture by the local staff members who made sure we were all up to speed on Namibia – both past and current. Last stop before dinner was a trip to the observatory to make sure all got a chance to see the moon, Saturn, and Jupiter. 

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Visiting Deadvlei

Yesterday’s travel from Cape Town to Sossusvlei got disrupted, but we managed to just touch in the Namibian desert before sunset. It was dusk by the time we had checked-in and we got a taste of how dark this place really gets while having dinner. The night sky was incredible to watch and a few got to visit the on-site observatory. The itinerary for the following day was to see the desert dunes and also to visit the famous Deadvlei with its dead trees. 

We set out early in the morning so that we were at the park entrance by 7:00. We enjoyed the closed vehicles and the included African massage, as the drivers call the seat movement that is a direct result of the gravel roads.  

Once at the dunes we we’re given a choice of dune to hike: Big Daddy or Small Daddy. Only David, Pia and Jilly ventured towards the 1,000’ Big Daddy while the rest chose the somewhat easier option. It was a very good hike up before – with a bit of hesitation – one could run downhill. A few elected to roll downhill. One of those that initially seemed like a good idea. 

At the bottom were the dead trees and is was rewarding to be among them in the midst of blue, orange, white and gray colors. Surprisingly hard to capture the color, but as everyone will know it’s possible and there is hardly a screen saver collection with respect for itself that doesn’t feature parts of this rather smaller area. 

We enjoyed a delicious brunch at the foot of Big Mamma but nobody had the energy to venture up despite the slightly smaller size of the dune.

We got back to camp around 2:00 in time for a siesta at camp. At 4:30 p.m. we left for a sundowner and munched on Oryx skewers while the sun disappeared in the horizon. Dinner was loin of kudo – some looked envious at the spaghetti Bolognese that the kids were served. 

Sadly a decent amount of cloud cover hid the impressive night sky and we had to wait another 24 hours before gazing and the International Space Station, satellites and galaxies.

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Seeing the Coastline From a Sidecar

It’s Sunday mid-day and we’re (finally) on our way to Namibia. Changes to our original flight schedule unfortunately meant a later departure, later arrival to Windhoek and what looks to be a rather late arrival at Camp. As such we we will spend the entire day traveling what is a fairly short distance. That the airport computer systems broke down did not help the situation and the Air Namibia employee checking us in had to hand write 20 boarding passes. Seating was on a first come first serve basis, but all managed to get good seating. 

Yesterday started with the arrival of 18 motorcycles with sidecars – one for each as Penny and Adrian decided to follow behind us in one of two buses picking the wanna-be motorcycle riders up at Kirstenbosch Gardens. It was quite something to seem them all arrive at the hotel. Tim, the owner, arrived first with his dog proudly sitting in the sidecar. 

We spent almost two hours on the winding roads around Cape Town and many were ready to continue for the rest of the day, but it’s going to have to wait until next time we come back here. 

As already mentioned the motorcycle ride ended at the Kirstenbosch Gardens where we had planned a walk through the new open air Boomslang overlooking the lush vegetation. The structure is designed to mimic the skeleton of a tree snake turned upside down and is very beautifully done. As with many other places of Cape Town, Table Mountain is never far away, and one could hike all the way to the top in approximately five ours from where we were standing. 

We quickly found ourselves in the two busses heading for the penguins at Simons Town. Beautiful drive that made up for what has turned into an extremely touristy spot. It’s always fun to see penguins, but the boardwalk is packed with people flocking to whatever penguin that comes a little bit close to the fence. 

Lunch was booked for 2:00 and we left the jackass penguins shortly after arriving. Yes, that’s actually their real name. Olivia had scheduled a beautiful private room at the Steenberg Winery, and we all enjoyed a delicious three-course meal before heading back to Cape Town. Many felt they had “sufficient” and we cancelled the planned dinner at Nobu. It instead became an early night for some, while a few others met at the hotel bar to wish each other a pleasant last night and good night’s sleep.