On the road

Tatuś drove his trusty Land Rover Discovery 4 to Namibia from Johannesburg via Botswana, while I flew into Hosea Kutako International Airport from Cape Town. The following days were spent indulging in eco-conscious experiences at Habitas Namibia. 

Once rejuvenated, Windhoek was our springboard into the waterscapes of the Zambezi Region. Shortly after our FlyNamibia flight to Katima Mulilo, we floated along sections of the 450-km panhandle amidst wetlands and marshes in search of game and birds. For those few days, life revolved around water, offering a stark contrast to what many believe Namibia to be.

Back in the capital, we made a beeline towards Spitzkoppe’s granite peaks, arch-like Bridge and San rock art – home to the most spectacular camp site location we have stayed at. The White Lady welcomed us to Brandberg and pointed us in the direction of the Organ Pipes and one of the largest collections of petroglyphs in Africa at the Twyfelfontein UNESCO World Heritage Site.

During our stay at Wilderness Desert Rhino Camp in the Palmwag Concession, we had the privilege of tracking the world’s largest population of free-roaming desert-adapted rhinos – alongside members of Save The Rhino Trust, who protect the 25 000 km² concession. Next, a photographic safari took us along the Huab River Valley in Damaraland to watch a herd of desert-dwelling elephants saunter towards the next waterpoint.

And that was when our eventful introduction to the Skeleton Coast started. We conjured optical illusions on the salt flats, explored the abandoned mining sites and were humbled by nature’s might at the sight of the remains of countless ill-fated ships.

Then the coastal road spat us out in Namibia’s playground, where our day began with a flight with Hot Air Ballooning Namibia as the sun bathed the Rössing Mountains in morning light. Our days in Swakopmund were filled with sandboarding, fat-tyre e-biking along dune crests and living desert tours in search of lesser-seen critters.

Next, we hopped, skipped and jumped from Walvis Bay to the apple-pie capital of Solitaire and onwards to Namib-Naukluft National Park. Photographs cannot convey the dimensions of the star-shaped dunes at Sossusvlei. It was only as we were standing before them that we wondered how the heck one scrambles to the 360-metre summit of Big Daddy. From atop the world’s highest sand dune, camelthorn skeletons danced with the sun across the white clay of Deadvlei. We bade the day farewell during a 45-minute sunset flight over the desertscape. Without him having to tell me, my father’s highlight was sitting next to the Desert Air pilot in our Cessna 210.