My Namibia Trip and Self-Drive Safari
Welcome to Namibia! The second half of our trip was in Namibia and lasted eighteen days . We drove from Cape Town, South Africa through the entire country of Namibia! Our total drive was 8000km, and it was so much fun what an incredible adventure! We spent six months planning our self -drive safari through Namibia and we were finally here and doing it! Hell yea! We had to scrap the last and third half of our plan which was to drive through Botswana and end up at Victoria Falls but for legal reasons, we couldn’t take our 4X4 rental into another country. Now we have another reason to go back to Africa! August is wintertime in Namibia and it’s pretty warm with the sun most days but the temperature would drop pretty low at nigh so this made us reconsider camping out at night. Our original plan was to get a Toyota Hilux with a pop-out camper attached so we could camp, cook and do everything in our car as we made our way through the country, but everything worked out for us in the best way. Camping out under the African starry sky sounds so cool, but after the long drive days we just wanted to take a good shower and sleep in a warm comfy bed . August is also a pretty busy vacation time especially since the kids are out of school. Countries like Italy usually take August off and everything is closed so pre-booking in Namibia is essential. Namibia is one of the top five least densely populated countries in the world and places like Safari Lodges, tours, and rental 4x4s (especially campers) will book up early in the year. Planning your road trip Make sure you plan and prepare accordingly. We mapped out our driving route for Namibia, pre-booked and planned all of our lodges, safari camps, and ensured we had all our essentials and paperwork straight. You will have to get a Namibian SIM card. We got ours through http://www.mtc.com.na and would top it up at MTC’s various vending machines in their gas stations and shopping centers. It’s their better wifi and phone option as the coverage is pretty good, but driving many hours through Namibia, I’d recommend http://www.tracks4africa.co.za. There were many hours we would be without wifi going through the country, and even though we had our maps and guides, having this navigation was so helpful and necessary! After hours of driving without seeing another car pass or anyone else, it was just me, my husband, and the wildlife. The best … After clearing customs and having our Truck inspected at the SA / Namibian border, our first stop was Fish River Canyon, and we stayed two nights. The first night at Ai-Ais Hot Springs Spa http://www.aiaisresort.com and then at Hobas Camp http://nwrnamibia.comFish River Canyon was INCREDIBLE, just breathtaking. It’s the second-largest canyon in the world, and its colors and depth are massive and stunning to see. We arrived in the early afternoon and had lunch at a cool place we accidentally discovered called https://store.gondwana-collection.com/accommodation/canyon-roadhouse. We had lunch here, and this place was where we wished we had stayed for our two nights in the area …. We enjoyed lunch, dinner, and a small safari drive called the Garas Self drive safari when we weren’t exploring Fish River Canyon, and the staff here is so kind. The loveliest people we met on our trip. I had to take a picture of this local tale I found in the women’s bathroom called TJONGOLOLO’S Box … Fish River had the most beautiful energy. It felt like I was in this euphoric pink, purple, white clouded room. The sunrises and sunsets were just phenomenal, and even though we were supposed to be back at our lodge by dark, we stayed after dark to see the stars. Not too late as it isn’t advisable to drive at night when there’s no street light, and the animals CAN potentially pose a threat. We only managed to see a family of Ostriches cross the road. We were hoping for Honey Badgers or Lions! From Fish River, we drove to Luderitz, which took us five hours. On the way, we saw the wild desert horses of Garub. Aus in situated in the center of the Namib desert and as we made our way we were able to spot these wild beautiful horses noshing on wild melons…. These wild desert horses have adapted to the harsh climate in the Namib we were told there are less than 80 left .. The scenery just driving through Namibia so far was just truly spectacular . The mountains , and landscapes I’ve never seen so many beautiful colors . I can’t even explain the peaceful , magical feeling coursing through me on our trip so far … After being in the Namib it was refreshing to be on the coast and water . Luderitz is a cute town . We had fantastic oysters and stayed at the http://nesthotel.com This is where we got our SIM card , exchanged some of our Euro for Namibian Dollars and went to the gym lol. Luderitz is a great stopover for these errands . Bear in mind though that exchanging large amounts of cash is a process here . The clerks aren’t used to these transactions everyday in this small town (but bigger than most in Namibia ) and to be patient . We had Lunch and dinner the night before at Diaz Coffee Shop -Oyster& Wine Bar – Beergarden . AMAZING food , Oysters , Coffee and the sweetest staff . The chef prepared us the most amazing spicy Cioppino for lunch and I had it again for dinner that night . It was so cold and foggy being so close the the water and bay and this was a perfect meal for the chill. On our way to Sossusvlei we drove 349 km and about 5 hours to get to our next stay which was
South Africa 2022
I’m finally sharing with you all our INCREDIBLE trip last summer to South Africa and Namibia! This was one of the most incredible trips of my life. I tend to plan our trips around countries and continents that have an animal I’m obsessed with and since my husbands spirit animal is the Honey Badger, we were on a mission to see one! It took us one full year to map out our trip. We knew since we were driving we had to study the route and roads to plan our stops. Initially, we wanted to get a Toyota Hilux with an attached camper so we could alternate between hotels and campsites. We wanted to camp some nights at the NWR Campsites but we had a difficult time acquiring a camper. It ended up working out better for us and well if I’m being honest I’m not as rouge as I used to be. I always tell my husband that “I’m more rico than Eco” !!! I prefer comfort as I’m sure many of you feel me on this! In August we departed from our home in Italy and landed in Cape Town. It was a 15-hour flight and really comfortable on Emirates. I had the pleasure of sitting next to a wonderful woman who relocated from London to SA and opened an Artist Space in Muizenberg called The Commons.https://thecommons.co.za . Such a cool spot that I highly recommend! This Beach community is so freaking cool. There’s a lot of fantastic food options here also for Vegans. Every week there are different live performances so check their site for live music, poetry, art, yoga and meditation classes. We stayed at The Raddison RED Cape Town V&A Waterfront for our first few nights in Cape Town. From The rooftop bar you can see Table Mountain,which we hiked the next day and being in the Silo District we were walking distance to everything. Breakfast here is also REALLY good. I’m not a breakfast person outside of vacation but when you’re on holiday you need to start your day with something right ! Instead of walking we rented an E-Bike through Electrek http://www.electrek.co.za and it was so fun! Like after a 15-hour flight, indulging in amazing food and hiking table mountain we decided that checking out CapeTown on an E-bike would allow us to cover more ground and we had so much fun doing it! A few dinner spots we had a lovely evening at were Belly of the Beast http://bellyofthebeast.co.za great tasting menu and excellent wine list, Gold http://goldrestaurant.co.za, a fun place with really amazing real African food. Bouchon http://bouchon.co.za it’s like tapas style (UM no the plates were good size and filling!) But the service was very good and their local wine recommendations were wonderful pairings for our lunch. On that wine note we picked up our 4×4 and drove along the SA Whale Coastal Route to our next spot Hermanus then Stellenbosch. I’m the queen of pamphlets and guides I have to take one from every spot we go. I get that I phones are amazing for this kind of stuff but guys I get so much joy from reading an actual pamphlet and guidebook. Also maps. I LOVE maps and globes. You get the idea. I took some shots of the ones I took and they were (aside from locals telling us what was up) REALLY helpful and also give you some good insight and history about the area. I’m dorky and love this info. We stayed at Whale Rock Luxury Lodge http://www.whalerock.co.za. This is without a doubt one of the most incredible places I’ve ever stayed at. The owners were so kind, everything was fantastic here literally every detail. Mind you it’s winter time and being on the coast it’s freezing cold our room was so warm and cozy with the most comfortable bed and linens. We had our whale watching and shark diving excursions the next two days so we took a beautiful walk around the cape and OMG you guys for me my first animal trip out were the DASSIES!! The Dassie / Rock Hyrax is the cutest coolest animal EVER with it’s sweet cranky face. So much fun to see these critters around. We had a beautiful lunch that day at Perlemoen. It had just opened a week prior I believe but it’s located in the Old Harbour on the harbour’s edge. It’s such an incredible view hiking down to the rock platform and then you’re hanging with dassies , and eating the most incredible , fresh caught fish and seafood with DASSIES and it’s the most spectacular view! The old Harbour here was the first abalone hatchery how cool is that! For dinner we went to The Fisherman’s cottage http://fishermanscottage.co.za and we had the most incredible Malva pudding of our life. It was our first time having it and let me tell you this place spoiled me because for the rest of the trip I didn’t have any other Malva Pudding that lived up to that one!! I also had their Thai Red curry and it was so fresh and 100% authentic Thai. Whale watching was eventful and we spotted many Southern Right Whales as August is their breeding season. Shark Diving was cancelled due to bad weather and I’m NOT mad about it. I mean yes it would have been cool and scary fun but it was off to Boulders Beach to see the African Penguins then the Cape of Good Hope! What a beautiful drive. For real though this western Cape side of SA is just wow. So Blue, green, the most incredible sunrises and sunsets. We saw so many Baboons in the road on our way in and they have zero fear of cars and people so make sure you take your time driving through the park to the cape point. The Cape of Good Hope left me feeling so peaceful. I’ve always wanted to come here and now I can
