We landed in Windhoek, passed the border, picked up our pick-up car (Toyota Hilux, you will find a lot of them, I recommend and many roads are still unpaved), then headed directly to Ethosha park
To see the most of it, we changed rest camps every day, going in order to Namutoni, Halali and Dolomite. In this way we could move from east to west to go closer to Damaraland, our next stop. These 3 days were simply amazing, doing safari all days looking for animals is an incredible experience. The happiness when you know that right in that bush there's a lion resting can't be described. The rest camps are good, especially the Dolomite. It is quite on the edge of the park but it sits on a hill where the sunset is simply amazing.
To see the most of it, we changed rest camps every day, going in order to Namutoni, Halali and Dolomite. In this way we could move from east to west to go closer to Damaraland, our next stop. These 3 days were simply amazing, doing safari all days looking for animals is an incredible experience. The happiness when you know that right in that bush there's a lion resting can't be described. The rest camps are good, especially the Dolomite. It is quite on the edge of the park but it sits on a hill where the sunset is simply amazing.
To see the most of it, we changed rest camps every day, going in order to Namutoni, Halali and Dolomite. In this way we could move from east to west to go closer to Damaraland, our next stop. These 3 days were simply amazing, doing safari all days looking for animals is an incredible experience. The happiness when you know that right in that bush there's a lion resting can't be described. The rest camps are good, especially the Dolomite. It is quite on the edge of the park but it sits on a hill where the sunset is simply amazing.
After three days we left the magical Etosha park and we spent the day in the Damaraland region. It is incredible how the landscape can change within relatively few kilometers.
There are mountains here and, in some respect, it resembles of the Westen US We first reached Khorixas to visit the petrified forest, where old trees, brought by the water during the Ice Age, have been transformed into rocks. I don't recall the scientific explanation and I may even say it wrong, but still it is a very interesting thing to see.
After that we went to Twyfelfontein to see rock carvings by the primitive men. Again, extremely fascinating and very well preserved. We then headed towards our lodge, the Vingerklip Lodge where we had dinner in the fantastic restaurant named "Eagle nest". It is on top of the mountain, you need to climb many steps t get there, but having a drink at sunset but a breathtaking view of the valley is something words can't describe.
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Petrified Forest
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Twyfelfontein
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Vingerklip Lodge
The first day was basically a transfer. We left Damaraland region to reach the coast. Again, the scenery changed many times during the journey, including the weather, moving from cloudless sunny days of the previous days to fog and chill along the coast. The day after we had a full day excursion divided into 2 different activities
- Catamaran in the morning, with the visit of the bay to see sea lions, dolphins, flamingos and other birds.
- dune bashing on the yellow desert until Walvis Bay
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Walvisbaai
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Swakopmund
Here the stop was at Sossusvlei Lodge
The lodge is beautiful (and the food is really great) and right next to the entrance of the Sossusvlei park. The day after, at sunrise, we left to see the red dunes and the Dead Vlei. Of course, we stopped and climbed Dune 45 (you won't believe how hard is to walk on dunes!) and we took tons of pictures. It was a sunny but windy day so it proved to be quite exhausting.
Anyway, the scenery in front of us repaid of all the physical effort, it is really something you see only here and I challenge everyone not to madly fall in love with the place. In the afternoon to went nack to the lodge and spent some time by the pool, we needed a bit of rest.
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Sossusvlei Lodge
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Sossusvlei
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Dune 45
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Dead Vlei
Before heading back to WIndhoek we had a stop at Solitarie, a city in the middle of nowhere that counts something aorund 60 people.
We read on the guide to try to apple pie, described as one of the best ever and, to our surprise, it is true! An old german guy in the past opened a bakery here which is still fully functional and the cake is a must try (especially if you considered to be in the middle of nowhere in Africa...).
We arrived in Windhoek around lunch time so we had the afternoon to visit the city. You can see the colonial influence, especially in some building very "german". Acutally, not much to see...
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Solitaire
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McGregor's Bakery
The next day was basically a transfer, we flew from Windhoek to Victoria Falls City and we just got into the Victoria Falls Hotel. The hotel deserves a particular mention as it is beautiful, and perfectly maintained an example of the colonial style. Yes, of course, it reminds also a period of time where bad things happened, but nevertheless, the atmosphere and the charm is still intact.
The day after we had a morning excursion to the falls. It was a guided tour and we could see only half of the falls as, due to the season, the mist was so dense that after a certain area it was like being in the storm and we could basically see nothing. There were a lot of monkeys along the walking path. They are quite used to humans now and they can get close to you seeking for food.
At sunset, we had a cruise on Zambesi river. I strongly recommend it as the colors we saw when the sun was going down is something I can hardly describe. During the cruise, we saw various birds, crocodiles, and hippos.
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Victoria Falls Hotel
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Cascate Vittoria
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From Livingstone to Chobe we had a transfer by bus. Crossing the border was not too time consuming. We had two nights on a lodge outside the park, Elephant Valley Lodge and two game drives already booked.
We could see quite a good amount of aminals as well but the most incredible scene was a death elefant with a pack of lions (including cub) eating out of it and, on the tree nearby, 3 vultures waiting for the leftover.
This was the end of our first African experience. This continent gives you sensation hard to describe, you really have to go there and try yourself!
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Elephant Valley Lodge
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Chobe
