African Overlanding Part 2
“A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.”
– John Steinbeck
Somewhere in Namibia
This overland camping thing has turned out differently, and also exactly how I expected.
Since leaving Etosha national park, our giant truck carried the 15 of us south to the town of Swakopmund, Namibia.
Swakopmund is on the western coastline of Namibia. The town is described as ‘german looking’ as its development was expedited by German expats looking for a Namibian beach house. I personally don’t think it looks German, but it also doesn’t look Namibian. It’s desert dry and arid, but with added surprises like newly paved and perfectly lined streets, modern and clean concrete cafes and clothing stores, and rows of generic looking retirement villages. There’s a beach, sure. Along with a string of luxury beach houses in front of it. But despite being on the edge of a desert, it’s windy as hell and as cold as Canada here.
Swakopmund is strange. I think I like it. After spending the last week in the middle of nowhere, this city has real restaurants, stores, and sights to see. It’s safe and easy to walk around. But it’s also kinda creepy. I always get that feeling from cities that are too planned. Constructed too quickly, and looking too uniform. I feel like I’m on a movie set, where the film plot dictates something going horribly wrong any minute now. Also…it’s low season so there aren’t many people here so it’s quiet. Eerily quiet.
Know what I mean?
Keeping Busy
Being on the edge of a desert, and on the coast of an ocean, Swakopmund offers an array of activities. Travelers can do anything from quad biking, sand boarding, dolphin cruises, and skydiving.
My fellow international overlanders and I opted for quad biking and sand boarding. Nine of us signed up, but only seven showed up for the activity the next morning. As often happens when you’re 23, unemployed, and having a gap year, some of my fellow travelers went out a little too late (a LOT too late), and drank a little too much (got completely shitfaced) the night before. The other American, Adam, and an Israeli guy, Daniel, didn’t make it out of bed in time for our 10am tour. Too bad for them.
The rest of us had a great time. I’ve gone quad biking before, but never on a sand dune. It’s a completely different experience. A bit more on the dangerous side….the ground beneath you isn’t very solid so you can topple much more easily in a sand dune than on solid ground. But the sense of danger is half the fun, right? This was SO much fun.
Sand boarding…eh. I could take it or leave it. It’s like sledding on sand instead of snow. I grew up in Minnesota and have done a lot of sledding. This didn’t feel like anything new, aside from the fact that climbing back up a sand dune is a real pain in the ass. It felt like one of those dreams where you’re running away from something as fast as you can, but barely moving. With every step up a dune your foot gets buried past your ankles in a mount of fine sand. So very tiring.
I gave it a couple of goes to say I did it. Good enough.
Aside from adventures in the sand, I’ve been getting to know the overlanding group better. We shared a few meals and drinks in each other’s company in Swakopmund. The two that I spent the most time with are the Aussie and the Swiss ladies, Ellie and Valentina. They’ve become very good friends with each other, and I’m pretty much the older sister tag along. Neither one of them has hit 25 yet, so they mostly talk about life philosophies and what they plan to do with their lives when they get back home. I chime in with elder sibling-like advice once in awhile without trying to sound too bossy or too old.
I’m not likely to stay lifelong friends with them after this trip, but that’s ok. I’m happy to have someone to talk to.
Sand, and More Sand
Departing Swakopmund, we (finally) get some real physical activity in. I didn’t realize until this moment, following countless hours of sitting in the truck driving around Namibia, but my body was craving exercise. It was probably also craving a cut back on beer and my cadbury chocolate bar snacking…..but one thing at a time. Part of me still thinks of this sabbatical as one giant vacation. Calories don’t count on vacation.
Let’s go climb a dune.
Enroute to this dune, we passed by the Tropic of Capricorn. Here it is. Scratch that off the list.
Dune 45 is a star dune in the Sossusvlei area of the Namib Desert. Its name comes from the fact that it is at the 45th kilometer of the road that connects the Sesriem gate and Sossusvlei.
I stole that info straight from Wikipedia.
The sand dunes in this area are some of the largest in the word. As I previously alluded, hiking a sand dune is not easy. It’s best done barefoot, early in the morning before the sun tries to murder you, and the only possible pace to climb a dune is a very slow one. It’s a new twist on hiking for me and though I wouldn’t want to do it everyday I really loved this experience.
Near the bottom of the dune is also a large salt and clay ‘pan’. Its a drainage basin that used to be full of water, but is now full of brittle trees and is known as a ‘dead end marsh’. It makes for a nifty backdrop.
The one thing I have started to not enjoy on this overland trip, is the tendency of my young American co-traveler, Adam, to strip off his clothes and take nude pictures of himself at every major stop and scenic landscape we visit. I’ll be casually walking up a sand dune when I hear a gasp or a giggle from someone. Sure enough, I turn around and Adam took his clothes off again and is posing like a greek statue with his pale ass on a sand dune. He says he’s going to turn it all into a calendar at the end of his trip. Whatever dude. You do you, but the rest of us don’t need to see this.
This habit of his got more than a little annoying, and he scared more than a few elderly tourists just trying to enjoy their holiday. One night Ellie told me that Adam’s brash tendencies are ‘very stereotypically American’. Unfortunately I can’t disagree. Adam is outgoing and immensely friendly to everyone he meets, but he’s also loud, arrogant, and oblivious to social norms of behavior. Truth be told, that’s how the traveling world thinks of Americans. We’re super friendly but also super obnoxious. I’d love to dispute it, but the truth is I can spot (and hear) a boisterous Texan a mile away in a foreign country, and I’ve met plenty of 24 year olds like Adam who help earn that reputation.
Sigh. Long live ‘Murica.
Wrapping Up the Tour
Between Sossusvlei and our final destination in Cape Town, the overlanding tour made several scenic stops in southern Namibia and across the border in South Africa. No need to go into every teeny tiny detail. A quick summary will suffice.
Fish River Canyon was a beautifully unexpected stop, and made for a memorably handsome sunset. The canyon was much larger, and much taller than I expected. I’d love to go back one day and spend a few days hiking around it.
I also LOVED spending an afternoon with the group canoeing down the Orange River, on the border between Namibia and South Africa. The weather was perfect, and there was a cool breeze blowing. I shared a canoe with my Italian friend Francesco, and we stayed in a picturesque campsite right on the riverfront.
Our last and favorite campsite before arriving in Cape Town was at a winery in South Africa. Yes, we camped at a winery. It had a sparkling clean pool with a view, and two adorably lovable dogs running around. And wine. What more can you ask for?
As a whole, overlanding can be slow at times. There was more down time than I would prefer, and not quite enough physical activities. But I would still highly recommend it. I would never have experienced half the things I saw if I tried to maneuver southern Africa on my own. For that, I’m grateful that I learned about this mode of travel and I gave it a try. It may not be my number one favorite way to globe-trot, but I would still recommend it to anyone looking for a relatively cheap, easy way to meet other travelers, and explore countries beyond seeing only cities with a major airport.
Now, on to the next thing.
