Peregrinamur

For a long time, we had been thinking about doing a big trip to celebrate Annette’s 60th birthday – and we finally settled on going to Namibia (which we had visited once before, in 2002). David particularly wanted to go to Shipwreck Lodge on the Skeleton Coast. Annette talked to quite a few safari specialists before settling on the Ultimate Travel Company, with Hamish van Gruisen putting together an excellent itinerary for us, including all the internal flights. We had initially thought that we would travel via Frankfurt (as we had done in 2002), but eventually decided that it would be better to go via Johannesburg with British Airways, and then on to Namibia with Airlink.

Eningu Clayhouse Lodge

In order to make sure that we were well rested for the main part of the trip, we decided to stay two nights at Eningu Clay Lodge, about an hour’s drive from Windhoek. It was a good choice. The room was comfortable, the food was excellent (oryx steak from their estate) and there were a couple of good walking options, including a short nature trail.

On the last evening we sat in the hide and watched a dramatic thunderstorm in the distance. We didn’t realise what impact the rain was going to have on our trip. The fact that the cactus flowers were opening up was also a sign that rain was imminent!

The Flight to the Desert

The flight, at about 10,000 feet, took us over spectacular canyon and desert scenery, to land at the airstrip at Keerweder.

Kwessi Dunes

Transfer to Kwessi Dunes Lodge…

We had a beautiful drive out for sundowners…

The next day, the 18th, we had a trip out to see the dunes at Sossusvlei, Deadvlei and Sesriem Canyon. It was a very early start and a bumpy drive. Walking up the dunes was very challenging – Annette’s Garmin registered a heart rate of close to 200. Our guide Ensley was really helpful.

After scaling the dunes, we had a well-deserved breakfast beer and drove on to Sesriem.

Even the toilet block there is pretty memorable!

Jackals and hyenas come pretty close to the Lodge at Kwessi Dunes.

The next day we were up early for a ‘Bushman Walk’. The skies were cloudy, but we had a view of our plane coming in to the airstrip to pick us up later.

After breakfast, the staff at Kwessi Dunes treated us to a joyful farewell song as we headed off to the airstrip. The flight took us back over the camp for a last look, but before long there was a problem. We were flying lower and lower to try to keep under the cloud, but eventually the pilot shrugged and turned. We weren’t going to make it to Hoanib; we had to divert to Walvis Bay, where we landed in the rain.

It was a short drive to Swakopmund, where our agents had swiftly booked us into the Strand Hotel, along with our pilot. We had stayed here before, on our 2002 Namibia trip; however, the hotel had been revamped almost beyond recognition.

It became clear that the rains in the last few days had been exceptional; a once in a decade downpour. Although clear skies overhead gave us some reason to be optimistic, information as to what is likely to be possible over the next next few days was frustratingly difficult to come by. Eventually we understood that although we might have been able to reach the Hoanib airstrip, the route from the Airstrip to Hoanib Valley Camp was impassable because of a swollen river. So, with no alternative but to stay in Swakopmund, we booked a day trip to Sandwich Harbour and Namib Naukluft Park for the next day, and went out to an excellent sushi restaurant with the pilot.

Salt Works at Walvis Bay / Sandwich Harbour.

The dunes at Sandwich Harbour were magnificent – and the picnic pretty good! We also spotted some cape fur seals, a jackal, some flamingoes and this pale chanting goshawk (below). The grains of sand have a remarkable pink tinge when photographed close up.

The next morning, the 21 March, our pilot thought we would to be able to fly, probably around midday. The revised plan was to miss out Hoanib and instead have an additional night at Shipwreck Lodge. So we were aiming to fly north along to coast to the airstrip at Möwe Bay on the Skeleton Coast. We headed out to the airport and waited for almost three hours. Eventually the pilot decided the conditions were good enough and off we went. As soon as we got through the mist around Walvis Bay, the views were magnificent.

Within a few minutes of landing at Möwe Bay, we were picked up for the two-hour transfer to Shipwreck Lodge. We didn’t go straight there though, we went to see the huge colony (ca. 60,000) of cape fur seals. Unlike European seals, cape fur seals have ears (like sea lions) and they behave a bit differently: they often leap out of the water like dolphins. The pups were particularly gorgeous. This was a real hightlight of the trip, esp. for Annette.

Surfing!

On the transfer to Shipwreck Lodge, we stopped to see a wreck and some abandoned machinery. We saw a whale far out at sea and also some whale bones on the sand.

Shipwreck Lodge is one of the most unusual and comfortable places that we have ever stayed. As the name suggests, the individual lodges are designed to resemble shipwrecks – this is particularly apparent when one sees them from a distance. The houses also reminded us a bit of some Danish summer houses – and the whole area felt like a combination of Skagen (in Denmark), Dungeness, Iceland and Mauritania! One night, Annette woke up and sat for a while on the deck outside the house, looking at all the stars.

In the evenings, we were taken up onto the dunes for sundowners.

22 March

The design of the restaurant block is very striking – and even the porthole window in our bathroom fitted the nautical theme. It was misty first thing, but that cleared and we headed out on a walk with our guide and some other guests. There was a very nice atmosphere at Shipwreck, with all the guests talking to each other about the weather-related challenges that they had faced in trying to get there – regardless of whether they had opted for road or air. I don’t think it is the easiest place to reach, even in dry weather.

A very brave French girl in our group decided that she wanted to pick up a small snake!

Our walk ended at the beach where the staff set up a barbecue for us.

Sundowners on the dunes are a regular feature at Shipwreck…and this time we were joined by a jackal hoping to share our nibbles.

Sunday 23 March. Early morning at Shipwreck Lodge. They do pancakes for breakfast in the restaurant!

Another walk to the beach, along a different route.

The beach finds were weirdly exotic.

Last sunset on the Skeleton Coast.

Monday 24 March. The sunrise is pretty good too! Farewell to Shipwreck Lodge. It was really hard to leave – this place felt really special.

On the way to the airstrip. A shipwreck and a plane wreck.

And a final visit to the seals

The country was still in some disarray because of the rain, so we were quite relieved when our plane turned up at Möwe airstrip.

After two flights (changing planes at Twyfelfontein airstrip), we arrived at Ongava Lodge by Etosha for some traditional safari. This was very much green season, so sightings were not as easy as they would have been in July or August – but we were still very pleased with what we saw.

Although we have been on more recent safaris to Zambia and Botswana, we hadn’t seen rhinos since our last trip to Namibia (2002), so this was really great!

25 March

An early morning outing to Etosha – zebras and wildebeest are particular favourites! We saw black storks in the sunrise. The guide had brought a bottle of amarula, so we had shots of that in our instant coffee as we were having breakfast and looking out over the Etosha salt pans.

After a cooling rest back at Ongava, we headed out for an evening game drive.

More rhinos! And one very cute baby.

26 March: A final trip out, where we got stuck in the mud. The rains had made some of the tracks very slippery and we had to wait for another vehicle to tow us out.

One of a number of resident dassies at Ongava

Because the mammals are so stunning, one can almost overlook the many beautiful birds.

We had a straightforward flight back to Windhoek for our last night. We went to dinner at Joe’s Beerhouse which we had also enjoyed in 2002. Sadly, they no longer sell T-shirts and Annette’s T-shirt from back then is no longer extant.

And finally, we flew back to Johannesburg, to unwind at The Residence. This is an absolutely stunning hotel with attentive service, excellent food and a wine list that just makes you want to come back! It was also rainy and pleasantly cool. After not having had much exercise on the Namibia trip, it was great to swim in the (chilly) pool and have time and space to do stretches on the covered deck. We will certainly come back to this hotel.

All in all, a superb trip with incredible scenery, fantastic animals and great lodges. Just amazing!