Time flies so fast, and now October is here, with 2024 al...
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Time flies so fast, and now October is here, with 2024 already three-quarters gone. Looking back on September, I can hones...
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Hi everyone, I’m Deirdre, an experience host in Cape Town, South Africa. I host wildlife safaris from the back of a horse, and I also have an online experience, taking guests from around the world on a virtual safari.
This time of year in South Africa is summer and so, for those of us who work in tourism - this is peak season. As such, for the last 8 years that I’ve been hosting an experience, I only take Christmas Day off which is usually just a relaxed day with my son with no set theme., We know we put our heads down and work and then take some time off in winter when it’s quieter. And so, I don’t have any particular Christmas traditions or celebrations to share, but I’ve been blessed beyond measure with some memorable travel this year that I thought I’d share these - to reminisce as we head into the busy period, and also hopefully to inspire some African travel!
The first trip in May was a dream come true - my son and I took to the open road for a two week roadtrip through Namibia. We covered 5600km in 14 days experiencing some of the most magnificent landscapes and wildlife, camping under the stars, cooking our dinner on the fire, and realising what tiny specks we are in the great vastness of the universe - something the dirt roads of Namibia (where sometimes you don’t see another car for hours,or in some places where you can’t tell where the road ends and the desert begins) has a way of highlighting.
The second trip was something vastly different. We joined a volunteer programme with a conservation organisation where we were placed on a 23,000 hectare wildlife reserve to join the monitoring team for two weeks in their daily tracking and reporting of endangered species. As a wildlife guide, I am passionate about conservation and I can’t get enough time in the bush, so this was a holiday with purpose. The fees paid by volunteers to participate in these programmes fund the conservation work of the monitors. There are many opportunities to volunteer in Africa, but if you ever consider it, please carefully research the organisations you choose. There are incredible programmes doing great work, but there are also dubious companies operating unethical wildlife practices under the guise of conservation. It’s a rewarding experience but don’t go into it expecting 5* luxury you’d receive as a guest in a safari lodge - you’re there to work and as one of the slogans reads: “This is Zululand, not Disneyland”
I thought I’d share my Namibian itinerary and highlights as I’ve been asked by a few friends wanting to follow my route on their trips.
Day 1 | Stellenbosch > Noordoewer
We drove straight through to the border on the first day, stopping briefly in Citrusdal for some snacks, and then in Springbok to refuel. There was a bit of in-and-out the car at the border stops, but otherwise it was not a long process, it was quiet and everyone was very friendly. We stopped at the first petrol station to buy data for a Namibian simcard a friend had kindly given me as she’d just returned a couple of weeks before, and then made our way to our first night’s stop on the banks of the Orange River to get our bearings.
Day 2 | Noordoewer > Fish River Canyon
I had booked our accommodation in advance and had ideas of the places I wanted to visit and didn't want to have to be thinking about that during the day, so we could enjoy the journey, but I didn't plan or book activities. People had mentioned gravel roads, but when my wheels left tar for the first time, I hadn't quite grasped that they wouldn't be seeing much more at all for the next 11 days! Or that we would be driving hundreds of kilometres for hours daily on dirt roads with mostly no cellphone reception and only passing the odd car once in forever. I also didn't know then how that would become my favourite part of every day and how sad I'd feel to be back on tar at the end!
There were two tips I read and was told that I stuck by...
- Never pass a petrol station without filling up, even if you just filled up at the last one.
- Keep enough food and water in the car in case you break down and need to wait until someone passes by to help.
We stopped along the road in the middle of nowhere for lunch and just soaked up the landscape.
We spent our first night camping inside the Fish River Canyon national park, which meant we could be at the viewpoint at sunset, as the park gates are open sunrise to sunset. Absolutely breathtaking! Then back to camp to braai our veggie burgers for dinner.
Day 3 | Canyon Roadhouse
I promised my son breakfast en route to Aus at the Canyon Roadhouse to see all the old cars. This is a super cool place to stop and also has an actual petrol station to fill up!
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Day 3 cont. | Fish River Canyon > Aus
We were back on tar for the second half of the drive to Aus, and found ourselves at my favourite of the three campsites we stayed at, though we had a couple of challenges here. No power in the campsite meant I couldn't inflate our mattress, so luckily I had enough blankets to pad the ground a bit. I also couldn't get my fire going. I went through a whole box of matches and all but one eco-firelighter which I kept for the following night, but the wood just would not burn. I was able to get just enough heat to warm up some veggie soup as a plan B before the fire gave up completely. What it lacked in flames, it made up for in smoke!
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Day 4 | Aus > Garub > Sesriem《and +100km in the wrong direction》
I had planned Aus into the trip so that we could go to Garub to see the wild horses. We saw ONE wild horse! We watched him for a while, then continued on our journey. I hadn’t had any cellphone signal so couldn't put our next location into GPS, so continued along the tar road, thinking I was going in the right direction. After a while I saw the 100km to Luderitz sign and remember thinking that's only another hour or so, we could visit Kolmanskop (an old deserted town) after all, as we hadn't planned to visit. When I saw the 70km to Luderitz sign it dawned on me why I hadn't included it...it was in the opposite direction we were meant to go to get to Sesriem. So I had now driven 50km in the wrong direction! 🙈
When I stopped to check, the GPS now said over 5 hours to Sesriem! And having booked a campsite inside the national park again, I had to be there before sunset when gates close! Back onto gravel in the right direction, and we made it, with very little time to spare, because I also stopped frequently to take in the views. I remember thinking that last 70km of dirt road was my favourite road (so far). It was absolutely beautiful.
The campsite wasn't as pretty as the other two, and bathrooms were also more difficult being further away and thick sand making pushing Damian's wheelchair much harder, but we probably slept most comfortably here. While setting up my tent, a German lady from the neighbouring camp came over to ask if she could help, and then a Dutch man from the camp on the other side, popped over too. He invited us to join for dinner and I said if my fire failed again, we would come beg for food. He said it wouldn’t be meat and was surprised to meet a South African vegetarian!
My fire burned well, and I made a vegetarian boloignaisse and pasta.
Day 5 | Sossusvlei
“The desert, when the sun comes up. I couldn't tell where heaven stopped, and the Earth began." - Tom Hanks
We were up at 5 to shower and pack up, to be at the entrance at 6h30 when they allowed guests to travel to Sossusvlei for sunrise. A long convoy of cars lined up to drive the 60km to the dunes. The last 5km is only accessible with 4x4 and even though my car is a 4x4 (a baby one), I wasn't going to be THAT tourist who is overconfident then gets stuck in thick sand and needs to be towed, so we went with one of the shuttles.
This was a highlight for me. After fracturing my neck last year, I realised my and Damian's hiking days are over. However, when packing for a trip I always pack his carrier, just in case. I wasn’t planning on hiking anywhere. But I hadn't really researched Sossusvlei either so when we hopped on the shuttle, I grabbed the backpack as I couldn't take the wheelchair, so thought I could at least put him on my back on that side. When we got there, the guide told me if I wanted to see Deadvlei it was around a 1.1km walk there.
There was no way we came all this way, and we didn't get to experience it, so off we went. It was super tough... I haven’t hiked, or done any real exercise for that matter, since before my accident and I felt it We met two lovely Namibian guides on the walk back who walked with us and chatted about their guiding experiences. The shuttle picked us up again and drove us to the Sossusvlei dune, and then back to the parking. It gets super hot later in the morning, so walking at sunrise was best.
Day 5 cont. | Sesriem
When we got back from Sossusvlei we moved from the campsite to cute cabins, just up the road but on the outside of the reserve. They have a little outdoor kitchen, and a braai, so we cooked dinner and watched a spectacular sunset surrounded by 'koringkriek' and their sounds.
We only spent 3 nights camping and that's the only thing I'd change...if we did the trip again, we'd camp the entire time. We stayed in lovely places after, but the camping was special and there were some lovely campsites. I just wasn't sure how cold the nights would get for Damian at this time of year or if we were properly kitted out yet for a long stretch of camping. It was really comfortable, only cold early mornings, but not unbearably.
Day 6 | Sesriem > Walvis Bay > Swakopmund
We passed over the Tropic of Capricorn en route and then at some point the landscape changed again, and you couldn't tell where the road stopped and the desert began. Endless sand for as far as you can see in all directions. Stopping to get out to try and capture photos (impossible) it's just so quiet, and so vast. And here I am, standing next to my car, a tiny speck in all of it. There were quite a few cars at the Tropic of Capricorn, but then once all moved off we didn't see anyone for ages again.
Day 6 cont. | Flamingo Lagoon, Walvis Bay
A quick stop en route to Swakopmund for the night for a walk on the promenade to see the flamingos.
Day 7 | Cape Cross Seal Colony Reserve
We arrived in Swakopmund late the afternoon before and left early for another full day of driving... first up to see the seals. We were just in time to see a seal rescue...the team went down to help two seals who had fishing-line around their necks.There is a boardwalk to move among the seals... they seemed quite used to people walking along but scattered every time we 'rolled' by.
Day 6 cont.| Spitzkoppe
This was one time I wished I'd done a bit more research and planning. I'd heard Spitzkoppe was a sight to see, but I didn't realise it was a reserve with spectacular camping sites too. I just plotted it on the route to see on our way to our next stay in Damaraland.
After a long stretch of driving, we came to a closed gate. The GPS said that's the way we had to go, so as I got out to open, a man came running from the one home in the area. He opened the gate and I asked if that was the way to Spitzkoppe. He said it was, and showed me his table of crystals and stones he was selling, telling me where they came from. There was a koringkriek climbing over one of the tables, so that's when I asked what they are called, and he told me. Of course, I bought a crystal from him... from his table of course, not his brother's table.
On arriving at Spitzkoppe I just wanted to spend more time there! I registered a day visit at reception, and then we drove around to explore. Because we'd already been travelling most of the day, at 3pm I had to force myself to leave because when I checked we still had over 3 hours to our next stop over, and I didn't want to drive that stretch of gravel in the dark... there were lots of dry river beds along this day's drive with thick, loose sand that we were slip-sliding through at times!
Day 6 cont | Damaraland
I specifically booked at this camp as we were hoping to see the desert adapted elephants of Damaraland, and it seemed to be the place to stay. We arrived as the sun was beginning to set, and I saw elephant dung along the road, so I was hopeful.
While we were checking in, other guests arrived at camp and said they had seen an elephant bull about 5km away. The host who was about to drive us to show us our tent took us out in her 4x4 to see if we could find the elephant. Unfortunately no luck. They did offer full day elephant tracking safaris, and maybe we should have pre-booked one, but we really wanted to just enjoy the journey without having set activities or guided tours we needed to be at and just experience what we were meant to at the time.
Day 8 | Palmwag
We had booked a second night in Damaraland at a different location, also hoping for elephant sightings if we weren't lucky at the first one.
Along the way, we decided to go and have a look at Burnt Mountain and Organ Pipes. I wasn't sure if we were supposed to turn around at the burnt mountain or follow the jeep tracks. I followed for a bit and when it became apparent it was a 4x4 trail I was sure they would have mentioned that if I was meant to drive that way around, so managed to do a tight '10 point' turn and head back. The lady at reception affirmed the turn around at the mountain. She also said Twyfelfontein wouldn't be accessible with a wheelchair, so we gave that a skip.
We decided not to visit the living museum either and head to our next stop at Palmwag. They apparently have a resident elephant in the area named Jimbo, but we didn't see him or any other elephants on the drives either. Lots of dung on the roads that seemed as if we may have just missed them again at times.
Day 9 | Palmwag > Etosha
More road pics... Did I mention I loved these long daily drives? I think I have to say the Grootberg Pass may be my favourite stretch of road we drove.
Day 9 to 12 | Etosha
We arrived around 4pm on the first day and spent the night at Okakuejo. Early morning after breakfast we headed to Halali for the next 2 nights, so drove the loops along that route. We checked in and spent some time in our room for lunch and to catch up then around 4pm went out for a 'quick drive' before gates closed at 6.30pm. We headed out about 10km and saw a drive for the rhino loop for 7km I think it was. At the end of that 7km there was a fork...9km back to Halali or 18km on the rhino loop. In my logic it seemed the rhino trail looped back around to Halali so we went that way. 18km later and still no sign of the end of the road I was sure we were going to miss sunset gate-closing and be lost in the park for the night 😆
When we got out the other side it was 28km back to Halali and the sun beginning to dip. We passed a waterhole and saw animals, so of course had to stop! We still made it back in time!
We made new friends at dinner and had breakfast together the following morning. They had been lucky to come across a pride of lions the day before, but far from where we had been or were planning to go. We didn't see any predators on our trip, sadly, I did spot one hyena on our first night at the waterhole. After breakfast, we headed up to Namutoni doing every single loop hoping to see lion, cheetah, or leopard. We looped back down again, home in time before sunset.
On our last day we did the loops back down to Okakuejo and had a nice few surprise sightings too. One of the most incredible sightings was on our last evening at the waterhole - thousands of red-billed queleas murmuring over the waterhole at sunset.
Then it was back on tar, beginning our return trip home via Windhoek, a sinking feeling that with the end of the gravel, so our trip too was coming to an end. I just wanted to turn around and do the last 11 days in reverse!
Day 12 | Windhoek
I honestly did not enjoy being back on tar heading to the city after the solitude, quiet and remoteness of the trip so far.
If we had to stay in the city, then we were still going to camp in the middle of it! I booked a cool Airbnb, staying in a tent. As we went into reception to check-in, I heard, "Look who is here!" Two couples came to say hi and said we camped next to them at Fish River Canyon, and again at Aus, and then they said they saw us again days later at the Tropic of Capricorn. They were from Cape Town too! They didn't do Swakopmund, Damaraland or Etosha, but somehow we still managed to end up in Windhoek at the same time and at the same Airbnb!
Day 13 | Windhoek > Keetmanshoop
Our Airbnb farmstay was so comfortable and Mr D got to watch the only bit of TV and play on his tablet for the first time on the trip, which was some needed downtime, and we both had a really good night sleep ahead of the next day's drive to the border. We woke to roosters crowing and a donkey braying.
Day 14 | Quiver Tree Forest & Giants Playground > Noordoewer
Before setting off back to the border for our last night stay before heading home, we did a short trip to the Quiver Tree Forest and Giant's Playground. I would have loved more time to walk the trails among these beautiful rock formations that are said to resemble giant children having stacked them like lego or jenga. We also went a bit further to see if we could visit the Mesosaurus Fossil Park, but it was closed, with the next tour only at 4.30pm. So we stopped there to have roadside lunch before leaving.
Day 15 | Homeward bound
So there had to be something to go wrong on this trip. I had planned to be at our last night stay by 5pm, to sit overlooking the Orange River and watch the sunset before crossing the border in the morning and heading home. I had booked our last night's stay at a lodge on the river... on what I thought was the Namibian side. I arrived and checked in, and they still gave me a room - only to come back in a few minutes and tell me I wasn't booked there. Turns out there was another lodge with the same name on the South African side that I'd actually booked at.
So I loaded up Damian and bags again and dashed to the border, arriving at 17h45. They were great in going to the car at the Namibian side to see Damian so that I didn't need to unload his wheelchair. At the South African side, we had to get out for Rapid Antigen tests etc. So we drove to our actual accommodation in the dark with no idea of the surroundings and checked in at 7.10pm. Only in daylight the next morning when checking out, we were able to look briefly over the river before the long drive home.
ZULULAND
As I mentioned before, this trip was quite different to our Namibian holiday. As we were spending another 2 weeks on this trip, I didn’t want to add 2-3 days of driving either way to get there, so we flew from Cape Town to Durban, and then a shuttle took us the last stretch to the reserve in Zululand. We met the monitor in town and loaded our luggage and ourselves onto the back of the open bakkie for the short drive to the reserve and our accommodation.
After settling in, we set off for the first monitoring session - jumping straight in. We’d been out for quite some time getting a feel of the reserve, and then we noticed lightning in the distance, signaling an approaching storm, so we started the drive back home. As we stopped to change the memory card on a camera trap, the skies opened up and the rain bucketed down. We were of course on the back of the open bakkie. We were soaked by the time we got home after the last 20-minute drive in the dark, and pouring rain. Welcome to Zululand!
From there on, we’d go out every morning at 5am for a few hours of tracking priority species that had been collared, with telemetry systems, and again at 3pm in the afternoon. We’d do this to track location, movement and behaviour which the monitors would report on. The collars give off 3 signals - moving, resting and mortality. The species we were tracking included cheetah, rhino, elephant, and lions and vultures. We were also involved in a game count - reserve management need to count all the herbivores in the reserve to be able to monitor vegetation use etc. So teams would be allocated a section of the reserve and every herbivore needed to be counted, and these routes would be repeated a number of times to give the most accurate representation. We counted over 100 buffalo on our drive and of course a variety of other animals like impala, nyala, wildebeest, warthog, giraffe, and zebra.
During our time on the reserve, 4 lions escaped as a result of the fence being cut, possibly in a poaching attempt. Reserve management were able to guide them back in with a helicopter, and then our task the next day was to go and locate them to see where they were moving back in the reserve. On one of these sessions it was found that one of those lions had a snare loosely around his neck, so the next session again, we needed to locate the lions and stay in the area monitoring them so that we could pin the location for the vets to come by helicopter to dart and remove the snare. We found them fairly soon after setting out at 5am and then watched sleeping lions for the next few hours until the vet was due to arrive at 10am.
Unfortunately, a week into our time at the reserve, my son, Damian, became really ill. I believe he must have picked up a bug on the plane trip. We were fetched by ambulance at 2am after a long and frightening wait, as the nearest hospital was 2 hours away, so it was then another 2 hours until he was admitted after a long road trip by ambulance. We spent 4 days in hospital in Richards Bay before being discharged and getting a shuttle back to the reserve for the last few days. As he wasn’t still completely well, we only joined some of the remaining sessions as and when he was up to it. Our last session was special in that we had a wonderful sighting of one of the cheetah females we’d been monitoring with her cubs.
And now, back home, as we prepare for Christmas and I ask Damian what he’d like - his answer: Plane tickets! He is a child after my own heart, and we do love a good adventure!
From our home to yours - Merry Christmas!
