Southern Africa Safari 2017 - D day plus 116 days

The Namib Wild horses waiting for the train at Garub Station

Fish River Canyon

Mine houses at Kolmanskop being reclaimed by desert sands

Dune 45 on the way to Sossusvlei

Vingerklip (Rock Finger)

Petrified forest-Fossilised trees estimated to be 280million years old

 I am including some photos of some of the interesting places to visit in Namibia from our 2011 trip.

I mentioned the need to be patient at the border crossings and it brought to mind Kingslaey Holgate's answer to being held up at a border post by immigration/customs officials and I quote him as follows:-

"When I get a stroppy border official I always put on a stut...stut...stutter and you will find the guy wants to get rid of you as fast as possible"

Just picture it, with apologies to anyone who stutters:-

Border Official: Where are you going?

Kingsley: I...I...a...a...am go...go...go...going t...t...to..Lu...Lu...Lusa...Lusa...Lusaka

Border Official: Where are you coming from?

Kingsley: J...J...Jo...Jo...Johan...Johan...Johannesburg

Denise on the Skeleton Coast, Namibia

Border Official: What are you going to Lusaka for?

 Kingsley: I...I...Its...m...m...my d...d...daugh...daugh..daughters w...w...wed...wed...wedding.

Border Official: (stamping his papers with undue force) For goodness sake go, go

I may well try it some day perhaps at Beit Bridge on the Zimbabwe border they are always slow and insist on knowing your name and address and the place where you stay, but I will probably get arrested.

I must share a post I saw on a 4x4 web site the other day where it said that at a particular place in Southern Africa had an attempted robbery at a camp site and this is the first reported incident in 3 years, the web site was full of warnings to travellers to avoid this place and this country. A South African citizen posted "one in 3 years, in SA we have 3 a day" The gentleman was understating the facts as in South Africa we have 51 murders a day and 363 armed robberies a day according to Stats SA. I guess what I am saying is there are many alarmist's out there and one should not be unduly worried, careful yes. There are exceptions like right now the Eastern Congo bordering Uganda, and Northern Kenya bordering Somaliland which should be avoided and you can, without messing around with your journey too much.

On our last trip we took in Moremi National Park and it was great, but on reflection I think we saw more wildlife outside the park than in it. There are no fences in Botswana and as a consequencethe wildlife can follow their ancient migratory routes. Today we blame elephants for destroying the flora, but when you allow unfettered movement they are not confined to one area and the vegetation has time to recover. In fact in Botswana you have to be aware of elephants and other wildlife walking down or crossing the road as one would for domestic cattle, goats and donkey's and night travel is not reccomended.

We are going to spend 6 days in the Caprivi Strip which belongs to Namibia and is bordered by Angola and Zambia in the North and Botswana in the South it also has a number of large rivers coursing along the borders and across the Strip namely the Kwando, Chobe, Okavango and the mighty Zambezi. The Caprivi Strip is less than 50kms wide and 300 kms long from Katima Malilo to Andara.

In researching our intended journey I came across some interesting facts, The Strip is named after a German Chancellor, Leo von Caprivi who had visions of using the Zambezi river as trade route from what was then a German territory (South West Africa, now Namibia) to Tanganyika (Tanzania) also a German territory, however, he did not bargain for the Victoria Falls. Von Caprivi did a deal with the British who were the Colonial masters of Bechuanaland (Botswana) to exchange the Strip, which belonged to the British for German interests in Zanzibar and the island of Heligoland in the North Sea and that is how South West Africa now Namibia became the masters of the Caprivi Strip.

There endeth your Geography/History lesson of the day.

It is difficult if not impossible to plan trip that covers everything there is to see and do unless you plan to travel for a year or two, but that is a very good excuse, if you needed one, to go back to Namibia and Botswana. This will be our third trip to Namibia and Botswana  and there will still be places we have not been to.

 

Have a lovely day!