Namibia in a 4x4 rental
- Thread starter philcia
- Start date
We rented from Bushlore last year for 30 days in South Africa, and I cannot say enough good things about the land cruiser and the customer service. They were so helpful when we suddenly changed our itinerary to include some border crossings, and the truck was very well setup. Upon return, there were no surprise costs added, other than tolls that we incurred. I would not hesitate to rent from them again, and am enjoying your report as we're trying to figure out when we can get back and do Botswana and Namibia. As you have stated... there is something about Africa that just gets inside of your heart. I dream about going back.
philcia
Member
Part 5.
Sorry for the delay in posting more. Summer is my busiest work season and with my business partner away, even more so.
Our last stop in Etosha was at Olifantsrus Camp. This is the newest campsite in Etosha and has a very odd heritage for a national park. In the 80's the Namibian government instituted an Elephant cull as they believed it would be good for the park! Hard to believe these days. It also has an amazing two storey viewing platform at the waterhole.
The next day we left the park via the Galton Gate and headed south to re-stock. Namibia has a vet fence (it stretches right across the north of the country and into Botswana) to stop the migration of Foot and Mouth disease. When heading north you can take any meats, eggs and milk products. Heading south you have to either hand them over or use them up. This is very important to Namibians as cattle exports are an important part of their economy. I'd heard stories of travellers trying to hide stuff and or getting mad at the officials. Don't be a ******** about this. It's their country and we are visitors. Plan your trip around dealing with the fence line. To that end when we left Etosha we drove to Kamanjab for our restock and refuel.
Galton Gate
Airing up for the blacktop to Kamanjab.
Other than in Windhoek and Swakopmond, the local Spars or MultiSave's had very little in the way of products. Lots of Maze, Sugar and Pop! But not a lot of meat, dairy, vegetables, cereals or canned goods. This was our last stop for the next 6 days so we bought what we could.
From here we headed back north to camp at Khowarib Lodge.
Sorry for the delay in posting more. Summer is my busiest work season and with my business partner away, even more so.
Our last stop in Etosha was at Olifantsrus Camp. This is the newest campsite in Etosha and has a very odd heritage for a national park. In the 80's the Namibian government instituted an Elephant cull as they believed it would be good for the park! Hard to believe these days. It also has an amazing two storey viewing platform at the waterhole.
The next day we left the park via the Galton Gate and headed south to re-stock. Namibia has a vet fence (it stretches right across the north of the country and into Botswana) to stop the migration of Foot and Mouth disease. When heading north you can take any meats, eggs and milk products. Heading south you have to either hand them over or use them up. This is very important to Namibians as cattle exports are an important part of their economy. I'd heard stories of travellers trying to hide stuff and or getting mad at the officials. Don't be a ******** about this. It's their country and we are visitors. Plan your trip around dealing with the fence line. To that end when we left Etosha we drove to Kamanjab for our restock and refuel.
Galton Gate
Airing up for the blacktop to Kamanjab.
Other than in Windhoek and Swakopmond, the local Spars or MultiSave's had very little in the way of products. Lots of Maze, Sugar and Pop! But not a lot of meat, dairy, vegetables, cereals or canned goods. This was our last stop for the next 6 days so we bought what we could.
From here we headed back north to camp at Khowarib Lodge.
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philcia
Member
Aired back down again, good gravel, a long drive and we roll into Khowarib ready for a beer. This is the start of what I hope to be the best part of the trip for me. I have been dreaming of the Northwest for a year or so now. The further north we head the less people and civilization we see. Just what I'm looking for!
Tomorrow we head to Epupa Falls. We thought this would be a relatively short day. We are about to learn about the winter rains and how much they have messed up the roads. T4A maps need an update, travel times will be way off for the next few days.
Tomorrow we head to Epupa Falls. We thought this would be a relatively short day. We are about to learn about the winter rains and how much they have messed up the roads. T4A maps need an update, travel times will be way off for the next few days.
philcia
Member
We get up early and on the road. We are expecting a 5 hour drive with a diversion to Sesfontein for our final fuel top up. No more fuel for the next 5 days. The roads start out well. One of the things driving here is that, so far, the road surfaces tend to be in great condition however they follow the terrain. In the mountains they tend to wiggle around every hill or go straight over it. In the plains they are straight and long but at every water way, be it a steam or river, you will be cruising along, come over a rise and it's a gamble as to how much to slow down and how rough will the dip be. Sometimes it's at 100kmh with a modest bump and at other times it's breaking hard from 100kmh to 5kmh. The further north we get the more we have to slow down so after an 11 hour day we finally roll into Epupa Falls.
Haircut anyone?
Haircut anyone?
philcia
Member
Part 6.
Totally exhausted we arrive at Epupa Falls and it's time for a break. We are in a section of our itinerary that we purposefully left unplanned. So for the next five nights we have a general plan but nothing booked. It's my brother in-laws birthday, we are all exhausted from the last week of non-stop travel that we decide a two night stay is needed.
Epupa Falls Lodge and Campsite is an oasis of luxury in an area of zero services. Up here there are no shops or gas stations, plan ahead as all you will have is what you bring with you. Having said that the lodge can sometimes sell bottled water and will cook for you if you book ahead, they also have cold drinks and booze! Like I said luxury.
This is the start to what I expect to be my favourite part of the trip and we will not be disappointed
Great food and a lactose free cake for the birthday boy!
The campsite is right above the falls. Three weeks ago this area was under water with the floods.
You can see the lodge's bar in the above photo. Gives a good perspective as to how close to the falls we camped.
When we arrived at the campsite we were met by Marianna who is the Chief of the local Himba tribe. She organized our laundry to be washed and a visit to one of the Himba campsites. The Himba have multiple villages and move from one to another as the grazing runs out. My brother in-law is a professional musician and along with his daughter (Tess) have a band in Australia called "The Chesterfield Band." They spent several hours singing and meeting with Marianna's family.
Making music and having your hair braided!
Totally exhausted we arrive at Epupa Falls and it's time for a break. We are in a section of our itinerary that we purposefully left unplanned. So for the next five nights we have a general plan but nothing booked. It's my brother in-laws birthday, we are all exhausted from the last week of non-stop travel that we decide a two night stay is needed.
Epupa Falls Lodge and Campsite is an oasis of luxury in an area of zero services. Up here there are no shops or gas stations, plan ahead as all you will have is what you bring with you. Having said that the lodge can sometimes sell bottled water and will cook for you if you book ahead, they also have cold drinks and booze! Like I said luxury.
This is the start to what I expect to be my favourite part of the trip and we will not be disappointed
Great food and a lactose free cake for the birthday boy!
The campsite is right above the falls. Three weeks ago this area was under water with the floods.
You can see the lodge's bar in the above photo. Gives a good perspective as to how close to the falls we camped.
When we arrived at the campsite we were met by Marianna who is the Chief of the local Himba tribe. She organized our laundry to be washed and a visit to one of the Himba campsites. The Himba have multiple villages and move from one to another as the grazing runs out. My brother in-law is a professional musician and along with his daughter (Tess) have a band in Australia called "The Chesterfield Band." They spent several hours singing and meeting with Marianna's family.
Making music and having your hair braided!
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philcia
Member
Visiting with the Himba.
From Epupa Falls we start into what I think of as the real Africa. We are truly heading off the beaten track and going to places most tourists would not venture to. We heard that we may be able to get diesel at Okangwati and sure enough we can. This reminds me of how we filled up 28 years ago. We used to stop in a town and spread the word, buying a few hundred litres 5 to 20L at a time.
Yet again the roads are rougher than we expect. We cover half the distance the maps and locals say we will. Stupidly I misjudge the size of a rock in the sand and end up stuck on a small rock. Fortunately I stop before it punctures our fuel tank.
Jack time!
The roads are truly getting nasty. My wife is leaving finger prints in the dash as she grips on. Although I can't hear it I know my sister is swearing up a storm about her #&%$ brother Unfortunately we have no photos of the bad/fun parts, we are so focused on making km's and worried about how long it is taking that we don't catch the moments of 3 wheeling down rock ledges and crawling up a rocky gully that used to be a road!
We eventually realize we are not going to make it to Onjuva, a campsite and showers. So as the sun sets we pull off in one of the few flat areas and have our first bush camp. Love it! This is why we came!!!
From Epupa Falls we start into what I think of as the real Africa. We are truly heading off the beaten track and going to places most tourists would not venture to. We heard that we may be able to get diesel at Okangwati and sure enough we can. This reminds me of how we filled up 28 years ago. We used to stop in a town and spread the word, buying a few hundred litres 5 to 20L at a time.
Yet again the roads are rougher than we expect. We cover half the distance the maps and locals say we will. Stupidly I misjudge the size of a rock in the sand and end up stuck on a small rock. Fortunately I stop before it punctures our fuel tank.
Jack time!
The roads are truly getting nasty. My wife is leaving finger prints in the dash as she grips on. Although I can't hear it I know my sister is swearing up a storm about her #&%$ brother
Unfortunately we have no photos of the bad/fun parts, we are so focused on making km's and worried about how long it is taking that we don't catch the moments of 3 wheeling down rock ledges and crawling up a rocky gully that used to be a road!We eventually realize we are not going to make it to Onjuva, a campsite and showers. So as the sun sets we pull off in one of the few flat areas and have our first bush camp. Love it! This is why we came!!!
philcia
Member
I had hopes that we would have time to head up the Marienfluss and visit the "Fairy circles," time is too short, never enough time :-( We carry on towards Puros and driving around one of the endless wiggles in the track we spot one of the "Lone Men of Koakoland." These are sculptures that dot the northern Koakoland, nobody knows how many and to date no one is telling were they are located. If you want to see them you have to go and search.
To give a sense of height, my hobbit of a sister is 5'4". The sculpture is the good looking one on the left
In the next few hours we leave the trees and mountains behind and all of a sudden are on the Skeleton Coast. The Atlantic is 40km to the west.
The latest section of corrugations takes out my ABS and speedometer. We check all connections and fuses but no go. Ok so back to old school breaking and don't let the back end get too loose slowing down for the endless water bars.
Not a bad spot for lunch.
The only tracks in the sand are ours.
To give a sense of height, my hobbit of a sister is 5'4". The sculpture is the good looking one on the left
In the next few hours we leave the trees and mountains behind and all of a sudden are on the Skeleton Coast. The Atlantic is 40km to the west.
The latest section of corrugations takes out my ABS and speedometer. We check all connections and fuses but no go. Ok so back to old school breaking and don't let the back end get too loose slowing down for the endless water bars.
Not a bad spot for lunch.
The only tracks in the sand are ours.
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philcia
Member
After lunch and a play in the sand we toy with the idea of staying here for the night, but with so much time left in the day, we decide to move on. I wish we had stayed now, this would have been an amazing place to bush camp. The next trip needs to be longer, time, never enough time.
Endless camping opportunities.
We arrive at Puros Community Campsite early enough for some fire time and cooking. Good showers although the donkey boiler didn't have enough time to warm up the water.
The local Bar / Grocery store. Vegetable oil, Maize, Sugar, pop and booze.
Endless camping opportunities.
We arrive at Puros Community Campsite early enough for some fire time and cooking. Good showers although the donkey boiler didn't have enough time to warm up the water.
The local Bar / Grocery store. Vegetable oil, Maize, Sugar, pop and booze.
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philcia
Member
A wonderful surprise for me the next day. In researching Namibia I had read and watched youtube videos about Puros canyon. I had thought the true canyon was miles away from Puros. I should have figured out it would right here. For the next half a day we crawl through the river bed in and out of the zigzagging river. We had a blast splashing the Landcruisers through the water sections. In retrospect we let our caution down and ended up paying the price for it.
hammer-time
New member
Absolutely stunning!
philcia
Member
Sorry for the delay again.
So after playing around in the water, we head on down the canyon. As I mentioned we were having way too much fun. We made a fatal error, letting our guard down. I should make the excuse that the night before Tess had been tossing her cookies and I was not feeling anywhere near 100%. As is usual in Africa we could not point to what had caused it and only two out of seven of us were sick. Tess' was rather dramatic and over quickly, mine lasted a few days and mostly left me drained and run down. Ok excuses over!
We inadvertently drove past the turn out of the canyon and as we had all morning kept on following the vague wheel tracks in the sand. We came to one rather wide river crossing and I confidently (overconfidently) spotted tracks on the other side. As soon as I got into the river I could feel that this crossing was a lot different from the others. I was in Low 2 and could feel the land cruiser bogging down. We made it across and I could clearly see tracks turning around, glancing at the GPS I could tell we had also gone the wrong way. We swung around and headed back to re-cross the river as a plaintive voice came over the radio "Ahh Phil...I think I'm stuck" We stopped and I waded across to assess how stuck Cam was and also to take a good look at the crossing. Cam was up to his diff's and not going anywhere. As we walked around his truck I realized that it was going to be pretty touch and go for me to get back. There was no way he was moving on his own so we planned that I would come back across in my original (more solid) tracks and at the last second swerve off into the goop that was the river bed beside his truck and hope that I had enough momentum to get back on shore and solid ground.
Low 2 and off we go! I almost made it!! I ended up getting the back wheels stuck but the front on solid ground. Out came the sand mats and we easily managed to get me out and on the river bank.
Now that I'm on solid ground it should have been an easy job to jack up the truck, use the sand mats and drive him out.... hmm well maybe not. Bush lore had kitted out each vehicle with a high lift jack and a small piece of plywood which they had proudly told us to use if we had to jack on soft sand. Both pieces of plywood are about 3' down in the river! We tried for about 6 hours to dig, damn the river, tow and winch the truck. I should add that it was amazing the way everyone got stuck in to help. Tess who had been sick all night and even this morning dug and worked like a dog. It was in the 30's and humid as all hell. I, of all, of us did the least amount of work.
After messing around for the rest of the day it was time to try calling in the cavalry. We got on the SAT phone to bush lore and they said they would send us a tow truck. Not going to happen! After a multitude of phone calls I think they realized how far into the backwoods we were and suggested we go back to Puros and find George at the Manchester. So the next morning Cam and I drive back about an hour and amazingly we do find George! The drive back to Puros was nerve racking to say the least. The wind in the night had covered over most of the tracks so it was a case of guessing where the safe route was. Having got one vehicle stuck we were not too keen to get another stuck.
George selected two other men to help us. We also drove over to a fly in resort to ask if they could bring their truck and help if we needed more towing power. The answer was no as they had only just got their truck back after it was stuck for 3 days! We did manage to get a bunch of planks so that the hi-lift jacks wouldn't sink, and some manpower.
When we got back to the truck I sat in a chair and watched as these three tough Africans jacked and dug. They cut branches and moved about a yard of rocks to make a road way. What us soft white guys had failed at so miserably they sorted out in about an hour!!!
Nice place to camp.
Probably the best two days of the trip. Not only did we need to problem solve and really pull together as a team (both the Cdn. and Aussie sides of the family), but we also experienced one of the coolest moments of the trip. We were sitting around the campfire late into the night, waiting for one of our pleas for help to come through on the sat phone, in the riverbed, exhausted and spent, each of us silent and lost in our own thoughts, and yet an unspoken bond had quite obviously formed.
So after playing around in the water, we head on down the canyon. As I mentioned we were having way too much fun. We made a fatal error, letting our guard down. I should make the excuse that the night before Tess had been tossing her cookies and I was not feeling anywhere near 100%. As is usual in Africa we could not point to what had caused it and only two out of seven of us were sick. Tess' was rather dramatic and over quickly, mine lasted a few days and mostly left me drained and run down. Ok excuses over!
We inadvertently drove past the turn out of the canyon and as we had all morning kept on following the vague wheel tracks in the sand. We came to one rather wide river crossing and I confidently (overconfidently) spotted tracks on the other side. As soon as I got into the river I could feel that this crossing was a lot different from the others. I was in Low 2 and could feel the land cruiser bogging down. We made it across and I could clearly see tracks turning around, glancing at the GPS I could tell we had also gone the wrong way. We swung around and headed back to re-cross the river as a plaintive voice came over the radio "Ahh Phil...I think I'm stuck" We stopped and I waded across to assess how stuck Cam was and also to take a good look at the crossing. Cam was up to his diff's and not going anywhere. As we walked around his truck I realized that it was going to be pretty touch and go for me to get back. There was no way he was moving on his own so we planned that I would come back across in my original (more solid) tracks and at the last second swerve off into the goop that was the river bed beside his truck and hope that I had enough momentum to get back on shore and solid ground.
Low 2 and off we go! I almost made it!! I ended up getting the back wheels stuck but the front on solid ground. Out came the sand mats and we easily managed to get me out and on the river bank.
Now that I'm on solid ground it should have been an easy job to jack up the truck, use the sand mats and drive him out.... hmm well maybe not. Bush lore had kitted out each vehicle with a high lift jack and a small piece of plywood which they had proudly told us to use if we had to jack on soft sand. Both pieces of plywood are about 3' down in the river! We tried for about 6 hours to dig, damn the river, tow and winch the truck. I should add that it was amazing the way everyone got stuck in to help. Tess who had been sick all night and even this morning dug and worked like a dog. It was in the 30's and humid as all hell. I, of all, of us did the least amount of work.
After messing around for the rest of the day it was time to try calling in the cavalry. We got on the SAT phone to bush lore and they said they would send us a tow truck. Not going to happen! After a multitude of phone calls I think they realized how far into the backwoods we were and suggested we go back to Puros and find George at the Manchester. So the next morning Cam and I drive back about an hour and amazingly we do find George! The drive back to Puros was nerve racking to say the least. The wind in the night had covered over most of the tracks so it was a case of guessing where the safe route was. Having got one vehicle stuck we were not too keen to get another stuck.
George selected two other men to help us. We also drove over to a fly in resort to ask if they could bring their truck and help if we needed more towing power. The answer was no as they had only just got their truck back after it was stuck for 3 days! We did manage to get a bunch of planks so that the hi-lift jacks wouldn't sink, and some manpower.
When we got back to the truck I sat in a chair and watched as these three tough Africans jacked and dug. They cut branches and moved about a yard of rocks to make a road way. What us soft white guys had failed at so miserably they sorted out in about an hour!!!
Nice place to camp.
Probably the best two days of the trip. Not only did we need to problem solve and really pull together as a team (both the Cdn. and Aussie sides of the family), but we also experienced one of the coolest moments of the trip. We were sitting around the campfire late into the night, waiting for one of our pleas for help to come through on the sat phone, in the riverbed, exhausted and spent, each of us silent and lost in our own thoughts, and yet an unspoken bond had quite obviously formed.