Africa, Namibia


A Road Trip Through Namibia

Africa Namibia

I have always been fascinated by wide open spaces, driving for hours on a dirt road with no one else is sight. To me, that sounds like the perfect way to escape living in a city and the everyday life. So I scraped a couple of friends together and we decided to do a road trip through our neighboring country of Namibia.

Approaching thunder storm close to Walvis Bay
Black-backed Jackal on the Skeleton Coast

​​​​​​​​​​​This truly is an amazing place, friendly people and the most beautiful desert scenery you can imagine. Being someone who loves an adventure, we decided to only camp and spend as much time as possible in nature and stay away from the city’s and towns. Namibia being mostly desert and next to the Atlantic ocean with very hot summer days, can produce some spectacular thunder and lightning storms during the rainy season. So camping in a river bed might not always be the best idea during those months.

Bloedkoppie camsite at sunset
Crossing the Tropic of Capricorn

We entered the country at the Vioolsdrif border post and made our way up the B1 and then the C20 to Stampriet where we spent a couple of days camping on a sand dune. We spend time riding bikes in lightning storms and sleeping under the stars. From there, we got on the C19, C14, C26 and C28 and headed west towards the coast. When driving on the dirt roads of Namibia and not seeing other people for hours, make sure you have a couple of spare tires. You do not want to be stranded in the middle of the desert.

Dead Valley Sossusvlei
Dirt roads that never end on our way to the Skeleton Coast

We spent the next couple of days cruising through the desert, camping here and there; exploring, taking photographs and climbing sand dunes. We then crossed the Tropic of Capricorn as we got closer to the ocean. After driving through some crazy mist, we made it to The Skeleton Coast, a magical place where gigantic dunes fall into the ocean. Pitching tents on the beach and introducing ourselves to our new neighbors, a colony of Cape Fur Seals, was a new experience. We spent our last days exploring the coast, dodging the high tide as not to get stuck or dragged into the waves, before making our way back down to South Africa.

Not a bad view from my tent at sunset

As they say, all good things must come to an end. Driving during the night, the lightning again lit up the sky like it was daytime which made it easier to avoid running over all of the scorpions and snakes that cross the road at night. Just like that, the border post appeared in the distance. I got a couple of stamps in my passport and our 14 day adventure was over.

I have seen some amazing places all over the world and Namibia is definitely on the top of the list.

Riverbed crossing after a thunder storm