Africa Wild

Erich is an Oztrian i.e. He grew up in Austria but has spent his adult life in Australia. Wendy was born in England, spent her childhood in South Africa and her adult life in Australia where the two met and married.
We know them through our Aussuie relatives - is there a SOUTH African in the country without at least one ex pat relative in Australia???
Well said friends were keen to visit Namibia so Earlie Bird and I decided to let them tag along with us. It has been a year in planning and finally with flights, booked, wild card obtained, and accommodation booked we set off for three weeks to Nam and Kgalagadi on 2 June 2015
Our trip includes Ai Ais, Sossusvlei, The Waterberg Plateaux, Etosha National Park and Kgalagadi. We also stopped at Daan Viljoen Private Game Reserve in Windhoek and a couple of B&Bs in between.
We have reached the half way mark of our trip and have had an amazing time. Because of poor internet reception I will only be doing the TT on our return unless I get some good reception and start posting sooner. We are now on our way to WIndhoek. Watch this space

2 June 2015 - Cape Town to Ai Ai

Finally this day has arrived. I love the excitement of the pre-dawn start to a long journey. I settle down in my seat - pushed far forward so Erich has space for his long legs behind me. I scribble down our departure time on my pre-prepared chart - 4:30 am - The kilometerage registers 119632. What will it be when we return? I know my neat chart with its recordings of costs and stops will look the worse for wear when we return too! Cape Town is cold and rainy and we look forward to warm, dry weather and the healing waters of the Ai Ais hot springs. Perish the thought - the cold and rain continues. Our first stop is a freezing Klawer and our hot Wimpy breakfast and coffee is sooo welcome. It is strange to see pelting rain soaking into the dry Karoo earth. The weather only improves around Springbok.

Earlybird is not at his best at border crossings so I make sure that all the documentation is ready and hand my list of items to be taken across the border to the grim-faced officer at Vioelsdrift. Within minutes he has dismissed most of them as unnecessary and pins my list to the form he has filled in - no problem! The whole procedure is over in 40 minutes and by 2 pm we are in Namibia!

It is interesting to see wine farming taking place on the banks of the Orange River. Aussenkehr is such a farm. It is planned to develop Aussenkehr into a town. 6,000 erven have been surveyed and water and sewerage systems have been built.There is less than 50 millimetres average annual rainfall but the farm includes 15 kilometres of riverfront and has a government-approved quota to draw water for irrigation from the Orange River

We pass some intersting straw houses - no mud huts - no tin shanties

We see a sign saying there is a Spar nearby - we need a few things so decide to investigate. We cannot see anything like a town are intrigued to find the shop in the middle of nowhere which serves the farming community and hut dwellers.


We arrive at Ai Ais at 3 pm Namibian time, ( an hour behind SA time in Winter) taking the new dirt road which is a tad quicker. The weather is overcast and there are a few drops of rain and it is really cold.



The local Nama people call the springs Ai-Ais which means 'burning water'. This lovely natural hot-spring is situated at the southern end of The Fish River Canyon, in the Karas Region of southern Namibia. It is part of the Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park.
We have room A3 and A4 which lead onto the indoor pool area.


We have a swim and then a rest before going for drinks and then to supper at the restaurant. We all have eland steaks which are rather nice. They are served with rosti, butternut and green beans. Then its off to our comfortable beds decked with down duvets - so welcome after a hard day's travelling.

Wednesday 3 June 2015 Ai Ais

We are all in the pool by quarter to 8 this morning. Erich and Wendy are earlier than we are. They’ve had tea on their stoop and had watched the sun rise! The water is divinely warm. My eyes are itchy from allergies and I am sure the water is making them feel better or is it a placebo effect? Whatever, I feel great relaxing in these soothing waters.


After our swim we go off to breakfast and sit chatting till 10. Then we go for a walk around the lodge, admire the scenery and find some birds.
Mountain Wheatear

Swallow-tailed Bee-eater

Scenery at Ai Ais

The Outdoor Pool


At 1 Earl and I go for an hour-long full body massage which is divine. Erich and Wendy each had half-hour back massages. Afterwards we have a long afternoon nap. When we wake up we go for a lovely, long swim in the hot baths. I stay in a lot longer than Earl and chat to a Grade 11 girl who had just completed the 6-day hike of the Fish River Canyon. She tells me it was amazing but she is exhausted and every muscle is aching.

Earl comes to call me. Stuart and Janet have arrived. We knew they were doing a similar trip to ours at the same time and had planned to meet them in Etosha. They aren’t meant to be here but had started off from Cape Town later than planned so decided to spend the night at Ai Ais. They join us for drinks and then dinner and it is a super evening.

Thursday 4 June 2015 Ai Ais to Africa Safari Lodge

We wake to a rainy and cold day! This is not meant to happen in the month of June! After showering and packing we go to meet the others for breakfast at 7:00 am. After breakfast we all head to the Canyon Lookout. We have to pay R60 per person to drive to the lookout point but it is worth it. It’s just a pity that the weather is not clear. Still we get excellent views of the canyon and don’t mind too much about getting wet. Earl and I were here 20 years ago in brilliant sunshine and no fences. It is a little different today but the views are the same.


We then bid farewell to Janet and Stuart who head to Luderitz while we make our way to Mariental where we will spend the night at Africa Safari Lodge. The weather improves and there is no rain when we arrive at Keetmanshoop. We stop at the Spur for lunch and I buy a Namibian Sim Card at the local phone shop. My package is amazing – I pay in R295 in cash and dial in for whatever I need for a week. Each week I renew my contract until my balance runs out. I get Facebook, the internet, Whatsap and a number of free calls. Whenever I return to Namibia I use the same sim card and top up my balance. I do not have to RICA!

We arrive at Africa Safari Lodge at 3:00 p.m. It is lovely.

We have ‘tea’ on the stoop and then an afternoon nap
Take a guess what we have in our tea cups



When we wake up it is dark and we find a rhinoceros on our front lawn!


Dinner is superb. We start with Sweet Chilli Calamari and Greek salad and then have gourmet Oryx steaks with mushroom sauce and mash potato. To die for! Dessert is Apple crumble and ice cream.

Our room was is really comfortable. The bed is made from a concrete slap on which is a very comfortable mattress with down duvet. There is a television and we watch a skop, skiet and donner movie before dropping off to sleep.

Lisbeth wrote:The view of the valley is breathtaking. I can imagine what it will be with good weather Rhino on the lawn That's special!

Yes the view is fabulous in clear weather.
We were delighted to have a friendly rhino visit

Interesting insights on Namibian lodge cuisine

Canyon in the rain is pleasant temperature at least

Fancy cocktail in the cups?

Friday 5 June 2015 - Sossus Dune Lodge

We wake at 6 and Earl and I watch the second half of another movie – The Journey of Charley and Hooch - or some such name – an Australian movie starring Paul Hogan.

We then join Erich and Wendy for breakfast which is really good – continental cheeses and cold meats, cereals and yogurt and eggs to order.

Our trip to Sossuvlei is interesting. We enjoy the changing scenery and arrive at Sossus Dune Lodge at 12 noon.




Earlybird goes into frantic mode because he can't see the sign to the lodge. I have to calm him down to a panic before he realises that we are right there. We go through the gate, give our details and then go to the reserve reception to pay the conservation fee.

It is still another 2km to the lodge and when we arrive we see some distant huts.

Earlybird once again has a nervous breakdown at the thought of having to drag luggage a fair distance to the door. However, we are ushered into an undercover parking and met by an open land rover and told, "We will take you and your luggage from here."


We are duly delivered to the lodge reception and I go ahead to book in. Outside reception a charming and cheerful Herbert greets me and asks me to wait just a few minutes. Earl and the others arrive and my stressed out hubby immediately attacks me – Why haven’t you checked in? – I have to have a few firm words with him to calm down and wait to do as he is told. He decides that to cross me further will not be in his best interests and nervously paces until Herbert ushers us into reception and brings refreshing glasses of litchi juice for each of us. We fill in the visitors book and he then eloquently explains what is on offer at Sossus Dune Lodge. He stares straight at Earl and says – Do not worry about your luggage, sir – it will be delivered to your cabin - so Earl is able to breathe again. He gives us the details of where we will be lodged, what trips we can book and what and when meals will be served. And so within the first half hour of our arrival a sunset drive, sunrise drive and air flip over the dunes is organised! Tea and coffee is free unless it’s cappuccino, complementary water is in our fridges, breakfast will be served at the sunrise drive venue and snacks will be freely available on the sunset drive too!

We have cabin 13 and 14 right in front of the waterhole and first off we find gemsbok drinking and later springbok and warthog appear.





We meet our guide, Sammy, at quarter past four and along with four British tourists climb into a really nice carriage which is glassed in so that we do not get too cold! It is warm at first and we drive with the windows down. Sammy is an excellent guide and stops to show us oryx and gives information about the bachelor herds and age of the buck we see. Because we are with him we can go to areas that self-drive cars may not. We stop at Elim dune first and find a sociable weaver nest.



This is the vehicle that brings us here.


It is amazing to see gemsbok on the dunes. It's the colours!




At our sunset spot Sammy sets up a table with snacks and drinks. We watch beautiful sunset while sipping our sundowners.




It is dark on our return trip and we are most grateful for the glassed in doors.

Dinner at the lodge is a set menu with a choice of chicken or beef. We skip the soup starter and all chose the Hawaiian Chicken served with pasta. It is delicious.

Saturday 6 June 2015 Sossusvlei

Our wake-up call is a knock on the door at 4:30 am. It is a tad chilly and we all meet wrapped up in fleeces and warm jackets. It is an hour’s drive to the sunrise spot. We take photos of the rising sun before climbing a Big Daddy Dune.

The name, Sossusvlei, comes from two languages - Sossus is the Nama word meaning No Return - or - Dead End. Vlei is the Afrikaans word for marsh or pan. The actual Sossusvlei is a salt and clay pan which fills with water on the rare occasion that it rains. There is no water in it when we visit. The name "Sossusvlei" also refers to the surrounding area (including other neighbouring vleis such as Deadvlei and other high dunes), which is one of the major visitor attractions of Namibia. The area has many high sand dunes of a vivid pinkish/orangish/reddish colour caused by the high content of iron in the sand and the consequent oxidation processes. The older the dune, the redder the colour. Big Daddy is 380m high and this is the one we climb!
Earl takes a break on the way up

Erich standing at the top

The dunes are magnificent

Wendy does well but has a height phobia so decides to go back down after a while. As we climb it seems to get steeper and steeper with each footfall! There are a number of other climbers, some in groups, some individual. We have a photographic group in front of us so they keep stopping to take interesting and creative photographs giving us an excuse to rest frequently! We are supposed to descend at a certain point and go down to Deadvlei but I turn back and go the way I came meeting Sammy on his way up and he tells me to return so as to get to Deadvlei with him. Omiword – another upward climb before I can descend! I am feeling a bit shaky – from low blood pressure or altitude intolerance – or perhaps I’m just not fit enough for dune climbing!

The descent is lovely. We make our way to Deadvlei where the trees have been dead for almost a thousand years. There is underground water so there is a grove of green trees there too. We wonder around and take creative photos and then make our way back to the vehicle.
Here are some images from Dead Vlei



A short drive to Sossusvlei and we disembark once again where we find a beautifully laid breakfast table set up by Sammy who then presents us with cereal, fruit salad, yoghurt, cold meats, boiled eggs and fresh bread. Wow. The Cape Sparrows think it was for them and twitter away in the trees until we give in and feed them a few crumbs.


Our return trip takes us past all the amazing dunes and we marvel at the shapes and stunning colours. We stop to photograph Dune 45 so named because it is 45 km from Sossus Dune Lodge.

It is hot when we get back to the lodge and we change into cooler clothes. In the afternoon we have an exciting experience.
To be continued:

Continuing the Dune Day
I put on cargo pants and take a fleece to fly over the dunes in the afternoon. We have to go to another lodge just outside the park to get our over-dune flight. We pay our fare, receive proper tickets and fill in an indemnity form at the Adventure Activity desk and then are taken to the airfield by one of the staff who also explains where we would go and what signals the pilot would give to indicate what he sees below. Unfortunately the plane is not equipped with earphones! Loubser is our pilot and we are his fifth trip of the day. I am feeling only a tad nervous having recently been up in a light aircraft with Abri and survived! This plane is a little bigger but not as comfortable as Abri’s. But I can open a tiny square in my window to take photographs which makes a big difference. I will let the photos tell the story.
Our lodge from the air

The dunes kept rolling on and on



All the way to the coast

Ship wreck below

Remains of mining camp

Seal colony


It is an awesome trip lasting an hour and a half. Well worth doing.

Dinner this evening is kudu steak for me and Earl and pork for the Schoffls. After our long and exciting day we are in bed by 8 o'clock.

We are up and ready to for breakfast at 6:30 sharp, enjoy a leisurely breakfast, take photos of a hot air balloon over the mountains, check out and set off for Windhoek.

The highlight is travelling over the Spreetshoogte Pass. Meaning: Spreeth's Peak Pass. It connects the Namib Dessert with the Khomas Highland by traversing the Great Escarpment and is the steepest pass in Namibia.

The pass was erected during World War II by farmer Nicolaas Spreeth, after whom it is named. He owned the farm Ubib just at the foot of the escarpment. Whenever goods were delivered to his farm they would be dropped at a bus stop at farm Namibgrens (English: Namib border) on top of the mountain. To gather them the choice was to either travel via Remhoogte Pass approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) southwards, or to trek uphill along existing Zebra paths.

Spreeth decided to do the latter, fortifying the path with quartzite rocks whenever he undertook the journey. Soon the bright white rocks formed a line that could be spotted from a distance. Spreeth even catered for motor vehicles (not very strong at that time), placing long, flat patches of road ahead of every steep ascent. He built the pass literally with his own hands. To flatten obstacles he used dynamite.





Our hostess is not home when we arrive at Anjo Villa Guest House so we duck to the local supermarket café and have a coffee before checking in.

What a charming place it is. After unpacking we sit under the trees and have a glass of wine and a chat, download emails using the free wi-fi and at 4:30 make our way into Windhoek. As advised by Anthea we pop into Joe’s Beerhouse for a drink but are so fascinated by the place we decide to stay for dinner. It is a series of outdoor enclosures and spaces filled with all sorts of memorabilia and relics of the past and present. Basically it's junk made to look interesting. Possibly each piece has a history and a story behind it. We wander about enjoying the exhibition and then sit at a table next to a roaring fire in the middle of the boma where we eat. Wendy and I enjoy Kessler and sauerkraut, Earl has lamb shank and Erich eisbein. They both have to get doggy bags as the portions are so huge.




After that we head to the casino, have a cup of tea and lose some money before coming back for an early night.