Almost an apartment on four wheels

Namibia, located in the south-west of the African continent, marks the second chapter in our journey. After a few stopover days in Cape Town, we finally arrived at Windhoek, the country's capital, on October 25. While we've explored Uganda as part of an organized tour, Namibia would become our very own adventure. Our companion: A Toyota Hilux, which is almost an apartment on four wheels. The kitchen can be found in the rear of the car; it includes a fridge, gas cookers, pans, cutlery, plates, water tanks, a table, and two chairs. The driver cabin would be our living room, and our bedroom was in the rooftop tent. All you need for a two-week road trip through the country? Well, we usually had showers and toilets on campsites, but I said, "almost an apartment on four wheels."

The ultimate road trip - 2400 kilometers in 14 days

As opposed to road trips in other countries, proper planning is essential for Namibia. Back in Switzerland, we've put together our route and booked all campsites and lodges. Absolutely necessary as the end of October/beginning of November is still considered high season, and accommodation is in most places anyway limited. As you can see from the map, we had to cover vast distances. On top, Namibia ranks the world's second-lowest in population density (right after Mongolia). As a result, grocery stores and gas stations are not always around the corner.

Our journey brought us through large parts of the country, but remember, Namibia is huge (20x the size of Switzerland), and hence, within two weeks, we couldn't cover all regions. We intentionally skipped the north where, among other gems, the famous Etosha National Park is situated. Our thought was simple: After seeing plenty of wildlife in Uganda, we would instead use our time to explore the remaining parts of the country. Ironically, as you'll recognize in the gallery, we still got to see many animals.

At home, we call this a slow worm

After three nights in the Erongo mountains between Windhoek and the coast, we spent a few nights in the coastal town of Swakopmund. From there, we visited the stunning Sandwich Harbour with an offroad vehicle and undertook a quad-bike expedition through the desert. I chose the word "expedition" on purpose; we weren't only racing through the sand but also watching out for signs of life. Thanks to the eagle eyes of our guide, we got to know the "Peringuey's adder", a small but venomous snake. I joked that back home, we call reptiles of this size and shape a slow worm, but I must admit I made this comment only after I learned that a bite by this small snake wouldn't be fatal.

At 5:15am, we left our campsite and became car no. 7 in the waiting line in front of the gate. So far, so good. At 5:30am, the rangers opened the gate, and here's our first mistake. Our friendly co-queuers on position 4 thought it would be a good idea to give way to all the late risers and their cars coming from the campsite. So at 5:35am, we already lost 20 ranks. We eventually lost our hope to be the first ones after we made it 10 kilometers into the park. Although the speed limit is clearly 60 km/h, not many people cared, and so it felt like Dakar Rally; another 30 cars overtook us. This was mistake no. 2, but the receptionist was right; some people stopped at the first high dune, so we were eventually among the first 10 to 20 visitors checking out Deadvlei. 

Ironically, getting there later in the morning would have been acceptable, too. The atmosphere was still unique around 9:00am, and the number of people was OK. So that's our advice if you want to visit this remarkable site. Overall, it's a difficult-to-grasp landscape, which inspired me for this article's title and summarizes what Namibia felt like: A surreal place.

Grüss Gott Dassies

We continued our trip further south to Aus and Lüderitz, the latter being a port with unique German colonial architecture and restaurants that serve Schweinshaxe and Sauerkraut. More about this European influence further below. Before heading back towards Windhoek, we had a short intermezzo at Fish River Canyon, the world's second most giant canyon. We were blessed with a magnificent sunset and also got to know dassies, little mammals most closely related to elephants. Yes, they're on the photo on the right-hand side/below. In my humble opinion, they look more like marmots. Yet scientists tell us that they're cousins of elephants, and with my limited knowledge of biology, I wouldn't dare to challenge them. 

1) Rich and colorful sunsets - Spectacular days got even more impressive when the sun started to disappear. The desert-like environment, red sand, and departing sunlight turn the scenery into a festival of colors. Unsurprisingly, it is a nationwide happening to sip a drink during sunset - a lovely ritual called sundowner.

2) Footsteps away from the galaxy - A fantastic sunset wouldn't be the last highlight of a day. Thanks to the low population density and the dry climate, Namibia is blessed with super-low light pollution and, thus, a perfect place for stargazing. You can easily spot the Milky Way with the naked eye, and sometimes, we really thought we were somewhere drifting around in the galaxy. Check out the gallery to understand what I'm talking about.