Namibia: Sand, Sun, and Springbok

 --- Namib Dessert ---

Jun 16, 2025 - After touring around South Africa, we flew from Cape Town to Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. We rented a Toyota Fortuner 4x4 and a guy told us everything about the car (spare tire, car jack, etc). Apparently 90% of Namibia's roads are unpaved and Bob had planned a bunch of off-road driving. It was really hot outside during the lecture and I wanted to get going but I guess you gotta know your stuff driving around here.

We drove to our hotel, which was quite nice and even had a mini golf course! Although it was cool having it right outside our door, it only had three holes, all on one tiny turf square. The next morning, we checked out and drove to our first desert lodge. For a three-person suite, it was massive. It could probably fit up to 16 people and maybe a few pets. Bob had trouble checking in because the staff thought Silas would drown in 2-foot-deep wading pool near the entrance. I mean a frickin' baby could probably stand up in there without even getting water above their neck. So, then they called the director of the hotel and after a discussion over this ridiculous topic, the receptionist finally said Silas could go. 

We then spent the afternoon figuring out what we do for dinner. We eventually said Bob and I would go to a restaurant nearby and momma and Chubbs would go to the buffet included with our reservation. Bob and I had a wondrous chicken schnitzel. He got some tips from the staff about driving to the Deadvlei sand dunes before sunrise. We decided Bob would camp in the national park, sleeping in the Toyota, and the rest of us would stay at the lodge. Early the next morning, momma, Chubbs and I would walk through the national park gate, meet Bob, then drive to the dunes together. But the next morning, we slept through our alarm so had to rush. Bob came and picked us up and we sped through the national park in the dark, hoping to get to the trailhead before sunrise. 

We eventually arrived at the start of a sandy 4x4 track leading to the Deadvlei parking lot. There was an entire area for people deflating and inflating their tires because on the sand dunes, you need to air down your tires to get traction. But because we were racing sunrise, we didn't have time to deflate our tires! Bob drove as fast as he could so that we wouldn't sink into the sand and get stuck. We were tossed around like we were biking down a boulder field!

--- Deadvlei ---

Deadvlei is quite an interesting place. It used to have a flowing river but it got blocked by dunes nine hundred years ago. Because of this, the trees could not decompose because it was too dry. They are black because they have been scorched by the intense desert sun. The dunes around Deadvlei looked huge and the trees looked even darker when they weren’t lit up by the sun. Chubbs found a cool spot nearby where there were these rocks that could crumble in your hands when you applied very little force. We threw them all over the place without even getting five looks that said: "How the hell are your parents raising you?" Then after demolishing one of the most attractive tourist attractions, we climbed up Big Daddy Dune like we totally haven't destroyed the most ancient exotic place. The start of the hike was hard and steep, but the middle of it was easy.

After around an hour or so, we made it to the top of the dune! We had a snack and then after getting some sand blown into my mouth, we ran down and Bob took some videos. I didn't want to go down fast because I wanted to enjoy it. You don't run down a dune in Deadvlei very often you know! We saw a bunch of bugs and lizards on the way down. When we made it to the bottom, my shoes were entirely filled with sand. After I poured half of Hawaii out of them, we went back to the car.

--- Walvis Bay ---

The next day, we checked out of the hotel and drove to a town called Solitaire and looked at some rusted cars. We took some funny pictures that looked like old school rock covers. Then we got a snack and left.

Hours later, we arrived in Walvis Bay and looked at some cool flamingos near the shore. They were bigger than I expected. After looking at them, we went to our hotel. We didn’t want to have dinner there because the rating for the restaurant wasn’t that good, so we went to a German restaurant nearby. I got some prawns which were really good but kinda hard to open. Eventually I figured it out.

--- Sandwich Harbor Safari ---

The next day, we did a guided dune safari to Sandwich Harbor. Our driver’s name was Nico and he was pretty good. Along the way, we stopped to see the flamingoes again. Unfortunately I slipped on a rock trying to get closer to see them better and nearly broke my ass and my arm felt really weak. It really hurt. But we kept going and made it to the dunes! 

We made a bunch of stops to look at the dunes and Bob tried to take a picture of us but it was impossible to smile because the sun was directly in my eyes. My favourite part was lunch. Nico and another driver had packed tons of food! There were desserts and all sorts of fancy stuff. I tried some clams but they were way too salty for me. There were drinks as well and it was quite a challenge drinking and opening Sprite with my left hand. When everyone finished, we packed up and left. We said goodbye to Nico, got our bags and drove to the next desert lodge in Spitzkoppen.

Our bellhop, Zox, was a really friendly guy and took us and our bags to our room in a golf cart. For dinner, momma and Chubbs got takeout and Bob and I went to the restaurant. The food was amazing! I got this lemonade thing and it was WONDEROUS!! The first starter was olives, cheese, and a tortilla chip. The SECOND starter was a salad. I usually hate salad but this one was the best. Then the main arrived and it was so complex, I literally can’t describe it. Dessert was okay because it was cheesecake and it was a little too strong. The starters were my favourite. After we headed back to the lodge and because having a cricket-infested walk back there wasn't enough, we were greeted by a spider when we got back.

The next morning, Bob and Chubbs woke up early to go for a hike. I couldn’t because my arm still hurt from Walvis Bay. So, momma and I just hung out and went for a walk. There were so many crickets. We saw some zebra in the distance and took some pictures. I guess they got scared of us and they went away. We went to reception and picked up some lunch packets because there wasn't breakfast included there. We walked back to the room, and we ate them for breakfast. They weren't as good as last night's dinner though. Then Bob and Chubbs came back, we checked out a cool rock arch, then started the long drive to Etosha National Park to the north, near the border with Angola.

 

--- Etosha National Park ---

We were staying the Okakuejo Bush Chalet inside the park. Unfortunately the park gate closed at 5:00PM and we weren't going to make it. But the gate actually closed at 6:30PM. So we made it! As soon as we entered the park, there were two giraffes. We took pictures as we drove to the chalet.

The next day, we woke up early to drive through the park. We saw lots of Springbok at first and we were like, oh that's so cool, and an hour later, seeing them were like seeing bees in a beehive. Then we saw some zebras. There were a lot of them and Chubbs found this baby one that he really liked and wanted to have as his pet.

We then took a side road to see an animal watering hole, which was very dry and basically had nothing there. I ended up driving out of it. We made it out alive. We found some elephants and got super close but momma didn't really like them getting close. She also really needed to use a bathroom, which was located inside a secure fenced-off area to protect bathroom-goers from wild animals. I drove out of the enclosure but we kind of forgot Bob near the gate and thought he would just come running after the car. Given the risk of being mauled by lions and jackals, we had to go back. Whoops. 

The next day, we drove around the park some more and we saw a lion. He was super cool and big. Then he laid down, and we never saw him again. That kind of sucked. Then we saw a dead jackal and a bunch of ostriches. The ostriches were much bigger than I thought they would be. I'm pretty sure they killed the jackal and also pretty sure we had to get our butts outta there because we had a 5-hour drive ahead of us back towards Windhoek.

--- Returning back to Windhoek ---

After Etosha, we stopped to see some cheetahs at the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) conservation area. We watched them get fed and went on yet another safari! I could tell they were very hungry because they literally pounced on the meat given to them. We also had ice cream made from milk that got squeezed out of gorgeous goat udders. That's why it tasted so good. Then Chubbs got a cheetah stuffy, and we drove to the last hotel. We didn't do much there but had delicious final meal in Africa of oryx kebabs.

The next day, we drove to the airport in Windhoek then flew to Frankfort for a layover before returning to Vancouver. So that was our trip! Thanks for reading this blog even though there is a 99 percent chance you are a family member! Byeeeee.