22 hours of flying & 2 weeks in Namibia
Nov 23, 2016, 7:26 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 179
22 hours of flying & 2 weeks in Namibia
I recently returned from two amazing weeks in Namibia. The scenery is easily comparable to highlights of some of America's most spectacular
southwestern landscapes. It has massive sand dunes, buttes, broad valleys, and canyons. On top of that, they've got ghost towns from over
a century of diamond mining and nearly all the classic African animals that people often think of (lions, cheetahs, rhinos, elephants, etc), which adds
an extra layer of awesome. Then because Namibia is twice the size of California, yet only has about 2 million people, much of the country is
wide open, empty, undeveloped space, so the scenery is rarely spoiled by anything. The road system is excellent, with a mixture of paved & gravel
roads, which are well maintained & frequently graded. I rented a 4x4 Toyota Hilux (basically the rest of the world's version of the Tacoma), and
drove nearly 3000 miles.
I don't have status with any airline, as 99% of my travel is self-funded. As a result, I flew economy the entire way. I flew Virgin Atlantic from SFO to LHR,
then LHR to JNB (both flights were B787-9). Overall, it was a good experience. Flights departed & arrived on time, food was decent, seats were
reasonably comfortable, and the crews were professional & competent. The remaining 2 hours of flying from JNB to WDH were on Air Namibia (A319). This
was also a fairly decent experience, and even included a full meal.
But enough rambling, I'll let the photos speak for themselves.
Quiver trees at Fish River Canyon
Bogenfels
Cape Cross pup
Little Vlei
bath time
Solitude
last tree
Sesriem Canyon
Sperrgebiet (restricted zone)
Vingerklip
Vingerklip view
Oryx foragers
Descent into the canyon
Red sand, red road
Fish River overlook
Jackal
Fish River Canyon, the 2nd largest on earth
entering the slot
Hunting for the kill
Kolmanskopp
On the prowl
Ranchland
Dunes at dawn
Garub station
The void
home of the welwitschia
Sperrgebiet view
not rush hour
shy
no limits
bowling in 1909
the Namib reclaims all
jump!
ohai
Deadvlei
elephant x-ing
empty
whatchu lookin at?
sand room
Fish river canyon
The king (Etosha National Park)
me and a lot of salt
For the curious, I've posted over 700 photos from the trip HERE,
and I've written up a detailed day by day trip report (with gpx log) HERE.
southwestern landscapes. It has massive sand dunes, buttes, broad valleys, and canyons. On top of that, they've got ghost towns from over
a century of diamond mining and nearly all the classic African animals that people often think of (lions, cheetahs, rhinos, elephants, etc), which adds
an extra layer of awesome. Then because Namibia is twice the size of California, yet only has about 2 million people, much of the country is
wide open, empty, undeveloped space, so the scenery is rarely spoiled by anything. The road system is excellent, with a mixture of paved & gravel
roads, which are well maintained & frequently graded. I rented a 4x4 Toyota Hilux (basically the rest of the world's version of the Tacoma), and
drove nearly 3000 miles.
I don't have status with any airline, as 99% of my travel is self-funded. As a result, I flew economy the entire way. I flew Virgin Atlantic from SFO to LHR,
then LHR to JNB (both flights were B787-9). Overall, it was a good experience. Flights departed & arrived on time, food was decent, seats were
reasonably comfortable, and the crews were professional & competent. The remaining 2 hours of flying from JNB to WDH were on Air Namibia (A319). This
was also a fairly decent experience, and even included a full meal.
But enough rambling, I'll let the photos speak for themselves.
Quiver trees at Fish River Canyon
Bogenfels
Cape Cross pup
Little Vlei
bath time
Solitude
last tree
Sesriem Canyon
Sperrgebiet (restricted zone)
Vingerklip
Vingerklip view
Oryx foragers
Descent into the canyon
Red sand, red road
Fish River overlook
Jackal
Fish River Canyon, the 2nd largest on earth
entering the slot
Hunting for the kill
Kolmanskopp
On the prowl
Ranchland
Dunes at dawn
Garub station
The void
home of the welwitschia
Sperrgebiet view
not rush hour
shy
no limits
bowling in 1909
the Namib reclaims all
jump!
ohai
Deadvlei
elephant x-ing
empty
whatchu lookin at?
sand room
Fish river canyon
The king (Etosha National Park)
me and a lot of salt
For the curious, I've posted over 700 photos from the trip HERE,
and I've written up a detailed day by day trip report (with gpx log) HERE.
Nov 23, 2016, 11:49 pm
#4
Community Director Emerita
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Anywhere warm
Posts: 33,747
Those are fantastic pictures. I loved the clarity of each and particularly enjoyed the one of the lion bathing herself.
What was your route and how did you travel? Did you self-drive? What was the temperature this time of year?
What was your route and how did you travel? Did you self-drive? What was the temperature this time of year?
.
Nov 27, 2016, 4:39 am
#12
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: SYD
Programs: Too many golds, no plat: OZ*G, AC*G, NZ*G, VA Gold, QF Gold, HH Gold, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 5,350
Fabulous photos! Brings back very happy memories of an amazing time I spent driving around there in a 12 year old VW Jetta back in the late 90s. Despite lacking 4WD I was amazed by how many places we could still easily reach on those wide sand/dirt/gravel roads.
How much did you find you needed the 4WD, out of interest?
How much did you find you needed the 4WD, out of interest?
Nov 27, 2016, 6:17 pm
#13
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: YVR - Vancouver, with most winter weekends in Whistler.
Programs: Aeroplan 35K, Alaska MVP, Marriott Titanium / Lifetime Platinum, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 4,609
Such a great country with so many photo opportunities.
Thanks for taking the time and effort to post.
Thanks for taking the time and effort to post.
Jul 28, 2017, 8:10 pm
#14
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 179
Fabulous photos! Brings back very happy memories of an amazing time I spent driving around there in a 12 year old VW Jetta back in the late 90s. Despite lacking 4WD I was amazed by how many places we could still easily reach on those wide sand/dirt/gravel roads.
How much did you find you needed the 4WD, out of interest?
How much did you find you needed the 4WD, out of interest?
Jul 28, 2017, 8:12 pm
#15
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 179
Other than when I was less than 5km from the coast, it was quite hot just about everywhere (over 30C during the day). It did cool down in the evenings though, with a breeze in most places.