Southern Namibia and South Africa's Northern Cape

JULY - AUGUST 2016

Our first destination after Swakopmund was the Hohenstein Lodge at the front of the Hohenstein Mountains, part of the Erongo range. On our way we called in at Spitzkoppe, one of our favourite places in Namibia. Spitzkoppe is a group of massive boulder sitting alone in an empty desert landscape and once among them it feels like being in a different world.

Spitzkop

Spitzkop from afar

Hohenstein Lodge wasn’t far from Spitzkoppe, so we were able to reach it before nightfall. Another awesome location, with plenty of desert hiking to keep us amused, plus a unique tour to visit miners in the mountain. Some 30 miners scrape a living from mining semi precious stones from the Erongo Mountains, selling them mainly to tourist for a meagre sum. They usually work alone; using hand drills and living in the mountains for much of their lives, a very hard life, one that makes you appreciate our own cushy existence.

Mountain man mining for semi precious stones

Sunset in the mountains

From Hohenstein we started our journey south, with three one-night stops on route to our next destination, Luderitz. Stops in Windhoek, Stampriet and Keetmanshoop, broke up the 1,250km drive.

Luderitz is located on Namibia’s Atlantic coast, separated from the main settlements by more then 300klms of Namib Desert. Fortunately for us the road to Luderitz is tar all the way. The drive was spectacular with the scenery changing all the time. Luderitz is the centre of Namibia’s diamond mining industry and is surrounded by restricted zones that nobody except mining staff can enter, so no chance of finding the odd stone whilst out for a walk. However, even with the restrictions we found plenty to do during our stay. The first day we visited a ghost town called Kolmanskop – an old mining town abandoned many years ago when the local diamonds ran out. The desert is now slowly reclaiming the buildings, but what remains shows what a modern and sophisticated town it was in its day. The next day we took to the water for a coastal tour to visit the local Penguins, Flamingos, Seals and Dolphins. And the third day we explored the coast from the land, making sure we did not cross into the no-go zone. We also met an interesting young couple, Charles (from Cape Town) and Cath (from Oxford), who were driving from Oxford to Cape Town. They had sold everything, bought a Land Rover Discovery, kitted the car out and headed south. We must have spent an hour or so sharing travel stories with them.

Kolmannskuppe

Kolmannskuppe desert town

Train to nowhere

On our way back through the Namib we stopped off at a little oasis called Klein-Aus-Vista. It was a beautiful spot, sitting in the desert at the foot of some mountains. We had two nights there and did our best to explore the surroundings, with two very enjoyable hikes.

Namib Desert at Aus

Hike through the Aus mountains

Desert car

Namib

From Klein-Aus-Vista we headed out of Namibia, with a night stop on route, and into South Africa. Our location was Springbok in the Northern Cape and our aim was to see the desert flowers in bloom. Unfortunately we were to early for their full splendour, spring had arrived late this year, but did see some nice colours. We also got to do some beautiful hiking in the Geogap Nature Reserve.

Namaqualand Flowers

Meerkates

Next stop was Augrabies Falls National Park, a protected area where the Orange River falls of a plateau and into a gorge. We had two days here, admiring the falls, exploring the plateau and preventing Baboons getting into our cottage. It was late afternoon on day two, it was hot, as a storm was brewing, and we had the front door and side window open for the cooling breeze. Unbeknown to us a troop of Baboons had wondered into the vicinity; that was until a large male appeared at our door. He had one hand inside the door before we were able to frighten him away, our so we thought. We closed the door and partly closed the window, locking them in place. However, a few minutes later he was back again, unlocking the window and half in the open gap. Shouts and aggressive movement got rid of him a second time and a potential dangerous situation was averted. Another new travel experience.

Augrabies Falls

Augrabies Falls National Park

Augrabies Falls Canyon

Our last destination in South Africa, before our journey back to the UK, was Kimberley. We stayed on a guest farm 15km from town and enjoyed walking on the estate and a day visit to the Big Hole Diamond Mine. As the name suggests, this is the worlds biggest hand dug hole; done so in search of diamonds. The mine is no longer operational and the hole is full of water, but the tour took us around the old town, and in to a mineshaft.

Big Hole

Big Hole Data

Big Spaner

We then overnighted in Upington and Johannesburg before our flight back to the UK.