Offroad Abenteuer in Namibia || Road Trip mit Land Cruiser und Dachzelt (+)
Nice to have you with us. And now we take you on a journey through the north of Namibia, we are standing at the northern border of the country. Directly behind us flows the Kunene River and on the opposite side is already Angola. And from here we start into the west of the country. First we will drive to the Marienthal and then we will see how far we will get. Yes, let's see how far we will get is the important keyword. We have fully loaded the cars, the water tanks are full. We have fuel for 1200 kilometers with us, in spare canisters, sand plates, everything. We're really going into the outback, and that's why I'm first in favor of a hearty breakfast.
Well, that's a prelude, if the Damaraland region and Kaokoveld itself are only half as bombastic as this overture, then it's going to be great. But before our three explorers set off on their tour of Namibia's wild northwest right after breakfast, they'll first show you their two Japanese travel companions. We call it wandering dune 1 and wandering dune 2, they are GRJ79 with diesel engine, 6 cylinder, 4 liter naturally aspirated engine. First I have to check if there is an engine inside, because it doesn't really feel like one. But yes, a lot of engine, little power. What's good, of course, is that we each have a high lift with us. There we can lift ourselves free if necessary.
We have a couple of sandboards with us and of course MT tires 265/75 R16. So that's exactly what we need for off-road driving. Yes, each vehicle has two spare tires, which is good. And what is also not original is the rear bumper with these spare wheel carriers. And what we have also noticed, which is not quite ideal, is this low-lying trailer hitch. We have bumped into it a couple of times. As home we have two roof tents with us. One on the wandering dune 2 we have a hard shell tent and here a normal folding tent.
As interior equipment we have two compressor coolers with us, a little kitchen stuff, two gas bottles and the awning. This will certainly serve us well in the rainy season. The next 10 to 14 days we will probably not encounter any gas station. That's why the vehicles have an extra tank inside and 40 liters per vehicle in the Jerrycans. That is enough for at least 1200 kilometers. When it comes to water, we have three options. Once we brought canisters from Germany, just flexible canisters. There are 3x15 liters loaded here between the back seats. Then the vehicle has another internal water tank with 40 liters per car. And for all the emergencies, we bought another 15 liters in ready-made canisters. So we should be able to get by with that for now. But it is not much.
We also have a bit of salvage and repair material with us. A kinetic for towing, a compressor to pump up the deflated air again. A tire repair kit, that should always be quickly accessible. Quick repair material and a few more larger patches, plus a toolbox with a few pliers and some common wrenches. Then we have three cordage shekels with us. Yes, of course a wheel cross jack, that's it. And with that, we're finally off. Off into the wilderness. At first the two wandering dunes alias Toyota rental campers can still make a good distance.
The roads are dusty, but reasonably smooth and in good condition. By the way, the most important tips for the vehicle handover, if you are ever on the road with such rented cars, we have compiled in a separate film. The cloud formations are evidence of it: Now, at the end of December the rainy season starts. That means, suddenly the sky opens all floodgates
and the just dry riverbed becomes a raging torrent. This is not to be trifled with and it happens again and again that a car gets lost in the masses of water. But the clouds also provide a fantastic play of colors in the evening. #nofilter would now be added in the social networks. Off the tracks, the Explorer crew keeps finding evidence of the people who live here as semi-nomads. We are here at an abandoned Himba Kraal, which is a family settlement. The huts are abandoned, but what is still lying here is a rubbing bowl. The women use it to make this very fine ocher powder, which is then mixed with fat and rubbed onto the skin. And that's why the Himba ladies have this matte silky red sheen on their skin.
The Himba, a people between tradition and modernity. An estimated 20,000 of them roam as semi-nomads with their herds of cattle in the border region of Angola and Namibia. By the way, the name Himba means beggar. After they were attacked by a warlike tribe about 100 years ago, they had to ask for alms. The name has remained, even though today the Himba consider themselves wealthy if they have a large herd.
The journey continues along the border river Kunene towards the northwest. Even though it is hot and dusty, a refreshing swim in the milky river is not a good idea unless you are eager to serve as easy prey for the crocodiles. On the way a visitor highlight. It costs 40 Namibian dollars, the equivalent of two euros admission, but it's worth it. Behind me, the Kunene River plunges into the depths. We are sitting directly at the Epupa Falls. And when it's the rainy season here, there's a lot of water, you couldn't sit here now, it would pour over everywhere.
We're clinging just as tightly as these baobab trees all around. It's all freely accessible. And if I wanted to, I could take a header down here now. But he doesn't want to, it's probably better that way. Here at the Epupa Falls you can meet some people. Tourism grew strongly until the pandemic hit. Since the spring of 2020, there is little work. The hope that the tourists will return one day remains. Refueling, that is always a big issue when touring such remote and lonely areas and so it is not surprising that one should hardly miss an opportunity to fill up with gas. 80 to 85 euro cents is the cost of a liter of diesel or gasoline at the pump at the moment. If the fuel comes from barrels, there is a considerable price surcharge.
With the help of the pocket calculator is then also eventually clear, how much money the tank stop costs. If a gas pump is shown on the map, it does not necessarily mean that there is diesel there, and if there is diesel, it does not necessarily mean that it comes from the gas pump. Sometimes you have to fill up from a canister, so it all takes a little longer. The speed of the journey decreases the further west the three of them go in the two Land Cruisers, and soon we have to make a decision. We are sitting right at the turnoff to the notorious Van Zyls Pass, probably the most famous route in all of Namibia. And we have discussed and considered for a long time whether we should drive it. And Martin, how does it look? Yes, actually it is the case, we do not drive the route. And there is a very simple reason for that. We are here to travel. We didn't come here to do hardcore offroad.
You can do that in the park back home in Germany. After all, the Van Zyls Pass is notorious because it's so challenging to drive in one or two key places. I can lose the vehicle, I can lose my life. And all that in the greatest loneliness. We've been driving here all day today for the first time. And there is a nice bypass. We actually just want to get to the Marienfluss valley. And there is another passage, which is perhaps a little more beautiful, which is perhaps also a little longer and it comes still to it, not every rental company permits that. We have found a rental company with Asco, which has made this possible for us, and they also have the right vehicles. So in the Landcruiser it would also work, but very simple rule: We want to travel and so we save the extreme offroad rides, but rather drive the quite demanding route, but less dangerous round.
That means this way, not that way. That's how it is. -Just not so fast. After all, there's something important that has to be done first. Off the track, the cell phone network is so rare that it is even written on the stones, if it is actually sometimes available. And here, too, you have to really stretch if you really want to catch it. The last messages are sent. From here on, our crew dives into inaccessibility. Quite nice for a change. Slowly the roads become a bit more demanding.
So most of the bypass is done. This is probably the most challenging part here, also fun to drive, but certainly no comparison to the Van Zyls Pass. Sabine, actually that was a great tour here. The whole day on the road. True, we were on the road all day, had flat passages, rocky passages, challenging, comfortable parts. It can actually be much better. And who wants to follow that, the passage leads here past the Red Drum Pass. That's the name of it, but you should remember that it's about three times as long
as the challenging Van Zyls Passage. -At least in terms of kilometers. -Exactly. And with that, the Marienfluss valley is reached. Wide and flat, it lies before the crew and leads them back north to the Kunene. On the horizon are the Hartman Mountains and right in front of the camera ostrich and oryx antelope run through the red sand. And in the middle of it all a real no, not a barn find, rather a desert find. Sporty seating position. Of the engine power I do not know yet and somehow we have here I think roommates.
The roommates we leave then rather in peace. Meanwhile, the Landcruiser is heading for Camp Syncro on the Kunene. The camp is a small oasis in the middle of stone and dust. It is an eight-hour drive from here to the next larger town. In 2013, the bungalow complex went to a Swiss couple who returned to Switzerland after the birth of their child. And here, too, it is better not to bathe in the river. The camp's own shower is a bit safer. Currently the area is even more lonely than usual. Even the Himba have migrated with their herds into the mountains, since there was no rain here for months. Here we are in the Marienfluss valley, one of the really remote corners of Namibia. There is no surface water here at the moment, but you can see a green ribbon stretching across the valley floor. The trees here reach the groundwater with their roots.
It has not rained very much yet this year. That is, still very, very dry. And whether we will discover the mysterious fairy circles here in the valley, we will now have a look from the air! Fairy circles? No matter whether mystics, natural scientists or esoterics, the strange circles have already inspired many a fantasy. Now that the grass isn't sprouting, you can only rudimentarily see it, but we're standing in the middle of one of these fairy circles. Approximately round structures, in which nothing grows, whereby that develops, around that the myths entwine themselves.
And to take a closer look, let's take off into the air. In fact, they are difficult to see because of the dryness. It is only in the rainy season that the tufts of grass emerge, surrounding an area devoid of vegetation. And even if it detracts from the mysticism, this phenomenon probably has nothing to do with dancing fairies. Meanwhile one assumes that it is a mathematical, self-reinforcing effect of the plant distribution, which is caused by extreme drought. Water scarcity then also affects many travelers. There is not much room on two wheels. But the bikers are much faster in this terrain. The next day the water is there after all. However, not in the form of rain, but as a remnant in the dry river Hoarusib.
And suddenly the landscape shows itself from a completely different side. Endless sandy deserts now become green. The narrow riverbed is now passable, but this is deceptive. Even if there is no rainfall in the immediate vicinity, the water level can rise by leaps and bounds. Even if the rain fell far away. No wonder, the catchment area of the Hoarusib is about the size of Schleswig-Holstein. Where there is water, there are animals. When encountering elephants, one should stay at a respectful distance. About 150 animals still live in the dry rivers of the region. The consumption rates are astonishing. 200 liters of water a day and about a quarter of a ton of food. No wonder the pachyderms are busy eating at least half the day.
Where there are wild herbivores, their hunters are not left out. However, no lions have yet been spotted here. In the nearby Buros, people know how to defend themselves against the predators. According to Collins, there have never been any problems with lions here. When they do come, they tend to want to grab a goat or a cow. But for the past year, the king of beasts has not shown his face. Buros' small store is where you can stock up. On Sundays it is officially closed, but the back entrance is very busy.
In the evening the crew is alone again. A camp in the middle of the vast prairie. What do we have today? Chapati. It's evenings like these that stay in the memory for a long time. The following day, the Landcruisers land in a dead end. This is the end for now. West of here is the Skeleton Coast National Park. You can only get in there with a special permit. We turn around here, back to the Hoanib. But even here in the river valley there is enough to see. Oryxes, springboks, elephants and with a little luck you can even see lions here. From the Hoanib, the tour group makes a detour to the south. The Atlantic Ocean is reached and the crew lands in the middle of a very special camp in Tora Bay. Anglers.
Besides beer and bellies, there is of course fish in abundance here. Collin has just brought some for dinner. So who is Collin? -Collin, who owns or makes the bar here and also lives in Munich at the Harras. Or he has friends there, one of both, and that's why he gave us the fish and we should just have a drink with him at the bar later. He is very nice. -Well, let us go. Even if it is no longer part of the northwest of Namibia: Who would like to see once again the full program of Wild Live, is just right of course in the Etosha National Park.
Shortly before the journey comes to an end and the faithful Landcruisers have to be returned in Windhoek, Sabine, Thomas and Martin treat themselves to one more side trip. Because here the camera hardly has a break. There is so much to experience at every corner. For those who have never done a so-called game drive, we have a few tips.
The first tip: keep an eye on the time. The parks close. Usually they open in the morning at sunrise and close at sunset. Then you either have to be out of the park or back in the camp. Also the camps have certain times when you can enter, when you can get out and when you have to be in at the latest. And also the animals have their own life. So pay attention: In the morning there is a lot going on, in the evening there is a lot going on and at noon there is usually not much going on. So it's best to just take a leisurely lunch break and start again when the light gets better. Etosha, with its almost 23,000 square kilometers, is the second largest protected area in Africa. In 1907, the governor of what was then German Southwest Africa
declared almost 100,000 square kilometers a nature reserve, which was bitterly necessary because of unscrupulous big game hunting and poaching. Over the decades, much of the area has been taken away from the region. In the future, however, the Namibian government plans to expand the park back to its original size. The fascinating wildlife would thank them for it. Second tip: In many national parks it is not allowed to get out of the vehicle, neither to go to the toilet nor to get a snack from the vehicle. So remember to take the things with you to the front of the cab and save the toilet until you get to the visitor points where you are allowed to get out. This is usually marked accordingly. Anyone traveling to the wild northwest of Namibia must be prepared. Because such a journey into the loneliness is not without risks.
It certainly makes sense to travel with two or more vehicles. You have to work for this adventure, but it is worth it. The vastness of the magnificent nature makes people shrink, so that one can approach here with the necessary respect.
2022-01-23 12:20
