Namibia is a large country with a small population of 2.5 million, representing a density of three people per square kilometre, one of the lowest in the world. It is bounded by South Africa, Angola, Botswana and Zambia.

It was colonised by Germany in 1884, mandated to South Africa in 1920, gaining independence in 1990.

Scenically, particularly the southern half, Namibia is magnificent with sweeping desert plains, interrupted seamlessly by jagged convoluted ridges and mountains that appear different around every corner. We have seen it described as the Land that God made in Anger - I hope the photos do the country justice.

Finding ones way around is easy as every road is marked B (tarred), C and M (good sand) and D (district sand roads that are mostly in good condition). For those reading who may one day want to follow our route I will note the roads we traveled on.

The route covered in this blog:

We must thank Paul and Liz, Randal and Mel and Baasie and Karen for their invaluable advice on what roads to take and where to stay on this trip.

After staying the first night at the Trans Kalahari Inn outside Windhoek we drove through to Swakopmund staying with Fe and Cliff Webster old family friends of Jenny's from Harare days who very kindly offered us a bed. We stayed in their apartment on the beach and as Swakopmund is hedged by the cold Atlantic and the desert, fog is common and we would often be fog bound in the morning, lifting only around midday. The streets are not all tarred (some are compacted with salt), they are wide and much of the architecture has a strong German influence.

In the pictures below the red roofed building used to be the towns brothel while the building with the cars in the front is the town prison.

We went to the absorbing mineral gallery where the world’s largest quartz crystal cluster resides. We ate a few times at the Tiger Reef Beach Bar from which we observed a number of rather dramatic sunsets over the sea.

The town retains much of its German heritage where many of the inhabitants can speak the language, book shops sell German books and supermarkets sell rather good German pastries - and of course there are many German tourists.

We our break finishing the SA blog and generally chilling. We went on one excursion into what is known as the “Moonscape”, inland from Swakop where one finds the Welwitschia Mirabilis an ancient rather strange desert plant that is Namibia's national plant. These days the Moonscape is better known as the area where the latest Mad Max movie was shot.

Our plan was to hire a 4x4 bakkie (ute for Aussies) travel around Namibia and camp, a first time experience for the Lefebvre’s. Luckily we hired the bakkie from Crossroads in Swakop who were excellent, providing us with extra gear for nothing (including a fridge/freezer that ran on an extra battery while we travelled and could be connected to site electricity), giving campsite advice and generally making sure we were as well prepared as two novices could be.

So on the 12th March Fe and Cliff saw us off (a packet of biltong and droewors (dried sausage) at my side,) down the west coast to Walvis Bay the main port in Namibia.

We went looking for flamingos and found plenty feeding on the fringes of the bay, together with Pelicans and a few waders. Unusually for us, we took some photos 😉 (see later blog for them)

We then moved on driving east on the sand roads (C14) through rather boring flat country of gravel plains with sparse vegetation until the landscape became more interesting and hilly and undulating.

We turned off onto the C26 then onto the D1438 bumping towards our first campsite at the Rooiklip Guest Farm.

Being the only campers there we got the best campsite on a hill about 500 metres from the lodge. It was windy as we puzzled over how to erect our first tent eventually nervously watching it swaying in the dust.

Although the first two nights were windy and hot Rooiklip is an excellent place to camp and the view from the campsite is magnificent, as were the sunsets. The first stand alone picture shows the guest farm in the distance on the ridge.

If you want to swim or use wifi you can make your way to the lodge owned by a German couple, one of whom looked like he had been in the Namibian sun a very long time. Apparently Namibia is blessed with over 300 sunny days a year

The only downside is that there is no electricity at the site but you can leave food in the lodge fridge. It does have one of the more impressive and unusual showers (solar heated) that we encountered.

In the valley below us was the camp where five German students from Munich Uni were carrying out ecological research in the area.

We packed up slowly in blustery conditions, our gear and selves covered in dust (wondering what on earth we had let ourselves into) and headed out for the longest day driving of our trip, travelling south to The Quivertree resort near Keetmanshoop. Soon after leaving we stopped at a T junction in the middle of nowhere to find two cyclists pedalling manfully (and womanfully) towards us and away into vast open spaces - brave or crazy?

Back on the C14 we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn, stopped in at Solitaire for diesel (two tanks taking 140 litres),  and drove out past the rusting relics on the side of the road and a hungry ground squirrel praying for food. We were now travelling in the mountainous Karoo bioregion of shrubs and grasses where it receives around 100-200 mm rain annually. We disturbed a flock of vultures, flapping away as I approached while ostriches fled as we drove past.

We drove for seven hours that day (C19/B1/M29) stopping to ask a couple from France stranded on a lonely stretch their exhaust lying mournfully under the car in the dust, whether they needed help. We spent that night in a hut at the resort too tired to do the tent stuff (Jenny taking a lovely sunset shot of a quiver tree - an aloe classified as a tree that Bushman use its branches to make quivers)

We then took the (B4/C12/C37) to the Canyon Roadhouse where we stayed for three nights. On the way we diverted briefly onto the D545 to find the Naute Dam where we came across palm trees and vineyards growing incongruously in the desert, reminding me of Israel where I visited in 1979. The euphorbia shrub, also known as the Damara milkbush is common and is apparently very poisonous. It has been reported that the toxic milky latex of the plant is capable of killing both animals and humans although rhino and oryx feed upon it.

The roadhouse is full of interesting artefacts including some old cars. They make sure you know which toilet you must use!

We liked the campsite - they have electricity, a shady tree, good showers, wifi in the main building, a swimming pool and cold beers in the large bar . I managed to photograph an elusive grey loerie (otherwise known as the go-away bird) tucking into palm fruit while Jen captured the seed of a camelthorn tree.

We woke up early driving about 30 mins to the view site to watch the sunrise over the Fish River Canyon the second biggest canyon after the Grand in the US, going back another evening to watch sunset over the sweeping eroded bends where we chatted to a young couple from Vienna while a bus load of noisy French types swirled around us. Adventurous hikers can take a four to five day 85 km nature trail hike through the canyon. In the next blog we drive down to the Orange River, then back up the C13 towards Aus, the wild horses and the ghost town of Kolmanskop.