Hiking in the Naukluft Mountains across dead Zebras - Namibia

 Monday 11.02:

We stayed overnight in the national park. The next day we hiked for 8 hours along the Waterkloof trail.

Sunday 10.02:

We arrived in the Naukluft mountains national park. I saw my first Zebras in the wild.
In the afternoon we hiked for four hours along the Olive trail.

Climbing Sand Dunes in the in the Namib Wueste - Soussusvlei - Namibia

Friday 8.02:

On the way to Sossusvlei we passed the Duwisib castle built in the middle of nowhere by a German Baron in 1908.

In the afternoon we arrived in the Sossusvlei national park. In this part of the Namib desert up to 350 m high dunes were formed. After setting up our rooftop tent and jumping into the camp's swimming pool. We drove into the dunes and climbed the first one that came into our sight. The scenery and colors were amazing and made up for the extremely exhausting climb up to the top.

Saturday 9.02:

The next morning we got up at 4:30 to drive to Sossusvlei. Here we climbed up the Big Daddy. It is the highest dune with 350 m.

It took us about 1:30 hours to climb up along the sand ridge. Down we ran the steep side of the dune in about 3 minutes. So much fun!!!!

We ended up in the Hiddenvlei which is a clay pan that fills with water only every ten year.

 

Camping in a Ghost Town - Lüderitz - Namibia

Wed-Thu 6-7:

We stayed for 2 nights at Point Diaz close to Lüderitz watching seals, organizing our gear, Judith was working hard applying for jobs for the time when we return while I set up this blog. Scattered around our campsite were abandoned houses. They were left by the German settlers after the diamond rush in the early 19^th century. At dawn a spooky place.

We left Lüderitz in the late Thursday afternoon.

Unfortunately we only saw Kolmanskop the ghost town from outside the fences because we arrived after the official visiting hours. 

Crossing deserts and the Fish River Canyon in the boling heat - Namibia

Tuesday 5.02:

We filled up our Petrol tanks in a small desert town called Aus. In 1915 the German Schutztruppe was defeated by the South African Army. Aus became the prisoner camp for the German soldiers.
10 km after Aus we saw wild horses, oryxs and ostriches at a little pont in the desert.
Finally we arrived in Lüderitz at the Atlantic ocean. It looks a bit like a German small town. We had a milkshake and a beer at the waterfront. Our final stop for the day was Diaz Point. Hundreds of seals were lying on a rock close to the shore. I ate some oysters at the small cafe. We stayed overnight directly at the ocean on a small camp ground.

 Monday 4.02: 

 We were woken up by a park ranger who told us we should pack our tent together. Camping is only allowed in the designated camp areas. In Ai Ais there are 60°C  hot springs . We did not feel like going inside because it was already 40°C outside in the morning. Instead we hiked for 2 hours into the fish river canyon. In the winter time it is possible to do a 5 days hike. Now it was forbidden because of the heat and the lack of water.
The next stop 40 km north via a dirt road was Hobas. The lookout into the 500 m deep Fish River Canyon. A breath taking view. 
Our plan was to reach Lüderitz at the Atlantic Coast by night time but we stopped earlier at road side rest area to stay overnight.

Sunday 3.02:

 
We slept in Steinkop in front of a motel in the middle of nowhere in rock desert. The next morning we drove to the next petrol station and were invited for lunch by Manuel. He is the owner of the place and also of a 50 meter long diamond search boat at the coast.  We continued our journey and crossed the border to Namibia without any problem. The next stop for the night was close to Ai Ais in the rock desert.

Magical Rock Formations in the Wolfsberg Cracks - South Africa

To get to the Wolfberg Cracks we drove 40 kilometers through the Cederberg mountain range on a dirt road. We then hiked for 8 hours in the heat (up to 40 degrees). it was worth it! We climbed through the Wolfberg cracks up to a huge natural arc. A highlight for each geologist.

West Coast and Cederberg National Park - South Africa

 The first night in the rooftop tent was like sleeping in a 5 star  only better. Instead
of the swimming pool we hiked to the atlantic ocean for a swim.

After that we drove for 2 hours to the cederberg national park. we found a beautiful campsite at a small river. We also had a small barbeque.