There are so many beautiful places to see and things to do in Namibia it is hard to choose which direction to go: Etosha Safari Park in the North, Swakopmund in the West, and the iconic red dunes in the South. All of which are around 300km of gravel roads away from Windhoek. Rather than limit ourselves to what we could see by bicycle, it was an easy decision to join the other 4×4 overlanders and temporarily retire the bicycles at our Warmshowers hosts’ place (thanks Marcel!). In FIVE days of driving we were able to: see our first rhino in Etosha, learn about cave paintings by ancient San peoples at Twyfelfontein, chase ostrich on a rugged 4×4 track leading to the ‘Skeleton Coast’, drive on a salt road, laugh at seals, eat lamb shank in a German colonial town, sand board on the Namib dunes, and overall drive an impressive 2,000km (compared to the 4,000km we’ve cycled in the past 3 months)!!

ETOSHA NATIONAL PARK

Fresh kill for the jackals

Stopped overlander usually means animal sighting – from lion to impala

Animals can always be found congregating at one of the many waterholes in Etosha during the dry season

Impala

Zebra

Hyena

Ostrich (Olivia’s favorite animal in the park)

Oryx

Not-so-fresh kill

Wildebeest

Jackal

Elephant

Giraffe

TWYFELFONTEIN PETROGLYPHS

Ancient ‘chalkboard’ used by the San people to teach their community

Ostrich raising and lowering it’s head

An oryx at two waterholes

The lion at the bottom center of the stone has human hands to represent a shaman who has taken on the spirit of the lion

DRIVING IN DAMARALAND

In a safely enclosed picnic area at Etosha National Park

4×4 Doros Crater trail leading to the coast – we went 3 hours without seeing any people! We only saw beautiful scenery, three giraffe, and some ostrich!

Luxurious car camping!

CAPE CROSS, SWAKOPMUND, AND WALVIS BAY

Hello seal!

Hundreds of seals congregate year-round at Cape Cross Seal Reserve

The only thing that hits you more than the smell, is the chorus of seal laughter, yelling, crying, and belching

Getting ready to sandbar

Flamingos in Walvis Bay

Salt road

Wonderful dinner by ‘Warmshowers’ host in Walvis Bay

Walvis Bay

Swakopmund

Sunday roast dinner in the German colonial town, Swakopmund

SPITZKOPP CAMPING

It was well worth the money to hire the 4×4. We got to see and do things we wouldn’t have had the energy to do otherwise and experience travel in a different way. We carried meat to braai (BBQ), firewood, camp chairs, and cold beer – all the luxuries of car-camping! On the other hand, we noticed our interactions with locals and travelers were less engaging and infrequent. There is something about being on a bicycle that breaks down barriers and makes you more approachable. In the end, we were excited to get back on the bikes, brave the gravel roads, and head South to the red sand dunes of Soususvlei.