viernes, 26 de noviembre de 2021

Game Drive in Namibia: Can you see animals at the desert?


 

View from the And Beyond Sossusvlei Lodge


Hello, we will continue talking about our trip to Namibia during the month of September 2021. We had arrived at the Hotel And Beyond Sossusvlei Lodge. That first night we had slept incredibly well.



View from the Room


After having breakfast with a majestic view of the mountains and the valley, and having spent a quiet afternoon reading and swimming in the room's pool, we prepare to start our first Game Drive through the Sossusvlei region. It would be a drive around the reserve to the Petrified Dune.




And Beyond Sossusvlei Lodge



Somebody was having fun
 in the cold water

 


Our hotel guide, Michael, originally from Namibia, explained the nature of this place in detail.

Definitely in a safari through South Africa the visitor is rewarded with the diversity of the fauna of the continent. In Namibia, in the desert, the chances are less due to the adverse weather. But there are desert animals. Definitely!



Mr Orix




Desert animals



Let's go to the Drive


Molly, a friend from Cape Town, asked me when I posted photos on Facebook, if there were animals. Well, I answered yes. From the hotel you can see the famous Orix, a kind of cattle, ostriches and Springbocks. There are also jackals, especially one that ventures to walk through the hotel's courtyards where visitors' clothes are hung and through the garbage dumps. We saw this hotel mascot one night when we were enjoying the stars on the terrace of the room.



Our Ranger, explained us the footprints



And there are also hyenas. Apparently the legend is true and where there are no lions, there are hyenas. This is the case in the Sossusvlei reserve. But you can't see them during the day, at least not during our drive, but you can hear them at night. And also the jackals.


Apparently the only ones who have no enemies in Sossusvlei are the oryx, as their number is significant. From our guide Michael, we learned that male Orix are loners and overly defend their territories. The fights between them are impressive considering their size. Their long, sharp horns, strong as steel, are their best defense weapons.



Beautiful place 


There are obviously vipers, including the dreaded Cape Cobra species. Michael told us that he is talking about the behaviour of these reptiles. Normally they do not attack the human being, on the contrary, they flee from him. They only attack if they feel threatened and don't like open fields. They move through the undergrowth or under the ground. If they leave their safe place, it is to look for water or food. They even move into the mountains or in the dunes of Sossusvlei.



The Petrified Dune

Leopards, Elephants and other animals are sure to be found in Namibia, but in other regions, like Etosha. On this trip we decided not to continue to the north of Namibia. That would be for the next one.



The hand of God or the presence of aliens?



No explanations at all about this phenomenon


We continue in our traditional Safari vehicle. We didn't see much different along the way. The mountains and Orix. But the Petrified Dune was special. But before reaching it, Michael showed us an area where the ground had changed color. Even small circles could be observed.


NamiRand Nature Reserve



For him the most normal explanation was that God had been his creator. For me the best proof of the sensation that I had been feeling since I arrived in Sossusvlei: the presence of ufos.

These circles were formed in the mountains with stones that had changed colour. They were darker. Everyone can interpret this phenomenon. The reality is that in this area nature changes.



At the sunset



We continue the journey to the top of the dune. Yes, the Safari vehicle got on without any problem. Time turned a sand dune, worth the redundancy, into solid material. At the top, our guide prepared everything for the famous sunset drink. The view was wonderful and we took the opportunity to take family photos.


We returned to the room flooded with solar energy and all the knowledge that our guide provided us. We rest a little and get ready to go to dinner the delights of the Hotel And Beyond. Our table was al fresco and we enjoyed the silence of the desert. This is not always the case, but this time we don't hear anything.






Thank you very much for reading me. For the next entry of Landing I will bring you the adventure of walking through the famous Dune 45. Quite a challenge.



domingo, 14 de noviembre de 2021

Landing in Namibia after Lockdown



After landing, we were ready for the desert!



Finally, after almost two years without taking any plane, we flew to Namibia from South Africa, where we live. In Lent 2020 we wanted to go to this country, but with the restrictions due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, we decided to travel to South Africa. Namibia is South Africa's northern neighbour.  We flew on September 20, 2021 from Cape Town.




The safest way to drive on the streets of Namibia



First impressions of the country



We decided to fly and not travel by car, due to Covid's requirements, because it was safer that from the capital, Windhoek, we could get the results in the time necessary to take the plane to Cape Town. We arrived at the Cape Town airport and came across a desert. These are the times of Covid, hardly anyone travels. The flight was with Airlink and in less than three hours we were in Windhoek. Its airport is small, so the German plane looked like a giant on the runway. We rent a car from Europcar. 


We met this giraffe in our way to
 the Oaniob Resort




Lake Oaniob Resort



We did not leave the agency without having seen a video explaining the dangers of driving on the wild streets of Namibia. As not all roads are paved, drive slowly and try to drive from the center and not to the side, as rocks and speed can cause fatal skidding. Well, that's where the adventure began. The first giraffe appears: in a Lodge on Lake Oaniob In less than an hour down the road we started seeing Baboons monkeys on the side of the road and a giraffe. 



Best place for a family vacation



Welcome to Africa. We did the lunch break at the Lake Oaniob Resort lodge restaurant. There we ate in front of the lake. There were not many tourists, but in pre-Covid times this place was the preferred place for tourists with children. We hope those times return. This place is in the Rehoboth West region. The food was good. I had some spring rolls and my husband tried his first Cordon Bleu of the trip.




Coffee break at
 Conny´s Restaurant and
Coffee Shop



Impossible to stop pausing with Gunther, the owner of the Conny Coffee Shop The journey continued along the desert side roads to reach the Conny´s Restaurant and Coffee Shop. Out of nothing, because there is nothing between Windhoek and Sossusvlie. The owner, Gunther, of German descent, made us coffee. But first, her puppies Flecky and Panda welcomed us by biting our hands to get our attention. Don't worry, they were just messing around. The German style filter coffee was delicious. It was to be taken alone, without milk or sugar and we did it. He had chocolate muffins, which he baked, but our daughter delighted in a vanilla ice cream that he made himself. The coffee beans are imported from South Africa, from the Bean There! I can totally recommend it.



Gunther, the owner share with us the great
coffee and a nice talk!


Tourists usually arrive in trucks to have a break. His coffee is very famous in the tourist guides. Then he told us about the Covid era in his community. He also told us about his adventures in Argentina and Brazil and of course, he showed us the map of Namibia. But we had to leave to reach our destination, the lodge at NamibRand Nature Reserve, near Sossusvlei. 



And Beyond Sossusvlei Lodge,
a Hotel in the middle of the desert



Did we reach the end of the world? 

 

Finally, we had our time to enjoy!



After the delicious coffee and the pleasant talk we arrived at And Beyond Sossusvlei Lodge. Yes, in the desert the doors opened before our eyes. A curious jackal, mascot of the hotel, greeted us in the residential area of ​​the hotel employees. Growing up, this jackal is the hotel's pet that it looks for in its trash cans. When we got to the hotel, I definitely had the feeling of being in the furthest place from civilization. 



Romantic Dinner with special views



The hotel is located in a reserve of I don't know how many kilometers. The first thing that came to my memory is that this place would be ideal for any extraterrestrial civilization. Landing a ship there would be the easiest thing to do. No animal in these directions would have enemies. There would be no lions, because there were hyenas, jackals and of course, thousands of a species of cattle called Orix, the African cow. If you ask me for a description. I felt in an unreal world, without civilization, or at least what we think is a civilization. But in short, amazing, wonderful. A mystery of nature. The Namibian desert. Namib, original name And we arrived, well I will tell you about this in the next post. Thanks for reading me and see you soon.