PHOTO-A-DAY CHALLENGE

Coming Home

Week 135 of the photographic documentary of my daily life

I’m having tears in my eyes. Tears of joy. And those of nostalgia and melancholy. The full rollercoaster of emotions. As I’m going through the pictures from yesterday I’m just realizing once again why I fell in love with this country.

Namibia.

My love. And even after two months on the road, traveling through spectacular landscapes across the continent, there is nothing that sparks my joy like the terrain of this country.

The vastness. The emptiness. But especially the diversity in landscapes. Through the seasons but also the different vegetation zones. From almost rainforest-like wetlands to the dryness of the Namib desert.

And yes, you might have guessed it already on the title and my first lines. We did make it. Our almost two-month-long trip crossing the southern African continent from west to east and back again has ended.

We made it. In one piece. With a car that has all kinds of warning lights blinking and weird sounds in the making but we didn't break down once. We slept inside a tent and spend 24/7 together without killing each other.

And yes, we are talking already about the next trip. But let me finish this one first. While I'm still far behind in my daily essays, I got this weekly documentary up to date.

This week began in South Africa. A country we never intended to visit but opted for as we had no other choice. We drove through it as quickly as possible, getting some problems on the car fixed along the way and finding a river here and a dam there for me to paddle in. Or on.

See below. We arrived in the afternoon at Marico Borsveld Dam and I only waited for the sun to sink lower on the horizon before I pumped up my inflatable paddleboard and headed out on the water.

This is my happy place. On the water. Standing up on my board and paddling across unknown waters.

The next morning we packed up again just after I paddled across the dam once more. We entered Botswana and spend less than 25 minutes on the land border getting through both sides of immigration and customs faster than expected.

Driving north on the Trans-Kalahari Highway. A road that isn't just straight on the map but in real life as well. We only turned the steering wheel to drive around animals on the road. Donkeys, horses, cattle, sheep and goats. In that order or everything together.

We had selected a campsite for the night in a town in the middle of nowhere. We hadn’t booked anything as usual and were in disbelief when they told us they were fully booked. Especially, since there wasn’t a single car parked at the property.

We checked in with the other guest houses around town but none of them allowed campers. This was when I went back to the reception of the campsite begging them to let us stay somewhere in a corner.

While the receptionist just shook her head, the cleaning lady felt sorry for me and took me to speak to the owner. This guy didn’t hesitate for a moment and showed us a spot we could stay on without paying a cent for the night.

Guess what, we were more than relieved.

Setting up camp quickly as we saw the storm arriving, we were later gifted with a stunning double rainbow.

The following morning, we packed up again and headed on. Leaving Botswana already behind us, we made it back to the country where we started.

Namibia.

Our first stop wasn't far from the border, staying on a farm where David's cousin lives for two nights, we rested after the long days on the road in South Africa and Botswana.

Watching butterflies dance in between the blossoms and antelopes drinking at the waterhole right in front of the house, we truly enjoyed our stay on this property on a wild game farm.

Did I ever mention the sunsets in Namibia? They are different. They smell different. They taste different. And they certainly sound and look different.

Words won’t describe them. Pictures will never do justice.

But I tried.

On Monday, we said goodbye to the farm and the family and continued driving West. Only a few hundred kilometers left, we could have made it in one day but I insisted on taking the shorter, more scenic but longer because of the gravel road over the main tar road back home.

That night we stayed high in the mountains of the Khomas Hochland. The sun was setting just as we arrived at our wild camping spot and the sky was clear.

Full moon it was and even though I hate those bright nights as I struggle to capture the beauty of a starry night when the moon is shining, I still did my best to get a decent night shot.

The next morning I took one million photos and you might notice I did not manage to share only one picture per day, especially toward the end of the week but I captured too much beauty not to share it with you.

Below is one of my favorites as it’s somehow a very emotional photo. David is eating his breakfast in the morning hours as the sunrise is painting the sky and next to him is our home. The vehicle that was our home on wheels for two months straight.

His beloved car. Next to him. Both of them I love but have to let go of one.

Yes, we will be selling the car once we get back home for a series of reasons. It is going to be breaking my (our) heart as this bakkie (Afrikaans for a pickup truck) has grown on us. As many problems as she gave us (remember, David says cars are always female), she never let us down.

We didn't even get one flat tire. Driving over 5000 miles across the African continent, that is a serious achievement. Often you don't even get one hundred kilometers before the air releases somewhere.

So, please. Just stop for a few seconds and take in this moment with me. The final morning of our journey.

We packed up the car one last time and faced the last few miles of our journey.

And this route I've chosen is a very special one for me. I drove it solo in 2015 with a small VW Polo. Back then I only saw the straight line from Windhoek to Swakopmund on the map and didn't think twice about it. It felt weird being the only vehicle but soon I understood why.

The road was going through the mountain ranges of the Khomas Hochland leading across the Bosua Pass. I saw vistas like never before, was speechless by the abundance of wildlife and swore myself I’d never take this road again as I was certainly maxing out the capacity of this small sedan car on this mountain road.

But today, today is different. As we’re in a 4x4 vehicle, this road might still be challenging and require you to stay focused but I don’t need to worry about the problems I had with a small car.

Anyway. David was driving. I was hanging with my hair out of the window taking every single moment of this drive in. I watched the scenery change within minutes. From lush green mountains to dusty dry desert terrain.

I spotted foxes, antelopes, ostriches and even two giraffes from the car. A ground squirrel was crossing the road as birds were circling high.

And while we left our camp on 1.600 meters at 9 am at 30 degrees (Celsius), driving through the desert and toward the coastline the temperatures dropped steadily until reaching Swakopmund at a chilled 22 degrees.

This felt familiar. The temperature. The coastal fog. And the setting sun above the Atlantic Ocean.

We're back home.

And since my photo week always ends on a Wednesday, I got one more picture of me back at work. While we won't be starting to work fully until back in Germany, we always help out the skydiving center where we started years ago.

These guys are family for us.

The view of Swakopmund from above. The coastal fog is covering the city center only exposing the outskirts and townships.

And here you can see the last part of our journey on a map:

The entire trip took us about 5.500 miles in just under 2 months. See our route below:

This has been my week in photographs. 7 days. 7 photographs. Anyone can join. Once. Or weekly. It doesn’t matter. We welcome everyone! Dennett started this photography challenge in 2020 and many have participated ever since.

Erika / Eileen / K. Barrett / Juan / David / Mia / Susan / LensAfield / Kim / Barbara / Diana / Barb / Sandra / Shruthi / Ellie / Pene / Olive / Gustavo / Jane / Penny / Jillian / Shell / Ivy / Lisa / Lynne

And these are the previous weekly photo essays:

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