AUGUST WRITING PROMPT - ROAD TRIPS
The Most Amazing Pictures From Road Tripping Namibia
A selection of memories captured in photographs
Road trips aren’t just about driving. It’s about the places you visit and all the things you see on the road. Road trips are about making memories and living the moment.
And there is no other country I connect more with road tripping. It’s the country I’ve explored mainly on the road and where I’ve seen a lot but still would love to see more.
Namibia.
I’ve been on so many big or small road trips in the country I won’t be able to name them all. But what I do have is the memories and photographs from all those trips.
I have more pictures of road trips in Namibia than I could fit into a book. But in this post, I’d like to share a selection of photographs involving the car we bought in late 2020 and with which one we did several trips in 2021.
I only chose pictures with the car trying to tell a story from the road.
After buying the car we gathered more equipment such as a roof rack, a rooftop tent, solar panels, and lots of other stuff we wanted to have to be able to camp in the wild.
The first step on the journey was testing and setting up the new tent in the front yard. Then we had 2 months ahead of us within which we went on three different road trips.
Trip number one: Southern Namibia (January 2021)
While the world was still mostly still in lockdown, we packed our car and decided to head out into the wilderness. For the first two nights, friends of ours joined the big trip we were planning to explore the south.
The first night we slept in a dried-out riverbed that got flooded not even 24 hours after we left our camp. While we did set camp at an elevated area, if the water had arrived earlier, we would have been stuck there for quite a while.
The second night, we camped in the desert (Sesriem) on the most probably the fanciest camp of the trip. The sun was burning down on us and during the daytime, we only survived in the shade of the campsite.
From then on it was just my husband and I and endless vastness. We drove for hours through the desert without seeing a single soul. Just wildlife. We saw countless zebra and all different kinds of antelopes.
That day we rolled into a basic campsite. A friendly, elder couple greeted us upon arrival and we were told to choose any spot we’d like.
We set the camp right underneath the tree for some extra shade and relaxed for the rest of the day.
Whenever we do like a camp, we decide to stay longer. That was the case the following night. We even set up the gazebo right underneath the tree since the branches weren’t offering enough shade in the blazing heat.
The camp was at the base of a small canyon and some mountains which we explored on several smaller hikes in the following days.
One week into the trip, we arrived at our southernmost point of the journey. The Orange River. Again, we made ourselves comfortable and stayed for two nights.
In the river, we played with tubes and went on a kayaking adventure.
After enjoying the cooling river, we packed up again and headed north. Driving along endless roads across the Namibian vastness. Boundless beauty for miles on both sides of the road.
It was getting late that night and we still hadn’t settled on a place to sleep. We passed one or two sites that had been closed and couldn’t do wild camping since we were inside a national park.
That was when my camp of the trip came around the corner.
I don’t know what it was. The trees. The open view. The setting sun across the plains or the endless stars at night. Maybe it was all of it combined. And the fact we were the only ones for miles and miles around.
It was simply the best place. So serene and so beautiful.
I had managed to direct my husband with the car perfectly underneath the tree so we wouldn’t wake up getting blasted by the heat.
And at night? Well, there were just stars all around us.
The following day we drove to Sossusvlei to be able to swim in an ephemeral lake surrounded by nothing but sand and hundreds of meters tall sand dunes.
The only picture of our road-tripping beauty I took this day was on our way out again passing a bunch of desert flowers. These desert lilies grow in the most desolate environments. After just a little bit of rain.
Trip number two: Central Namibia (February 2021)
And the end of one trip was the beginning of another one. We just made it into town to refill our supplies on water and groceries and were on the road again. A friend of ours was having her birthday and wanted to celebrate it with us somewhere out in the desert.
Crossing the highlands in the central part of the country we drove through some stretches with incredible lush green nature and passed more beautiful desert lilies.
That day we drove a road that was more off the beaten track than we anticipated. It was more of a farm road leading us up and down the valleys. Opening and closing cattle gates every few meters, we didn’t move fast on this small dirt track.
We also had to make it across a flowing river before the next rains would arrive and potentially fill up the riverbed again. Just on the other side of the canyon, we started to look for a place for the night.
That was where we camped among rain clouds—one of my favorite nights in the wild. The sky was filled with clouds bursting. Rain showers all around us and the setting sun was painting them in purple, red, and orange.
Eventually, we left the green highlands behind us and drove back to deserted landscapes. In another dried-out riverbed, we set camp for two nights in a row. A wild camp. But we were equipped as you can see.
We had water, electricity and so much peace and quiet.
Trip number three: Northern Namibia (February 2021)
Again, we had a few days in town after arriving from this second trip. We washed the car, fixed up a few things, and headed out to the capital of Windhoek. We were fetching my sister and her boyfriend from the airport to drive them for two weeks through the country.
This was surely a different kind of trip, not just because we headed North and experienced some serious rains and flooded roads but also because our two passengers were first-timers on such an adventure and we felt like having kids with us.
The whole time there was someone hungry, tired, or had to go to the loo.
However, we stood through it as a couple and set up camp each night in a different place trying to offer our guests the best experience possible.
The car got a paint job since we thought the bright red was getting boring.
We drove through the red shining mountains of Damaraland and crossed a few spectacular mountain passes.
Sleeping next to massive boulders and protected by trees.
Once we arrived at a destination our job wasn’t finished. We were guides, cooks, and parents all in one. Advice and help were needed at every step of camp life.
As seasoned travelers and road-tripping pros, we made it through the last challenge as well without weakening our relationship. But we were happy when we dropped off our guests at the airport and had some alone time again.
This was the end of our road tripping marathon through Namibia. It was an amazing time with highlights in all parts of the tours around the country. We lived on the road for almost two months straight and honestly — we could do it for longer.
“Because the greatest part of a road trip isn’t arriving at your destination. It’s all the wild stuff that happens along the way.” — Emma Chase
This is a response to the August writing challenge of Globetrotters. A community of travelers for travelers. I invite you to share your road trip story with us as well.
This was my first submission to the writing challenge:
And more stories from the road:
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