TRAVEL WRITING CHALLENGE
The Only Water to be Found for Miles — Epupa Falls
The A to Z of my favorite travel destinations
I didn’t believe anymore we’d get to see any water. Not even talking about a waterfall. But the country we had been driving through for hours hadn’t seen any drop of rain in months if not even years.
But then, all of a sudden, as if someone just opened the curtains, there it was. An oasis in the middle of the dry land.
Epupa Falls.
It was 2015 and I was living in Namibia. For three months I’d stay, I was telling everyone even though nobody believed me. I ended up staying for 5 years. But that’s another story.
A school friend was visiting me and I took one week off work to drive her through the country. I wasn’t experienced in driving on gravel roads nor did I know much about the distances in this country. Yet, there was no debate about who was the better driver between the two of us.
The country we had been driving through was just incredibly dry. I mean, I had been driving through. I was the only one driving. My friend was sitting next to me studying. All the way.
Yes, it was the last vacation we did together. And the last time we spoke with each other too. Stuff happens. Friendships come and go. It is part of our life. Some stay for longer, some don’t.
And here we were. Driving three hours North from our last destination in the search of a waterfall. There was more dust around us than green leaves. I don’t know what we were thinking.
Epupa Falls is described as “dramatic waterfalls” on Google Maps. They are a series of waterfalls where the Kunene River runs between Angola and Namibia. The River is in fact the border.
The river drops to a maximum of 37 meters (120 feet) stretching across a distance of 1,5 kilometers. The word Epupa stands for “foam” in the local language of the Herero (Source).
While this is not a waterfall to be compared with Niagara Falls or the famous waterfalls in Africa just a few hundred kilometers further east, the Victoria Falls, these falls are promising water, all year around.
And even though we didn’t expect it, as we came around the corner, we did see the lush green palm trees and the sparkling water.
We parked the car and walked down to the river.
It was somehow surreal.
And even though the water levels were very low, we still did see the foam the locals were talking about.
We walked around the settlement and approached the gorge from the other side. The water was only dropping down on one spot but it was clearly identified as a waterfall.
A local woman from the Himba tribe was washing clothes in the river.
As we got back to the car, a few children were standing around asking us for sweets. The healthy travelers we were, we had nothing sweet with us but gave them instead some carrots and an apple.
The little boy was very hesitant when I handed him the apple. He looked at it as if he had no idea what it was. His older sister told him to take the fruit and possibly explained what it was.
Yes, no apples do grow here and these children only know the local foods and things brought by tourists.
As soon as we turned around the landscape changed immediately again. Dry and desolate.
My first visit to the falls only lasted less than an hour. If I tell any Namibian I drove to Epupa but didn’t stay overnight they tell me I’m crazy. Which is legit. It’s a 3-hour drive from the nearest town you can stay over.
The next time I visited Epupa Falls I came with a better travel partner, with more time and a different rental vehicle.
It was March 2020. The pandemic had kicked us out of Thailand where we working at that time. Fleeing back to my husband’s home country, we rented a vehicle to go on a road trip.
Yes, in this part of the world the pandemic hadn’t started yet. Just the tourists stayed away. We traveled through the best of Namibia while seeing and meeting barely any soul.
We decided to stay two nights at the falls. We arrived with a flat tire and while my husband got the tire changed, I set up the rooftop tent and our gazebo.
When we stay for longer at a place we like it comfortable.
It was rainy season and the country had received the first good rains in a time period of about 7 years.
The campsite had been flooded just a few days before we arrived. The water levels had dropped since, but still remained at a high.
The falls were spectacular.
We climbed the surrounding hills to get a better view of the long stretch where the Kunene River is dropping over the edge and we went close to the gorge.
To feel the mist and hear the roaring thunder of falling water.
I had set up my hammock and spent the hottest time of the day reading and writing on my tablet.
On the second evening, we walked over to the lodge. We sat at the bar overlooking the river and drank a few gin & tonics while watching the sun set over the falls. It was a night to remember.
The next morning we headed on. We didn’t take the same route we came on but followed a dirt track next to the river. We had spoken to the campsite owner asking if any people had gone through within the last 24 hours.
He said yes but only in a convoy.
We were a single vehicle facing many flooded stretches of the road and even crossed one river. Not in full flood but it was an adventure, I can tell you that.
A story for another day.
“There is a hidden message in every waterfall. It says if you are flexible, falling will not hurt you.” — Mehmet Murat Ildan
This is a writing prompt response started by Sam Millichap and continued by Adrienne Beaumont. Read their stories with “E”.
“E Is for Edinburgh” and
You can find the full series of the “A to Z of my favorite travel destinations” in the reading list here.
A — “From Akwidaa to Axim”
B — “A Winter Wonderland at the Base of the Alps”
C — “My Southernmost Destination in the World — The Cape”
D — “Off the Beaten Track in Thailand”
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