WRITING PROMPT RESPONSE

The Road Trip I Will Never Forget

A trip filled with once-in-a-lifetime experiences

Not even six months have passed but I still love thinking back at this time on the road. Everyone who’s clicked onto my profile before or read one of my stories knows that I’m an adventure seeker and passionate traveler. I love the unknown, the open road, and the wind blowing through my hair.

Earlier this year when we couldn’t work due to a lack of tourism in Namibia (and most parts of the world) we simply decided to hit the road instead of sulking at home.

There’s nothing that excites me more than going on a road trip. Especially in the country of Namibia. My new home. The country I can’t get enough of. I’ve traveled to all corners of it before but still haven’t seen it all. Or gotten enough of it. There’s so much more to see. And do.

The preparation

Years of traveling have prepared me for all kinds of situations. While I used to be a traveler with packing lists and days of preparation I can now pack the car for a road trip within two hours.

All the camping gear is in one spot, our bed already tied to the roof, and who needs clothes when going on a trip in the desert? 90 percent of the time I’ll be wearing my yellow bikini that was brown by the end of the trip and any more clothes are just unnecessary.

Filling all the extra canisters with water and packing lots of beers. Because you know, you can survive a day or two extra without water, as long as you have some cold beers in the fridge. Talking of which, the two fridges are being carried in the car, the one is set on freeze and filled with mince and steaks. And maybe some bacon.

But that’s my husband’s job. To connect all the electronics and do the puzzle of course. Before everything goes into the vehicle I check one more time if we forgot anything. A quick stop in the supermarket and at the fuel station and off we go.

The moment of leaving the town behind

We had been talking about this trip for a few days already but hadn’t set a leave date. It all happened quicker than originally planned. So there was still the thrill of anticipation when we left town.

Excitement of what was ahead of us.

“The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.” — Oprah Winfrey

The excitement of the unknown

What I love most about road trips in Namibia is the vastness of the landscapes that offer you countless camping spots. If on a proper campsite, a rather abandoned site without many facilities but the best views in the world or, which I like the most, a cool wild camping site we just selected.

For this day we had only selected a direction we wanted to drive to and an area where we were planning to camp in. When the moment comes to scout out the surroundings for a safe and beautiful spot for the night I can’t get my eyes off nature. My head is usually sticking far out of the window trying to find a better spot than the night before.

The trip

This trip we went on was extraordinary in so many ways. We’ve seen and done things you don’t get to experience in your everyday life. Except for the first two nights where some friends joined us but then turned back home, it was just the two of us. And our vehicle.

We aimed for arriving at the new site no later than 2 p.m. so that we still had plenty of time to spend in the new location. Except for one day where we drove through nothingness and didn’t want to bake in the unbearable sun during lunchtime and only set camp at around 5:30 p.m. we always had a relaxed afternoon at our new spot.

During the afternoon we would eventually pick out our map. Yes, I am old school, I still use maps for road trips. I just love having a map in my hand and selecting a route. And it is anyway handy when you’re traveling in a country where you have more often no cellphone reception at all than a decent one.

So, whenever we looked at the map we would select the route for the next day. Sometimes we would stick to it. Sometimes we would change it while driving. And sometimes, when we liked the camp a lot, we just stayed a second night.

The freedom & harmony

The best of this trip was we weren’t tied to a schedule. We weren’t tied to a date we had to be back at. We weren’t tied to anything except to our feelings. We visited places we wanted to, stayed longer when we enjoyed it and drove further when we didn’t want to camp in the midday sun.

It was almost like solo traveling. When you aren’t tied to group decisions and compromises of where to go and what to do. Why? Because we just always had the same ideas. We were super relaxed and open to any suggestion the partner was making. There were no fights. Just peace and tranquillity of the landscape.

We were on vacation. And we were in harmony.

“Happiness is, planning a trip to somewhere new, with someone you love.” — Unknown

The wildlife

What I absolutely love about Namibia is its abundance of wildlife. Even outside of national parks and wilderness areas you will get to see countless antelopes, zebras, and other fascinating creatures.

The south of the country is not as densely populated. From humans and animals. But that just makes each animal sighting even more special. And on this trip, we’ve been surprised about how much wildlife we did get to see.

For example, seeing a giraffe standing in front of you. Just like that. Right next to the road. In an area where we didn’t even know giraffes were living in.

The highlights

This trip was filled with so many highlights I couldn’t believe all had happened in front of our eyes in such a short period of time. It was the rainy season but the country had been in a drought for almost ten years. Most parts of the country still hadn’t gotten any rain.

The first highlight was simply seeing the desert transforming into a lush green meadow filled with blooming flowers. Desert lilies are unique flowers only growing after the rain. And after a lot of rain. I’ve never seen them before.

But instantly fell in love with them. As soon as I saw the first lilies covering the edges of the second largest canyon in the world I was in awe. It was the representation of perfection.

Some of the photos I took over there I even managed to sell later on Shutterstock.

I came past fields of lilies three times during this road trip. And made my husband stop each time. The last time he only gave me 5 minutes to get out of the car and take photos because it was in the hottest part of the desert during the midday sun. He said he saw me sizzling in the heat.

Meanwhile, Oryx antelopes were feeding on the freshly grown blades of grass just meters from me. Not caring about my presence nor the blazing heat.

The next highlight of the trip involved lots of water, splashing, and exercise. We drove to the very south of Namibia to see the orange river. A river my husband grew up on for a couple of years and a river full of adventures.

It’s where I went river tubing for the first time in my life (I know it sounds crazy after all the stuff I did all over the world, but I had never been tubing down a river before). And it is where we went kayaking over rapids. All on our own.

From here on we went north again. We got to see the famous wild horses on the endless vast landscapes of southern Namibia which I had never seen before.

And then the absolute highlight occurred. It had rained in the Namib Naukluft Mountains, and it had rained so much that the ephemeral river of the Tsauchab started to flow. It came down with a force flowing 60 kilometers into the dune belt of the Namib desert where it formed a lake.

Due to dunes that shifted this river cannot reach the ocean anymore but therefore it creates an oasis surrounded by sand dunes. About once in ten years, it comes that far. Maybe less. Who knows when this will happen again? And if I will get to experience it ever again?

People commented on my post about it that I shouldn’t call it a once-in-a-lifetime experience when saying at the same time it last happened ten years ago. That is correct. But the chances of experiencing it again and being able to be there at the same time seeing it are so slim, that it felt for me like a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

I was swimming. In a lake. In the middle of the desert.

I was speechless trying to explain to anyone what I had experienced, felt, and done. It was incredible.

Final words

And that is exactly why this was a road trip I am never going to forget. It was an amazing adventure while we experienced incredible tranquility at the same time. The campsites were obviously empty and we were often the only guests on site.

We lived this trip in harmony, calmness, and awe.

And we had done and experienced yet so much I could write an entire book about it.

Thank you Namibia for allowing me to see so much beauty.

This has been a response to Dennett‘s always interesting and inspiring writing prompts of Weeds & Wildflowers. I’m always fascinated by her timely and creative topics. Thank you for the inspiration for this article.

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