Photography & travel

DAMARALAND #1

Gradually we began to get used to the warm welcome, often singing & dancing, from the welcoming committee. This time arriving at Damaraland it was no different. The refreshing drink and cool towel were more than welcome after the tire replacement. The campsite lies in a sparsely populated stone desert. It is a unique area with special and unspoiled nature. You will find ostriches, jackals and oryxes, but this region is best known for its rare black rhinos and desert elephants. After we put our stuff in the room we enjoyed the peaceful silence, the stunning view and a good …

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TWYFELFONTEIN

Leaving the Erongo mountains behind us we’re heading for Twyfelfontein today. Since it’s on our way to Damaraland we thought it would be a good idea to include it on our list. Twyfelfontein is the first UNESCO site in Namibia known for thousands of rock petroglyphs. Some of them might be as old as 10000 years! The hike in the protected area is done with a guide. But when we asked to visit the ‘fountain’ or spring, which meant a longer walk, we were given directions and allowed to go out on our own. Probably because it was so hot …

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SPITZKOPPEN

The Matterhorn of Namibia, that’s how the granite mountain is sometimes referred to. We didn’t climbed the 1728 peak, it was not on our planning, and it was simply too hot. But we did see the Rock arch!Cruising on the D1925 we could spot the mountain from afar. It has a peculiar shape and because the entire area is flat it looks like a massive pimple.We stayed two nights in the spitzkoppen lodge, run by the Barnard family, which lies in the middle of the conservatory. The whole area was given back to the Damaran community, just like the San …

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Wlotzkasbaken

We barely left Swakopmund behind us, en route to Spitzkoppen, or some brightly coloured house caught or attention.So we left the main road and decided to have look.The place felt deserted. We later on understood why, it basically was a settlement of weekend houses.But we managed to have a chat with one of the permanent residents.Achim was a third generation German, born and raised in Namibia, who spontaneously explained us the history of the village.Because it’s a settlement it is not connected to the electricity grid or water system. Practically every house has is own private water tower, which gives …

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Walvis bay

The first day during this trip we set the alarm clock, for a good reason.We have a 08h45 rendez-vous at the Walvis Bay harbour to leave by boat and explore the bay area. Resulting in an early breakfast a quick shower, packing the sunscreen and camera bag and of we go. No more sand storms today but a chilly and foggy morning which created an intimate atmosphere. We were not the only ones who booked the boat trip. Together with 6 Frenchmen, who were on an organised photo safari with a professional photographer, and a family of six we boarded. …

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SWAKOPMUND

On our way to Swakopmund we made a quick stop at Solitaire.Along the road we witnessed a lot of old car wrecks, probably one of the raisons why many people find it a pittoresk place.Not much to see in reality, but there’s a petrol station and the Moose McGregor bakery with famous apple pie, which we didn’t try. We filled up the tank and continued our trip. It was going to be a long rough & tough (350km) drive turned out afterwards. First 150km were interesting, crossing the Gaub Pass and the Kuiseb river. The rocky hills sometimes looked like …

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SOSSUSVLEI

Under one hour, this was our shortest drive in Namibia, from Wolwedans to Little Kulala next to Sossusvlei.We picked this location because it has is own gated access to Sossusvlei, Dead vlei and Dune 45.In banthu language ‘kulala’ means ‘to sleep’ and that’s exactly what we had. A good night of sleep. We decided to skip the morning rush, although it’s the preferred time of the day to shoot some pictures, and visit Sossusvlei at dusk. Turned out to be a good decision. Not too many people around, light was perfect and the occasional clouds slowly drifting by casting subtle …

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NAMIBIA – Wolwedans #2

Don’t expect anything to happen here.Just wait. And let sink in the stunning environment.Ask ‘what is this place?’, then open yourself completely to what you hear in the silence that follows. If you’re an escape artist, this is your secret hideaway.Wolwedans did steal our hearts. Why? That’s impossible to answer, it just did.Like falling in love. Spanning a 180,000ha non fenced terrain, Wolwedans is nested in the NamibRand Nature Reserve with plenty of space to enjoy the silence and nature. During one of our morning drives we noticed a solitary zebra walking in the dessert. With the soft light and …

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NAMIBIA – Wolwedans #1

While driving to Wolvedans, our next campsite, the landscape started to change. Slowly we started to see red coloured crumbled hills and variation in vegetation. Also gone the fenced thar road and welcome dirt road! My personal favourite. Driving down the Tsaris pass we stopped just after Zaris on the D827 to get a better impression of the desolate area. Once we stepped out of the car it felt like we were standing in a hot-air oven. Dusty and heavy warm wind blowing in our faces but nearly no sound. In the distance we saw some blown-by-the-wind bushes hunting each …

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NAMIBIA – Kalahari Game Lodge

Located on the southern edge of the Kalahari dessert, near to Mariental we had our second stop at Bagatelle. A short one, only one night. The main reason why we stayed here is because we have cats back home. And since Bagatelle partners with CCF, the Cheetah Conservation Fund, we decided to spent a night. Driving there was easy and monotonous. Most of it was just dusty dirt road but also kilometers of fenced asphalt roads. We preferred the dirt roads ;-) We stopped at Maltahöhe and Mariental, two sleepy townships, to get a sense of the local life. The …

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