Namibia is a MUST in every travel life. Beautiful rock formations, wild animals, wide plains to the horizon and up to 365 m high dune landscapes. The sky is irresistibly blue, and the reddish colors of nature shine particularly intensely here.
At the beginning of the year, it is especially green and flourishing in the north of Namibia. December’s rain turns Etosha Park into a Garden of Eden. The animals run over flower carpets, the leaves on the trees are green and juicy. A paradise for humans and animals.
And the heart of every off-roader beats quicker in Namibia. The surface of the gravel roads quickly transforms into some kind of soft soap, riviere transform to rapid streams. It can quickly become adventurous.
Interruptions caused by the weather is one thing, personal negligence is another. What does a driver think, when he leaves the already bad piste in nowhere to pick up the passenger, who is visiting the “toilet” somewhere in the botany. Is he fit to drive? Polite? Adventurous? No, stupid. Where animals live, caves are dug and tunnels are built. An aardvark is not a small animal. Suddenly the vehicle has only three visible tires; the fourth one visits the aardvark. The fender is on the ground. Shortly before dawn only one thing helps now: fast shoveling and a strong engine. Totally unnecessary experience, since one knows these things. But the laugh is always on the loser. While the driver shovels, the passenger can watch and take pictures.
Apart from that the 4×4 photo classics from Namibia are: picking the wrong gear and sink into the deep sand, tire changing because of sharp-edged stones on the road side and our favorite on the catastrophe scale – sinking into the mud.
But getting stuck in the mud is not just for the tourists. Even experienced local guides will meet this fate. Embarrassing for the guide when he gets stuck and the tourist masters the route at the first attempt.
Between all the adventures, we still manage to photographically dedicate ourselves to the wild animals, even if these are sometimes annoying and upset at 5 o’clock in the morning the garbage cans in the camp to get to their content. The always bad-tempered honey badgers can do this almost masterfully.
But even when photographing it is to bear some unreasonable burden of dignity. With 160,000 seals in a small space just helps to breathe in and hold on. If necessary, 10 hours at a time. Cormorants and their feces do not smell like a spring meadow.
Namibia is certainly one of the most interesting countries in Africa. Also thanks to its diverse landscapes and its little-shy wildlife. Again and again a reason for one or the other visit or for photo stops on the way to Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.