We were in charge, with all the consequences that entailed. We could safely hold a master class on “how to change a tire in the desert (twenty times)” or open a tire service.
We spend nights in tents on the roofs of jeeps in the most incredible places, mostly in Namibian national parks. Every night you go to bed and think, who, for example, can eat me tonight?
Or, will a bunch of elephants wake us up in the morning or not?
No one will eat you, of course, at most some local raccoons or antelopes will rustle through your garbage bags all night in the hope of finding something tasty
But a family of elephants may visit your campsite, no joke.
Your main question is: what about safety? I'll give you a short answer - 9 out of 10. This is considering that we were a “girls only” company in Wild Africa.
Very kind, hospitable people (where you meet them, there were days when we traveled hundreds of kilometers without a single soul, just you and wild animals in the savannah).
The organizer is the Ukrainian company
Kuluar - climbing, trekking, hiking - my friends with whom I usually go to the mountains.
I will not get tired of recommending them to you - from the Carpathians to Everest. The team leader Anastasiia Domanova was with us - my next discovery
The guys from the Backstage have developed a very cool program - wherever you go, wherever you spend the night, whatever you visit - everywhere and everywhere is wowowowow.
But there is one “but” - everything is so beautiful, unusual, unreal that on the 6th day the brain simply stops filtering everything the eyes see, because it goes something like this: “wow!!!”.
Okay, it can't get any cooler than that.” And the next day - whoops! And you can't believe your eyes again when you come out of your tent.
Because you are not likely to see such sunsets, sunrises, rainbows, landscapes as in Africa anywhere else. As a result, you have a kind of constant visual ecstasy. In short, a kind of disadvantage.
So, below is our journey through the places that I remember the most, with raw photos/videos to give you an authentic local vibe.
1. I arrived a day later than the others, and it so happened that I arrived at the first lodge, near the village of Omaruru, where we spent the night, at one in the morning.
I went into my lodge and heard some sounds outside. I go out, and there is a watering hole 10 meters away, with giraffes, zebras, antelopes and a family of hippos crowded around it (there is a video).
Hello, first culture shock
In the morning, you have breakfast outside under the palm trees, and Sam the giraffe stretches his lips into your muesli. It's wonderful.
2. Safari in Etosha National Park. The whole African five, thousands of birds and invertebrates live here. A huge territory, more than 20,000 square kilometers.
We drove around it all day, stopping at watering holes. We were lucky enough to see 11 lions, and even a nursing lioness with two cubs, giraffes, zebras, wildebeests, rhinos and many other animals and birds.
3. We visited two of the oldest local tribes - Himba and Damara. Such real, beautiful, happy people. No iPhones or Dysons.
4. Spent the night in tents in one of the most beautiful and cosmic places in my life - Spitzkoppe, amazing for its landscape, mountains and starry sky.
It is compared to the Matterhorn in shape. We walked with the girls along the rocks and saw an incredible sunset. We cried with happiness.
In the morning we came out of our tents and saw a huge rainbow over the mountain. It was amazing. We drank tea and cried again, but what to do.
5. Then we drove towards the ocean to visit the main port city of Namibia - Swakopmund.
In this African city on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, the local population and emigrants from Germany get along well.
There are probably 70 percent of Germans. German architecture, service. And what local oysters!!! Such a “European oasis” in Africa.
A very unusual beautiful and nice town, I didn't have enough time to explore it because we were in a hurry to get to the place I came to Namibia for....
6. Sandwich Harbor is a must see!!! a unique place where the oldest desert in Namibia meets the Atlantic Ocean.
I already wrote a post about it. I still have goosebumps. I will go back there with my boys, for sure.
After this place, we all had some kind of unrealistic emotional surge, and then a strong decline.
We were driving and thought, “Okay, we need to stop and digest. Where are we going again? What else can surprise us after this? It turns out it can.
7. We get up early to be in the most cosmic place in the desert at first light, to visit Deadvlei in the soft light.
This is the place where life froze 800 years ago. The most restless climb the highest dune in Namibia - Big Daddy. Or Dune 45, which is also amazingly beautiful.
8. Sossusvlei and hike along the Olive Trail.
A very unusual last day, during which we went through all the stages of emotional swings - curiosity, extreme fatigue, adrenaline rush, fear, and another shock from the unreal beauty of the unusual ancient rocks.
After this trip, I wanted to see more of Africa.
We are planning to climb Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, in Tanzania, and then.... Taras and Yana promised us a new tour of Botswana
If you're not looking for a 5* all inclusive, but something a little different, you won't regret it.
