Moro Maukuska

One of the loveliest experiences during our road trip was meeting the local people. And some of the sweetest people we met were in Mondesa, Namibia...    

And why Botswana? We were told in South Africa that one must experience the Okavango Delta.  Before it's too late.

Why Namibia, you ask? Well, to see the red Namib Desert dunes.    And they were quite spectacular.

You can enjoy watching the birds as they gather to rest along the Okavango river (these white herons were on Angola's side), or try to spot the occasional crocodile snoozing on the river bank...

Mokoro or canoe(s), whichever you c hoose is great for cruising along the Okavango River and enjoying the scenery.  There's a lot of life along the river. The locals use it for many things, including bathing, doing their laundry, and washing their cars. 

There are also rivers where you can use the traditional mokoro or the more modern canoes as transportation.

As you've probably guessed, there aren't many trees in Namibia, but there some...  

Namibia has a long coastline and beautifully rough beaches. The Swakopmund beach and pier is quite popular . W ell, maybe not during the Winter months . B ut the seagulls had enjoyed a nice clam buffet ... North of Swakopmund is the long Skeleton Coast and its famous shipwrecks. A group of cormorants had turned this wreck into their home.

Another antelope species we saw quite often during our roadtrip in Namibia was the springbok.

We saw oryx so often that I almost forgot to take pictures of them!

One of our favorite campsites in Namibia was Madisa in the Damaraland. The campsite is shaded, it's private, and you have a braai area, running water and your own toilet and shower. There are baboons and jackals, and t he desert elephants pass through, so be prepared! Our camp deck shower and toilet and the surrounding scenery We lit candles as there was no electricity and they gave a nice, warm glow aft er the sun had set.

We stayed at several campsites during our roadtrip in Namibia, and we saw some of the most beautiful sunsets at Namib Naukluft Lodge's campsite. The colours were amazing; they shifted from pink to orange to red to purple and everything in between. After the sun had set there was a lovely warm red glow for a few minutes, but we couldn't stop to enjoy that for too long as we had to make sure we had everything ready for when it got pitch black.

We hadn't seen jackals up close before, so it was super when this one came so near . It also had a sweetly sly way of pretending not to be interested in us...

Those big cats may be cool, but you can't trust 'em....