Namibia - Etosha to Soussevlei Dunes

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Liz & John in Africa - August 2004 » Namibia - Etosha to Soussevlei Dunes

Namibia is most famous for its oft-photographed massive red sand dunes and being the cheetah capital of the world. We went in search of both. These photos are mostly from the Sossuvlei Dunes (a great hiking area) and from Etosha, a huge wildlife area in the north of the country, home of cheetah, rhino, elephants, lions and where they will actually let you in for “self-drive safaris”… yes just get a map, a Corolla, little common-sense and off you go – scary but true.

P8180069 The Etosha salt pan - 130 km by 50 km. There's a LOT more interesting stuff about the pan but I can't think of it at the moment.

IMG_3047 Zebra VERY aware of nearby lions. The lions were feeding off a baby elephant kill from the day before so all was fairly safe.

IMG_3275 Plenty o' elephants

IMG_3237 It was unreal.

IMG_3221 Oryx doing what oryxes do when they're not doing something else

IMG_3228 Life can be fun when lions aren't around

IMG_3244 That tongue wants THAT berry. Did you know...giraffes have 18

IMG_3278 Almost exactly the cover of our Lonely Planet.

IMG_3165 African version of the Cadillac Ranch

P8200138 Twyfelontein

P8200111 Twyfelfontein (we're back in Damaraland here) is one of the most famous rock sites in Namibia and, at 2,000 to 6,000 years old, one of the oldest in Africa. Here, the San (the original inhabitants of Damaraland) are instructing young hunters in how to recognize local prey, and predators, by sight and footprint.

P8200125 More than 2,500 images and paintings have been recorded. Some paintings date back 27,000 years.

P8210159 Getting our permit to drive through the Skeleton Coast. Why is it called that? I'll tell you...

IMG_3301 Liz returns from her exploration of the Skeleton Coast (while John fixes himself a tasty peanut butter and jelly sandwich).

P8210177 It's known as the Skeleton Coast because

P8210165 The seas were raging...and the water was, as the Finnish say,

P8230223 Climbing around Spitzkoppe, the

P8230245 Liz barely avoids large rolling boulders. OK, not really.

P8230232

P8210199 This photo is for our parents.

IMG_3329 Dune 45...because it's 45 kilometers from the park entrance, of course.

IMG_3348 These red dunes cover about 20,000 square miles of western Namibia. The world's highest and oldest dunes are found here.

IMG_3353 The Englishwoman who walked up a hill...

IMG_3428 ...and ran down a mountain.

IMG_3385 Liz Lancaster, Videographer

IMG_3399a View from the top of the Soussevlei Dune

P8240281 Indiana Johnes returns from the desert.

IMG_3519 Red dune in the morning, tourist warning. The gate to the park opens at 5am. Then it's a mad 30-mile dash to reach the dunes before the sun does.

IMG_3532 Morning at the Soussevlei Dunes. NO MORE CAMPING...for awhile, anyway.