crab sandwich

CLICK HERE for Part 1: Animals of Etosha

On our road trip through Namibia, we covered a lot of ground: according to Google Maps, we drove over 2,030km (1260 miles). We would have kept track of our own kilometers, but we couldn’t read the odometer on our Toyota—the console was clouded over with years worth of dust and sand.

We dubbed our car “Peggy,” after the rental company Pegasus, and she performed wonderfully. The driving was roughly 70% unpaved/gravel and 30% paved, so we took it slow and were lucky enough to avoid any flats and only got stuck once (see photos). Stupid shortcuts.

The people of Namibia were incredibly warm, smiley and gracious. We got countless waves from people out in the countryside. But like anywhere else there’s a huge discrepancy between rich and poor, you have to stay on your toes and watch for scams, especially when you fill up for gas. That said, we had no issues besides the occasional annoyance of pushy beggars.

All in all, we loved Namibia and after a week back in Angola, we miss the clean open spaces and the welcoming desert air.

This photo gallery is considerably longer than the Animals of Etosha, so I recommend hitting play on the MP3 below, clicking on an image and then going through the pics at your own pace. Thanks again for checking them out!

Breakfast in Angola airport or dinner in Windhoek: Guess which was more expensive.

Joe’s Beer House. First order of business in Namibia: drink German bier and eat strange animals. I had an oryx schnitzel, Kelli had a kudu steak.

Warthog: First animal sighting on the way to Etosha

Our trusty steed: Peggy. A Toyota Condor with the back seats removed and a mattress thrown in there with all sorts of camping gear.

Etosha. We made it! About a six hour drive from Windhoek.

Cheesy Selfie #1: First night in the park.

Typical scene of making a fire and drinking a few lagers.

Braii (BBQ) chicken and some senf. Definitely not Thomy, but I’m a sucker for mustard in a tube.

Typical road in Etosha

Etosha knitting

Elephant crossing.

Etosha pan

How we saw all the animals in the park … from inside our car.

A little vino makes watching a lion/rhino/giraffe standoff that much better

Sunrise over Etosha.

Etosha bed head.

Cheesy Selfie #2: Leaving Etosha

These trees originated millions of years ago in Angola or Congo.

Our guide. I could have listened to him talk all day.

Utah? Or Namibia?

High desert views

Another one. This time at some random rock site.

Researching Swakopmund, our next destination

Chilly evening so I had to put on all my clothes

Sunrise before a busy day of driving.

Twyfelfontein Lion Man. UNESCO World Heritage Site. Some of these engravings are over 6,000 years old.

More engravings. Notice the seal on the right: evidence that the people trekked to the sea hundreds of miles away.

Another view straight out of southern Utah.

Foots of Damaraland

On the lookout for rare desert elephants. No luck, but we saw this family of giraffes.

Typical homes in the super dry desert.

Let’s take a shortcut!

Hmm … the road’s getting smaller.

Stuck! Almost made it across a sandy riverbed.

Officially stuck. A super nice Belgian couple helped us out. Story to come?

Suicidal donkey.

Optimistic.

Barren desert heading towards the Skeleton Coast.

Cape Cross Seal Colony. One of the largest in the world with over 200,000 seals.

Ineffectual camo. BONUS: Seal photo bomb!

Cross of Cape Cross: anticlimactic.

Pier in Swakopmund

Walking the streets of Swakop, bizarro German beach town.

Lunch in Swakop

Real bier. Real food. Vegetables even!

“Camping” Swakop style (with en-suite bathroom)

Campsite visitor

Trying to look warm

Halfway through another 6 hour drive. High desert pass on the way to Sossusvlei

Leaving the tropics.

Dry.

Road vision: getting stuck behind someone sucks.

More high desert

Relaxing after a long drive

Sunset over Sossusvlei

Another epic campsite

Sossusvlei: where giants stand on hills and point at things.

Road to Sossusvlei

View from the road.

No-look, out the window shot.

Sunset after a day on the dunes (more photos to come).

Water! No problem for ol’ Peggy.

This was actually a little baboon commune.

Final night in Windhoek. Tired but happy after a great 11 days.