Under threat of grave bodily harm from our esteemed leader I will attempt to share some experiences from our trip. I do not plan to do this report in the normal format of a daily write up but will give broader outlines of the adventure.
Out trip was from 16th March 2018 to 3rd April 2018. 18 nights.
ROUTE
From Johannesburg we went via Zeerust across the border into Botswana at Skilpadshek. We then drove on the Trans Kalahari Highway to cross the border into Namibia at Buitepos. From her we drove via Gobabis to Etosha National Park and thereafter up to Ruacana via Grootfontein. From Ruacana we took the river road to Epupa Falls, which quickly became an adventure. After a rest day at Epupa Falls we headed down Van Zyls Pass then back north through the Marienfluss to the Cunene River again. The plan was to traverse a few dry river beds and to wild camp on our wat to Puros. Unfortunately the had been a lot of rain which made this a dangerous idea so we traversed the Marienfluss again and took the main road to Puros. From her we travelled to Palmwag and then made our way almost in a straight line east all the way home back in Johannesburg. Some 5300km.
VEHICLE
Our vehicle was a 1999 Toyota Land Cruiser Cygnus 4.7 V8. With us was a Land Cruiser 105 and a Toyota Hilux. No vehicles had any major mechanical problems.
All right, all right so you are wondering about my fuel consumption.
5366km
1105,4 l of petrol
R 13748
4,85km/l
20,6l/100km
R2,56 per km
We did about 1200km off tar varying from good gravel to Van Zyls Pass. The route that we did from Ruacana to Puros is about 900km of fairly rough country, interspersed with river crossings and recoveries. My fuel consumption for this section was 28l/100km.
Cruising on tar at a comfy 110/120 it reduced to 17-18l/100km.
Gap left above for you to have a good laugh.
The vehicle was equipped as an over lander. Back seats removed, drawer system, fridge, dual battery, water tank, extra fuel tank, roof rack, Bundutec Rooftop Tent, solar panel on top of tent and a Bunduawn.
I found the rooftop tent and the awning very easy to put up and take down. The mattress is extremely comfortable. I slept as well in the tent as at home. They are expensive but they are worth it. Having the solar panel on top of the tent really assists in powering up the batteries during the day.
On the subject of elektrickery. If you smell something funny in your car investigate pronto. We were pulling out from Epupa Falls when I smelt a funny smell which I thought was Doom. Got out, had a casual look over things, found the Doom canister,(even looked for a rogue preacher) then declared all was good. A minute or two later my wife said she was seeing smoke.
I had a look and saw smoke coming out of the right rear passenger door. That is where my fire extinguisher is so I threw a few things out of the car but realized than there is no wiring there. Got the fire extinguisher. Disconnected the battery. Then opened the back to see a roll of cable that I use for LED lights at night had melted into a smoldering ball.
Lesson learned. Do not coil up cable and hold together with a cable tie. It rubs together on bad roads and then shorts.
Mechanically the vehicle did not miss a beat. Typical boring damn Toyota. No problems at all. Well, none that were the vehicles fault. More about that later.
FUEL AVAILABILITY NAMIBIA
The areas that we went to where very remote. We needed to have fuel for nearly 1000km of hard driving. My tank takes 140l. I carried three jerrys and bought 55l of fuel from the locals. That got me through.
Note that the locals have realized that the selling of fuel at a premium in most the small towns of this section of Namibia is a lucrative pastime. They are very willing to sell you fuel if they have. There are signs indicating fuel for sale in the unlikeliest of places. The people are pleasant and very helpful, even referring you to another seller if they have run out. They do try to always have stock as they don’t want to miss a sale.
ROADS
All tar roads were in good condition. It is remarkable to see approximately 700km through Botswana where the road is flat and straight as far as the eye can see there is a grass verge about 30 meters wide on each side of the road. Every 50 km or so you see a work crew cutting grass and cleaning up the verge. The same is seen through the parts of Namibia that we did. As in most places in Africa the roads whether fenced or unfenced were plagued by animals of the domestic, farm or wild variety.
In Namibia the dirt roads were very good. Some corrugated badly but manageable.
The most amazing road is the road from Ruacana to Epupa which has recently been graded opening up the area to more tourism and allowing the local Himba people easier access to markets for there produce. Whether this is a good of a bad thing will be seen in time. This road used to be a tweespoor and took 6hrs to drive. Now in good weather it would take no longer than 2,5-3 hrs. I said in good weather. We got caught a few times on this road. More about that later.
ACCOMMODATION
All nights bar two were spent in the roof top tent at commercial or community camp sites. Our first night at Zeerust and our last night at Zeerust we stayed at B&B accommodation. On the way there we stayed at Mbewa Cottages. Highly recommended. On the way home we stayed at Sha Henne B&B. Don’t don’t don’t stay there.
I was very pleasantly surprised with the community camp sites in Namibia. All provided perfectly adequate facilities, with clean ablutions and warm water. The community site at the top of Van Zyls is not to be missed. Under huge trees in or next to a dry river bed.
The best commercial camp site was at Onguma Lodge. Also under huge trees with excellent ablutions. This lodge has rooms as well and is situated right next to Etosha at the Namutoni Gate. A worthwhile place to stay. We found this little bugger on the premises of Onguma Lodge.
ETOSHA NATIONAL PARK
This was one highlight of the trip. Game viewing was average as we did not spend many days here. There was also a lot of rain so the animals were more dispersed than usual. The views and vistas are absolutely breathtaking. Worth the trip just for the views over the pan.
VAN ZYLS PASS
Highly overrated. One or two rocky sections and the road to the pass and community camp site is a long slog over rough terrain but nothing too difficult. The pass itself is hardly the bucket list item that it is made out to be. If you are going to do this trip because you think it is a bucket list pass to do you will be disappointed. I am sure at times it needs a bit of road building but it is not hectic.
EPUPA FALLS
A really lovely place to camp next to the Cunene River where it drops 60m over a wide area of rocky ledges and falls. The feature of this area is the number of Baobabs in the area. The walk to the view site is well worth the effort especially at sunset when the sun is directly behind you and the falls look fantastic in the light.
PUROS
Unfortunately due to excessive rains in this area we did not get the opportunity to explore as we would have liked. I am sure that it is really worthwhile exploring the dry river beds and canyons around this area and looking for the desert elephants. As it was we got out of Puros just in time. The river that we crossed was about 90 m across when we crossed it. It was not deep however and the bottom was rocky. A day or two later the river was impassable.
VEHICLE STUCK IN RIVER RECOVERY
On the route from Ruacana to Epupa, a road that travels close to the Cunene River we came across numerous streams/rivers that flow into the Cunene. Most did not pose a problem and we made it through with no problem. However, we came across one river where one of our vehicles towing a camping trailer got stuck. The driver was extremely unlucky as he was making good progress only for both has left hand wheels to fall into a hole at the exact same time which forced him to a sudden halt.
So we had a vehicle bogged down in two foot deep flowing water with a very muddy bottom. We were not novices but still made mistakes.
First we uncoupled the trailer. We attempted a snatch on the vehicle. Snatch strap snapped (?) and dented the rear of my car and shattered the left hand side mirror. That was just the strap, nothing attached like a shackle, as it had snapped.
New strap, new attempt. Bang, damn, what now. The bolts holding the recovery point onto the vehicle being recovered snapped. Fortunately only ended smashing into my rear steel bumper.
Fortunately we had kept all people clear during snatching.
Last resort was winching which is what we did. First with my winch but my car kept being pulled towards the bogged down vehicle as it was pulling from the river bed. We them attached our two cars together and used the bogged vehicles winch to pull himself out.
We then still had to recover the trailer. We did this with the winch, placing a sheet of metal under the jockey wheel so that it could skid across the mud as we pulled it along.
Five hours later we were on our way after having learned a few valuable lessons about recovery.
1. Take the correct recovery gear with you. Don’t try and save space in your vehicle by packing a strap as opposed to a poffadder. Pack the bridles. Pack it all.
2. Inspect the recovery equipment prior to use, especially if it is not yours.
3. Ensure that your recovery points are in good condition and can handle the strain.
Basics I know but sometimes these are forgotten.
So, after spending this time recovering a vehicle, we proceeded down the road for about 15 minutes. The same vehicle got bogged again. A quick recovery this time though but it was getting late and dark so we camped in the local Himba homestead which was a great experience with the men joining us for an impromptu party around the fire that night.
DISCUSSION POINT
This was the first real overland trip that my wife and I embarked on. We thoroughly enjoyed it however we did cheat a little. Being our first trip and to what I would consider to be a relatively remote area like Kaokoland, we went on an organized tour with a guide. He did all the accommodation arrangements, route planning, gave us daily briefings and cooked dinner every night which was an absolute pleasure. We could arrive at camp and relax, beer in hand while waiting for our dinner to be ready.
I don’t say we could not have done the trip without a guide. We could have made our own dinner, we made our own breakfast and lunch. We could have hired our own sat phone. We could have made our own arrangements and planned our own route.
We did however enjoy the company of a nice group of people. The added cost was not prohibitive and we had the time to really enjoy our trip.
I know there are more fly by nights than good guides (ours was great, would use them again for sure) in this business but would you use a guide for a trip like this?
Should I be able to provide you with further info or answer any questions please ask.
Trip Report -Namibia - Kaokoland
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Chris Stoffel
- Location: Cape Town
- Posts: 555
- Joined: Sun Apr 01, 2018 9:54 pm
What about the rim? Tell us about the rim!!!!
Suzuki Jimny - Hobbit Car 