Day 110: Namib-Naukluft National Park
After a quick breakfast, we were picked up by James from Desert Car Hire at 8AM, to go and pick up our rental car – a circa 1990s Honda CRV with a squeaky wheel and about 150K kilometers and counting! But hey – it’s more appropriate than a shiny new Benz. Plus, we know from experience that Hondas can take a beating – they are dependable cars and as long as this one gets us through Namibia and Botswana in one piece, it’s all good!
Desert Car Hire gave us an extra jerry can so we could carry spare gas, and an ice cooler to store snacks, so we made a quick stop at the grocery store after filling up the tank. After that, we left the tarred road and were riding on corrugated gravel the rest of the day.
A quick breakfast before picking up our Desert Hire CRV
Hitting the desert roads in Namibia – as soon as we are outside the city of Windhoek, all major roads are gravel
We opted to take the scenic route to Namib-Naukluft via the Spreetshoogte Pass – the steepest pass in Namibia with a 1,000+ meter drop in elevation in just 4KM. After several hours of driving on flat desert roads, we were starting to get jaded – maybe the Namibian landscape was over hyped? Then out of nowhere, the earth just opens up, and there is a huge valley below us! Totally breathtaking.
Taking the scenic route through the Spreetshoogte Pass
View from the top of the Spreetshoogte Pass
View from the bottom of the mountains
The animals are getting more exotic! Grazing cattle and our first herd of Springbok!
As we got closer to the Namib-Naukluft National Park, the landscape started to remind us a lot of the Australian Outback – especially the little “town” of Solitaire, which felt more like a roadhouse than a town. It was our first and only option for a fuel stop in 300+ KM since Windhoek.
The gas station in Solitaire – the only petrol since Windhoek
Dead cars in the desert
We arrived at our hotel, the Namib-Naukluft Lodge, early enough in the afternoon we had time for a 2hr hike in the desert on the trail running around the lodge. We brought the zoom lens in case we lucked out and found any wildlife – sure enough we ran into a herd of Wildebeest and one lone Oryx.
After a spectacular sunset, we got cleaned up and went outside for an open-air BBQ under the stars! Once again we were reminded of the Australian Outback (except the cost for a similar dinner at Uluru was USD $150pp, whereas this dinner was about USD $25pp). We had a full moon, so we couldn’t appreciate the starry sky just yet, but we’re looking forward to the next new moon in two weeks – it’s going to be spectacular!
The Namib Naukluft Lodge – luxury accommodation inside the park
The view of the desert from our room
Taking an afternoon walk on the trail around the lodge
The Namib-Naukluft desert
Our first Wildebeest sightings!
Our first Oryx (AKA Gemsbok)!
Wildebeest & Oryx – true African wildlife
A couple of boots catching the sunset
Sunset in the desert
Excited for a BBQ dinner under the stars!
An awesome BBQ under the full moon, concluding with an impromptu a cappella song and dance from the hotel staff
OMG 300+ miles before you could get gas at Solitaire….yikes that reminds me of our Yosemite trip!!! Hopefully you kept the extra jerry can filled with gas…..