We had the Best Holiday Ever!

We went to Namibia. Somewhere I had never been before and realised I actually knew very little about. Wow, what a wonderful, varied, interesting and amazing place it is though! It is Farking hot too!! Unsurprising I suppose since it is the desert AND the middle of summer!

The landscapes are simply incredible and ever changing. Every few kilometres everything looks completely different. There are savannas, moon landscapes, mountains, sand dunes, sedimentary rock, volcanic rocks and amazing vegetation too.

We flew to Windhoek on Dec 27th and then hired a Nissan X-Trail and drove to Etosha and then Swakopmund and then Sossusvlei and all over in between for 10 days. 3 nights in Etosha, 3 in Swakopmund and 3 in Sossusvlei/Sesreim, and back to Windhoek via Mariental. We drove about 3500km in total - mostly on dirt-roads, since there are very few tar roads in Namibia.

It was FANTASTIC. We had so much fun. I half-expected a road-trip to be a nightmare with the boys but it seems 'intense car-therapy' forces you to learn to get along. Who knew!?

There are loads of pics! I have spared you and uploaded the little versions.

Funny Road-signs - for warthogs and elephants.


Etosha; Namutomi, Okaukeujo & Dolomite Camps:

 






Twyfelfontein which has 6000 year old San rock etchings.



Climbing Dune 7 Swakopmund



Quad-Biking at Dune 7 Swakopmund:



Camel Ride in Swakopmund:


It was Quinn's Birthday while we were there - he turned 12:



Me up Dune 60 at 6am (we had to wake up at 4:30am to get there!)


Quinn face-planted (accidentally/on- purpose) while running down Dune 60. This is the result.


Deadvlei may be bone dry and 'dead' but it is breathtakingly beautiful


After climbing Dune 60 we went to Sossusvlei and there was water (ok actually THICK MUD) in the vlei so we went in... the boys went RIGHT IN! And came out as San Bushmen.


I had to devise makeshift clothing for the boys since all their clothing was soaked and caked in mud. They looked rather tribal. Griffin was most covered thanks to Quinn dunking him in the mud. Quinn through this was hilarious. Griffin decided he was a Damara and started speaking in clicks.



Sunrise over the Namib Desert - a hot-air balloon flying in the distance


The Namib Desert at Dawn



A and I up Dune 45 in Sossusvlei (the Namib Desert) at sunrise


Quinn found a Springbok leg in Sesriem Canyon, there was loads of nature study and incidental learning which happened on the trip - very cool. We found a horned puffadder, lots of feathers, dung, animal spoor, interesting and beautiful rocks and stones, desert sand, a desert melon, rock formations, insects, animals, clouds etc etc. We also listened to some interesting pod casts about everything from grammar, medical info, parenting and various TED talks, which the boys seem to have absorbed a lot of.



Me hugging a Quiver Tree at Anib Kalahari Lodge (it was not actually very hug-able)


The 4 of us at the 'Tropic of Capricorn' on the way back to Windhoek


Quinn petting a baby (fairly tame - he lives with horses) Zebra at Anib Kalahari Lodge outside Mariental


There was also a lot of sleeping in the back...

We also ate and ate. Including loads of delicious game meat (mostly Oryx -Gemsbok). It really was an amazing holiday, filled with fun, and memories which we will never forget.

Quinn also made some hilarious (if not pretty inappropriate) videos on the cell phone he got for his birthday. I may upload one or 2...