unURBAN Adventures - Alaska to Argentina to AFRICA!

[unURBAN]

Seems to be several options, but it is a little too soon to say. The Israel connection is noted. However, another traveller told me this was shut down with the Italy - Egypt ferry after the riots a year or so ago. I havent' looked into it lately, but will definitely check it out when we get closer. And to do the north cost from Egypt to Marocco and cross into Spain would be a dream, but as far as I know has the border between Algeria and Marocco been closed for about 20 years.

Ethiopa and Sudan will include some paperwork and waiting, but we'll se if we can come up with a solution. There are a few things we need to figure out within the next two months, and then we can look into the next part of our route north.

Thanks for the info!
Espen

[unURBAN]

Malin was up early on Monday morning, found the daypack in the back of the car, and went over to the local supermarket to fill up with freshies, meat, and drinks. I was told to get the he## out of bed, and to make sure the diesel tank and an extra jerry can was full, and to get ready to drive. The evening before we had read up on the Kaokoveld, Epupa Falls, Van Zyl’s Pass, and been through all the roads in Garmin Map Source on the laptop. Kamanjab to Epupa 440 kms on mostly good roads, from Epupa to and over over Van Zyl’s Pass on really bad roads, 150 kms, and at last up Marienfluss and back to civilization on medium roads, about 350 kms. We bought food for about 5 days (and we do of course have more dry food in the car as a backup) and filled up with 165 liters of fuel. On normal roads this would take us at least 1100 kilometers, but a lot less when driving in low range and in soft sand. We also got a few extra Namib Dollars from an ATM, and then we drove towards the border of Angola.

In our maps the last fuel station on our route north is in Opuwo. We stopped and topped up the tank before continuing north. The roads became smaller and smaller, and the people along the road was almost only Himbas. It is funny that the women keep their traditional way of dressing, but the men have all jeans, t-shirts, and pilot style sun glasses. What wasn’t so nice was all the people along the road begging. In the afternoon we pulled in to the municipal camp ground in Epupa Falls after about seven hours driving. It looked like an oasis after driving most of the day in a very dry landscape. Kunene River flow west and eventually in to the Atlantic Ocean, and it forms the border between Namibia and Angola.



We had been a little concerned about malaria as it could be present in this area, but fortunately we never saw a single mosquito. Barbequing and sitting around the fire in the evening was not a problem even in shorts and sandals.



The next morning we packed up camp and started driving towards Van Zyl’s Pass. This is an absolute must do road for all South African and Namibian overlanders. Our plan was to go all the way across in one day, but the road wanted it different.



The road leading up to the pass was quite bad and worse than we had imagined. The surface was very rough and with lots of sharp rocks sticking up. To avoid damaging our tires we used low range quite often and tried as best as we could not to hit the sharpest ones. When the sun was setting we still had a few kilometers to the start of the pass, and we realized that crossing the same day in the dark was not a good idea. A nice flat, grassy field in the middle of nowhere became our home for the night, and it must have been the quietest night in Africa so far. Not a sound the whole night.

Early next morning we hit the road and went for the Van Zyl’s Pass. And now I see that the roof top tent originally must have been designed for Africa. Even before the sun is up the air is so dry that the tent is dry and ready to be packed as soon as you wake up in the morning. In most of Americas we had to wait for an hour or two after the sun hit the tent before everything was dry enough to be packed up.



Van Zyl’s is a road that takes you down from a plateau on about 1300 meters to grassy plains 700 meters further down. It winds through a hilly landscape, down narrow valleys, and with sometimes steep traverses. At several spots along the road the line has to be chosen carefully not to risk both vehicle and crew.





From a view point almost at the end of the Van Zyl’s Pass.

I’m not really sure how steep this looks at the picture, but I can guarantee a significant pulse. I also realize that we have a scary combination at this time of high weight, relatively high point of gravity, and way to soft coil springs in the back. We were uncomfortably close to our tipping point / break over angle when crossing some sections where one side of the road was significantly lower than the other. Air bags for the suspension with a possibility for individual adjustment would be very nice to have when you carry a lot weight and want to drive rough roads.

We found our way down, and right behind us came also two other vehicles with a couple of adventurous South Africans. They also made it through without accidents. A bit further down the road however, we came across two other guys in a Landcruiser that had hit and punctured their fuel tank on the way down, and had had to drain 150 liters of fuel into an old drum along the road to temporarily fix the tank and fill the fuel back in. I think they were just done when we met them.





The landscape changes totally after leaving the mountains and driving out on the plains. Back in lion country and with a stunning view. We are driving north in a wide valley called Marienfluss, and after about an hour driving on a two-track on sand surface we are back to the Kunene River and the Angolan border. Looking for a camp by the river, the landscape changes totally again, and we pitch the tent among palm trees.



A little low on fuel (we were not supposed to drive all the way back up to the border), we sit down after breakfast with the Garmin Map Source and look through different alternative routes back into Opuwo. We are looking for the one with the shortest driving time, as this would normally mean lower fuel consumption when on bad roads or offroad. We drove south to Rooidrum (“the red drum”) and on to Orupembe where we turned east towards Opuwo.



In a full day of driving we saw one other vehicle. As the sun was setting we pulled in to a lodge/camp in Opuwo, and as we left the main road the fuel lamp came on. Perfect timing and perfect fuel calculations. And we had one full jerry can left with diesel. 740 kilometers on 125 liters. Not too bad considering the bad roads and several hours in low range (and air condition….).



320 kilomters was left to drive from Opuwo to Kamanjab, and on this drive we wanted to drive through the Khowarib Schlucht (gorge).



The drive is mostly along and in the mostly dry riverbed. We were hoping to see elephants, but hey were obviously booked elsewhere this day. It was still a very nice drive. Now are we again back at the Oppi-Koppi-Kamanjab and plan our next moves, and it will include a visit to the Etosha National Park before crossing the border to Botswana.

More soon!
Espen

[beartrap]

didn't realize Africa was such a beautiful country....great pictures and interesting narrative..it has been a real pleasure following your trip..... be safe and thanks for taking the time to share with us....

[sg1]

Great pictures and trip report. We plan to go to Kaokoveld in October, but we will not drive the Van Zylls Pass. For ferries from Israel check this website: http://www.rosenfeld.net/
They are agents for regular roro service to Cyprus abd Greece.
Regards Stefan

[trailsurfer]

Great Stuff!

[Vidar]

Love to follow the trip, keep the pics coming

Greetings from "home" a staggering +13 degrees summer....

[4x4abc]

as always- love your pictures!
still the same camera?

[unURBAN]

Thanks for comments!
Africa is FANTASTIC! A bit cold at the moment as it is winter in the southern hemisphere, but we hope it will warm up a bit as we now drive east and eventually north.

as always- love your pictures!
still the same camera?

Hi Harald,
Our old Canon G10 died on us just before we flew into Antarctica. Fortunately we had picked up a Canon 550D a few months earlier, and we have now also bought a small Canon Powershot S100 for the pocket. However, we really miss the picture quality and the functionality on the G-series. A G12 or the new GX1 is high on the whish list, but our budget disagrees...

E&M

[unURBAN]

After arriving in Africa we have only visited one park (Addo Elephant National Park) to look for animals. Now it was time to visit Etosha, “one of the world’s greatest wildlife-viewing venues”as Lonely Planet described it. We had heard that camping in the park is quite expensive and it would be worth camping at one of the campgrounds just outside one of the main park gates and go in for a day visit, from sunrise to sunset. But someone had recommended us to stay in the one of the park campgrounds, because then you could watch the animals at the flood lighted water hole at night. We thought it might be worth seeing a water hole at night one time and paid the 50 USD for one night camping at the Okaukuejo Campsite and 21USD entrance fee that was valid for 24 hours when you camped in the park.





In the park we started driving around different loops and we saw mostly zebras and springbok, but springbok does not really count since you see them all over the place outside the parks as well. Compared to Addo we did not see many different animals our first afternoon in the park, and we were not really too impressed. Back in camp we went straight to the water hole and we saw our first elephant in the park.



As the sun set and we were cooking dinner the black backed jackals turned up in the campsite and they came really close to us. If people left any of their cooking equipment or food on their table the jackals would walk over to the table for a taste.

After dinner we brought a wool blanket (it is colder in Africa at night than we expected, but then it is winter time) and a bottle of red wine over to the water hole, and we were ready for an evening of wildlife viewing.



It was really nice and quiet and it was really great to see elephants, zebras, giraffes and rhinos approaching the water hole out of the dark night. In total that evening we saw six rhinos coming to drink water. It was great.



Next morning we were on it again starting the drive around to the different water holes in the park. This time of year is the dry season and animals gather around the water holes, so that would be the best place to spot wildlife. This morning we saw many more animals than the afternoon before. We also got to another part of the park where we could see out over the 5000 sq km Etosha salt pan. It looked hot and dry.



On our drive in the park we did not see any of the cats or hyenas. All in all the stay in Etosha was ok, but we still thought Addo was better. With one hour left on our 24 hour permit we decided to go back to the Okaukuejo water hole and eat lunch there. It was not just us that had decided to have lunch, it looked like all the cud-chewing mammals in the park had decided to visit the same water hole as us. We could hardly believe our own eyes when it came to the amount of animals there, it was just incredible.





As soon as they were done drinking the animals headed off, but there were even more animals coming in. So the Okaukuejo water hole made the whole stay in Etosha worth it for us.

Entering a park like Etosha or Addo to see “wild” animals is kind of contradicting. The animals are wild, but they are in a fenced off area and they cannot migrate like they normally would.



Etosha is more than 20,000 sq km and that is quite large, but there is still fences around it. Etosha National Park is also divided into two sections, and the western section that covers one third of the park is served exclusively for tour operators and the eastern two thirds are open to the general public like us. When we visited now it was low season and we did not even have to book a campsite in advance, and there were still free campsites the night we were there. But still, at the water holes where the animals are you are never alone, you always share the spot we a few other cars.



At the water hole in the afternoon and evening it was quite entertaining to look all the different people and their camera equipment. We realized we need a serious upgrade when we looked around us. In the evening it was definitely a higher number of living creatures behind the fence than in front of it.



We just wanted to write short about this part of seeing wild animals in Africa. We all see the amazing animal photos of wild creatures and we all try to take the most amazing photos for our self, but what we don’t see that often is the scene behind and around the camera. This is not to say that we do not like the parks, we will visit a few more over the next weeks because it is the best opportunity to see many animals close up. But if we end up with a few good photos of wildlife then you know that it was probably another twenty people that got the same image on their cameras too.

Malin

[LaOutbackTrail]

Thanks for those notes Malin. I did quite a bit of research on visiting Africa as a tourist- to see 'wild' animals- and what I found in research alone was disappointing. From what I gathered, Namibia has some of the wildest wildlife to see... and that's where I would travel to.