After spending a couple of days in Victoria Falls, we met the Absolute Africa travellers and crew we were going to spend the next 22 days with and started our overland tour through Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.
Day 1 Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe to Chobe National Park, Botswana
Distance Travelled – 86km
Highlight – Game drive and cruise in Chobe where we saw a lion eat an elephant and elephants crossing the water
Challenges – First day on the truck, getting used to the lifestyle of setting up tents and tables and how things work
Dinner – Beef and vegetarian tomato stew with rice
For more pictures from Chobe, check out the Botswana gallery.
Day 2 Driving Day in Botswana from Kasane to Maun
Distance Travelled – 666km
Highlight – Getting to know the eight other travelers we’re on the tour with during the long ride
Challenges – First long driving day, about 9 hours on the truck
Dinner – Pasta with pesto and chicken
Day 3 Maun into the Okavango Delta
Distance Travelled – ~15km on the mokoro
Highlight – Mokoro ride (local canoe) into the Okavango Delta
Challenges – First bush camp, very basic, no running water or electricity
Dinner – BBQ chicken and sausages with coleslaw and fries
For more pictures from the Okavango, check out the Botswana gallery.
Day 4 Okavango Delta
Distance Travelled – 0km
Highlight – Elephants coming really close to our camp, a guided walk and mokoro game sunset
Challenges – Really hot during the day and not much to do, played a lot of cards
Dinner – Vegetable Thai curry with rice
For more pictures from the Okavango, check out the Botswana gallery.
Day 5 Okavango Delta back to Maun
Distance Travelled – ~15km on the mokoro
Highlight – Back to civilization with a nice shower, and replenished supplies
Challenges – Not much, all good 🙂
Dinner – Buffet restaurant at the camp lodge
Day 6 Still in Maun
Distance Travelled – 0km
Highlight – Our tour leader didn’t have a work permit for Namibia so we got stuck in Botswana for an extra day.
Challenges – Not knowing when we would leave
Dinner – Pasta carbonara, meat and vegetarian
Day 7 Maun, Botswana to Grootfontein, Namibia
Distance Travelled – 674km
Highlight – Finally entering Namibia
Challenges – We left our tour leader Manache behind, which was very sad, and also left very early (4am) for a 13-hour driving day to catch up from the day before; hoba meteorite stop was a letdown
Dinner – Chicken and vegetarian wraps
Day 8 Grootfontein to Etosha National Park
Distance Travelled – 166km
Highlight – Night game drive in which we saw multiple hyena clans, elephants chasing hyenas, rhinos (black and white) and a lion roaring in the dark
Challenges – It was our turn to cook, but we had a night game drive and did not have time to finish cooking; others kindly took over
Dinner – Fried rice and stir-fry, meat and vegetarian
For more pictures from Etosha, check out the Namibia gallery.
Day 9 Etosha National Park
Distance Travelled – 134km within Etosha
Highlight – Multiple rhino sightings including six at the water hole right by the campground
Challenges – Sooo hot during the day
Dinner – Spaghetti bolognese or vegetarian sauce
For more pictures from Etosha, check out the Namibia gallery.
Day 10 Etosha National Park to Africat
Distance Travelled – 192km
Highlight – Learning about the rehabilitation of leopards and cheetahs; seeing a leopard feeding up close and being really close to cheetahs
Challenges – Got lost going to the pool at the campground and it was really hot
Dinner – Australian burgers (with egg and pineapple) with fries and corn, stewed cinnamon apples for dessert!
For more pictures from Africat, check out the Namibia gallery.
Day 11 Africat to Spitzkoppe
Distance Travelled – 408km
Highlight – Cool rock formations in the desert; sunset by the bridge and huge meteor sighting at night
Challenges – Another bush camp; one of the best places to see stars but it was full moon
Dinner – BBQ meat and sausage with vegetable skewers
For more pictures from Spitzkoppe, check out the Namibia gallery.
Day 12 Spitzkoppe to Swakopmund
Distance Travelled – 274km
Highlight – Cape cross seal colony with thousands of sea lions and a shipwreck by the treacherous skeleton coast
Challenges – Gross smell at the seal colony
Dinner – Pizza restaurant with the group
For more pictures of the skeleton coast, check out the Namibia gallery.
Day 13 Swakopmund
Distance Travelled – 0km
Highlight – First non-handwashed laundry came back, yay for clean clothes; first real bed since the trip started; met up with our new tour leader Martin
Challenge – Restaurants in town are good but pricey, no group cooking in Swakopmund
Dinner – German restaurant with the group, pork schnitzel burger and pork knuckle
Day 14 Swakopmund
Distance Tavelled – 0km
Highlight – Quad biking in the endless sand dunes
Challenges – Fell off the quad bike going down a very large and steep hill, but thankfully no injuries
Dinner – Asian restaurant with the group
For more pictures from quad biking, check out the Namibia gallery.
Day 15 Swakopmund to Sesriem
Distance Travelled – 364km
Highlight – Driving back into the desert; an oryx right next to our camp; seeing the full Milky Way at night
Challenges – Back on the road after a few days break with bumpy roads
Dinner – Chilli con carne and vegetarian chilli with garlic bread
Day 16 Sesriem to Bethanie
Distance Travelled – 536km
Highlight – Deadvlei and Sossusvlei were very cool landscape with dead trees on salt flat and sand dunes in the background
Challenges – Not in shape for the dune climbs; other groups cutting the long line for the limited rides back to the truck
Dinner – Pesto penne with chicken, tomatoes and mozzarella
For more pictures, check out the Namibia gallery.
Day 17 Bethanie to Ai-Ais
Distance Travelled – 179km
Highlight – Fish canyon, the second largest canyon in the world after Grand Canyon; soaking in the natural hot springs at Ai-Ais; yummy game meat for dinner
Challenges – Very hot and sunny during the day, windy at night
Dinner – Kudu steaks with corn, sweet potatoes, and salad
Day 18 Ai-Ais to Orange River
Distance Travelled – 123km
Highlight – Chilling by the pool, looking across the Orange River at South Africa
Challenges – Passed by some townships for the first time and seeing the stark difference between those vs. the fancy vineyards next door; liquor store was closed on the weekend
Dinner – Make-your-own German pancake
Day 19 Orange River on the Namibian side to Highlanders Camp in South Africa
Distance Travelled – 417km
Highlight – Wine tasting and last night of camping!
Challenges – G Adventures truck beside us that was very noisy
Dinner – BBQ chicken wrapped in bacon and sausages with potatoes, garlic bread, and salad, cake and ice cream for dessert for our last night of camping!
Day 20 Highlanders Camp to Stellenbosch
Distance Travelled – 263km
Highlight – No more camping, real beds for the last few nights; cute town in Stellenbosch
Challenges – Truck bearing failed and needed repair; no bookings between two hostels, we got money to arrange our own accommodation
Dinner – Final group dinner with everyone in advance at a restaurant
Day 21 Stellenbosch
Distance Travelled – 0km
Highlight – Wine tour through four excellent vineyards, each with their own charm and delicious wines
Challenges – Fitting in all the wine and cheese and food in our stomachs
Dinner – Ready-made soup and pasta from the grocery store
Day 22 Stellenbosch to Cape Town
Distance Travelled – 53km
Highlight – Made it to the end!
Challenges – We said bye to the truck that needed repair in Stellenbosch; sad to say bye to our crew and fellow travellers that we had gotten to know so well over the past 22 days