From the Desert To The Ocean

The lodge was kind enough to do some last minute washing for us and true to their word, by730am our laundry was delivered to us neatly folded in a bundle. We enjoyed our last meal overlooking the fields, a little sad that we had to move on. The staff loaded our luggage onto our jeep which they had cleaned! Our emergency water had been chilled in the fridge and they farewelled us with a generous individually packed lunch bags just like a party bag! Everyone hung on to their precious cargo as each one had specific drinks thoughtfully put in by the gorgeous Maretha!

The children ticking off flora and fauna they've seen over breakfast

Saying goodbye to Maretha

Our lunch packs!

She remembered my favourite...coke! There was also a chicken wrap, a piece of fruit, dried fruit, nuts, the best biltong ever, a bottle of water and refresher towels and napkin. 

Our journey took us north. The 5.5 hour drive was tiring crossing a seemingly endless desert. We were glad to finally catch a glimpse of water at Walvis Bay before arriving at our destination of Swakopmund. The German influence in Swakopmund with many street names and buildings in German. It is apparently a popular destination for the Europeans. Our base for the next two nights was the simple but very comfortable Cornerstone Guesthouse. The staff again were friendly and helpful and helped us sort out our dinner as well as sightseeing plans.

We were glad to be in cooler weather, cold enough to have to put another layer on to go out for dinner! We settled for the casual Tiger Reef Bar and Grill, a joint right by the beach. The food was like good pub food, simple and satisfying.

By this stage everyone was tired and so we all retired to make sure we are ready for a 6:45am start tomorrow!

Can you spot the jackal?

Never ending and never changing....

Atlantic Ocean! Yay!!!

Tiger Reef Bar and Grill

Seafood time

Our home for the next 2 nights

So nice to see a green garden! And have cooler weather

Sossusvlei Day 2

The 530 start was softened with tea, coffee and pastries. Boniface was keen to get started to make sure we beat the sun. Our destination today was the sand dunes of Sossusvlei itself inside the Namib-Naukluft National Park. It took around 1.5hour to drive there from the lodge, one of the restricting factors being the time the gates of the National Park open. The aim was to climb the dune named “Big Daddy”. The dunes were all numbered except for a few notables including Big Daddy, Big Mama and 45 (so named because it was 45km from the entrance!). Boniface explained that most of the elderly did 45 because it was the shortest, the closest to the parking lot, and the smallest. Pfft, we said. We’re not old. I’m pretty sure we ended up regretting that sentiment or at least I did!

A very early start

So we can beat this....

As the name implied, Big Daddy was the biggest of the dunes. It sits around 400m high which may vary depending on how much rain has fallen. It had a long undulating spine which started around 1km from the parking lot. Unlike the amateurs we had Boniface! He took us across the firm limestone flats and then hiked a steeper but much shorter climb onto the main spine of big Daddy. The others walked the long way along the whole spine doubling their walk on sand itself. Along the way, Boniface somehow had enough breath to also showed us insects and small animals of the dunes.

Have I already said that climbing Big Daddy was HARD WORK?!? Within each minute, it got hotter and I got more tired. I thought I was reasonably fit but obviously not fit enough! Somehow the children had enough energy and fitness to make the climb seem effortless. Thankfully Boniface was fit enough to follow them, as well as strong enough to carry 7L of fluid for the family, some of those being in glass bottles! At one stage my camera and children’s shoes were part of his load…Relief to finally reach the top was immense! I was rather proud of myself for not giving up!

Getting off Big Daddy was much easier. It was a straight walk down the sides into Deadvlei. For the children, it was a combination of running down, rolling down and even swimming down. Descent took longer than expected! Sand was surprisingly a good cushion. The anxiety associated with the steepness of the sides dissipated when it became apparent that you really couldn’t go down that quickly. By the time we did get down, the children had sand everywhere and I mean everywhere! All I can says was that I sure was glad the lodge would be the done doing the laundry. Deadvlei was famous for its landscapes of stark bare trees, some of which were over 900 years old, against red sand. The walk across the limestone flats back to the carpark seemed so easy….

Boniface leading the way. Big Daddy was the dune to the right of Bonidace. We would be climbing up the tiny trail just visible leading us to the lowest point of the spine

When you are young and have too much energy to climb other mini dunes

A seed beetle. It looks dead but it is alive!

I don't want to be Laurence of Arabia...

Nearly at the top...shessh

Finally at the top! Yes! AMAZING views

How one descends elegantly...

Ever thoughtful Boniface had a blanket so we didn't have to sit in the dirt while we emptied out a mini desert from our shoes

We started our walk from the carpark at around 730am climb and returned to the carpark just before 930. By now it was HOT and there were people only just starting out! Boniface, the champion had cold refresher towels for us in the jeep. He drove to a shady spot under a tree and proceeded to provide a tablecloth breakfast service! He had everything from muesli with yoghurt, tea and coffee as well as bacon and eggs…we felt so spoilt. Over breakfast, Boniface informed us that he was the guide for Bush Junior and his security detail. Brangelina, when they were still together, also wanted to stay at the &Beyond Lodge, but as they could not book the whole lodge due other guests having already booked, they had to look elsewhere. As an aside, the toilets at the national park entrance was very clean!

We headed back to the lodge and arrived around 1230 just in time for lunch. The welcome of the staff with friendly smiles, hello waves, cold drinks and cool refresher towels upon any return to the lodge had become addictive! Who was going to do this for us back home?!!? It was too hot in the middle of the day to do much so we enjoyed the air-conditioning of our rooms awaiting the weather to cool for our quad bike adventure.

Table service in the middle of the desert!

Guide and chef. He can do anything!

We were starving by now and the lodge was at least a 1.5 hour away

Hot breakfast!

He remembered what the children liked from our sunset drinks yesterday

Back to the relative cool of the lodge for lunch

The children by now know what they can order from Maretha

We headed back to the lounge at 4:40pm to meet up with Boniface who drove us to where the quad bikes were stored near the dunes. It was so still hot! The lodge were kind enough to accommodate the children. Under 16s were technically not allowed but Boniface found flat areas where there were able to have a go. It made Jonah’s day! And we discovered that Elliot was a hoon. This may not bode well for license time come his birthday…

Boniface described other amazing walks around the resort. He offered to guide us on a 4 hour trek which would take us to the caves in the mountain. It would be a 4am start so we could be sure to be back at lodge by 9am latest. As much as we had to resist our FOMO tendencies, we politely declined as we had another long drive tomorrow.

At the lodge, we chanced upon the Australian in house astronomer who informed us that this was a black sky zone hence the stargazing windows in the rooms. The lodge also had a telescope and it was a great place to star spot. She kindly offered to show the kids how to take cool phone photos of the moon, she also offered to be with us if we wanted to see the stars at their best at 3:30am…eek! We also politely declined. Our plans of visiting the observatory were abandoned when we realised during the dinner how tired we were.  

Our last dinner at the lodge was more than memorable sitting outdoors overlooking the plains at sunset. The staff took the children scorpion hunting with a UV torch while waiting for our mains. The most special of all was Elliot’s birthday song from the staff. What a gorgeous sound and so touching. The “normal” Happy Birthday might never be good enough in the future!

The lodge will be briefly closed next year as they undertake renovations to “freshen up” after 20 years in operation. Each room will be getting their own plunge pool and more glass for better views amongst other updates. They also plan on introducing new activities such as “fat” bikes for cycling, as well as improving services and processes to better customer experiences. We have had such a phenomenal and memorable stay, imagine how much better it would be next year! If can afford to visit, it is well worth it!

Jonah excited to have a go

The hoon

How our dirty clothes returned

Sunset dinner

Scorpion hunting!

Sossusvlei

Unfortunately internet throughout Namibia is very slow. It was difficult enough to get these posts up so photos are mostly from the phone only :(

After a hearty breakfast, we left Windhoek at 8am for our long drive to Sossusvlei in the Namib Desert, considered the oldest desert in the world. The sealed roads of the city soon became gravel roads. We later learnt that a large percentage of Namibia’s roads are gravel roads. There were not many cars around us and once we left the city limits the landscape became bare very quickly…Along our drive, we managed to spot several animals including spotted jackal, ostrich, oryx, and of course the baboon. We committed rookie error number one by not having our cameras ready! When we did take the camera out it was the wrong one…unfortunately the one with the zoom remained in the boot. Doh! It also was not easy stopping quickly on gravel roads.

The very relaxing breakfast area

Our Toyota Hi-lux with boot packed and ready

We stopped at Solitaire, a small “town” consisting of several buildings. The children were quick to point out that it was the Carsland of Namibia. There was a part of us that was perversely proud of the fact that they used Disney as a point of reference, and another that was horrified. Other than the fact that there were not many options of places to stop at, Solitaire had the honour of having the Moose Macgregor’s Bakery as one of its few buildings, whose homemade pies and apple pies have made it famous. As an aside, the toilets at Solitaire were spotless which is another good reason to stop!

Baboons

Oryx spotted on the drive

Solitaire in the middle of nowhere

Is that Mater?!?!

But there's a famous bakery!

People come for this!

Our destination for the next 2 nights was &Beyond Sossusvlei Desert Lodge, a lodge surrounded by the mountains and sand dunes of the Namib Desert. It was well worth the 6 hour drive to get here. As soon as we arrived, we were swarmed by staff. Our bags were taken out and taken to our rooms, our car parked for us, we received welcome drinks, cold refresher towels and were quickly ushered inside to the common lounge area to escape the heat. We were struck by the sheer landscape that was in front of us and the number of animals just roaming around the plains. Clint and Sarah, the managers of the lodge, gave us a welcome tour of the luxurious lodge. We were introduced to Maretha, the person who would be responsible taking care of all our meals and drinks.

A table had been set for us for lunch. We shouldn’t have had those meat pies…They were accommodating and made half portions for us, but it was still generous. The children were so overwhelmed by the unlimited choice of drink that they did not know what to order…

Will bellies full, we retreated to our very opulent and spacious rooms (individual separate huts really). As we occupied 2 out of the 10, we made up 20 percent of the guest capacity! The bathroom was massive with full glass windows giving us views to the plains. They were angled so that the interior of the huts (and the outdoor showers) were all out of sight from each other and the restaurant. Waiting for us in our rooms were information packs, an artist set, vodka and lime, unlimited mini bar, cookies, welcome champagne, fruit, chips and biltong. The children thought they were in heaven.

Oryx at the gate to welcome us. Hello!

Looking out from the common lounge area

Animals roaming around

Our room

Personal touches everywhere

View from our outdoor patio

Check out the bathroom!!!

Welcome drink and snacks

Some bubbly?!

Or maybe vodka and lime?!

The art kit. Mal challenged the children to present him a work of art

Some took it more seriously than others!

We had time to have a quick dip in the pool before having to meet up at 5:30pm with our allocated guide for the duration of our stay. Boniface would be the one looking after us. He went through the history of lodge, its ethos, projects it undertakes as well as the options of activities that we could do. He had mapped out a plan for our stay here and wanted our approval. “Yes Boniface! Let’s do it!” we said. We did not expect to go straight out for a game drive! It felt pretty special to go out with just our family in a jeep. We learnt and saw plenty! Mountain vs plain zebra, male vs female oryx, springboks, ostriches, birds and more! He took us to a mini sand dune and stopped at the top. While we were busy talking selfies, he had set up a table with drinks ready for us to enjoy the sunset.

We were completely exhausted and knew that a 530 departure was required the next day to avoid baking on the dunes so we refrained from taking full advantage of the open bar and hit the hay… it was probably some sort of super fluffy baby ostrich down but it wouldn’t have mattered.

The kids were made to feel at home. So much so that there was a magic bag where you put your laundry in and it came back washed and ironed. This is an inclusion that more hotels should adopt! Even better the clothes were sun dried so no shrinkage!

We came to realise that this level of service was a constant theme. Our slippers would magically move from the bed to the shower at various times depending on when we were most likely to need them. The mini-bar and cookie jar were like the magic pudding. We were sure that they must’ve been in the room at least half a dozen times during the day. If we ever build again we’ll have to remember to include a stargazing window above every bed – with a retractable cover of course!

A swim in the desert. Why not!

Let's go for a drive! A jeep all to ourselves

Very happy children and parents!

Harsh environment very apparent everywhere. A zebra carcass

Boniface explaining what happens when an animal dies in the desert

Plain zebras

A stop atop a mini sand dune

Boniface set up this drinks table for us!

My very first gin and tonic