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Southern Africa 2016

Penguins and table cloth

03.12.2016 Ben Leave a comment

Cape Town is surrounded by mountains on one side and by sea on the other side. Less known but well worth a visit is the hike up on Lion’s Head, a steep hill (669 m) west of the city. Some say that it got its name from a sphinx-like lion shape, which can be seen from Camp’s Bay, others say it used to be a place where some lions were living and hunting. Roland and I climbed it, starting at the hostel, almost at sea level. The climb was strenuous, but the view from the top was phantastic with paragliders soaring around our heads.

The last section has a few ladders and chains, but nothing too difficult

And of course we visited the most prominent landmark of Cape Town – Table Mountain. That morning Roland wasn’t fit for hiking, so I took an Uber to Kirstenbosch by myself. Kirstenbosch lies on the other side of the mountain and is home to the botanical garden. The reason for this location is the amount of rainfall that they get there compared to the city of Cape Town – a result of the combination of the dominant wind direction (towards the south-east) and its location in the lee of Table Mountains highest point.

In the botanical garden I took a big loop that passed by the Arboretum, which included a treetop walk with a maximum height of more than ten meters above ground at its highest point. From there I followed a steep trail through the skeleton gorge and across a swampy plain all the way up to the top of Maclears Beacon (1085 m), the highest point of Table Mountain. By that time the table was still covered with a thick white table cloth and there wasn’t much of a view.

Sure enough it did rain while I was visiting the treetop walk at the botanical garden

The clouds are covering Maclears Beacon like a white table cloth

However, it was only midday and I was determined to stay on top until Cape Town would come into view. About half way to the upper gondola station (on the other side of the plateau) the clouds lifted, giving way to a gorgeous panorama of the city and the Hout Bay area on the other side of the mountain.

Once the clouds had moved we had a clear view of Cape Town

With the sunshine came hundreds of tourists, who boarded the gondola immediately after the clouds had cleared. One of them was Roland as we had agreed on a time to meet at the top. Together we hiked down through the Platteklip Gorge jumping from rock to rock like the mountain goat that we had seen on top.

Descending through the Platteklip Gorge

Another day we took an organized day trip to the Cape peninsula. After a quick look at Boo-Kap, the colorful neighborhood of Cape Town, we went all the way down to the Cape of Good Hope, which is still part of the Table Mountain National Park. We avoided long waiting times and hundreds of tourists by going there early in the day. We had a look at the lighthouse and took a short walk to the cape itself, which is the most south-westerly point of Africa, before having a delicious South African lunch, consisting of buns filled with grilled veggies, chicken and chakalaka sauce.

The lighthouse next to the Cape of Good Hope

The most South-western tip of Africa

As the day continued we drove over to Boulders Beach, which is home to a large population of African penguins. Back in 1982 two breeding couples were taken from another colony across the Hout Bay and introduced in this very spot. They liked it so much that nowadays there are about 3000 penguins living here. You can get really close to them on a series of boardwalks that were built here.

The penguins are breeding in the bushes close to the beach

Boulders Beach is home to a few thousand African penguins

On our way back to Cape Town we stopped for some wine tasting at a local vineyard. Due to the proximity to the ocean, this vineyard produces mostly white wines, whereas red wines require more heat and less moisture, a climate which can be found more inland.

Southern Africa 2016

The colors of Cape Town

30.11.2016 Ben Leave a comment

From Windhoek I took another overnight bus to get me to Cape Town. After spending more or less five weeks on the road, I decided to stay in one place for the last week of my trip in Africa. The Cape Town area has a lot of things to offer and definitely more than what you can do in one week. The city had been recommended to me from many friends and people that I met along the way, so I was quite curious of how it would be.

However, at first it was quite a shock to me. Remember – I was coming from Namibia: Namibia has about 2.3 million inhabitants, about 400.000 of them living in Windhoek. Cape Town has a total population of about 3.5 million! So it is much more crowded, many more cars and high rise buildings than what I was used to over the last few weeks. Additionally, the weather on my first full day in the city was gray, cold and windy, nothing like the warmth and sunshine of Namibia (not counting Swakopmund).

But after one day the weather improved and I slowly got used to being back in a big city again. Meeting new people also helped: I met Günther (from Germany) on the bus to Cape Town, Vinicius (from Brazil) and Roland (from the UK) in the hostel. Roland checked in on the same day as me and was my roommate for the past week. It’s always nice to spend some more time with people and to get to know them better.

Tea and scones at Mount Nelson Hotel with Günther and Roland

Together we explored the city, most of the time on foot or using Uber. This is a taxi system, where you can call a taxi with an app on your smartphone. It’s much cheaper than a regular taxi and works quite well in Cape Town. We talked to different drivers, all of whom were quite happy with their job because they can make more money than with their regular job. However, it only seems to be possible with lots of extra hours – working 6-7 days a week, 12 hours or more per day (up to 20 sometimes). Luckily all of our drivers seemed to be fit and awake when they picked us up.

Local artists presenting their artwork at Green Market Square

We decided to get an overview of the city by joining a free walking tour, where we got to know more about the history of Cape Town, including the period of Apartheid. During this time the white government implemented different laws to separate whites and non-whites. Everyone was assigned to one of six different races based on a series of “scientific” tests, such as the pen test: A pen was stuck into the hair and if it fell out while bending over it was a better score (more white), because the hair was obviously not as thick as that of native African people (black).

If you didn’t agree with government and still wanted to talk to people with a different skin color than yours, you would go to the hotel in district 6, which was the one of the only public places where it was possible. District 6 itself was a very multi cultural neighborhood up to the 1960s when the government decided to step in, relocated 60.000 people (without giving them proper reimbursement) and tore down the whole area. Their plan was to sell the land to private investors, but nobody wanted to have it after the clearance.

Hotel in District 6, where black and white people were still able to interact during apartheid

A mosque surrounded by smoke of violent student protests for free education

Another part of town is called Boo-Kap, which is where the former slaves used to live. After slavery was abolished, they were given a house for themselves and they painted the houses in different colors just because they could. Nowadays it’s one of the main tourist attractions, because it looks really nice with all the colors.

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Meat and greet at Wild

24.11.2016 Ben 2 Comments

Instead of visiting Etosha, I came up with a different plan. After seeing really cool pictures from a friend, I decided to visit R. at Wild* (*name changed). The only problem was getting to the farm, which is located about three hours east of Windhoek. This was quickly resolved, because I was able to get a ride on the shuttle that picks up new volunteers once a week. Lucky me, since there was only one seat left

Wild* is a non-governmental organization, which takes in injured or abandoned African wild cats (lions, leopards, cheetahs, caracals) and other animals (African wild dog, baboons, ostriches, meercats and others). They are self-funded and make their money from donations, tourists and volunteers, who have to pay around 900 € for two weeks plus their working hours. Currently they have about 40 volunteers working on the farm. It’s not really a farm though, because they’re not breeding the animals and they don’t grow their own food.

The lawn at the farm was usually filled with dozens of animals

At the farm I was allowed to follow R. on the different activities. In the morning she was assigned to do the feeding tour, which took us all over the place to feed the different animals. Since most of their animals are carnivores, Wild* needs about two horses or donkeys per day (about 500 USD each). They are chopped up and distributed accordingly. For feeding of the lions and the leopards we stayed at a safe distance behind the fence and they would throw the meat in the enclosure.

Feeding the caracals was different, because we could enter the enclosure while they were eating. During that time they are too busy eating, so that we could have a close look at them. The same was true for the cheetahs – we entered their area on our trucks and R. and A. (another volunteer) climbed a wooden tower with meat pieces for all 21 cheetahs, who had only eyes for their food, totally ignoring us in the open vehicles.

. The baboons were given some sticky oatmeal, that was thrown over the fence while driving alongside. This method was adopted so that all monkeys get their share and not only the strongest ones. Last but not least I helped with feeding the ostriches, who will pick the mixture of corn and bird food out of your hands, which gives you a funny feeling.

In the afternoon everyone – volunteers and bushmen, who work for the farm – went to church to pray for some much needed rain, which did come in the evening. There was a big thunderstorm, common during this time of year, with enough heavy rain to prevent us from having an outdoor braai (barbecue).

The rain clouds are gathering while we’re inside the church

But before we got caught in the rain, we went for a walk with two baby cheetahs. They were found abandoned about four months ago and were hand-raised afterwards, making them being used to humans for the moment. At the farm they have a small enclosure, so that they’re able to keep a close eye on them. However, they need to exercise running, so they are taken to an open space, where they can chase after a rattling bottle that one of the volunteers is pulling behind on a string. But beware – you have to be really fast to outrun the cheetahs. And that only works on the baby cheetahs, because they get distracted quite easily.

R. and the cheetah

The next day I joined R. at the food preparation, where we had to cut up the donkey chunks into even smaller pieces. It took all morning to prepare all the food for the afternoon (more feeding happens in the afternoon), and we were about seven or eight people. Afterwards, I was able to catch a ride to Gobabis with a Belgian couple and from there a shared taxi back to Windhoek.

Food preparation means cutting up donkeys

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Swakopmund over and over

17.11.2016 Ben 1 Comment

After getting back to Windhoek from our trip to Sossusvlei, our paths separated again – Brendans trying to find a way to get to Maun and/or Livingstone, while Teemu and Carlos had to go back home again. Arttu and I decided to take the night train to Swakopmund. The train took almost 12 hours to cover the distance of about 350 kilometers. Once again it was due to the fact that it picked up different cargo wagons during the night, but also because we were delayed by two hours due to a broken TV, which was still not working after some maintenance.

Our train had one passenger car, the rest is freight cars

Watching the super moon from the night train

In Swakopmund we wanted to go for some sandboarding in the dunes surrounding the city and I wanted to meet up with Cameron and Natasha (the couple that I had met in Lüderitz) again to join them on their trip up the skeleton coast and into Etosha National Park. However, they were planning to arrive after us, leaving us two days to explore the city on our own.

The town itself is supposed to be the most German town in Namibia. And it’s true, you can see it everywhere: The buildings, the bakery and the food offered in pubs and restaurants is all German. The streets are full of German speaking tourists (more than in other towns), emigrants and locals and even the weather makes me feel like I’m back home in Hamburg – it’s cold (23° C, compared to the rest of the country where it’s around 35° C) and grey; at this time of the year the clouds often don’t clear at all during the day.

For sandboarding we managed to find a good deal, which included transportation, stand-up and lay-down sandboarding plus lunch and a movie of this half-day activity. After everyone was equipped with helmet, boots and board, we made our way up to the top of the dune. The first few runs we were going sideways down on the board, because the dune was too high and too steep to go down straight.

Going sideways requires the same practice that you need for snowboarding, so the people who had experience here had a clear advantage. This is one thing that should have been highlighted in the beginning. Luckily there was also the lay-down sandboarding, where you get down on a thin wooden board, get a big push by one of the assistants and race down at a top speed of up to 64 km/h. Even if you’re so close to the ground, you don’t get covered in sand – unless you fall off the board or make a wrong move; the latter one happening quite often…

Sandboarding is pretty similar to snowboarding

By the end of day two we still hadn’t met up with Cameron and Natasha, who were delayed at Sossusvlei. So we spend the next day biking and jogging from one end of town to the other to do some exercise, which I haven’t been doing for quite a while. We also walked some more around downtown with Margje (Holland), who happens to be the volunteering doctor that Renske (I met her on the first day in Windhoek) is replacing.

Biking up and down the coast in Swakopmund

By now Cameron and Natasha had reached Walvis Bay, a little south of Swakopmund, but got stuck there with some problems with the car. Here is where Arttu and I decided to go back to Windhoek with Margje, because the car would not be ready for another two days. We were counting on better and warmer weather, as well as more activities and a better hostel. And we did get all of the above, including a nice dinner with game meat at Joe’s Beer House, free food, drinks and movies at the Brazil-Namibia Film Festival and of course more time at Chameleon Backpackers!

Trying different kinds of game meat at Joe’s Beer House

At Joe’s Beer House with Margje (and Arttu)

When C&N’s car was supposed to be ready I said goodbye to Arttu and boarded the train to Swakopmund once again. However, I was not lucky and the car was still in the repair shop for another day when I arrived in Swakopmund. This, along with misunderstandings, a lack of communication and a bad feeling in my stomach made me change my plans. I canceled my ride with C&N (along with the prospect of going to the Skeleton Coast, Twyfelfontein and Etosha) and took a shared taxi back to Windhoek.

I decided to change my plans over some delicious fish and chips

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Life and death in Sossusvlei

14.11.2016 Ben 1 Comment

Back in Windhoek, Teemu had already found Arttu (Finland) and Carlos (Bolivia), who also wanted to go to Sossusvlei to see the red dunes for which Namibia is famous for. We managed to book the car two days in advance, but it seems like we were quite lucky, because a day later there were no more cars available in all of Windhoek. Getting to Sossusvlei involves mostly gravel roads, which is why we decided to take an SUV instead of a normal car.

At the pick up of the car we were lucky again and got upgraded to a Toyota HiLux with four wheel drive (4WD). This solved any problem we would have had with our luggage, but also enabled us to take Brendan (Canada) along, who had almost given up on getting to Sossusvlei due to the lack of rental cars. The only downside to the upgrade is the fact, that the back of the car was not air tight, leaving little holes where the dust could enter, covering everything with little layers of dust.

Traveling lots of gravel roads

However, the better car did not prevent us from getting a flat tire about 100 km from the park entrance. So we got out the necessary tools and the spare tire to get us moving again. We managed quite well, but from now on we were driving even more carefully. It felt a little bit like losing the last life on Mario Bros., because one more flat tire would have screwed us up completely. But everything worked out and we managed to reach the park just before the gates closed for the day.

Keeping the spirits high even with a flat tire

When visiting Sossusvlei it is important to stay on the campground within the park limits, because the gates are closed during the night, making it impossible to get deeper into the dunes on time for sunrise, when the light on the dunes is best. Equally impressive is the sunset, which is also impossible to watch if you have to leave before the gates close.

For sunrise many people are going to “Dune 45”, which is located 45 km from the park entrance (where the campground is located). To be on time we had to get up at 4:45 am, leaving us enough time to get there. Fortunately the main road through the park is paved, allowing us to go at higher speeds than on the gravel roads. Nicer and more quiet is “Dune 40”, where I went the next morning.

After a magic sunrise we drove deeper into the park. Here is where our 4WD came in handy, because the last few kilometers are sandy road, where normal cars are not allowed. Driving slow and steady, we managed to get to the end, saving us another 10 Euros per person. From here we climbed the highest dune of Namibia – “Big Daddy” – for an amazing 360° panorama of the red desert.

As hard as it was to get on top of the dune, getting down was so easy and quick, because you can run/slide straight down to “Deadvlei” (=dead valley), which was cut off from the (infrequent) water supply of the neighboring Sossusvlei. As a result most of the trees in the valley died. Due to the dry climate, the wood is not decaying, leaving only the trunks standing.

The heat enables Arttu and Teemu to perform some difficult acrobatics

During midday we went back to the campground, because it’s too hot to do anything. As it cooled off in the afternoon, we got a new tire at the gas station, giving us more safety for the drive back to Windhoek (or a “1-up” to stick with Mario’s terms). But before going back there were still a few things worth seeing – Sessriem Canyon, sunset at “Elim Dune” and the best apple pie in Namibia, which can be found at “Moose’s Bakery” in Solitaire.

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All posts by Ben

Penguins and table cloth

The colors of Cape Town

Meat and greet at Wild

Swakopmund over and over

Life and death in Sossusvlei

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