After a fabulous tour of South Africa, my final destination on this round of my travels was the wide open desert of Namibia.
My trip began with a day in the capital city of Windhoek, where I picked up my wheels for the adventure ahead.
Before heading off, I checked out the centre of the city, including the Independence Museum and the Christuskirche Cathedral.
After a hearty meal at Joe’s Beerhouse and a night at a comfortable lodge, it was time to head out into the vast expanse of the Namibian desert.
My first day of driving took me around 220km (137 miles) south-west to Solitaire, where I spent the night at the comfortable Solitaire Roadhouse Lodge, which I will cover in a separate review.
Most of the roughly four-hour drive was on roughly graded dirt roads, surrounded by emptiness.
The roads, at times were bumpy, sandy and not well graded, validating my rare choice of manual transmission for the trip.
The following day saw me continue another three hours south to the captivating dunes of Sossusvlei, passing wild ostriches, which seem to thrive in this harsh nothingness.
The dunes of Sossusvlei rise majestically above the dry and salty lakes, a spectacular landmark in the otherwise uniform void.
This experience was definitely worth the six-hour round trip drive from Solitaire and I would highly recommend it to anyone who decides to travel in Namibia.
After returning for another night at the Solitaire Roadhouse Lodge, I turned north-west towards the coastal town of Swakopmund, which I will cover separately.
As I drove towards the coast, the landscape became a little less featureless and the grading of the roads certainly kept me busy at the wheel.
In conclusion, this road trip was a wonderful and unique experience and one which I consider myself privileged to have had the opportunity to have.