Naukluft

Our last stop on our tour through Namibia with the kids was the Naukluft National Park, a strong contrast to what we had seen before. Here mountains and valleys with rivers make it a great area for some hikes. A lovely campsite along the river provides a perfect base.

The access road into the park was very corrugated, making it a painful drive, but when we reached the reception with a restaurant, everything was forgotten. We decided to go on a hike with some rock pools, an easy walk from our campsite.

A river was flowing through the valley, allowing a completely different vegetation from what we had seen the last weeks. Big trees and many different plants are growing in the valley, an oasis in this dry country.

When we spotted the rock pools we didn’t hesitate long to go in, even as the water was a little cool. A big crab was fleeing when we came there, but the water was clear and very enticing for a dip.

The next morning we started early to go on the Olive Tree hike, a 10 km circular route which took us up a mountain and into a gorge until we reached the famous chains, which we had to use to overcome a vertical wall of the gorge. At reception we were warned of this hike, as being very difficult. In the end it was a beautiful tour which turned out to be an easy hike most of the way.

We will now drive back to Windhoek, to drop off the kids for their flight back to Europe and we will ponder a little what to do next. We will have to decide on our route to Zambia, using fully the time we have left on our visa for Namibia. More soon!