Off on an adventure in Namibia! (page 6 of 9)

By the way, you mentioned that trips for 2026 and 2027 are already planned—can we hear about your next adventures if it’s not too nosy?

Not nosy at all... 😎

October 2026 => China February 2027 => Senegal April 2027 => Algeria August 2027 => Sulawesi October 2027 => Wind Turbines

Awesome! If you keep this up, you’ll soon have scratched off your whole world map! 🙂

By the way, you said that trips for 2026 and 2027 are already set—can we hear about your next adventures if it’s not too nosy?

Not nosy at all... 😎

October 2026 => China February 2027 => Senegal April 2027 => Algeria August 2027 => Sulawesi October 2027 => Wind Turbines

Wow, what a pace! 🙂 So many amazing discoveries and good laughs ahead😉

By the way, you said your 2026 and 2027 trips are already sorted—mind sharing what’s next if it’s not too nosy?

Not nosy at all... 😎

October 2026 => China February 2027 => Senegal April 2027 => Algeria August 2027 => Sulawesi October 2027 => Wind Turbines

Wow, what a pace! 🙂 So many amazing discoveries and good laughs ahead😉

And lots of writing too! 😏

By the way, you mentioned that your trips for 2026 and 2027 are already set—mind sharing what’s next if it’s not too nosy?

Not nosy at all... 😎

October 2026 => China February 2027 => Senegal April 2027 => Algeria August 2027 => Sulawesi October 2027 => Wind Turbines

It’d be amazing to plan a visit to Reims Cathedral or the Verzy faux (beech trees)! 😉😏😛 Hats off to all that energy...

By the way, you mentioned that your 2026 and 2027 trips are already set—mind sharing what’s next if it’s not too nosy?

Not nosy at all... 😎

October 2026 => China February 2027 => Senegal April 2027 => Algeria August 2027 => Sulawesi October 2027 => Wind Turbines

The ultimate would be planning a trip to Reims Cathedral or the Verzy beech trees! 😉😏😛 Hats off to all that energy...



You forgot the symbol of my département! Woinic! 😏

You’re forgetting my department’s emblem! Woinic! 😏

Even in Tanzania, you’ll find its cousin!

April 21 – Day 11

The end of the world isn’t about reaching a border, but about getting far enough from familiar places and environments to no longer recognize them at all. Epupa is the end of the world for our Namibian adventure! Because as soon as we passed the sign marking the end of our last stop, we noticed the guide had made two strategic changes: a radical shift in the ecosystem, and a drastic change in climate!





Tropical heat, a chorus of exotic bird calls, the banks of the roaring Kunene River—which also happens to mark the border with Angola just across the way—towering palm trees providing a home to dozens of blue velvet monkeys... Literal word-for-word translation: Blue velvet monkeys! "Blue velvet? Now that’s poetic... Which part of these monkeys’ bodies could possibly resemble blue velvet? - Their Smurf balls, darling! Wanna feel the cross-stitch quality?... And the bluer they are, the more they attract the ladies! - Reassure me, you didn’t just endure six hours of bumpy roads yesterday just to point out the intimate anatomy of Epupa’s primates, no matter how blue they are? Did you? - These blue nuts, I can’t believe it, it’s amazing... but no, *Tintin and the Blue Oranges* is just a little morning treat! If we put up with the wind and flat tires to get here, it’s really for a marvel of our planet’s anatomy!"



Epupa Falls! And we’re here at the perfect time to see them! At the end of the rainy season, the Kunene River has filled to the brim. And right where we are, all that water plunges down powerful waterfalls in a rift over a kilometer wide! Okay, the scene is set—catch up with us because we’re already on the hike that leads there...

The closer we get, the more the mist rises and the deeper the roar of the falls grows... We can’t see anything yet, but all our senses are already imagining the scene... And boom! There it is—our eyes are instantly drawn to tons of water crashing against the rocks with incredible force. What raw power! What untamed beauty! What a panoramic view of these multiple falls with their massive baobabs leaning over the edge... We’ve seen some stunning waterfalls—big ones, tall ones, narrow ones, open ones—on our travels... Iceland, Indonesia, Croatia, Sri Lanka... But there’s no doubt that the hypnotic spectacle of Epupa Falls takes the gold medal in every category! What makes the difference? Undeniably, the fact that we’re savoring these falls in VIP mode, just for us, with no man-made structures... There’s nothing telling you where to look. No barriers, no platforms, no signs. Just us, our freedom, our picnic, and this powerful display that reminds us once again that humans aren’t quite the bosses of this planet and shouldn’t mess with nature too much. We almost feel like we’re the first to discover it! Shhh... Let us believe it for a few more minutes...

Day 11 (continued)









Those three amazing hours wandering along the Kunene River were worth every minute of the drive to reach this remote corner of the world. "So, should we pack up and leave, then?" No way! Because northern Namibia holds another kind of treasure—this time, human: the Himba tribes, an ancestral people whose bare bodies are coated in a mix of animal fat and ochre, giving them that distinctive red hue...

But stepping into their world isn’t as simple as admiring a waterfall. You either sneak curious, fleeting glances at their silhouettes by the roadside or you wade in with your muddy boots, risking intrusion, discomfort, or worse—turning the encounter into something awkward. I’ll admit, this sparked some debate between us. On one hand, our curiosity and the urge to experience a world so different from ours, *Rendez-vous en terre inconnue* style... On the other, the fear of overstepping, of forcing a one-sided interaction that makes them feel like they’re on display in a zoo. In the end, maybe it was more about avoiding regret than certainty, but we decided to go for it, telling ourselves we’d bow out quickly if we didn’t feel right or if the moment lacked authenticity.

In the end, even if our exchanges were mostly through signs and smiles, even if it felt like the encounter only mattered to them because of the bags of cornmeal and brown sugar we brought, the time spent in that village wasn’t unpleasant.







We wouldn’t go back if we ever return to Namibia, but we’re glad we got to learn more about this fascinating people. What did we take away? We talked about nature, marriage, children, modernity, education... and a topic close to Flo’s heart: menstruation! "Yep, Himba women deal with that too!"

Day 11 (continued)

"Well, another day wrapped up nicely, huh?" Yeah, but since we're epicureans, we still have the cherry on the Black Forest to pick: Tracking down a crocodile basking on the banks of the Kunene upstream from our campsite, taming it, and riding back on its back! Okay, if we just manage to catch a glimpse of it, we’ll already be thrilled... With our Crocodile Dundee hats and knives, we’re ready for this final highlight of the day. Beaches, islands, undergrowth, rocks—we combed everything during our hike along the river... Unfortunately, we didn’t spot a tail or even the tiniest crocodile tear.





"Oh well, the day was still amazing, and we’ve earned ending it at our campsite’s pool!" With our swimsuits, inflatable flamingo, and towels slung over our shoulders, we head to the pool... Guess who’s lounging by the pool and who bolts at our arrival? Yep, we’d been searching for them in the wild, and these lazy guys were just chilling, soaking up the sun while sipping cocktails! Two young crocodiles! There you go—now we can officially say our day was perfect! And also that the day is officially over...

Hi Franck, What a beautiful day in Epupa—it made me feel years younger! We had pretty much the same experiences as you, but yours were way better told. Keep up the great journey!

The falls are stunning with all that water! 🤩

Hi Franck, What a beautiful day in Epupa—it made me feel years younger! We had pretty much the same experiences as you, but yours are way better told. Keep it up!

Did you get as much water? The photos I’d seen online (probably taken in July/August) didn’t impress me as much as our visit did...

True, there was less water, but still...

Hi there,

How lucky to see the Kunene River flowing so well at Epupa...!! When we were there in October 2008, we only saw a trickle of water.... Apparently, it’s the two Angolan dams far upstream that "decide" the flow...!

Thanks for these photos—and the others. Puma2A

...

Hello,

How lucky to see the Kunene River at Epupa flowing so strongly ... !! When we passed through in October 2008, we only saw a trickle of water .... It seems the two Angolan dams far upstream "decide" the flow ... !

Thanks for these photos—and the others. Puma2A

...

We chose this late-April period partly for that reason. I was crossing my fingers to arrive just after the rainy season ended. We were lucky because the access to Sossusvlei was closed for a few days just before we got there due to flooding! In the end, we were fortunate to see water there, and the Epupa Falls were in full force. I’d recommend this time of year, even if the weather can vary from one year to the next...

Between photos and writing, this travel journal is pure joy. I’ve fallen way behind on reading your latest entries. So, I’m booking a ticket on Biboun51 Airlines and we’re off! 😊

Between photos and writing, this travel journal is pure joy. I’ve fallen way behind on reading your latest entries. So, I’m grabbing a ticket on Biboun51 Airlines and we’re off!

This’ll let you stay on vacation a little longer during these back-to-work times... Happy reading!

April 22 – Day 12

Sleep? What’s that! So, another boycott of sleeping in for this new Namibian day. New promises, too, with this fresh page to write—one that features our long-awaited entry into the animal kingdom’s Mecca... The cathedral of fur, horn, and sharp teeth! Bring in the suspects to the legendary Etosha Park! Magneto, Serge!

For those who’ve been orbiting Earth with Thomas Pesquet for too long, Etosha is one of the all-you-can-eat buffets of the savanna world. It’s also where *you* might end up on the menu! "Want lion? I’ve got lion... Want rhino? Of course I’ve got rhino!" The perfect place to remind yourself where you stand in the food chain, left as prey among the 114 mammal species recorded in this park the size of Belgium!

The five-hour drive is devoured hungrily at breakfast. Our phones’ photo mode is activated. Our pupils are dilated. We’ve studied the perfect tracker’s bible—analyzing shapes, consistencies, sizes, smells, and even tastes of all the park’s animal droppings. "Flo, taste this one and let your expert analysis shine... - Giraffe, nice length on the palate... vintage... two minutes ago!" Bingo! Sophie the giraffe, in tourism-agent mode, welcomes us, chilling by the roadside three kilometers from the entrance...



Here we are... Etosha National Park! And its little quiz... What do a drone, a hunting rifle, a plastic bag, and a piece of meat have in common?... It’s a private party—sorry, you can’t come in! All banned by the bouncer at the entrance. "Do you have any of these items on you?... - No, sir! - Okay, we’ll still search you because you smell like trouble in there!" Our car is completely turned upside down by the cops in sniffer-dog mode, hunting for stowaway monkeys... "And do you have any money?" Because here, you need the equivalent of Lesotho’s GDP to get in! Yeah, unfortunately for us, the daily rate doubled on April 1st. Probably another fallout from the Hormuz Strait blockade...

We enter Etosha through Galton Gate, its western entrance and the area that *seems* the least productive on paper. "Kid, don’t believe everything you read in books... The tooth fairy, Santa Claus... and Etosha’s western sector!" Because what a finale as soon as we arrive! The first day’s lineup is *huge*: springboks, zebras, wildebeest, ostriches, jackals, giraffes... and headlining on the main stage, Basile’s crew and their twenty pachyderms crossing the track right in front of our little tin can. "This is our turf—please wait... and feast your eyes!"

Day 12 (continued)

Like true Pokémon hunters, we wander from track to track, waterhole to waterhole, in search of wildlife in general—and what we really came here for in particular: lions and rhinos!

Jakkals Water waterhole. At first glance, just another waterhole, but it turned out to be *the* one. Because that’s it—David Vincent saw them. And so did we! Flo shouts the code we have between us: “Allez l’OM!” Which, in our secret language, means her eagle eyes... or rather, doe eyes, have spotted a predator... That way, the predator in question doesn’t know it’s been spotted since Flo yelled “Allez l’OM!”... Okay, I can tell you’re not convinced by our strategy, but just know Flo has two lionesses in her sights, strolling casually across the grassy plain... Not in our direction (bummer), pretty far off (too bad), but still (holy cow, lionesses!), we’ve just lost our Big Five virginity!

The rest is just a lunar plain dotted with thousands of giant termite mounds! And in the middle of this post-apocalyptic scenery, don’t forget the countless springboks—Etosha’s NPCs!—or the giraffes, their graceful silhouettes cutting across the horizon, which is crawling with psychedelic zebra stripes! Oh, and the wildebeest—did I mention the wildebeest? Anyway, there’s a crowd per square inch, and when the predator’s away, the feast is on! “Hey, king of the jungle, the table’s set, and your pantry’s taunting you!”













As the sun sets over the savanna—and with the lions’ Ramadan in mind—we’re forced to leave our fountain of youth via Anderson Gate, with one last grumpy elephant charge and a rhino’s uncooperative rear end making a quick exit... Little adrenaline shots to make us want to drop another coin in the jukebox tomorrow morning for the great animal lottery hosted by Franck and Flo!