Posts by Mathilde1967

Hi Loïc,

Thanks for the compliment! 🙂 Yeah, we were really lucky that morning with the hyena—it was super fleeting, and I totally agree with you... Namibia is an amazing country!

Hi Nathalie,

Oh wow, what an incredible stroke of luck—especially since it didn’t stay long at all! I’ve read so many of your travel journals (I’m a huge fan of your photos and adventures), and I think you’ve seen one too 😉

Yes, it's important to keep some time to enjoy the places where we stop. There are still quite a few of us in the car, so when we can experience things differently, we make sure to do so, especially at sites like this one. 😏

Yeah, I really enjoyed the tour. It’s not really long to do, and it’s not essential to the whole trip either (if we’d had to cut something from our trip, it would’ve been this), but personally, I liked the explanations 😛 and it was a nice change...

July 11th: 150 km separates us from our next stop, Spitzkoppe. What's great from the Khowareb Lodge campsite is that the distance between two points is quite short. This lets us set off early in the morning, arrive early at the next spot, and enjoy the whole afternoon doing whatever we want. That day, we’ll arrive early enough to choose the campsite at Rock Pools (no reservations here: first come, first served). We’ll be right near the arch. After the meal, we head out for a walk. We check out Little Bushman (another painting). It doesn’t take long, and the walk is nice. Then we head toward the arch, which is really stunning. My kids also have fun climbing. In short, we make the most of the place because it’s absolutely gorgeous.

The hike at Mowani? We took our time, got a bit lost, and I think it took us between 2 and 3 hours. The hike itself isn’t very long, but we enjoyed the scenery 😊 If it’s the White Lady one, we must’ve taken 3 hours total with the guide (explanations included)

July 10th: We left Mowani with a bit of sadness on my part, heading towards Brandberg (180 km) to see the White Lady. We’ll be staying at the campsite of Brandberg White Lady Lodge. We arrived at the lodge late in the morning, had lunch there, and set off immediately afterward for the site. We knew there was a 2–3 hour hike to reach the engraving with a mandatory guide. We also wanted to see other engravings, knowing they were nearby, but the woman who sold us the tickets strongly insisted we shouldn’t go, saying it would take another hour of walking and that it was already 2 p.m. You get it... They just didn’t feel like it. We didn’t push it—it wouldn’t have changed anything that day.



The "rock" with these paintings is, in my opinion, more beautiful than the engravings from the day before, and I can confirm you need a guide to get there because the path is tricky. Too bad we couldn’t see the others.



A little meerkat lives at the lodge. It’s adorable.

July 9th: In the morning, we left for the Twyfelfontein site. This site is primarily made up of rock engravings over 1,500 years old. A guide is mandatory for the visit. The place is stunning.







In the afternoon, we decided to go for a short hike. A ranger told us there was one marked after the barriers. Well, we had a hard time finding the start of the hike, and along the way, we managed to get lost. Total goofballs when you see that 😮 🤪



It’s breathtaking.





Really great hike. We ended the afternoon by the pool with a nice cold drink since it was hot, and then headed back to our favorite campsite

Oh, I’m sure you’ll love the Mowani campsite. It’s absolutely fabulous, and the landscapes are stunning. I’d totally stow away in your suitcase! 😏

Hi Isabelle, Welcome to the car! 🙂 It’s true, it’s a wonderful country.

Ah, you were luckier than me with the elephants at Palmwag 😛 Two days before, there were some, and after we left, there were some too. No big deal—we saw so many animals and the landscapes are so incredible that it didn’t traumatize me 😉. We enjoyed the campsite pool on the second day at Mowani 😏 Well, when I say *we*... my son was the one who enjoyed it

The view is pretty amazing, right?







We decided to take a little walk around the area and head up to the viewpoint to catch the sunset. The person managing the campsite will bring us some cushions so we can get comfy. Such a sweet touch! 🙂 It’s breathtaking, indescribable.

July 8: 120 km to cover today to reach the Mowani Mountain Camp campsite in Twyfelfontein. Shortly after leaving Palmwag, we’ll pass through a sanitary checkpoint. The staff will check that we’re not carrying any raw milk, meat, or cheese. We do have meat, but it’s cooked, so all good. We can continue on our way. The road is incredibly diverse: the landscapes keep changing and are all so different. It’s stunningly beautiful, and no one gets tired of it.







Along the way, we’ll stop to see the Petrified Forest. The visit is short but really interesting.





Then we head to our campsite.



Wow, I was completely blown away. Total love at first sight for me and this super natural spot. There are very few sites, and they’re all blended into the environment. The shower and toilets are open-air, set among the rocks. I can’t show too many photos because of the limit, but you’ll still get a general view.

I’m loving it. And we have some visitors!

July 7th: we don’t have much driving today. Palmwag is 80 km from our current location and it’s our destination for the day. The road is still just as beautiful and varied.





This concession is a nature reserve on the edge of the Skeleton Coast National Park, home to desert elephants, among other wildlife. We’ll be staying at the campsite attached to the lodge. When we arrive, it’s pure "class"—partly because of the location and partly because we have 4 showers and 4 toilets. One each!!! 😊 The place is stunning. It’s an oasis in the middle of the desert, complete with palm trees, a lodge, campsite, and pools. On arrival, we sign a charter agreeing to leave any elephants alone if we see them around the lodge. Apparently, they often come to drink from the pools. Will we be lucky enough to see one? We book an afternoon drive to look for them. The landscapes are gorgeous.











We spot zebras and antelopes but no elephants 🙁 Still, we don’t regret the drive!

July 6th: we hit the road again to start our journey south. A long drive awaits us to reach the Khowareb Lodge campsite. 350 km. We plan to stop in Opuwo to refuel and stock up on groceries. Before reaching the town, we still encounter many children on the road asking for water or other things. We stay cautious. At one point, there’s a boy around ten years old making his goats cross the road. We slow down, he asks for something, and we refuse. He’s not happy, picks up a rock, and throws it at the car. We drive away and stop further on to check the damage. The car door took a hit. Obviously, we’re not happy about such behavior, even if we can understand his frustration. We had to call Michaël to find out what to do with the rental company—take photos, send everything... When we arrive in Opuwo, we realize nothing is open. It’s Sunday, and all the shops are closed. We didn’t pay attention to that, otherwise we would’ve done a proper grocery run two days earlier. Women and children hassle us like on the way there, but this time we don’t give anything. We fill up on gas and manage to find a few bits and pieces to buy at the station (luckily). Outside, people are selling fresh fruits and vegetables. We grab enough to cook for a few days, hoping we’ll find more to buy further on.

I wonder how they manage to live in those houses when it’s scorching hot. Tin roofs must be unbearable, even if I imagine they spend most of their time outside... 😕





The road is still just as beautiful.







We won’t do much today except drive and make stops, and we’re pretty upset about how the day went

Don’t hesitate to go. It’s a stunning country, and you’ve barely scratched the surface. Photos don’t do justice to the vastness and beauty of this place.

In the afternoon, we decided to visit the falls without a guide. We were approached several times, but we wanted to take things easy at our own pace. So we crossed the village and followed the Kunene River until we reached the falls. They aren’t huge, but they’re still impressive because the flow is strong. Plus, it’s so surprising to see so much water in such a dry region. A real oasis. To get a better view, we climbed to the top of the hill where there’s a paid viewpoint. It’s stunning. My son wanted to go river rafting, but there weren’t enough people, so it was canceled. So he just followed us.







View from the top



Front view



On our way back to the campsite, there were vervet monkeys. Don’t leave anything lying around because they’re thieves. We were careful, but one still managed to snatch a pack of sliced bread. I tried to get it back because it’s not good for my health, but it bared its teeth. Yikes, I didn’t mess with it. The person watching the campsite made it drop the stolen goods by threatening it with a stick.

July 5th: If we came to Epupa Falls, it's obviously for the waterfalls I'd read such great things about, but also for the Himba people. I was hesitant about visiting a village, but we figured we'd only know what it was really like by doing the "activity" ourselves.

In the morning, we set off with a guide to visit a village. It was just the four of us with the guide, and the visit was booked through the lodge that manages the campsite.

Okay, let’s be honest—I didn’t like it. It felt way too touristy and like a "factory" to me, so I didn’t talk much or ask questions (or very few). It didn’t feel natural, so I didn’t enjoy it. That said, I still learned a ton of interesting things about this people, and that’s not nothing ;) It’s just that there was no real interaction.









The village is very poor and dry. The houses are simple. It’s when you see how these people live that you realize how lucky we are to have everything in our society. It really puts things into perspective.

July 4th: And just like that, Etosha is behind us. We have to leave the park before 10 AM. We stop at the gate to pay for our days. The police officers present ask if there’s anything to report and check the car trunk. All good, and we can continue our long journey to Epupa Falls—450 km to go. We stop in Opuwo to fill up on gas and grab supplies for two days. Immediately, women and children ask us for water and food. They’re very insistent. We’ll buy oil, rice, and water to give them, but since there are so many asking and we can’t help everyone, it creates jealousy, and we feel a bit unsettled by it. Luckily, they end up sharing a bit of everything. Between Opuwo and Epupa Falls, there are many children along the road asking for water. It’s tough not to stop, but there are just too many of them.

The road to our future campsite is absolutely stunning. A real feast for the eyes, and I’d love to stop every 30 seconds to take photos. My husband won’t have it, though—the drive is long, and we need to arrive before dark. Since we can’t drive fast, I get it, but I’m still bummed 😕

At Epupa Falls, our campsite is huge. We’re right by the water and have a private toilet and bathroom. Fancy.

July 3: We're hitting the road for Camp Olifantsrus. It's 130 km away, and it's really small and basic. This part of the park is wilder, and the animals are more skittish. Before breakfast and leaving, I head back to the waterhole to see what's around. After 5 minutes of watching, I spot an animal I didn’t know, appearing in the distance. I wait, and then I realize—it's a brown hyena!! I didn’t even think we’d see one during our trip. What luck! I just have time to call my husband before it disappears again.



We finish breakfast, pack up the tents, and set off for our last full day in Etosha National Park. The waterholes are still packed with herbivores—it’s really amazing.









At the campsite, there’s a wooden "hide." It’s nice with a small waterhole right below, but unfortunately, we didn’t see any animals.