Posts by Mathilde1967

Hi Pascale, Thanks! We only saw black rhinos, and yes, we were really lucky 🙂

July 2nd: Since we’re sleeping at Camp Okaukuejo again tonight, we spend the day driving around the area looking for beautiful sights. We came across some lions... lying down. So all we saw were the cars waiting for them to get up. After half an hour of waiting, we decide to move on. We’d already been spoiled so far, so why not keep going? We spotted lots of animals: jackals, wildebeest, ostriches, zebras, giraffes... and more. Another really rich day.

We settle in quietly at our new spot, take possession of the place by exploring the surroundings, and have lunch. The squirrels are curious. They come up really close to see if they can find anything to eat and keep us company during the meal. They’re adorable. Then we head to the watering hole for the afternoon. At first, the animals arrived one after another: a group of zebras, then some antelopes, a few kudus, birds, a jackal, and then a large herd of elephants of all sizes, an oryx, giraffes... and then, at one point, there was "one of each" animal all at once. It was such a joy to see all these creatures together.







In the evening, we’re lucky enough to spot a rhino.

Halali is famous for its illuminated waterhole, which is incredibly scenic. We saw rhinos—three of them, including one baby. Photos just don’t do this encounter justice. This little ground squirrel was at our campsite



And this one, which isn’t a ground squirrel, was waiting with us at the waterhole for the animals









On July 1st, we head to Camp Okaukuejo. This is the largest camp, and it’s quite busy. It has a well-known waterhole because lots of animals come to drink, and it’s very well set up. The two camps are 80 km apart, and the road between them is stunning.









We decided to arrive at the camp in the late morning so we could relax at the waterhole in the afternoon without having to get back in the car.

And you know what? We saw a cheetah again that day... definitely. If we had known, we would’ve gone to see the leopards instead of the cheetahs on the 2nd day of our trip.



The landscapes are stunning.



And the waterholes are teeming with herbivores.

And here we go, carnivore lovers!

A cheetah was napping in the shade (this one was in the wild)



And I was hoping to see some because we didn’t spot any in Botswana: hyenas. And even a baby... What a joy! It’s so cute.





After all that, we could head back to Camp Namutoni with images filling our heads. It was wonderful.

June 30th: we’re back in the car, heading to Camp Halali where we’ll spend the night. There are 70 km between the two camps, so we’re taking it easy. We decided to stop at every waterhole along the way. Some are dried up and empty, but others are stunning. We’ll have a picnic on the road. Don’t worry—we’re not allowed to get out of the car in Etosha National Park, and we didn’t break that rule. But the Namibians did a great job: there are fenced rest areas. For once, we humans are the ones locked in ;)





That was our little break.



Lions were there, lying in the tall grass. We didn’t see them much, but there were two males and one female.

Hi Muriel, Welcome to the car too. There’s room for everyone 😏 True, it’s not a "budget" trip, but wow, what an experience for me. We’d done Botswana in 2017 and I was enchanted by all the animals we saw and the trip itself, but Namibia had been on our minds since 2015. Ten years later, we finally did it and didn’t regret a thing. It was love at first sight for me—it’s absolutely stunning, so don’t hesitate to go!

Hi Pascale, Yes, that’s exactly it. I needed to get into the post to be able to insert the photos. Thanks! :)

Oops, sorry—I’m a bit all over the place with this travel journal start It’ll get better now!

Here are some herbivores now:











Two styles, two vibes for drinking:

We have lunch on the spot and then head towards Etosha Park, trying not to arrive too late. We’ll spend the night at Namutoni campsite.

June 29: We pick up a park map and start navigating from waterhole to waterhole. The morning was filled with lots of herbivores, but no carnivores in sight. The afternoon was stunning, both for the landscapes and the discoveries. But let’s start with the birds we spotted:

Hi Bruno, Welcome to our car. Yep, that’s it… Tourmaline :) I thought I couldn’t mention their name. They were great in every way and very responsive. Thanks for letting me know about the max number of photos. I’d read 10 per post but I hadn’t seen there was a maximum total. I’ll limit them because without you, I definitely would’ve gone over given all the beauty we saw I’ll try to insert them into the text like you suggested. I’m not used to it, so all tips are welcome. Thanks

I clicked the green button under the uploaded photo labeled "insert into text," but it doesn’t add it. Any other tips?

June 28: On the way to Etosha National Park, but first, we stopped at the CCF (Cheetah Conservation Fund). My English isn’t great, so I didn’t catch all the explanations, but it was really interesting, and we learned quite a bit.

Hi Bruno, Welcome to our car. Yep, that’s it… Tourmaline :) I thought I couldn’t mention their name. They were great in every way and very responsive. Thanks for letting me know about the max number of photos. I’d read 10 per post, but I hadn’t seen there was an overall limit. I’ll keep it in check because without you, I definitely would’ve gone over, given all the beauty we saw I’ll try to weave them into the text like you suggested. I’m not used to it, so all tips are welcome. Thanks

Yep, I figured I had to do it 😛 Hope you'll like it

We're spoiled for this first day! 🙂

There are some animals around, and it’s such a delight for us. After the meal, we set off for a walk and take the trail to reach the plateau. Well, I think we got a little lost, but we made it eventually 😉 The path to get there is stunning, with all the colors, and the view from up there is magnificent.

June 26th, after a good breakfast, we met up with Michaël at 10 AM for the handover of a travel journal with everything inside (vouchers, reservations, activities, map, phone numbers, country history...), plus an oral debrief of the itinerary with tips and a few explanations about the car. Then, he took us to the rental agency where he stayed with us for the walkthrough of the vehicle. Once we had our ride, we headed into town to grab lunch, do a week's worth of grocery shopping, pick up local SIM cards, and withdraw some cash. We spent another night at Londiningi BB.

On June 27th, we hit the road for our road trip. First stop: the Waterberg Plateau. At its base, there’s a Rest Camp run by the state where we spent the night. We parked the car in a large lot, set up the tents for the first time, and had a quick bite.

Here we go—finally, the big day has arrived! A trip the whole family (my two kids, my husband, and me) had been looking forward to for so long. To keep it short, we left from Nice, arrived in Namibia on June 25, 2025, and left again on the 21st—four weeks later. We used an agency for all the camping reservations, activities, and the car rental. At least that side of things was taken care of. Michaël was our contact throughout the planning and the trip itself.

We spent our first night at Londiningi BB. A bit out of the city center but very quiet. The rooms were spacious and clean, and we could eat on-site that evening. Perfect for recovering from the flight.

Hi Marie Claude, So we’ll have plenty of time since we’re retired. We want to take things easy without any pressure, and on top of that, we plan to buy a vehicle there, which will make getting around easier without worrying about returning a rental. I was actually thinking mainly of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. Is it easy to zigzag between the two countries without it being too much of a hassle at the border crossings?

Hi, We’d like to visit South America (among other places) with a vehicle, and I have a question about Chile and Argentina. A lot of "spots" are right on the border between these two countries, and I was wondering how to visit them since we’re not in a rush. Should we cross the borders without stopping so we don’t have to backtrack later, or should we explore the Chilean side first, for example, and then the Argentine side afterward? Thanks for your thoughts and advice! :)