Road Trip Across Namibia
Research is one of the principles which separates Trufflepig from other companies. Our owners are firm believers in the relationship between first hand experience and expertise. As a happy result I’ve been traveling to Africa for work since 2013 – and prior to that for fun since 1999. And since my first trip through the continent was an overland trip – around 9,000 kilometers from Nairobi to Cape Town – I’ve retained a love for the African road trip ever since.
The photos above come from a recent road trip in Namibia. On this particular journey, I was joined by a group of women from all over the world, led by our trusty guide Franco at the wheel. Road-tripping through Namibia you can begin to reckon with its ever-changing terrain. The land transitions beautifully from the red dunes of Sossusvlei to scrub, quiver trees and stunning mountain passes, past local tribes and the singing dunes of the Skeleton Coast National Park.
Travelling by car, you’re more able to register the vast distances between towns. You see more intiately how rainfall and wind patterns change the landscape, and how quickly the dry desert turns green with grass after a downpour. The sheer wonder of hearing Franco, a local, say he’d never seen rain in this part of the country, was something I’ll not forget.
Passing through villages, you see children playing on ubiquitous bare football fields, using anything they can find as a football. I really mean anything, I’ve seen time-battered footballs, balls made from plastic bags, balls of cloth strips and one made out of string, whatever that can be made to be able to play the game. You’ll spot people, cows and goats, and then you’ll be surprised to see mountain zebras running around – outside of the national parks – or and ostrich or two in the distance.
One of the stranger things we saw on this trip came when driving towards Purros: we “found” the sculpture shown in the first image above. Who am I kidding, Franco knew exactly where it was! There is a Namibian artist who has lodged a variety of stone and rebar figures up in different locations around Purros, deep in the Skeleton Coast, far from any towns. It’s not clear how many different sculptures there are – somewhere around ten in total – but no one knows for sure as the secretive artist doesn’t say. We found 3 of them, which was good fun and something we’d have totally missed if flying between camps.
Indeed, there are many places where flying is the only way to get around, but taking more time and travelling more slowly, you get a different feel for how landscapes change, and how communities blend. I love the changing scenery as you move from small towns to larger towns to tiny villages – and I love the miles between. It’s all there when you slow down to see it.
