Till recently, I knew very little of this large country, 1.5 bigger than France and roughly the size of Pakistan. Its density (2.4 hab/km2) is the second smaller in the world after Mongolia! I knew it before going there, but to see what these figures really mean is something totally different. Basically, a huge desert. Or, rather, deserts: Namib, Naukluft, Damaraland, Kaokaland, ... The deserts are so diverse that I never got bored during the 2 weeks I spent there.
I went with a group of 12 people, together with a guide, Frantz Thille, a helper (actually his son, Max) and a driver, Rea. Using a truck (see pic), we essentially covered the northern part of Namibia, visiting several highlights including the sandy dunes of Sesriem (magical!), the colony of sea lions in Cape Cross, granite mountains of Spitzkoppe, before spending 3 days in Etosha National Park. Great trip.
I had not done such an organized trek before, and I must say it was a really good experience. We camped for the two weeks (what else? don't expect too many hotels in the desert), alternatively in campings of bivouacking in the middle of nowhere. Surprisingly, I found it much less uncomfortable than I had thought before. The guide, Frantz, was extremely enthusiastic (and enthusiasming), perhaps even too much when we all wanted to go sleeping and he was keeping telling us everything about the origins of the Namibian people or any fancy African mammal of which he's a specialist. Btw, he wrote a very nice book which I fully recommend on the wildlife in African national parks (35 euros, sold out on Amazon). If interested, let me know I'll try a get some copies directly from him.
Speaking about animals, I'll post a new entry soon on Etosha. In the meantime, you can have a look at all the pictures of that trip, here. I find the dunes pretty photogenic. Sea lions a bit less (see video below).
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