Kruger and Southern Africa

[Jacques Vert]

Dinner is served in the outdoor restaurant:



Food was excellent. A starter brought to your table..





then a buffet for the main course



and followed by desert.

 

[Jacques Vert]

We forgot to take photos of the room but similar to the previous two Gondwana Collection properties, Namib Desert Lodge and the Desert Horse Inn, the rooms at Canon Village are to a lower standard than the public areas. In this case there is no fridge, and the room is nice but a little tired.

None of the Gondwana properties have Internet in the rooms, only in the bar/reception/restaurant areas. At Canon Village it is painfully slow; even grass grows quicker in the desert than pages load here.

But I do "get it". There is little point sitting in your room in the desert and most guests are out and about on game, nature or desert view drives, hiking, sunset/sundowner drives or walks, etc. or moving to their next accommodation. You tend to spend very little time in the room, other than to sleep.

Hence, better to spend funds on the restaurant, pool, bar, etc. plus it encourages guests to use and pay for the facilities.

OTOH, it is time for a refresh/refurb. The provision of better Wi-Fi would be a good start (first world problem; and I understand that the issue is with Namibia Telecom rather than the accommodation provider). Add in a small fridge in every room and decent air-conditioning would be a good start.

However, the food at all these properties has been excellent and reasonably priced, especially considering that there is generally no alternative nearby. $N300 per person for a buffet is the standard fare and all very tasty. Breakfast is OK but generally not to the same standard.

 

[Jacques Vert]

So next day it is time to tick another item off the bucket list, the Fish River Canyon.

To enter the national park it is the same fee as Sossusvlei and Kolmanskop ($N80 per person + $N10 for the car). You pay at the entrance gate at Hobas:




It's ~ 23 km from the Canon Village accommodation to the nearest canyon viewpoint. The Fish River Canyon is the second largest canyon in the world (the Grand Canyon is reputed to be the largest but maybe that is an "alternative fact"). It doesn't disappoint...



And yes, the Fish River is actually flowing for the first time in three years.

 

[Jacques Vert]

In case you were wondering, none of these are aerial photos; they were all taken by +1 standing on the lip of the canyon looking down or across the chasm...

 

[Jacques Vert]

I can't move on without sharing a few more of +1's marvelous photos...

 

[Jacques Vert]

Last ones...

 

[Imw]

Not had time to put like on everything (from my phone) but what an amazing report! Well done. Awesome job.

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

Just caught up on this outstanding Travel Review.
Wow, looks like your having a highly memorable trip of a lifetime.
So thrilled that you both made it to the Fish River Canyon, I'm insanely Jealous!

 

[Jacques Vert]

So thrilled that you both made it to the Fish River Canyon, I'm insanely Jealous!

You need to add it to your next trip; it's a long way from everywhere but worth the effort.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Leaving the Canyon we come across this fine specimen:



I wonder how long it has taken this tree to grow to this stage considering the scarcity of water here.

From Canon Village we are headed to Mariental where we are booked at the Kalahari Anib Lodge, another Gondwana Collection property, mainly to break up the drive all the way back to Windhoek. But then, we decided to head south instead of north to check out the area around Ai-Ais at the southern end of the canyon; a short detour adding about 120km and an hour and a half to our day (well it is short in Namibian terms).

One of the things that has surprised me about Namibia is the variation in the landscapes. So far it is mostly sand and rock, yet somehow there is something new over every hill and around every corner.

Here are some views along the road from Canon Village to Ai-Ais:

 

[Jacques Vert]

From Ai-Ais it's a short 85km drive east to pick up the B1...








Back on the bitumen:





There's been rain on the eastern side of the country:





They sure like to build straight roads in this country...

 

[Jacques Vert]

So after six and a half hours driving and topping up the fuel twice, we arrive at the Kalahari Anib Lodge...




We are immediately struck by how green it is here; obviously a very different climate to the west half of the country:







The bar area:

 

[Jacques Vert]

Our room:




It has a smoker's lounge (no use to us):




Sunset:





Breakfast is a buffet:




This is a very nice property with a lovely ambiance; without doubt the best of the Gondwana lodges we have stayed at. Like the previous three, the food at dinner was excellent however breakfast was much nicer than the others.

 

[Jacques Vert]

It's about three hours drive north to Windhoek and there has been quite a bit of rain so the landscape is looking considerably different to the west of the country...













I'm not sure you would convince me to sit in the back of a ute doing 130kmph+

 

[Jacques Vert]

Back in Windhoek:

Another night at the Hilton, this time in a garden room...










Yes, it has its own garden however it looks as though it could do with some water...




Our own deck chairs:




The lounge attendant later tells me that the new Garden Inn being built next door (seen it the background in the above picture) should be finished by mid-2018 at which time the existing Hilton will be closed for 12 months for renovations.

 

[jxv]

I had seen thisthread on the timeline, but had not looked any closer. Yesterday I happened to open a post and it was about Namibia. I was hooked immediately and read your TR from start to finish! Lots of good photos too.

All in good time, as we are leaving for Cape Town on Tuesday, from where we will drive into Namibia: Fish River Canyon, Luderitz, Sesriem, Swakopmund, Karibib, Camp Kipwe, EtoshaNP, Frans Indongo Lodge, to Windhoek. We will then fly back to Cape Town for a few days relaxation. A total of four weeks.

We know what to expect as we spent eight days on a Windhoek, Etosha, Cape Cross, Swakopmund, Windhoek trip last year. We just had to go back! Your description of your southern Namibia loop has a lot of usefull information, of which I have taken note.

We are now really getting fired up for this holiday. Thanks very much!

 

[Jacques Vert]

I had seen thisthread on the timeline, but had not looked any closer. Yesterday I happened to open a post and it was about Namibia. I was hooked immediately and read your TR from start to finish! Lots of good photos too.

All in good time, as we are leaving for Cape Town on Tuesday, from where we will drive into Namibia: Fish River Canyon, Luderitz, Sesriem, Swakopmund, Karibib, Camp Kipwe, EtoshaNP, Frans Indongo Lodge, to Windhoek. We will then fly back to Cape Town for a few days relaxation. A total of four weeks.

We know what to expect as we spent eight days on a Windhoek, Etosha, Cape Cross, Swakopmund, Windhoek trip last year. We just had to go back! Your description of your southern Namibia loop has a lot of usefull information, of which I have taken note.

We are now really getting fired up for this holiday. Thanks very much!

You're very welcome. Read it from start to finish in one day? That's an epic journey in itself.

IMHO, sharing of information is what this community is all about. We could not have put our last 6 trips together without the information given so generously by others in this community (perhaps we could but they would not have been remotely comparable).

+1 & I have put this TR together to, hopefully, build on the information available; we trust you will enjoy your trip as much as we have enjoyed ours.

Safe travels.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Next day we are leaving Namibia but have time for a quick stroll around Windhoek before heading to the airport.

The Lutheran church:














The Museum building (the previous photo was taken from the top floor of the Museum):

 

[Jacques Vert]

We didn't have time to go through the Museum but were able to go to the top floor where there is a restaurant with great views of the city:




The Hilton and the Garden Inn being built next to it:




More views from the top of the Museum...







Inside the restaurant:

 

[Jacques Vert]

Then it's off to the airport.

We notice that our vehicle rental agreement says that if the vehicle is returned dirty there will be a cleaning fee of $US72.:shock:

We ask about a car wash but no one can do it for at least an hour and a half. So we ring Britz to check if we have to wash the car before returning it: "no, normal dirt and dust is OK".

:?: What the hell is normal dirt and dust after driving 14 days in the desert on gravel roads????

We also have to return the vehicle full of fuel, as usual. So we fill up in Windhoek and top up again at the PUMA at the turnoff into the airport, where the pump attendant helps us wash the loose dust off so the vehicle doesn't look too bad.


On the way we have to pass through that Police roadblock I mentioned in an earlier post:



Decided to check-in first as we are now a little short of time, and we get the trainee who takes FOREVER to check us in and forgets to print one of the boarding passes (which causes us some angst later).

We then have to take the vehicle back to the depot, about a km from the terminal. They check the vehicle and all is OK. They ask if we have refueled at the PUMA at the airport and can produce a receipt. Yes we can! They take the receipt but +1 asks if they can give us a photocopy for our records: yes they can!

They then (after a short delay) give us a lift back to the airport with our carry-on bags. The hand-back process takes up to half an hour but we make it to the gate on time (no time for lounge though!).

As we leave the depot a tray-top truck pulls in with one of their vehicles on top: clearly it has been rolled, what a mess. We hope the occupants escaped with their lives.

All up, we have driven 3,024 km in 14 days and some days we didn't drive at all. We have enjoyed our time in Namibia and would definitely return if the budget allows.



But wait, there's more........