Namibia. The Africa you have to see!

There are certain stereotypes associated with the countries below Egypt on the map, poverty, infections, crime, bad roads, etc. and obviously these are real problems, but actually there is also an Africa that is safe civil, malaria-free, and most importantly, beautiful and right now. We are in exactly such a place my friends, welcome to Namibia to start, let's take a look at a map to get a better idea of ​​where exactly we are. Namibia is located in southwest Africa, near South Africa, it is one of the least. populated countries in the world and judging by this map it may seem like this place is small, but in reality that couldn't be further from the truth.

Namibia is a vast country with enormous distances between cities. One of the main difficulties in navigating Namibia is that Less than 10 percent of the roads are asphalt, the rest are gravel or off-road, so a special vehicle is needed to travel them. SUVs are the best means of transport here, something like a Toyota Hilux for example, they are very Popular here and ours is a complete caravan, it has big tires and incredible off-road capabilities. It also has a double 140-litre petrol tank, good for a range of 1,200 kilometres. There's also something boxy about the roof that we'll explore later, but the best feature of all is how much gear this thing carries, which is also worth a chat.

The good thing is that this SUV comes with all sorts of little knickknacks and is packed with a lot of goodies to help you stay. Living in the desert, we

have

a refrigerator that runs on a backup battery, all the cutlery and dishes you'll need, a gas tank, a water jug, and last but not least, two spare wheels, just in case. , the best thing is that these guys even teach. They teach you how to change the tires because there is no one to help you in the middle of a desert and it's not like you can call anyone once the training is finished, you fill out the paperwork and pay the rent, I

have

decided to stock up on food and, of course, water, which We'll need a lot now that we're ready to leave.

Oops, I forgot to mention that in Namibia you drive on the left side of the road and the steering wheel is on the right side, so you may get into the passenger seat for the first few days and probably put the wipers on every time you want to use the flashing lights, but you will eventually get used to it. If you are fed up with traffic and people, and just want to drive for pleasure, then Namibia is for you. These are long distances and empty roads. I mean, you can drive for over 40 minutes and not see a single car.

Furthermore, this is a country with a very small population, in fact, it ranks second. After Mongolia, in terms of population density, second from the bottom of the list is Namibia, which is larger than Turkey and yet its population is only two and a half million people. The population density here is two and a half people per square kilometer. comparison Singapore has more than seven thousand people per square kilometer, this is the best place for coronavirus social distancing. We'll be spending the next two weeks on the road and I've planned quite an extensive trip so we can see the best of what Namibia has to offer.

I hope this episode turns into a good old-fashioned travel vlog where I pass on everything I see to you. The first thing you notice on the roads of Namibia are the fences on both sides of the road that stretch for kilometers. and they are practically there everywhere you go, most of the country is taken up by farms, so in addition to setting boundaries, these fences also protect the animals from reaching the road and this place is full of them, you can practically Study the local fauna just off the road. The signs and animals are really everywhere here, shortly after taking off I came across a group of baboons causing a ruckus right in front of me.

By the way, animals are one of the main reasons why you shouldn't drive at night here. that everything that surrounds you here is a little different from what your eyes are used to and one thing becomes evident from the first moment this is Africa since I was very tired after my flight I could only do 300 kilometers the first day and then I checked into the hotel but still caught a glimpse of my first African sunset. This is my first sunset in Namibia and it is unreal. I can't even imagine what's next, but now I need to take a quick break just to tell you. uh today's sponsor nordvpn by the way this is not

namibia

i'm in uh norway right now you can see the fjords up there you can also switch between countries with one click to install nordvpn every time you provide the your credit card details, order tickets or connect to a public Wi-Fi network, someone can steal your data, but you can protect all your online activities with NordVPN.

Technically it replaces your IP address with an IP of some server in the country of your choice to find out more follow the link in the description and get four months free when you buy a two year subscription there are more different discounts everything is there now it is The time to return to Namibia the next morning I left early before dawn and now I want to tell you a little about What it means to me to travel through Namibia is the road and believe me, this is exactly what I love to drive, it's like a meditation for me and despite how tired I was last night, I started to feel rejuvenated when I left early in the morning. and I drove through places I had never seen before, watching the sunrise unfold over me was like pressing a reset button and with each new mile everyday problems became simply irrelevant, you just hold the steering wheel as your thoughts take you, oh and given that Namibia is all about long distances with not much else to do around it, it is an ideal place for the so-called automotive meditation, you drive and relax, okay, here's a story.

Yesterday I checked into the hotel, I went down to dinner and then I started to realize that the people around me were speaking a language that I had never heard before it was a language that didn't sound like I had heard it I just heard it fascinating the language is called Namo and a lot of the people speak it here it's part of a very rare language group specific to this region in some places in Tanzania and instead of familiar sounding consonants they make these unique clicking sounds that you won't find anywhere else in the world .

I expected this from some tribes, but not in all of Namibia, especially in the north, they speak this. Languages ​​everywhere at gas stations, in restaurants, in hotels. Incredible. There are approximately 30 languages ​​spoken in Namibia and all of them are quite unique. Therefore, to understand each other, people from different regions of the country need to find a common language. Wouldn't you know? there is one what is their native language but they speak together in english english english

africa

ns the first common language is afrikaans live is 90 dutch the second most common language is english it has an official status here which makes

namibia

much easier to sailing for a foreigner as everyone speaks English meanwhile we reach the first milestone of our journey, the forest of quiver trees, the bushmen ancestors used to make arrows with them, hence the name, everything is so simple, the quiver trees look quite strange and the most interesting fact about them is that Actually, these are not trees but aloe plants and another thing I must mention about this forest are these giant nests that look more like birds' bedrooms.

The most interesting thing is that all these bird bedrooms are built by small weaver birds. You can see these huge nests all. about namibia look at this nest here it's not even the largest the nest can reach eight meters long and contain up to 500 individual nests which in turn house hundreds of birds at a time very good with ornithology let's get back to the main gravel road I know It sounds a little treacherous, but the roads here aren't that bad, let's take a second to talk about the different types of roads in Namibia, so check this out right now.

We're driving on a gravel road and the camera is not even shaking and you can go over 100 kilometers per hour, which is 60 miles per hour, like it's a German highway. I wish we had gravel roads like these at home, here in Namibia, asphalt is something you should forget about. and try to get used to the idea that ninety percent of your time you will be driving on roads like these and in reality, these gravel roads are groomed and graded, which makes the ride quite comfortable. The only disadvantage is the dust that surrounds you from oncoming traffic and blocks your view for a few seconds and you can't see anything, that's why the speed limit is set at 80 kilometers per hour and this is controlled by the car itself , there is an alarm in the car. which starts beeping every time you go over the speed limit right now we're going a hundred kilometers an hour and it starts beeping it's like it's saying buddy slow down which is really cool because it brings you back to reality when I start Daydreaming leaving behind the Kalahari Desert, one of the two deserts on our route, we get closer to the south, which takes me to the next checkpoint, a place you don't want to miss in Namibia, see the largest canyon in Namibia.

Africa and, according to some. sources of the second largest canyon in the world this canyon extends more than 160 kilometers in length and reaches more than 500 meters deep. This is the trail that takes you to the bottom of it, but due to flash flooding and extreme heat that can reach up to 50 degrees Celsius in Summer trail passes are only issued during the African winter, which is from May to September. As you may have experienced the canyons are often compared to the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Sometimes these types of comparisons do not seem appropriate, but in this case I really see many similarities, the bent horseshoe, for example, looks a lot like that of the grand cannon.

You will never forget the first time you see the Grand Canyon, at least that's how it was for me. Arguably this one might not be that amazing but the fact that it exists here in namibia is pretty impressive, overall the fish river canyon is a great place even though I had to go off my route and spend half a day to get here, that's why I didn't bother going to the hotel, I enjoyed these The trees are shaking so much that it made me want to stay here for the night and it's about time I show you which is the shelf on the roof for this box.

It transforms into a tent that also fits. It's like a transportable house that you always carry with you. making it possible to spend the night almost anywhere. This is really convenient for a trip like this. I love this. It only took seven minutes to install. I really hope it will be comfortable to sleep where it is on the roof. Don't get trampled by an elephant at night as there are many wild animals here in Africa. It's safer to sleep on the roof of your car a little later at night. I was greeted by a majestic African sunset nestled in the quiver. forest of trees your feet there is no turning back now this love has just begun so sure of everything I hope you didn't think I was going to go straight to bed to a place like this of course I can't this area is very well known location for astrophotography workshops is not so crowded these days due to covid, the things you see here are amazing and once again we will try to take some photographs of the starry sky and this time I have a good feeling about it.

Wow, I know you guys are probably tired of my adventures in astrophotography, but this time I just can't let it go and I've located the right spot with a quiver tree. I think it's exactly what I need a few configurations later. We took the first choice, it came out a little dark as the actual tree wasn't lit, but I managed to find a quick solution. I'm not trying to brag, but this might be the best photo of the night sky I've ever seen. taken, I'm proud of myself guys, it's the first time I managed to capture such a bright milky way.

It was a small victory. It was a little cold at night, but sleeping in a tent with a flat floor is pure bliss and I mean simply. Look at this morning and these cool colors, in short the quiver tree forest is a world class place and you absolutely have to spend the night here if you ever come to Namibia so I made a visit to a gas station which took me a long time time. time, given the size of the 140 liter gas tanks, I probably should have even planned ahead, let's continue our journey towards the coast in the western part of the country.

I'm tempted to describe these landscapes as alien or Martian, but that feels a bit cliché, believe me, it's an extremely beautiful place where you can enjoy all kinds of amazing views around you 24/7 . About 300 kilometers later we reached the border of theNamib Desert, which is where you start to see partially demolished houses. On the side of the road they look absolutely surreal in the middle of the sandy landscape, like this deserted train station for example, these places are currently being serviced, but if you stop, everything will quickly turn into sand dunes. In this section of the road we can clearly see what the desert is like.

Going over the 50 mph speed limit tells us it's not the safest place to drive given how sandy the road gets. Sometimes the desert never stops trying to take back the territory we humans took, and sometimes it succeeds. The best example of this is the deserted town of Kulmanskop, it is the most famous ghost town in Namibia and it just so happened that I was the last visitor to the town that day and all the staff were gone. Coleman Scope was built at the beginning. of the last century, in the days of the diamond rush in Namibia, it had a population of a thousand people, there was a school, a restaurant, a library and even a concert hall.

Mining ended, people started leaving in 1956, This place was completely deserted and became a ghost town. Honestly, I feel like I'm in a PlayStation game and my mission is to pass through a deserted town. I'm getting goosebumps right now, oh yeah. and most of the doors are still open, it feels very eerie here, the wind rocks the structures and you constantly get the feeling that you are not alone, although we know it's just the wind because I'm the only one in town who feels it. A super strange man once people left the city became prey to the desert and sand storms that happen quite frequently here, as a result sand is everywhere even though the city has already been cleaned many Sometimes for tourists, in most cases, the sand reaches all the way to the top. to the roofs, but there are also some surviving structures similar to the pre-peat Coleman Scop, showing how Mother Nature takes back her belongings after people leave, and again part of this town has survived the test of time , even today some of the houses still show how rich they are. and prosperous had once been part of a desert coleman scp is incredibly picturesque and if you arrive at the right time the sun, sand and shadows turn it into an unimaginable and absolutely surreal painting it may sound a bit strange but I love visiting deserted places So and Coleman Scope is now on my list along with Fukushima and Chernobyl, near this ghost town, there is a lively little town called Luderetz with a population of 20,000 located on the Atlantic coast of Namibia.

The surprising architecture with its colorful houses makes you feel. like you are somewhere in Bavaria, definitely not in Namibia, then Namibia is a former German colony and there are traces of German culture throughout the country. Furthermore, seven percent of Namibia's population, which is approximately 150,000 people, are white Namibians of European origin. descendants of German, Dutch and British settlers, it seems that many people of that ethnicity live here, often living in wealthier neighborhoods with high fences and live wire, however all things considered Namibia is a very safe place and the locals themselves I was told that South Africa is much more dangerous, which says a lot, overall the country is very civilized, full of nice people, great restaurants and lately it is becoming a major tourist attraction, which once again makes worth visiting.

Let's go back to the city for now, there's something. very special about the plunder and as surprising as it may seem, penguins also live here just a few kilometers from the desert. Well, the bad news is that there are no penguins, I mean at the moment, but even here in luderitz, on the penguin island, it is possible to meet Africans. Penguins, that's how it is guys, yes, penguins live in Namibia too, not today, although the next morning I hit the road once again and left the asphalt behind, we have a 500 kilometer off-road stretch in front of us and is where the fun really begins.

First of all, the landscape started to change and I also started to see some unexpected things, guys, look at this, see those watermelons, they're practically growing right next to the road, crazy, just hanging in the middle of a desert, about seven hours later. We have reached our destination guys, we are finally here, welcome to the oldest desert on planet Earth. The desert of the name is more than 80 million years old and was here even in the days of the Jurassic period. I didn't find any dinosaurs, but there were other animals. like this herd of oryx, so they made up for it, they are distinguished by their sharp and very long horns that can reach up to one and a half meters in length.

Oryx are very modest animals and can survive without water for long periods of time. They obtain water from food and due to their resistance, they are even part of the national coat of arms of Namibia. However, it's not just antelopes that live in the Namib Desert, zebras do too. Okay, obviously I'll see them a lot during the trip and we. I'll probably get a little used to them, but this first time is a moment of pure magic. I mean, you're driving around and then you see them so close, like 70 meters away, and in the wild, just as cool as I later predicted. hundreds of them, but it was my first encounter with these striped beauties by complete accident in the desert that became truly memorable.

Now let me introduce you to the surrounding area. This is the Suzu Plateau, famous for its red sand dunes, which are the largest in the world and I must say that they are absolutely hypnotic apparently they contain a lot of iron that rusts over thousands of years and this is what gives these dunes colors so dark and deep that I would love to go to the top of one, but it's currently four o'clock and this place is boiling hot, it's probably best to do it in the morning, but there are other interesting places here too, like this Esrium canyon.

It is not as large as the Fish River Canyon, but it is still one of the main attractions in the region. Beautiful place, of course, but I think the kamikaze will really open it up for us. The canyon is narrow at times, only two meters wide, but its origins are what's really impressive. This place has been excavated by the Sushab River for more than two years. millions of years and the reason why the river is not seen at the moment is because it is only formed when it rains becoming deep with a strong current in a matter of minutes and it is thanks to this river that even during the dry season the animals can still find water deposits at the bottom of the canyon, the second interesting site is known as fairy circles and as the name suggests, it is full of circles on the ground, there are not many of them in the flay of suzu, but namibia is full of fields that are Covered with those circles from the air, it looks like the result of a carpet bombing, but again they are just circles on the ground.

I can't tell you why this happens because even scientists have no idea there are a couple of different theories about the origin of these circles the first theory is that these circles are formed by plants fighting for water in the dry climate the other hypothesis is that the circles are formed by termites there is no agreed upon explanation for why the circles remain very much like I decided to spend the night at the c-section camp and it is definitely not your usual camping spot. There are wildebeest walking around like they own the place. To be precise, they are blue wildebeests that are quite common in Namibia.

I also met the South African Familia who drove his modified Toyota Land Cruiser. This car includes everything you need to travel comfortably, including solar panels on the roof and even a washing machine in the back, so my new friends just told me that this is their washing machine. I didn't believe it apparently you put your clothes in water and washing powder and everything mixes and washes while driving on these roads this is pure genius and this is how my night ended, it's 6am. and I'm in line to enter the Souza National Park. We are on our way to see the best-known site in the country.

Alright, next is the hardest part of the trail, it's only three miles long, but the chances of getting stuck in the sand are high. quite high, we could take a bus that arrives in an hour or we could try to do it ourselves, which is exactly what we are going to do, so be prepared for unpredictable guys, most people lower their tire pressure, but I decided I'll stay with the 4x4. mode and shortly after starting it became clear that I was wrong, the sand is very deep here, which makes the car impossible to drive. The most important thing is to never stop moving because that's when you get stuck, yes the look on my face describes the drive. perfectly, but I managed to get through, that was great, but don't even think about coming here without a 4x4, you will surely get stuck and now, the Namib dunes stretch for many miles into the Atlantic Ocean and at dawn they don't. they just look pretty, they are incredibly beautiful, the mix of the morning light in the light and dark shadow draws absolutely stunning gradients and it is definitely worth witnessing everything seems so small compared to these huge dunes, the people, even the cars, the largest dune is more than 380 meters high and below is the most famous site in namibia deadly literally means dead swamp it is a small clay plateau with dozens of dead trees these are acacias and according to some sources they have been here for thousands of years ago there was a river here a long time ago, the same river that created the canyon we saw before, that's how the trees used to get water until the constantly moving dunes changed the flow of the water and left the trees to bake under the scorching sun.

I haven't seen water for years and now it looks more like cobblestones and it's because of the dry climate that the trees didn't rot but dried out. I hadn't seen anything like this before. Deadplay is incredibly unique. It is better to come here at dawn. When the shadow of the nearby dune slowly reveals the plateau, it is at that moment that the valley and all its fantastic mix of colors makes it seem like we are on a different planet. The truth is, I did not expect this place to be so amazing. It is part of each brochure. from Namibia, which usually means it won't be as good and you might be disappointed, but with Deadplay the opposite was true.

This place is really giving me goosebumps. I saw another interesting local animal on my way back. It is the springbok antelope, also known. As leaping antelopes, they can jump up to three meters high and reach speeds of 90 kilometers per hour. They are very fast. Remember when I said that some roads in Namibia are in the middle of nowhere. I was talking about roads like this one, which is pretty empty in all directions. but like the rest of namibia, there is beauty in that too. As night approached I arrived at a town called Walvis Bay and came across the ocean and the perfect weather changed quickly in the morning but that is common here so for the next place.

In theory we could drive there but the chances of getting stuck in the sand are too high, so I decided to play it safe and take an experienced driver. His name is Hans, your ancestors from Germany, we are from the 19th century, really, yes. Wow, they came here in 1876 as missionaries and Hans' car is apparently better at driving in sand. First stop is Walvis Bay lagoon, it is known as the place where pink flamingos come to feed and in case you didn't know, flamingos sleep with one foot up which is what they also do so as not to freeze in the cold waters of the Atlantic and while they sleep, these guys face the wind and rest on it in a basically way, flamingos are like meteorological veins and that's what the locals trust they know.

What direction is the wind coming from? For us we took a route that goes right next to the ocean. I must say that driving so close to the water is an incredible experience. Seagulls. The sand of the ocean. I love it. Have you noticed that this sand? it's a little red this sand contains rubies and hans told me that it's usually places like this where people find diamonds where there is red sand like this there are probably diamonds nearby and it's not just diamonds that people find here in the middle of the trip Hans jumped out of the car and started digging.

He did this about 10 times in different places until he finally found what he was looking for. We did it. We found a gecko. We met Jack the gecko. Interestingly, these guys don't drink, but rather lick. eyes because that's where all the moisture accumulates, so this is how they get the water and they don't have eyelids either. After a quick chat with Jack we release it, then lower the tire pressure and hit the road once again and now the best part begins: we have the ocean on one side, the dunes on the other side and they become every ever higher.

Actually, this is a placequite dangerous because if the waters rise too high, it is almost impossible to get in or out of here, only the road. It opens at low tide and you have to constantly watch for waves or else you could get stuck for a long time in this area, one guy came and went over the hill and got stuck and it took him half an hour to get there. Seat took his car, we picked it up the next day, about two kilometers north, half an hour later we started climbing the dunes, it's something I've never done before and although it doesn't give me much adrenaline, believe me when I say it took my breath away. several times this is the postcard side of the country where the name desert meets the atlantic ocean for me this is the number one place in namibia what a unique place you have huge dunes that go far beyond the horizon on one side and the endless ocean on the other side, this place makes you feel so small and if you ever come to Namibia make sure you visit this place.

Sandwich Harbor is my recommendation. Okay, we have a tough day tomorrow and that's it. Why have I decided to spend the night in a beautiful place? Yes, I know, I say "beautiful" a lot, but it's because this country is full of it. See it for yourself as I unpack, it's honestly crazy. I was amazed as soon as I saw it from afar, you just drive through endless valleys of the Namib Desert and then you see this: the peak of this mountain rises 670 meters above the desert and is so big that its shadow extends to about few kilometers below it, this is Spitzkope mountain and It is often called the African Matterhorn because of the resemblance, what can I say?

I love sleeping near Matterhorn. The views from the top are simply amazing, but the best part is that there is a campground right at the end and it is the most beautiful campground I have ever seen. I've encountered it throughout my trip and the best thing is that unlike other campsites I've stopped at before, this one really puts you in the wilderness, you may have neighbors nearby but you can choose not to see or hear them in In short, it is a sociopath's dream. I spent most of my nights in campgrounds and rarely stopped at hotels.

It was incredible. I mean, who needs hotels when you have a tent on the roof of your car in these beautiful views? In my opinion, the whole outdoor tent situation is an integral part of the Namibian experience, making it truly vibrant and satisfying early in the morning. I decided to conquer the top with the help of a kamikaze, of course, but then things went a little wrong, I think I just lost. kamikaze, I flew it to the top and then it disconnected and disappeared, luckily the glasses I use record everything I see, so that's when I flew to the top and by the way, just look at these incredible views, then this would have been the most legendary dive in history, but then I decided to do one more round and this is where the kamikaze died.

The mountain blocked the signal and that was the last time I saw him. I guess the mountain just didn't want to be filmed. I well and he sacrificed himself in the name of art many miles later I decided to stop at a car wash and guys, look at this, I found a hair salon and a car wash, it was like dinner and a movie for the locals of Africa, very convenient, you can have a haircut while you wash the car the further we travel north the greater the social difference first there were nice neighborhoods with palm trees then smaller houses and then shelters where people collected firewood to make a fire holy ladies and gentlemen, you are witnessing the the largest seal colony in the world is called Cape Cross Seal Reserve and has a seal population of approximately 250,000 yes it sounds impossible let me show you from other angles seals are everywhere and the colony is extends far beyond the horizon.

About the place, including the water, it's a lot like Cancun in high season, but without the tacos and to really immerse you in the moment, I want you to hear unique noises, right, it sounds like everyone is feeling a little sick. Like any budget oceanside resort, these guys strive to tan, sleep and relax as much as they can, taking up virtually every inch of this national park. It's all nice and pretty, but this colony of steel causes some pretty serious problems. Each seal can eat up to eight. percent of their body weight per day, which is about three kilograms of fish, so multiply three kilograms by 250,000 seals and you get a mass fish extinction event in this area.

Male seals can mate with many females which will eventually end up turning the colony into a metropolis, if no action is taken, I spent the night in the national park and after a short morning drive I reached an intriguing place called the coast. of the skeletons, you will have to fill out some paperwork and leave your contact details to enter and only then will they let you take all the precautions? They are there for security reasons. The skeleton coast is completely deserted for miles and miles ahead. Not a good place for a car to break down.

The skeleton coast is a lifeless piece of land that stretches for many miles. its time has claimed countless lives there is usually a lot of fog here because it is where the hot desert air meets the cold air coming from the atlantic the coast also has strong currents and rocks the lucky survivors of the shipwrecks that have taken place here over the years Throughout the story they then die in the sand as there are no signs of life for miles, people still find bones in the sand but it is the wreck that this place is known for.

They are difficult to spot as most of the wreckage has been consumed by sand, but The Shipwreck of Edward Boland is a prime example. It is a German transport ship that ran aground here at the beginning of the last century. Looking at this sand-covered wreck, it's hard to imagine you ever sailed, but remember that the desert never stops moving and can even overtake you. In the ocean territory today this shipwreck is located 500 meters from the coast and within a few decades it will be completely consumed by the Namib Desert. The trawler I tried to leave as quickly as I could because of how depressing the place is and then I came across this strange little plant that looked dead but is actually very alive.

This plant known as Velvicia mirabilis thrives in places where plants generally cannot grow by obtaining moisture from fog. It also has a life expectancy of more than 2000 years. Okay, plants apparently lions live here too. Can you believe it's some kind of miracle that they are here? They are called coastal lions and somehow these guys learn to survive in the desert among the sand, they feed on antelope and even seals. It's unfortunate that we haven't seen any, but I think if you had a whole day to explore, it's not unreasonable to believe you would. See a little, the biology of northern Namibia is quite different from the southern part of the country.

It is full of lush vegetation, which creates a beautiful landscape. I just saw a giraffe for the first time in my life, watching a draft in nature. It's super nice, my plan was to leave the national parks with animals for the desert, but it just so happens that they are everywhere, you just drive and you can see them in every direction, but it's still worth visiting the national parks. you can see almost extinct animals and it is where you can find the so-called big five of Africa, those are elephants, buffalos, lions, leopards and rhinos, so how about we go look for these guys equipped with a lot of patience and a little luck ?

Let's look for photographs. They checked me and asked me to leave my drone at the entrance, which is standard practice now as we enter Namibia's largest national park called Tasha Natasha. It covers both the park and the salt flat, which is its main feature. This place is huge to give you a little context, it's as big as Slovenia. Can you imagine a park the size of a country? Although I only plan to spend a couple of days here, I'm sure you could probably spend a week exploring it. I hope we have enough time. Atasha is home to 144 types of mammals, 340 types of birds and a wide variety of other wildlife that surrounds you in every direction.

In fact, the national park is so large that there is a seasonal migration of animals within the park. so the animals migrate through it depending on the season now let me show you some photographs that I managed to take on my first day in Natasha. This park is known for its population of 1500 which made finding them really easy, then came the news and oryx but we have already seen them etasha is abundant in birds but as my knowledge of birds is relatively non-existent my attention was focused in this little one, the black-backed jackal and a cute squirrel-looking squirrel, right?

The national park is over. 20 water wells, half of which are artificial and the rest natural. It's where all the animals go, resulting in almost guaranteed sightings. Some water holes are located right next to campsites, making it easy to spot animals while sitting on a bench behind a fence. This is how I saw the kudu antelope known for its strange twisted horns. The male species love to fight. I guess it's like arm wrestling for them. wait, there's a rhino there. I can't make it out from here. Oh my goodness, it really is. a crazy rhino, I think it's the white rhino and they are super rare.

We are very lucky and luck is really on our side because you are looking at both the white and the black rhino, the largest of their kind that they can weigh. to five tons and although they may have vision problems, their sense of smell is extraordinary. Can I understand that this guy just realized something despite being a dying breed? Their population in Natasha continues to grow slowly as they are safe here. These are all interesting things. animals that I managed to spot on my first day I would have stayed longer but the gates closed at six because driving is not allowed here at night, so let's go back to the camp.

Natasha has a few campsites on site that are completely fenced. and protected from wild animals with live wires, I spent about 40 minutes sitting by the camp waterhole hoping to see more animals, but unfortunately no one came and I returned to set up my tent and prepare for the night, but then I had another luck time and I saw an elephant approaching the watering hole and a lioness on the other side that you can't see. This shows that at Natasha you can see animals without even having to leave camp. I think this is enough for the first day.

Mistakes were made, but tomorrow I will come more prepared. I bought some maps and studied all the different water holes in the park as well as the animals most commonly found there, and most importantly, I got up early. I think I understand it now. This photo hunting game is like a version of the lottery where you try to get a great photo of an animal, if you do it the right way your chances of getting the photo first increase, you have to get up very early because all the Animals are only active before lunch, then it is too hot and most animals sleep in the shade.

The morning is when you have the best chance to see wildlife, so I waited for the park gate to open and then headed straight to a waterhole. Let's say it's quite a tedious process but at the same time it's extremely captivating and going back to the lottery analogy, you bet on a well of water and then you wait to see how it plays out and that morning I had a winning streak, our first success. It is a lion. It's so close to my car right now, about 10 meters away. This is unreal. When you meet a lion for the first time, you realize that it really is a true king of its environment.

He doesn't even notice you. It just looks good. through you, this is really scary even though the doors are locked and the windows open, when he gets closer, your heart beats faster, the lion did not come alone, they live in prides that are like big families and, Curiously, it is the females who hunt more. Males, on the other hand, focus on mating and protecting the particular territory from other lions. Each pride usually has a few males, this one had two, they stayed for a while and then the king left with his mate, but he waits, there are more.

I saw King of the Jungle, shit, watching this was another first for me and it was just a monumental moment that was completely life-changing. Apparently other people saw elephants at the waterhole 30 minutes ago and to find them I need to try to think. Like them, if I were an elephant, what would I do after drinking some water and relaxing in the shade? Well, let's look for trees and elephants under them. You won't believe it, but this is exactly where I found them, right under the trees. where they were protected from the heatThey are found with the Atasha elephants, they are considered the largest elephants in the world and need to eat a lot to maintain that status.

Each elephant consumes between 100 kilograms and 300 kilograms of plants per day. This is the exact opposite of seeing elephants at the zoo. Here you have to find them and you only see them when they are very close, which makes it difficult, but when you find them it's like coming across a nice, precious prize, as you probably can. Imagine, I loved the photo safari. This ended up being: I want more. I managed to see three animals of the big five in a day and a half and I have a feeling I would have seen leopards too if I had more time.

Happy with the result, perhaps you can argue that safaris in Kenya or Tanzania are better, but a national park of this size and with such a large number of animals is a great victory for this country. I spent most of my time traveling and at the campsites, you must admit it would have been a shame not to spend a good amount of time at the campsites with a vehicle like mine, but at the end of the trip I decided to run a lodge in a national park to that you don't I'm under the wrong impression that Namibia is all about camping, look at it carefully, I was falling asleep and waking up to the sound of the baboons that live here.

Rhinos also live here, but I heard more of the baboons in this part of the country. Quite tropical, which is a big contrast to the Namibia we saw at the beginning of the episode, it's amazing and guys, I need to show you the place I'm in now in more detail. I targeted it as my last stop, it's called the Waterburg Plateau and it's stunning, check it out, it has its own table mountain, this region is covered in vegetation which is such a drastic change from Namibia we were in previously in the first part of the trip, really great and now to the summary, since I have seen that Namibia is an absolute GM for tourists and not only in Africa, I am talking on a global scale, it is a country with an extremely diverse nature, an interesting culture, unique places that you won't see anywhere else and that will surely make your Instagram stand out.

With all the pictures, the best part is that Namibia is all about driving exploration and the challenges that come with traveling across the country with a tent on the roof of a van is really cool, the only nuance that is worth it to mention is that, although it may seem like all the sites are next to each other, in reality they are not. I traveled more than 4,000 kilometers during this trip and it took me about 11 days. It's six or seven hours of driving a day at least and it's really difficult. You can come with friends or a partner and you will have a fantastic experience and you will definitely learn to love it to pieces, so when you are ready, take two or three weeks, come to Namibia, rent a jeep, spend the night in campsites and absolutely enjoy this.

Impressive country, travel guys because it is still worth it. The best for you.