Namibia

[netllama]

I recently returned from two weeks in Namibia. When I mention this to most people, they are typically confused, as they've either never heard of
Namibia, or have no idea where it is. Namibia is in southern Africa, along the southwest coast, just northwest of South Africa. Of course, when I
explain that part, their next reaction is often "Africa!? isn't that dangerous?". The answer is no, its not, certainly not any more so than
travelling in any other remote part of the world (like Death Valley).

That said, Namibia was absolutely amazing. The scenery is easily comparable to highlights of some of America's most spectacular
southwestern landscapes. It has massive sand dunes, buttes, broad valleys, and canyons. On top of that, they've got ghost towns from over
a century of diamond mining and nearly all the classic African animals that people often think of (lions, cheetahs, rhinos, elephants, etc), which adds
an extra layer of awesome. Then because Namibia is twice the size of California, yet only has about 2 million people, much of the country is
wide open, empty, undeveloped space, so the scenery is rarely spoiled by anything. The road system is excellent, with a mixture of paved & gravel
roads, which are well maintained & frequently graded. I rented a 4x4 Toyota Hilux (basically the rest of the world's version of the Tacoma), and
drove nearly 3000 miles. But enough rambling, I'll let the photos speak for themselves.



Quiver trees at Fish River Canyon


Bogenfels


Cape Cross pup


Little Vlei


bath time


Solitude


last tree


Sesriem Canyon


Sperrgebiet (restricted zone)


Vingerklip


Vingerklip view


Oryx foragers


Descent into the canyon


Red sand, red road


Fish River overlook


Jackal


Fish River Canyon, the 2nd largest on earth


entering the slot


Hunting for the kill


Kolmanskopp


On the prowl


Ranchland


Dunes at dawn


Garub station


The void


home of the welwitschia


Sperrgebiet view


not rush hour


shy


no limits


bowling in 1909


the Namib reclaims all


jump!


ohai


Deadvlei


elephant x-ing


empty


whatchu lookin at?


sand room


Fish river canyon


The king (Etosha National Park)


me and a lot of salt


For the curious, I've posted over 700 photos from the trip HERE,
and I've written up a detailed day by day trip report (with gpx log) HERE.

[Death Valley Dazed]

Your images triggered feelings of Monument Valley, Death Valley, Joshua Tree and the Grand Canyon. Just spectacular so I can see why you clicked off over three thousand miles exploring. So glad to be human of the surface of this lovely planet. Thanks for sharing!
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Life begins in Death Valley

[TacoLand]

Amazing photos, thanks for sharing the trip with us! You've inspired me to take a look at getting to Namibia at some point in my life. Did you "just" do two weeks in Namibia, or was this an extended trip abroad with other stops?

Any photos of that Hilux?

[gedstrom]

Thanks for the great pictures!

[netllama]

[netllama]

[ETAV8R]

Wonderful stuff. Makes our southwest look tropical.

[MojaveGeek]

Wow, really stunning. I'm envious!
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My Death Valley panoramas:
http://www.media.mit.edu/~geek/dv_panos.html