Kaokoland & Puros
Namibia & South Africa, July – August 2024
Day 15 – Jul 25: Opuwo – Kaokoland
After our Himba experience it was time again to leave the human world behind, and drive deep into one of Namibia’s most remote and desolate areas, Kaokoland. It’s also one of Namibia’s most spectacular scenery and an absolute thrill to drive through, often along narrow sandy tracks, and sometimes bone- and nerve-breaking rocky trails. Namibia at its best!
Our destination was Marienfluss, close to the border with Angola. This vast place had been on my “to visit” places ever since my first trip to Namibia, for its sheer spectacular beauty and remoteness…
From Opuwo we drove northwards, soon leaving behind the last few Himba settlements. After a few hours driving, following our GPS, I started to have the feeling we were not going where I wanted to go… Our destination was clear on the map, but the GPS indicated “Van Zyl’s Pass” was up ahead. Ouch…! This is the most dangerous mountain pass in Namibia, and only doable for the absolute most experienced off-road drivers. And strictly forbidden with a rental car, simply too dangerous. Lucky I found on time, before it would have been almost impossible to turn around the car…
So we turned around and soon got back on the actually planned road; that turned out to basically be a long pile of sharp rocks, laid out in a long path going over the mountains ahead of us. Not an easy drive, but quite exhilarating! Our little detour meant that we didn’t have enough time anymore to make it to Marienfluss. So after we had cleared the mountain pass we decided to set up camp. The sun was starting to set, and the vast Namib desert plains north of Puros came in sight, a perfect spot for the night.
The sun was soon gone, and temperatures started to drop fast. The sky was filling up with stars, and the Milky Way became increasingly clear, as every night in Namibia! Time for campfire, some wine and a braai.
Day 16 – Jul 26: Kaokoland – Puros (Ngatutanga Campsite)
We enjoyed warming up under a slowly rising sun, before we were heading further down the mountain pass, into the plains ahead of us. We kept looking out for leopards, as somehow we had the impression they must be around. We came across a few Himba girls herding their goats here up in the mountains. They clearly don’t see many tourists here, as they refused to come to our car for some lollipops; so we just tossed them as far as could, for them to pick up. Big smiles!
We slowly closed in on Puros, and in the far distance we could see the green valley of the Hoarusib river; one of very few places in this part of Namibia where water flows underneath the riverbed, but occasionally reaches the surface and provides water for wildlife.
“PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE FOOD WHERE IT CAN BE SEEN OR SMELT BY ELEPHANTS”
Day 16 – Jul 26: Kaokoland – Puros (Ngatutanga Campsite)
We woke up in a thick blanket of mist, covering the entire riverbed. This fog is fairly common this time of year, and blows in all the way from the Atlantic Ocean. So we waited patiently for the fog to clear, as today’s drive to the Hoanib riverbed was something to enjoy under clear skies! I knew this from my first trip to this part of Namibia.
Southwest of Puros the Hoarusib river valley is narrowing, eventually flowing through a narrow gorge. The only way to pass through this gorge by car: following the river!
After the gorge the road splits; continuing through the riverbed all the way to the west coast, and south towards the Hoanib riverbed. We turned south, through some spectacular desert landscape!
