Hoanib & Aba-Huab Riverbed
Namibia & South Africa, July – August 2024
Day 17 – Jul 27: Puros – Hoanib Riverbed
We arrived early afternoon at our destination, the Hoanib riverbed: a riverbed which is pretty much dry throughout the year, with the exception after some heavy rain during the short rainy season. The riverbed is home to desert adapted elephants and lions, as well as a good diversity of other game. Here we would again camp in the wild, hoping to be able to find the desert lions either at night or early morning, as Mega and I did a couple of years ago.
In the early evening we went for a drive to find desert lions; and although we had seen quite a few tracks in the area, we were not as lucky as a couple of years ago… Maybe tomorrow morning more luck.
Day 18 – Jul 28: Hoanib Riverbed – Warmquelle
Early morning we continued our search for the desert lions; we found and followed plenty of fresh tracks, but I guess luck was not on our side, this time. We then slowly drove eastwards and out of the Hoanib riverbed, back to a large gravel road and on to Sesfontein. Some other seasoned travelers had recommended a little community camping ground a bit further south, Warmquelle: “hot springs”! An excellent plan for a little break from the dusty riverbeds! So the afternoon we spend relaxing at a pretty luxury campsite, with an almost private hot spring right next to our camp.
Day 19 – Jul 29: Warmquelle – Aba-Huab Riverbed
We woke up early again, planning to drive to the Aba-Huab riverbed, a great place to see desert adapted elephants up close. The riverbed also has a lots of other wildlife, including herds of giraffe, lots of ostrich, springbok, oryx, etc. But most anticipated was our planned wild camping site, at an old San bushmen cave, where Mega and I had camped a couple of years ago. This was one of our most favorite camp sites, and we wanted to share that experience with Willem-Jan and Willeke.
But…. We were just back on the gravel road, when Willem-Jan’s car started to have engine problems… Long story short, we had no idea what the problem was, and neither did our rental company when we called them. Upon their advice we towed the car back to Sesfontein, to a little repair shop. But they also had no clue what the problem was. Eventually we decided together with the car rental company to tow the car all the way to Palmwag, where they would deliver a replacement car the next morning… Big bummer, as that meant that we were no longer able to camp at our most anticipated camp site in the Aba-Huab riverbed…!
After a long and slow drive, me towing Willem-Jan’s car for 100 kilometers, we made it finally to the Palmwag Lodge. To make matters worse, the lodge had no more camping spots, and there were no real alternatives. Eventually we ended up at a long-closed community campground, a little further south. No facilities, no water. But a nice view over the unique Palmwag scenery, and a spectacular sunset to lift our mood a little bit.
Day 20 – Jul 30: Palmwag – Aba-Huab Riverbed – Spitzkoppe
Fortunately our car rental company managed to arrive early morning with our replacement car. Excellent service! We moved all the luggage and decided to still visit the Aba-Huab riverbed, on our way to the final destination today, Spitzkoppe.
