I’m sorry for the rushed nature of this blog post from Namibia. But, as usual, I find myself behind on updating this site. My daily travel vlog has really taken precedent, and for good reason. While this blog has kind of stagnated in it’s growth – and to be honest, I think all blogs around the world have – my vlog is starting to thrive. So, I have to put my energy there first.
Still, I think it’s important to have this thought outlet. This place that I can smash down my words on paper. On video, you can only only capture so much, but written words just seem to have so much more emotional meaning.
So, these are my quick travel diaries from my week in Namibia last month.
The Most Beautiful Landscapes in the World
Without a doubt, Namibia is a landscape photographer’s dream. It’s just full of places that are beyond photogenic. Locations that scream to be shot, and light that always seems to leave them looking stunning.
My trip to Namibia started with a visit to one of my favourite places on the planet: Sossusvlei. This is the home of those famous red dunes you see on all the marketing for Namibia. The dunes here are just phenomenal, and some of the easiest dunes in the world to photograph. Also, you have Deadvlei in the same park. This is another iconic photo location, although shooting it was one of the biggest challenges of the trip, due to the logistics of it all. Watch the video below to see what I’m talking about.
I was a total of 3 days in Sossusvlei, which was the perfect amount of time to capture some cool imagery as well as not feel rushed. These are some of my favourite photos from the trip.
Hitting Jackpots in Etosha
Based on my last visit to Etosha National Park, I decided to only spend pretty limited time in the park on this visit to Namibia. In general, Etosha can be a bit hit or miss. Because of the vasts expanses of land, quite often the wildlife is a really far away. Moreover, there’s a lot of brush in the park, so it can be hard to spot the animals even if they’re close to the roads.
However, even though I spent less that 24 hours in the park, I absolutely hit the wildlife jackpot. I saw lions, rhinos, and all the other usual suspects. And, just before sunset I managed to see a very young leopard very close to my camera lens. Then, at night by the waterhole there were just incredible scenes as a pride of lions hunted a bunch of rhinos and spent the night playing and eating a giraffe kill.
It was absolutely spectacular.
Leaving the park too was pretty fantastic as I managed to see a pack of hyenas on the prowl. The last time I was in Africa, I didn’t see hyenas. It was the one animal I really didn’t spot. So, on this visit I was hoping to see a couple. Of course, when it rains it pours and by the time I left Africa on this trip I had seen about 100 hyenas.
The Caprivi Strip
One of my favourite places on scooter trip down Africa was the Caprivi Strip, so I made it a priority to go back. But, it’s kind of funny how perspectives change depending on how you travel.
On the scooter, it was beautiful driving through the villages, seeing the occasional elephant, and camping by the riverside at Ngepi Camp. This time, I kind of felt like the drive was boring; a lot of that based on the fact that I was driving 120 km/h with the windows up and the A/C on. It’s incredible how being in a car can kind of make you feel like you’re in your own bubble away from the world.
But, being back on the strip was cool. And, it was fun to think back to 3 years ago when it took me 3 days to cross the Caprivi Strip on the scooter. It’s incredible to think that journey was already 3 years ago. It seems like yesterday.
What’s Next
I’m heading to Cuba today, but I still need to get caught up on these blogs before I start this photography workshop. So, look for a couple articles from Zambia, Botswana, South Africa, and Goa, India before I get to that Cuba content.