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Cheetahs !

 

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// Nikon D7200

Happy morning, after a pressure test of the repaired tire, looks like I did a good job last night and we didn’t lose any pressure overnight !!!
To get out of this place, I asked Mike to walk in front of the van, clearing any metallic debris from the path, we cannot take a chance to have a second flat.
From there, gravel road, a very bumpy one on the way to the mountains with a pass at nearly 2000m. The engine temp went up pretty quickly and I had to slow down the pace to keep it under control. Eiji had the same problem with his landcruiser, it looks like the strong wind in our back is messing with the cooling system in front.
The rest of the road was mostly down hill but in a pretty bad shape, and at a bottom of a ditch, I saw a big bump, too late to slow down the van (there is no way to slow down 2 tons on gravels) and we hit that bump pretty fast, and nearly went airborne ! Alright, I should be more cautious, you really have to anticipate a lot while driving this vehicle on gravel roads.

Next destination is a cheetah farm near Kamanjab. This place was recommended by a few travellers and since the cheetah is one of my favourite animal, we had to check it. Price for camping and having fun with these animals if 350nad per person. The camp itself is very nice, with a large swimming pool, fire pits everywhere and drinking water on site. The rest of the day was another surprise. Once in the farm, we met 3 cheetahs, living among the family. You can touch them, and get some very nice shots, obviously, some rules to respect. After all, they are deadly animals. Never approach them from the front when they lay on the ground, never run, no sun glasses so they can see your eyes. No eye means it’s your back, and they may attack. And most important thing, never let your kid alone running in the area.

While sitting on the ground and taking pictures, one cheetah jumped at me and started licking my arms. I was really scared, but this contact was magical at the same time, and being so intimate with this animal was an unforgettable moment.

A few hours later, we went in a trailer, driving inside a fenced area with wild cheetahs. Here, you obviously don’t step out of the vehicle, and on top of that, it’s feeding time, so don’t be the food ! Seeing these wild animals in the nature was another great experience, and we felt very lucky to be there.
A truly magical day !

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Wildlife !

  // Nikon D7200 We started the day with a visit of Twyfelfontein, famous for rock paintings done by early bushmen. First time doing a tour, and probably last time as well :p We ended up in a group of elderly people, struggling with the heat and the walk on rocks. It took ages to…

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Spitzkoppe

  // Nikon D7200 Time to do groceries and to refuel, and we can now start the adventure aboard mister Fox, en route for the Spitzkoppe mountain ! Not a long drive, about 200kms + 50kms on sandy road, fairly easy with the van. But it’s interesting to see the difference between the roads south…

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Waiting for the van in WBay

  // Nikon D7200 On the way out of Sossusvlei, we spent a night a cricket infested area, and I have to say these bloody creatures are really creepy, and as big as your hand. At night, it’s even worst. You scan your area with the beam of a flashlight, clear the crickets out with…

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Sossusvlei

  // Nikon D7200 Time to get back in the desert. I have to plan and drive more carefully since we don’t have the same fuel economy on gravel roads with our toyota corolla. Refuel at Luderitz, then refuel 100kms later in Aus, before the long gravel road to Sossusvlei. This road gets pretty bad…

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Kolmanskop ghost town

  // Nikon D7200 | -26.63438 : 15.09162 | alt. 1m We didn’t wake up early since the ghost town of Luderitz doesn’t open before 10:30 today. That gives us time for a good breakfast in Luderitz, figure out the plan for today, and do the traditional wifi checkup. A little word about the ghost town….

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Quiver tree forest

  // Nikon D7200 | -26.63438 : 15.09162 | alt. 1m Once in Keetmanshoop, there is not much to see, and one of the very few things to do is visiting the Quiver tree forest and giants playground. They both are located within the same park, and the biggest surprise was at the reception : a…

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Fish river canyon

  // Nikon D7200 | -27.61945: 17.71424 | alt. 693m Mike was welcomed by a massive thunderstorm for his first day in Namibia 🙂 Something we hope won’t happen many times, the volume of water falling down is really impressive and it floods many roads in no time. As long as we don’t have the van, it’s…

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first sand dunes – road to Windhoek

  // Nikon D7200 | -22.55395 : 17.09322 | alt. 1650m Yesterday was pretty tough. I walked to the other side of the city (1 hour walk under the sun) to meet my agent. She’s gonna deal with all the paperwork on the Namibian side to clear my vehicle. On the way, I met a homeless…

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Walvis Bay

  // Nikon D7200 | -22.98041 : 14.48698 | alt. 14m We start this flight with a mistake from Emirates, saying I should claim my bag in Joburg, and go through immigration. That’s a surprise, as long as you make internationnal connections, you should never go to customs. (but happened once in Germany ). So went…

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