True stories of travelers: how I got to Africa, where I spent the night in the desert and hated fur seals

There are fewer and fewer new, interesting and exciting countries you can visit without a visa. Sri Lanka will soon be removed from this list, Thailand has already gone too far, there is no desire to go to Cuba due to poverty and famine, Turkey has long become the main transit hub and leaves nothing unsaid, Egypt has lost the status of a country with excellent services in a few years , South America is far away and Emirates has become a distant suburb of Moscow.

But Africa is cheap, interesting and yet not the most ordinary continent, which can still surprise experienced travelers and even scare the inexperienced. The Fashion Vibes writer Anya Baturina disagrees with the classic Korney Chukovsky’s words:

not possible

don’t go to africa

Go hiking in Africa!

Of course there are sharks, gorillas, crocodiles, rhinos and elephants, but if you live and eat in the right places, they won’t bite you. And all this without SMS, registration, visa and vaccinations.

Anya Baturina, author of the Telegram channel “Gastrology”

Why should we go?

Of course, for the sake of impressions, exotic meats, cosmic beauty of photos and the envy of others. If you are interested in at least one of the suggested options, Africa is definitely worth going.

In Namibia, see how the Namib Desert kisses the Atlantic Ocean, red sand dunes like in Timothée Chalamet posters, skeletons of sunken ships, tens of thousands of fur seals, wild animals, unexpectedly stylish cities in the middle of the desert and crowds of German tourists.

And in Zimbabwe – Victoria Falls, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the fourth widest and one of the largest waterfalls in terms of water flow in the world. And also the surprisingly clean town of Victoria Falls, $100,000,000,000,000 (100 trillion) dollars in bills and very annoying “artists” trying to sell their art from scratch.

So why do we go here and there at the same time? Very simple; to save time. If you are not a stubborn traveler who wants to trample every corner of a new country, but are ready to limit yourself to the most beautiful, large-scale and impressive attractions, it is ideal to combine a trip to the waterfall. along with exploring the desert.

Namibia

Namibia’s natural attractions stretch for hundreds of kilometers along the Atlantic coast, and a short trip is definitely not enough to see everything. But a few days of intense driving will be enough to get a feel for the legendary Namib Desert.

I flew to the incredible and unexpectedly chic town of Walvis Bay without listening to the guides and was very pleased. Tourists are often sent to neighboring Swakopmund. It retains its colonial atmosphere and even some Bavarian aristocracy, whose status is supported by German tourists. But it’s clear that Swakop is tired and looks good in just a few streets. There are several museums, well-groomed squares and a park, but unlike it, Walvis Bay looks more modern, more concise, much more stylish, and colonies of pink flamingoes live right there.

You’d expect to see such single-story but quaint houses anywhere in America, not just in a port city in the middle of the desert. Accommodation there is one and a half to two times cheaper than in the more popular Swakopmund, which is more popular with tourists, and the journey between them takes only half an hour by car.

Sand dunes without Timothée Chalamet

Where the city limits end, the adventure begins: a trip to the famous Sandwich Harbor. By the way, unfortunately the name of the region has nothing to do with sandwiches. It’s best to join a tour for $125 and not try to be a hero yourself, because to move through the dunes licking the ocean waves, you need a 4×4 jeep with low wheels and the confident hand of an experienced driver. This journey will take approximately four hours. Along the way, the guide-driver will tell you about the salt mined at the city border and sent for export, about the local flora and fauna, and will even show you a trick performed with an iron in the sand. And then it will allow you to climb to the top of huge yellow sand dunes on your own feet (spoiler: it will not work), ride them like the coolest roller coasters and have a romantic picnic among water and sand with sparkling waters. wine, oysters… as well as ice cold beer, chicken kebabs, egg salad sandwiches, battered fish and desserts.

thousands of fur seals

Another natural attraction that can be reached in a few hours by car is the fur seal colony at Cape Cross. While coming here from the city, you may come across one of the Zeila shipwrecks off the coast. It’s relatively new, dropped in 2008. No one died, so you can admire the ruins without fear or regret.

Cape Cross Seal Sanctuary was officially opened in 1968. Be prepared for conflicting impressions! Seeing thousands of seals in the wild is impressive, but smelling their scent is overwhelming. It’s a mixture of the sweet smell of a dirty homeless person, stagnant urine, rotting corpses, rotting salty cockroaches – and it’s the stinkiest experience of my life. In all social networks where I looked at bloggers’ cute photos with these animals, no one showed how sickening the smell there was. Seals periodically make barking sounds and move menacingly in your direction on their paws-fins, so you need to hold your nose with your hand and carefully look around with your eyes. By the way, this aroma penetrates into the car even through closed windows, so on the way home you will not be able to get rid of the memories for a while.

A hotel in the desert and where the best photos were taken

Perhaps the most well-known place in Namibia is the Sossusvlei valley with its red sand dunes and Deadvlei with its thousand-year-old dead trees. This is what appeared on desktop screensavers. It takes forever to drive there from Walvis Bay—about five hours one way across the desert, so you should definitely plan on an overnight stay or two.

I can recommend We Kebi – the best hotel in the area, but not in terms of stars, but in terms of infrastructure. It has its own ice pool, wonderful villas, a good restaurant, and most importantly, it feeds the wild animals that come very close to the buildings for breakfast and dinner. There is even a special sanctuary for observing rhinos within frightening distance of a few outstretched arms. Of course, you can’t run to take photos and pet antelopes, zebras and rhinos, but you can torment yourself with Zoom on your phone and no, no, you can touch an adorable “pet” zebra that has been living here and coming since birth. For refreshments to hotel owners several times a day. It is the most arrogant animal, which is not afraid to wander around the verandas of houses, rustle candy wrappers in bags and impress tourists with its hungry eyes.

It is better to start your journey from We Kebi to Sossusvlei between 5 and 5:30 in the morning; It will take one and a half to two hours to arrive at the national park just after dawn. It’s a smart idea to climb the 1,000-foot Big Daddy Dune, burn 500 calories in the hellish heat, and run through the howling sands to land in a valley of beautiful dead trees. About 900 years ago the dunes came here, blocking the river so the trees dried out but didn’t rot, so they’ve been there black and extremely photogenic for about 1000 years. Prepare your phone in advance for the fact that more than a million photos will appear in it, because it is impossible to stop it, and thanks to these cosmic landscapes all photos will turn out perfect. After Sossusvlei it is best to spend another night in a deserted hotel, because the return journey will again take five boring hours.

Zimbabwe and Victoria Falls

The most convenient way to fly to Victoria Falls is from Victoria Falls Airport. I was lying about not having a visa, but passport control at the airport takes five minutes. Moreover, you can choose the Zimbabwe visa or the KAZA Visa; valid in both Zimbabwe and Zambia. Later I will tell you why this is necessary.

Victoria Falls is a 20-minute drive from the most populated area, home to only 30 thousand people. On your way to the hotel, you are surprised to realize that you are in Africa and there is not an extra piece of paper or cigarette butt lying around. According to the taxi driver, the residents of this place understand the tourist attraction and therefore take care to make the visit more enjoyable.

The walk to the waterfall will take only 15-20 minutes, during which you can meet monkeys and local “artists” who will definitely try to sell you at least something: a pebble, a wooden figurine, a sun hat, a trillion local dollar bill or buy something on the way back promise to receive. Be careful with such promises, Zimbabweans have excellent memories!

How much does it cost and when is the best time to go?

The entrance fee to the national park with waterfalls for a tourist is 50 dollars / euro / pound (it is more profitable to pay in dollars). There is a cafe, souvenir shops, toilets and signs for observation points on site. Start with the leftmost one, so the pleasure will increase and you will not ruin the most interesting thing for yourself.

Despite what the guidebooks on the Internet say, it is best to go during the high water season, that is, the local summer and autumn (January to May for us). During this period, the waterfall fills with maximum water, roars loudest and looks impressive. Yes, there are some inconveniences – it is best to walk in a swimsuit (if you are fearless) or a raincoat. A water mist will form in the air, similar to incessant rain, so you won’t be able to leave it dry.

And if your travel dates from January to July include a full moon, you are the happiest person in the world because you can see the rainbow at night at this time. I missed it by literally two days and I’m still sad.

How to be in another country to look at a waterfall?

If after seeing the waterfall the step norm is not fulfilled or you are competing with your friends in the number of countries visited, then the same KAZA Visa will be useful to you, with it you can cross the border with Zambia on foot and look. on the other side at the waterfall. And honestly it looks even more impressive there!

The walk to the neighboring country will take 20-30 minutes. Wait another half hour to cross the border and give yourself some time to shake off the local beggars. Entrance to Zambia National Park is cheaper – $30.

Visa

Russians do not need a visa to Namibia. You can stay in the country for up to 90 days. The Zimbabwe visa is issued at the border and costs $30 per passport, but if you apply for a “double” KAZA Visa you will have to pay $50. No special document is required, a passport is sufficient, but they may ask at passport control if it would be better to get a hotel reservation and a return ticket.

Food

If you try, you can find such exotics as mopane worms (caterpillars) and elephant in these African countries, but in tourist places they will offer pork, beef, chicken, crocodile, ostriches and antelopes – springbok, impala and kudu.

In a coastal desert town in Namibia, it is better to focus on seafood, but you should not trust the delicacies in restaurants. Often they cook poorly, overcook, or stuff everything into the batter.

Shopping

It is best not to rely on exciting shopping in these countries. You can look for local designers, but in small towns they will be represented only by craftsmen who make unnecessary souvenirs with their own hands.

Interesting things you can bring include an antelope skin, a zebra skin, a crocodile belt, a piece of paper worth several trillion Zimbabwe dollars, and natural salt from Namibia.

Photo: Personal archive of Anya Baturina