On Location Oct 06 – Namibia

Flying over the highest red dunes from Sossusvlei towards the coast in a little Cessna 210 when there is nothing else you can see for 360 degrees but sand dunes (for 45 minutes) was truly humbling. It left me and my two fellow passengers unable to speak: instead we sat gawping at the immensity of the surrounding scenery, pointing and snapping with our cameras. And then to finally reach the coast and fly metres above ship wrecks sticking out of the beach and old diamond mining exploration sites, long since abandoned, was also a once in a lifetime experience - swooping down almost at sea level on a seemingly endless beach is highly recommended for those in need of a new kind of adrenalin buzz!

Skeleton Coast, further north, was the next highlight for me. There are no roads into the Skeleton Coast Park which really adds to the excitement and remoteness - you really feel like you are at the end of the road. Even the water has to be brought in, so there's no hanging about in the bucket shower.

We had two nights there at the Wilderness camp where we were very well looked after with delicious 3 course suppers and a drink and a smile greeting us at every point! We had the most fantastic day trip - a long walk along the beach at Rocky Point where Stephen King type pale green foam was washing up onto the beach and getting stuck in the rocks like a large (but not so inviting) bubble bath, after a while the fog moved in and it was all rather eerie; a visit to the lonely grave on the beach only added to this, as did the abundant driftwood and the odd fish bone (the pretty shells were a welcome addition).

But the sense of space and freedom was just incredible and we all walked for a good hour down the windy beach before being driven up onto the dunes for a delicious picnic lunch and a well-earned cold beer in the sun. Much dune climbing began and to hear the dunes roaring as we all sat on our bottoms edging our way down was so exciting - it's difficult to describe how far away from the rest of the world you feel here.

There were so many other highlights on the trip. I haven't even mentioned our first flight from Windhoek down south to Fish River Canyon, an amazing sight, especially from the air. I also could have stayed at Wolwedans in the heart of the NamibRand Nature Reserve for much longer than one night - surrounded by red dunes and beautiful views we enjoyed the best food I have tasted in Africa. Then there was also a great stay in Damaraland in the mountains where spotting a whole herd of desert elephants from Mowani Mountain Lodge was a real treat.

By the time we got to Etosha National Park we were sad to say goodbye to our pilot/guide/plane (which was dangerously beginning to feel like a normal mode of transport!) but ready for an adventure in our Volkswagen Sharan! In a country of Namibia's size and where the population is less than 2 million people we hadn't really seen anyone outside of the fantastic lodges we had been staying in. So initially it was a bit of a shock to the system to see other people and cars at the gate to Etosha National Park. This was not helped by getting a flat tyre as soon as we got past the ticket office! Luckily there was help at hand and once on the road again it appeared that traffic wasn't really an issue as we soon forgot about everyone else as we admired the birds, oryx, ostrich, 4 lionesses, and a herd of elephants around a water hole.

There are lots of amazing lodges around Etosha but the one that really sticks out is the newly opened Onguma Tented Camp. It epitomises funky modern décor, luxury and great attention to detail - how they have made it work in the bush I don't know but it's great. They are also going to open Onguma Plains Camp at the end of 2006 which promises to be ultra chic.

On our way back to Windhoek, we visited the AfriCat Foundation at Okonjima, which was incredible and educational in a fun way - AfriCat are committed to long-term conservation of Namibia's large carnivores, especially cheetahs and leopards. We tracked leopard (some of them collared) and cheetah in their 4,000 hectare area and got closer than I've ever got to them before -a fantastic observation and photo opportunity!

It's hard to sum up Namibia - it really felt like another planet a lot of the time due to the scale of the dramatic scenery. There is so much to offer there and I will definitely be going back as soon as I can! After all I've got to go to Swakopmund and learn to dune board, dune ski, shark fish, kayak, quad-bike, parasail, ride a camel, visit the seal colony.....