Have you ever seen the sun set, and the moon rise? All in one night! Well Namibia gave me that gift last year, at Gecko Ridge. Our own little oasis in the desert. I have always believed that where you stay when you are on a holiday or an extended road trip can make or break a holiday. Staying in the busy, noisy and hectic parts of a city when you travel doesn't do your search for rest and relaxation any justice, nor does staying so far away that it makes exploring difficult. My African vacation last year saw my boyfriend and I explore Zambia, before driving to Botswana for his first African safari vacation, then extending our road trip to Namibia's dessert dunes. This was of course where we were going to be doing the
sand boarding in the desert dunes, the thing that bucket lists are made of. It's been on my bucket list for a long, long time. My brother who now lives in Botswana, joined us for this part of the trip too, which also made things easier as we could take turns to drive the long distances. If you are a lover of road trips I would highly, highly, recommend driving in Namibia! The roads are endless with beautiful backdrops of mountains and desert landscapes. There are many stops for markets, small townships along the way, not to mention the road sides have small tables and seats built for pit stops for a break from driving or just a stop for lunch. It's great to see that the road sides have designated stops, almost as if to encourage resting between long drives.
With a hectic and packed itinerary, I wanted us to have peaceful and comfortable places to stays. Having driven 10 hours from Maun in Botswana, we landed in Windhoek, Namibia late in the night. With a few hours to explore Namibia's capital the following day, we then set off for the Skeleton coast, but based ourselves in Swakopmund. People almost always assume visiting Africa is expensive. Its not! The main expensive thing is the flight but even that these days, if you know where to look you are in for an adventure. You will find most of the hotels typically available in Europe and most come with an even better view of nature than a view of the concrete jungle. Our stop in Windhoek for the night cost well £100. So you will get more for you money too. That's for a small suite, and a double room, all including breakfast for the 3 of us. This was also a last minute booking because we couldn't find the hostels we thought we were going to stay in, having arrived so late and me getting a little bit on the hungry and cranky side. This was very much last minute of the next available place I could find.
With only a day to explore the capital we set of for Namibia's Skeleton Coast. This is the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean and stretches up towards Angola. The local people refer to it as "The Land God Made In Anger" while the Portuguese sailors apparently refer to it as "The Gates of Hell", because whale and seal bones as well as the many shipwrecks that litter the shore. We based ourselves in
Swakopmund. A town that seems as if it had been plucked right and of Germany and dropped in Namibia. Architecture and language spoken is mostly German. As beautiful as the town is with its gorgeous beaches on one side and sand dunes on the other. I wanted a low key and quiet spot. I found
Gecko Ridge Guesthouse in Swapomund. The owner an architect who made a deal with the land owner to be paid in land for helping the owner of the land to divide the acres of desert lands he owned. His portion of the land he builds this beautiful guest house which also comes with private chalets on the grounds. For more options on where to stay in Swakopmund,
check out this list of hotels and guest houses in Swakopmund.
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