the bachelor male elephants frolick-
ing in the water into the sunset. From
Chobe, we moved into Namibia for
several days and took on a four-wheel
drive camper to be able to safely navi-
gate the soft-sanded deserts of Namib-
ia.
With a roof-top camper, and the
luxury of being able to talk to each
other during the travels, we first vis-
ited Etosha National Park and just
scratched the surface of a self-drive
into this amazing park. The experi-
ence of having large animals like gi-
raffe and elephants surround the ve-
hicle in silence is indescribable! The
openness and sands of the Namibian
desert were our next challenge as we
navigated through the desert, and lose
sand, with relative ease in the truck.
I had two advantages on this section
to navigate and get stuck in the sand
like so many others we had seen – the
first that I was on four wheels and the
second that I have spent a lot of time
in the deserts of California developing
experiences in the lose sand. Awak-
ening before dawn in the Namib Des-
ert, in the area of Sossusvlei, set up a
challenging drive in the middle of the
Namib-Naukluft National Park, but we
heard it was quite special and worth
the troubles. To see the morning
light’s shadows cast their magic spell
TRAVERSE 69
over the reddish sand dunes was an in-
credible visual performance of nature
that I will never forget!
Namibia was the last country before
we traveled to South Africa. It was a
sad farewell, but I have vowed to re-
turn soon to spend more time with my
son surfing the very unique surf along
the Skeleton Coast where many ships
had lost their way and were perma-
nently grounded ashore. The border
crossing between Namibia and South
Africa was almost too easy, but we
were ecstatic as it was our last crossing
on a border on the continent! No pa-
perwork check, no insurance check,
and easy and efficient passport con-