The Namib Desert, Angola Pt. 1

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The Road Chose Me Volume 2: Three years and 54,000 miles around Africa

We plan to head deep into the Namib desert, into the very South Western Corner of Angola, close to the border of Namibia. The maps and GPS show extremely few roads, and not a single store or gas station for a very, very long way. Because of that I decide to up my maximum gas capacity, and strap a 5 gallon container to the spare wheel, bringing my total capacity combined with the stock tank and the Titan tank to a touch over 40 gallons. (150 Liters). On good roads I should manage almost 800 miles (1280km), though I am excepting sand, sand and more sand, so my range will be much lower than that.

How to carry 40 gallons (150L) of gas on a Jeep Wrangler

The gravel stretches on and on

For days we drive through the most spectacular desert scenery of my life – wide open sandy sections, rocky canyons, small rocky hills – absolutely everything. In the late afternoon we simply pull off the road a hundred yards and make camp. We never see another vehicle for the entire time we are out, so we’re not worried about someone stumbling across our camp.

Tons of rocky canyons

The views are spectacular

For no particular reason we make it a destination to get to a hot spring we have heard about, though it turns out to be a disgusting muddy pit full of cow poop, so I skip the soak. It is nice and hot though!

Camping in a small canyon

New vs. old

For another destination we find what is possibly the world’s biggest welwitschia plant. These plants can be over 2000 years old (this one is maybe the oldest in the world) and are fascinating. Usually they are barely off the ground, though for whatever reason this one has done really well.

The biggest welwitschia plant… it’s really something

One of the few trees I found in the Namib

The stars at night are staggering, and the silence in the desert is absolute. I make a point to walk up any nearby hills at sunset and sunrise, when mercifully the scorching heat of the day fades away.

Sunrise over camp

Wide open spaces

Sunset over the Namib desert

It would be easy to spend a month out here!

Sunset in the desert is always a highlight

-Dan