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Favorite thing: We like hitting the ground with a bit of local cash in our pockets, but found it impossible to buy $Namibian at home. No problem 1 $N = 1 South African Rand, and Rand are far easier to obtain.

Rand are freely accepted everywhere, but your change will likely be in $Namibian. Make sure you get rid of yor $Namibian by changing to Rand before you leave Namibia though.

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Favorite thing:
What do all these people have in common? They were all hitchhikers that I picked up in my car across Namibia. Hitchhiking is a way of life across southern Africa. In rural areas – and Namibia is very rural – this is a safe and fun thing to do. The first photo is of 3 school children studying away from their home village. They had several days break from school and wanted to get home. Unfortunately I could only take 3 of a group of about 8 kids standing on the side of the road. I already had 1 passenger and only 3 seat belts spare. My thought process was that a child would become a deadly projectile at the speeds (around 190 kmh) I was driving should I need to brake hard.

Fondest memory:

The other people are Louis and Matilda from France and Jinhook from South Korea. I met them in Windhoek and the travelled all the way from Sossusvlei to Swakopmund. Louis and Matilda left me in Swakopmund and Jinhook travelled the length of the Skeleton Coast and Caprivi Strip. Because these 3 had the financial resources they did contribute money for fuel and water.

Along the way I picked up a hairdresser, a pregnant woman and her small child and several others. I picked up one gentleman who had a suit a briefcase. When I asked him if he wanted a ride he said he didn’t know. When I asked why not? He replied ‘I do not know what you are going to charge me’. When I replied ‘nothing’ he gave me a pleasant smile and off we went like a rocket down the road doing 120mph, not the legal limit of 120kmh (75 mph). When I asked the suited gentleman what his job was he replied “I am a Policeman”. I nearly had a heart attack. I tried to cover the speedometer and told him I wasn’t driving as fast as it looked. He replied ‘I have seen your speed – you are fine’. Nice guy.

The strangest was a Himba Tribesman (last photo). I found him in the Ruacana area near the border with Angola. He posed for a photo with me after I had driven him more than 100 miles (160 kms). He actually asked me for money for posing in the photo! No, I did not give him any money. Cheeky.

If I had not given all these people a lift they would have not been able to share all their great stories with me. Except the Himba guy. He talked (and clicked) and sang to himself mostly.

What an experience.

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Favorite thing:

This is definitely a road sign your just aren’t going to see in Europe. If the local Police were worried about speeding, they could just put a few more of these signs up. I found this sign, and a few more like it in the Caprivi Strip. The thought of running into something like a brick wall in the middle of the road made me slow down. Besides, I wanted some pictures. I never saw a single one! Not long after this I cross briefly through the Botswana Border to Zimbabwe a couple of hours later. No Elephant signs, just a mother elephant charging me when I got out of the car to take a picture of her baby. Then I was driving fast again!

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Favorite thing:

Do giraffes really walk on the left side of the road? Actually they walk all over the road and they are very very big. I could have used this sign several hundred kilometres before I actually saw it. Yes, there are pictures on this tip of a family of giraffes having their lunch, but I saw them long before the sign. I still laugh at this sign. You do need to drive on the left as there are other cars, but wild animals will go anywhere and everywhere. This is why you just do not drive at night.

Sign location: In the Caprivi Strip. Same for the family of giraffes.

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Favorite thing: What for some can appear usual, for others is unique. So were for me the termite mounds - one of the typical features of Namibian savanna. I didn't see the record holders which can reach even nine metres in height, but the ones that I saw were impressive enough for me.
Those huge constructions should be an inspiration for humans - they can teach us what great effects collaboration can have.
It's interesting to know that the greatest enemies of termites are ants, and the fights between the two can be quite violent involving the usage of toxins and irritants. When the mounds are abandoned in the result of the death of the termite queen, they are often occupied by some other animals, for example ground squirrels.

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Fondest memory: I know that sunsets are a 'worn-out' topic, that in a way they are kitschy, but somehow I can't help being enchanted by them. And African sunsets can't leave anyone indifferent. Vast skies, open spaces, vivid colours and these fleeting moments of natural transition that you want to keep in your memory for ever. You try to catch all the beauty and emotions that it evokes on a film, but of course it's a futile task. Back at home it looks just pretty as the magic of the moment is gone. So I close my eyes and see again the sky on fire and the burning ball of the sun sinking gracefully behind the horizon. And the photos are just a nice souvenir.

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Fondest memory: Meeting and interacting with local people is always an important addition to the overall impressions of the country. In case of Namibia I'll have wonderful memories. I didn't have a chance to make friends or spend time discussing some important issues, but those short moments of exchanging a few kind words and smiles were very frequent and I managed to record some of them on my camera.
I hardly ever take pictures of people without their permission. It should be a point of each traveller's etiquette - people are not part of the landscape. When you ask them they usually agree, at least in Namibia.
Photo one - that young girl holding a baby was standing with a group of friends next to a shop in Bethanie. We started talking to them and it turned out she was a young mother. She looks so beautiful with her baby daughter.

Photo two - We met this young woman with her son also in Bethanie. The boy looked so cute in his wollen cap that we asked them to pose for a picture.

Photo three - We bumped into this lady several times while walking around Swakopmund. So when we met again in the supermarket we burst into laughter and I asked her for a picture.

Just a few smiles and words, but I will remember those people for a long time.

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Fondest memory: Meeting children is one of the things I love. Perhaps my teacher's soul doesn't leave me even when I'm on holidays? Besides, children are so easy to approach. They have no inhibitions and are curious to get to know someone from a foreign country, even if verbal communication is very limited.
So here are the photo recollections of some of the kids met in Namibia:
Photo one - the boys from Bethanie. What made us curious was a very simple car toy the boys were playing with. When we expressed our interest, the boys proudly posed for a photo.

Photo two - school kids in Swakopmund. When talking to them I remembered the school children I met in Cambodia. The ones here, in their clean uniforms and with fashionable school bags, look much more lucky.

Photo three - the little boy met at the Herero stall proudly showed the big sun glasses presented to him by some tourists

Photo four - Himba kid. The kids we visited in their village seemed to enjoy playing pranks on us - like leaving traces of their ochre-coloured hands on our clothes.