In May and June, the African winter, Juliet Le Breton went on a self-drive safari from Kenya to Cape Town with Tanda Tula Africa. She was accompanied by her English fiance, Tim, the Opera Twins (Carmen and Maria) and 19-year-old Emma. Tanda Tula supplied two guides: Gary, a Zimbabwean, and Seth, a South African. They drove two Land Rovers - a 130 fitted with a kitchen and rooftop tents, and the crew vehicle, an open-sided 110 nicknamed "Hillary" because of its obvious dislike of climbing mountains.

by Juliet Le Breton

We join her after five weeks on the road, as she leaves Victoria Falls and heads through Botswana and Namibia.

Friday - Victoria Falls to Chobe Safari Lodge, Botswana

With only three weeks and four thousand kilometres to go, we'd arranged a planning session over breakfast pancakes at the Pink Baobab cafe. But Emma had left her handbag in the Explorer's Bar the night before, and it had disappeared within seconds, with her passport inside. She had to fly to Harare to get a new passport before joining us in Botswana. So we went to the police, a travel agent and the airport, by which time the pancakes were forgotten.

After a fraught morning we crossed the border at the tiny town of Kazungula and dipped our tyres and toes in the insecticide-filled concrete dip at the foot-and-mouth control checkpoint. Ten minutes later we were in our campsite at Chobe Safari Lodge, watching the scarlet sunset reflect in the river. We bought each other drinks at the floating bar and began to wind down.

Saturday - Chobe

Our alarm went off at 5.25am - oh joy! The Opera Twins, Tim and I hauled ourselves out of our sleeping bags and piled into the open-sided Land Rover, Hillary. At the park entrance we were relieved of vast sums for entry fees. Hillary had to pay an entry fee as well, which seemed rather excessive.

But we soon realised it was worth it, as we watched a lioness calling her cubs. Every time we turned a corner in the deep sand track, we saw something. Mongooses played like children, and panicking guinea fowl and francolins criss-crossed the track inches away from our wheels. Huge monitor lizards basked in the sun and impala rams clashed horns in battle.

By lunchtime it was steamy, so we stopped to picnic under a large tree. There was a commotion in the tree above us and we saw a squirrel shouting indignantly at a large black snake. It was a black mamba sliding into the squirrel's nest, intent on devouring the babies. While we were distracted by the tree-top show, a cheeky vervet monkey took the opportunity to steal our cheese. Luckily, we'd already eaten.

We spent a happy afternoon watching the elephants having mud baths. As the sun went down, we watched them browsing while the sky lit up like fire and brimstone.

Sunday - Chobe

Another dawn start, and Tim and I headed for the park alone as the Opera Twins wanted a day to enjoy back massages and the swimming pool at the lodge. On the road out of Kasane the large ghostly shape of an elephant emerged out of the shadows to cross the road. Laughing with surprise, we stopped the car to give way.

Once in the park we paused by the river to watch some of Chobe's famous elephants drinking. The young splashed in the water, but the matriarchs suddenly shooed them away and within minutes the whole herd disappeared into the bush. "The show's over", I sighed, but Tim was pointing across the river, where a movement had caught his eye. It was a lioness coming down to drink. We couldn't believe our luck when another lioness emerged from the bush and the two greeted each other with sniffs and licks, and then laid down back to back, surveying their kingdom.

A few minutes later a warthog, not seeing the lions, came down to drink at the water's edge. The lions leapt, the warthog screamed, dust was everywhere and we could just about make out a tangle of bodies as the three of them came to a stop inches away from our car. The lions held the warthog in a death grip around the neck and we could hear rasping wheezes as it struggled for breath. The cats swiped at each other over who was going to get the rump. Once that was settled, they began to eat.

Back at Chobe Safari Lodge, Seth had collected a triumphant Emma from the Zimbabwean border, so we treated ourselves to the all-you-can-eat dinner buffet. We enjoyed some tender beef and kudu kebabs, and also tried a local speciality - mopane worms deep-fried with spinach. "They're like sardines", reported Carmen, crunching as she tried a whole one. "They taste earthy", said Tim, proffering a piece to Emma, who declined.

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Monday - Chobe to Maun

We were originally going to drive to northern Namibia through the Caprivi Strip, but due to security concerns we decided to head for Maun and Windhoek. After a lie-in until 7am, we reluctantly said goodbye to Chobe Safari Lodge and started our 620km journey to Maun.

There were dramatic thunderstorms and squalls all day and the sky was leaden with big storm clouds. We were glad we'd decided to stick to the tarmac, instead of tackling the shorter route, a rough mud track through Chobe and Savuti.

The road to Nata borders Zimbabwe's Hwange game park, and we saw giraffe, impala, baboons and zebras by the roadside. We were driving along a 19th century ivory route, but the only ivory we saw was on the elephants that crossed the road before us. We passed fields of cotton, sorghum and maize, and stopped at several agricultural checkpoints to repeat the toe- and tyre-dipping routine.

The scenery began to change after we left Nata, from dense bush and trees to a more arid savannah. With the heavy cloud cover it was remarkably chilly. When we arrived at our campsite in Maun, Tim, who had been sitting in the open back of Hillary, was blue with cold.

Tuesday - Maun to Windhoek, Namibia

Waking to threatening grey skies, we prepared ourselves for another long day on the road. Leaving Maun, the jump-off point for the Okavango delta, we saw the sign for a local safari company, Phakawe Safaris. Tim mused softly, "Two days in the delta and you'll be asking, where the Phakawe...?"

We soon crossed the border at Mamuno and took the main road to Windhoek. The last rays of the sun turned the hills pink as we approached the city. As the light faded, Gary, who was at the wheel of the longer Land Rover, hit a guinea fowl which shattered the windscreen on the passenger side, covering Maria with glass. They went back for the guinea fowl and followed us slowly into town.

Once we'd showered and set up camp, we went to Jo's Beer House, where we sat outside under the stars, eating grilled zebra steaks with garlic butter and sipping warming gluh wine. Maria recovered from her shock sufficiently enough to go out lambada dancing with Carmen and Gary.

Wednesday - Windhoek to Tsumeb

We spent the morning getting the Land Rover windscreen replaced (a bargain at #42), and stocking up on food and film before leaving Namibia's capital city at lunch time.

Not far out of town, we started seeing colourfully dressed women in long Victorian dresses, with elaborate headgear. We were near Okhandja, where the Herero people hail from. We stopped at a curio village full of carvings, spears and wooden animals (mostly hippos, warthogs and elephants). Best of all were the wooden Land Rovers, complete with rooftop tents and spare tyres. Everybody wanted one.

The paved road stretched on, ever northwards, empty of traffic. We saw a princely oryx galloping off into the distance. Fencing accompanied us the whole way, as did the telephone pylons, weighed down by birds' nests.

We decided it was best to stop when it began to get dark. We were at Tsumeb, a small mining town with a large municipal budget. An empty dual carriageway takes you grandly into town past well-watered and manicured lawns. The town itself is dusty and deserted, and the only place to eat was a rather depressing Teutonic hotel, which served oily schnitzels.

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Thursday - Tsumeb to Halali, Etosha

We got up early and drove 100km to Namutoni, a Beau Geste-style fort now used as tourist accommodation at the east end of Etosha. Having purchased our entry permits, we headed into the park and drove along the magnificent shimmering Etosha pan, criss-crossed with the spoor of some of Etosha's residents. It didn't take long before we started seeing zebra, wildebeest, ostrich and oryx.

The sun began to bake us, so we stopped for lunch. Gary and Seth wrapped a large boerewors - a beef sausage - in newspaper and set it alight. "That's how we used to cook them when I was in the South African army ten years ago", said Gary. We were all suitably impressed with this display of bush lore until it failed to work and Seth got out the frying pan.

In the afternoon we had a breathtaking face-to-face encounter with a black rhino, which walked right up to the vehicles, trying to work out what sort of beasts they were. After myopically peering at us for a while, it shook its head, and, none the wiser, sauntered slowly off into the bush.

We also saw kudu hiding in the mopane woodlands, kori bustard and ostriches strolling in the savannah, elephants browsing the trees, wildebeest and zebra drinking and ground squirrels the size of small terriers.

At Halali rest camp, we went to watch the sun set over the small, intimate floodlit waterhole. As darkness descended, a pair of drongos weaved back and forth, catching iridescent moths in the spotlights. A jackal came down to drink and an hour later we were rewarded by the sight of a mother and baby rhino tip-toeing down to the water's edge. A civet brushed past Gary as he watched, and a hyena waited in the wings for the rhinos to leave.

Friday - Halali to Okaukeujo, Etosha

As the sun rose, Tim and I snuck out of the camp - the others wanted a lie-in. We were soon on the path of a pair of rogue elephants who had left a trail of destruction in their wake. Not only had they strewn the road with broken branches, but they'd even managed to demolish a concrete signpost. When we caught up with them, we watched from a respectful distance.

By a waterhole a long file of zebra came down to drink. They kicked and played in the dust next to the pool, and then jostled each other to get to the water. An ostrich watched disdainfully on the other side. A giraffe drank thoughtfully, with his legs splayed.

We met the others at our designated lunch spot, where we marvelled at a huge Martial eagle perched at the top of a nearby tree. In the afternoon we watched a pair of elephants bullying each other to get to the best spot at a spring, while black-faced impala, springbok, kudu and red hartebeest looked on.

We moved on to Okaukuejo camp in the evening and watched a herd of nervous zebra drinking at the floodlit waterhole. A local guide told us that at this very waterhole a desperate lioness had jumped the wall and eaten a German tourist in 1988. Halfway through the tale, a lion slunk into the spotlight and had a pre-dinner drink. Carmen went pale.

Saturday - Okaukuejo to Twyfelfontein

At dawn it was Tim and I, the game park die-hards, who went exploring the waterholes on the west side of the park. As we were driving along, a freight train of wildebeest went past in search of water, their zebra lookouts alongside. In the background, eight lions flattened in preparation for a kill. Sadly we couldn't wait to witness this one, as we had to get going.

Once we left the park, a tarmac road led us through wooded rolling hills to Outjo. We turned onto the gravel road towards Khorixas. We travelled through a spectacular countryside of mountains, rocky red cliffs and inselbergs streaked with different coloured rock strata. These varied from a dusty red through various shades of gold and sand to black igneous rock - a geologist's paradise. The road was very bumpy, with plenty of steep hills and hidden riverbed crossings, and the cars kicked up clouds of powdery dust. When we stopped at the Petrified Forest, Seth's hair was white.

The forest itself consisted of fifty or so fossilised trees, each a mind-boggling 260 million years old. They were perfectly preserved with lifelike bark and rings, and some of them even had lichen, now petrified into quartz.

Our next stop was at nearby Twyfelfontein, to see the rock carvings made by bushmen 6000 years ago. The pictures were used to teach children about tracking and hunting animals. A lion was carved with paw prints as his feet and the end of his long tail. There were also carvings of rhinos, giraffes, ostrich and snakes. Our guide Solomon, who looked rather like a bushman himself, showed us depictions of a seal and a penguin and explained that bushmen would run to the coast, 150km away, to get salt.

As the moon rose over the burnt orange sandstone cliffs we headed to our campsite nearby. The winch fastening under the engine sheared its bolt on the rocky roads and kept hitting the sump, so Hillary had to limp the last few kilometres.

Sunday - Twyfelfontein to Swakopmund

We drove back along the beautiful but hazardous road to the tiny hamlet of Khorixas and on to the gravel road towards the coast. As we approached the Atlantic we left the fierce desert sun and drove eerily into a damp and chilly bank of fog.

Arriving in the Bavarian-looking town of Swakopmund, we noticed pelican statues on every streetlight, glowing like ghosts in the fog. Then one of them flew off and we realised they were real.

We spent a cosy evening eating and drinking around the open fireplace at a cheerful restaurant, then retired to a little A-frame chalet in the municipal rest camp.

For further information about travel in Africa, visit Travel Africa Magazine

Monday - Swakopmund

Every street corner in Swakopmund has either a bakery selling Apfelstrudel or a Lutheran church with services conducted in German. As the fog cleared and the sun came out, we spent a relaxing morning exploring the town and doing our errands.

In the afternoon we piled into the car and went to see the flamingos near Walvis Bay. Along the coast we could see people driving beach buggies and quad bikes around the small dunes. The flamingos looked like they'd been bleached, as they were a creamy colour with pale pink legs. Since diet is responsible for turning their feathers pink, we admonished them for not eating enough E numbers.

Next was our first glimpse of the sand dunes of the world's oldest desert, the Namib. Climbing the slipface of Dune 7 was 20 minutes of hard work, but the view from the top was breathtaking. All around, honey-coloured dunes stretched out to the edge of the horizon, and to the west we could just make out the misty sea. When it was time to go back, Seth rolled down head first, while the rest of us ran down in five minutes.

Tuesday - Swakopmund to Solitaire

As soon as we were up we headed to a petrol station to fill up. Gary spotted a pickpocket grabbing a wallet from another car while the driver was distracted by an accomplice. Gary tore down the street after the thief, tackled him to the ground and restored the wallet to its grateful owner. "Our hero!" the Opera Twins chorused as Gary returned triumphant.

Shortly after leaving Swakopmund we turned onto a scenic road, Welwitschia Drive. The gravel road was lined with gold, green and red lichens and ink bushes. We looked at the rusty remains of a 1915 tank left by the South African army, and oxcart tracks from early settlers.

Travelling on we came to a plain filled with welwitschias, amazing dwarf trees which continue growing for thousands of years and are found only in the Namib Desert. We photographed a 1500-year-old specimen. Its two leaves had been shredded by the wind and it looked like a large piece of dried seaweed.

Further on, we admired the spectacular moonscape - a canyon filled with folded mounds of rock, like dusty red pillows.

Lunchtime brought us to Carp Cliff, overlooking the spectacular, rocky Kuisib Canyon. Here two German geologists lived for two years to avoid involvement in World War Two. We saw the overhang where they slept and in the distance we could see the fossilised lake they discovered.

We drove through the scenic Kuisib Pass and further on to Solitaire, where we camped on a game farm. A couple of hours after the sunset, we were snugly tucked up in our sleeping bags, dreaming of adventures in the desert.

Wednesday - Solitaire to Sesriem

Our alarm went off at 3.45am - ouch! We were soon driving to our rendezvous at Sesriem, for our dawn balloon ride over the desert.

As we ascended the first rays of the sun broke over the mountains in the east. After the chill of the early morning, being right next to the burners was hot and noisy. Within a few minutes we were at 500m, with an eagle-eye view of Sesriem. Far below, our Land Rovers were the size of tiny toy cars. We saw patches of grass and shrubs between the red and orange dunes. The wind blew gently down the valley alongside the desert, instead of over the dunes as we'd hoped. To the south was Sesriem Canyon with its rocky mountains reaching up towards us.

After 45 minutes we floated downwards, landing perfectly on the flatbed of the pilot's pick-up truck. We clambered out to enjoy our champagne breakfast.

Tim and I drove the 65km to Sossusvlei, at the heart of the dune field, while the others had a snooze. The road goes through a valley covered in sun-bleached grass, past springbok, ostriches and oryx grazing in front of the towering red dunes. These are among the world's highest sand dunes, rising up to 240m above the valley floor. They are made red by the iron-rich sand rusting in the coastal mists.

Sossusvlei consists of a salt pan surrounded by high dunes. To our surprise the pan was flooded, a testament to the good rains Namibia received earlier this year. We climbed a dune to gaze down on the reflections in the water and to watch the birds drinking and bathing. Behind us, we could see hundreds of burnt orange dunes stretching as far as the horizon.

Before the light began to fade we headed back to Sesriem, where we camped under a camelthorn tree, home to some rowdy Pied crows and enormous bush crickets.

Thursday - Sesriem to Duwisib Castle

We were woken at dawn by the dustman's lorry, which seemed incongruous with our desert setting. Tim and I drove to Elim Dune, while our fellow travellers spent a relaxing morning by the pool. We watched the sunrise paint the dune gold, while beetles and lizards scuttled for cover. At its foot, bright yellow desert orchids were set amidst the tawny grass.

Next stop was the 35m-deep Sesriem Canyon, made of layer upon layer of gravel sediments. Swallows swooping through the arches of the canyon were reflected in the pools of water at the bottom.

Back at our campsite we had a brunch of bacon and eggs. We drove on dusty roads south to Duwisib Castle, past canyons and dunes spotted with tufts of dusty golden grass.

Duwisib is a brown stone edifice, built in 1908 by the eccentric Baron von Wolff. Statues of fierce eagles guard the gate. The castle is U-shaped around a courtyard containing a fountain and palm trees. Each room is decorated with family portraits, swords and other military paraphernalia.

At the tea shop we sipped cold drinks and watched a chameleon, camouflaged with the exact brown stone markings of the building.

Friday - Duwisib Castle to Hobas, Fish River Canyon

A dusty morning drive through gentle hills covered in thorn scrub and cactus took us to our next campsite at Hobas, near Fish River Canyon.

The canyon is half a kilometre deep, 160km long and 22km wide. A bushman legend says that it was gouged out by a snake called Koutin Koora, whilst trying to escape a hunter. He twisted and turned so much in his attempt that the canyon doubles back on itself countless times. The walls are fold upon fold of rock, stratified with sandy gold, red and dusky brown sediments. As the sun dipped over the horizon, the colours seeped out of the landscape, like dyes running in the wash.

As night fell it became very cold. "Pearl Harbour", said Seth. "There's a nip in the air".

Saturday - Hobas to Bitterfontein, South Africa

We had breakfast by the edge of the canyon so we could see the sunrise light up the canyon walls. An eagle flew along the rim. Down in the bottom we could see the Fish River, a mere trickle of its former self.

After we'd finished our mugs of tea we drove to Ais-Ais, a hot springs resort at the Southern end of the Canyon. The gravel road led us through beautiful rocky mountain passes with glimpses of dizzying canyons, stratified rocks and the occasional quiver tree.

Ais-Ais had been closed due to flooding and there was a big clean up in process. Some walls and buildings had been washed away. Ironically the campsite now had no running water. Sadly we missed the turn off to the view point, as the road signs had also been lost to the flood.

The last few kilometres towards the border were on tarred roads - bliss, as the wind was whipping up dust storms all round. We went through the lush Orange River valley, with vineyards and orchards, and crossed the border into South Africa. Twenty-four hours later, we had arrived in Cape Town, and were preparing to go out for a celebratory meal and a few bottles of the finest Cape wine.

For further information about travel in Africa, visit Travel Africa Magazine

Published in Travel Africa Edition Fourteen: Winter 2000/2001 Text is subject to Worldwide Copyright (c).