Leaving Etosha National Park

After coming off a terrible night of sleeping, we had a lot of driving to do. Of course, we woke up with a flat tire. It must have been a slow leak overnight. We paid for unlimited tire damage and a full size spare with the rental car, but still needed to get the tire fixed. Luckily our campsite in Etosha had a guy who repaired tires. That took awhile, but it was fixed and we were on our way! At this point thus far in the trip, Maxwell had previously gone to each of the campsites before. Now it was new campsites, new places, and new experiences for both of us.

It should be noted that during our time at Etosha National Park, we did not see any elephants. I was upset because those were my #1 animal to see on the trip. Maxwell was upset because he had previously had great experiences seeing elephants in Etosha.

Entering the Caprivi Strip

On this day, we drove to the beginning of the Caprivi Strip, the Namibian pan handle. Throughout the drive we noticed that the terrain and foliage were changing from arid and scrub to rainforest. It was cloudy, rainy, and dreary most of the way.

Most of the day in the Caprivi

We had booked this campsite in Shamvura, Namibia which was…very rural. Many of the roads we took to get there, we wondered if they were actually roads. But once we arrived, we fell in love with this place.

This backpacker is run by an old South African couple who decided to retire in the middle of nowhere and house fellow travelers. Our first impression of this place was walking into the wrong room and discovering a goat taking a nap on the couple’s bed. When we first spoke to the couple they asked, “Did you see our goat?” Yes. Yes we did.

We were shown to our campsite and had to immediately set up our tent because of impending rain. By this time in the road trip we were experts so it was up in no time flat. We decided to take a late afternoon nap, between our sleep deprivation, long drive, and rain on a tent- it seemed like a perfect use of time.

Campsite in Shamvura, Namibia

Spending time at the Shamvura Camp Backpacker

After we woke up, we went to the couple’s living room and met up with some other roaming travelers. They couple had beer to share and fresh vegetables from their garden for meals. We told everyone that it was our honeymoon and we were showered with congratulations. At that time, I really hoped Maxwell and I would get married and go on a honeymoon. (Spoiler: we did! <3 )

We got onions, butternut squash, potatoes, and other random vegetables to cook over the fire at our site. With all of the wood and kindling wet- it took awhile for the fire to get going. As pictured below, we eventually got it.

Campsite chic in Namibia

How we handled the tough fire situation

We decided to take a shower that night which  proved to be more difficult than I hoped. The bathrooms were essentially tiki huts on stilts. It was an open shower which meant everything got wet when you turned it on. A giant gecko greeted me as I turned on the lights. As I turned on the water, it was freezing. I yelled to Maxwell that something was wrong. It turns out that the hot water was heated by wood burning. We had to start a fire under a giant vat of water to have hot water to shower with. This was an experience for me…

Couldn’t be dirtier and happier <3

Etosha National Park, Namibia to Shamvura, Namibia