As I already told you, there were two things I wanted to do in Namibia. See the red dunes in the Namib desert. And see some wild cats. So with only a few days left of my two week easter trip, I made some research and found a place called N/a’an ku sê Foundation which is just about 50km from Windhoek. It is a wildlife foundation with a game park, lodges, and various kinds of wild animals that have been found either hurt or abandoned, and that the foundation now takes care of. Some of these being lions, leopards and cheetahs – I had found my place and booked a “feeding tour” for only 25€.

I had seen lions before, but not his close, and not this angry. There was a fence separating us from the animals, but there were little children in the jeep I was with, so the lions got their hopes up. The guide fed them by throwing meat over the fence and the jumps were impressive. I guess they actually could have jumped those fences if they wanted to. The ladies were the hunters, as we all know, but it was interesting to see how the lion actually was dominating the two females completely. He was in charge, no doubt. And he was a quite upset king.

When we got to the cheetahs, I was in awe.. apparently, once you tame a cheetah – they stay tame forever. These huge and gracious creatures were sweet as kittens and even made the kind of “mjau” sounds we all know. I asked if I was allowed to touch them. “At your own risk” the guide said, while patting one himself. So I put my hand through the fence and a cheetah walked up. It looked at me and then stroked its head against my hand, and licked it. The tongue felt kind of like the tongue of a cat, only even more rough. The feeling was overwhelming.

We continued to the leopards, which, as the guide told us, unlike the cheetahs – never can be tamed. These are the animals that unconditionally will rip your face right off. The guide didn’t have to explain that to us again when we got to see them, it was actually really uncomfortable being close to these demon looking animals, despite the fence. The were projecting the kind of “I can see right through you, you bad human, and I shall cut your throat and drink your blood while you sleep.” message that you sometimes get from evil house cats. Difference was these kittens had slightly bigger fangs. Let’s just say that leopards don’t seem particularly friendly.

On our way back to Windhoek, we met a man that was taming a wild horse, and found a really nice tree. It had been the prefect last day in Namibia, and I was driving, of course.

Back in Windhoek, I met up with Baldwin again the next day and asked him to show me something than I had not already seen, so he took me to the Katutura township in the outskirts of the city.

Katutura, “The place where we don’t want to live” was created in the late 1950’s following the forced removal of all black people from Windhoek city centre. Today, Katutura houses more than 2/3 of Windhoeks total population and the people live in metal sheds that they sometimes use as shops, bars and hair salons during the day. But despite suffering from overpopulation, obvious sanitation issues and difficult access to clean water and electricity, the very poor township felt like a safe and extremely friendly place.

I spent some time in the Havana district where I met 17 year old Rejoice with the amazing smile, who had just painted her face red. Painting the face is a Himba tradition to protect it from the sun and give it a beautiful red nuance. Rejoice was shy, but her mother an I laughed it off. Oh, and the little boy on her back was not her son, it was her little brother.

We drove around the township and met a big group of playing kids. Later, I spent some time in a hair salon where Cornelia was getting her hair braided while her little girl Respect was running around. She wasn’t sure about the age of her child, but said she thinks she’s around 2 years old.

The people I met in Katutura were a little shy, but very keen to talk and interact, and really friendly. The obvious contrast to the sparkling city centre of Windhoek made a big impression on me. One needs to go a bit outside in order to understand what Namibia is all about.

Before arriving to Namibia, I had been obsessed with Gregory Colberts “Ashes and Snow” for a while, and was very excited about finally getting to see those red sand dunes in the Namib desert. The main difficulty in Namibia is, however, the dependency of a car. If you don’t have one ot don’t have unlimited amounts of money to spend on renting one, you’re basically stuck in Windhoek. I put a note on the notice board in the hostel saying that I’m looking for a travel buddy and that my aim is to get around to see “cats & sand”. I only had four days to spend, and was slowly realizing that renting a car was far more expensive than what my budget could possible handle. I met Nate in the hostel, he was in the same situation and we both sat around thinking about a solution. Windhoek was a nice city and we went with some people from the hostel to eat at Joe’s beerhouse where we got to taste zebra, oryx, ostrich and Springbook meat. It was different, but tasty. And on the way back we were 8 people in the taxi, T.I.A style.

I was emailing with a friend from Copenhagen who had hooked me up with some contacts in the places I was going on my easter trip, and one of his Zimbabwean friends was based in Windhoek. We emailed about meeting up and I mentioned that I probably would need to rent a car. Baldwin didn’t hesitate a second before offering his car, just like that! I asked whether he had ever visited the Namib desert. He hadn’t. So I convinced him to join us. The more, the merrier!

Nate and I checked out and stood waiting outside the hostel as a black and sparkling Mercedes C220 pulled up. “Wait, is that the car?” Baldwin stepped out and greeted us, this was going to be random and fun. We laughed. We didn’t have any plan other than getting to the desert and camping there, so Baldwin had arranged tents and sleeping bags and all the equipment we would need – he was the best organiser ever! We went to shop for random food that we could eat for dinner and breakfeast, basically cookies, bread and fruits, and then we drove off. It didn’t take long before I was allowed to take over the driving and I was so happy! The guys were having beers and I was stepping on the gaspedal, going through dirt roads and amazing landscapes in a car that would respond properly to anything I asked it for, it was the perfect set up!

We arrived to Soussusvlei quite late and found out that we would have to camp in the people-packed camping area outside of the park which wasn’t really what we had hoped for when dreaming about tranquile sand dunes and starlit skies. We decided to try an alternative way, the acting stupid one, and got in to the park just before it closed. We found a sand dune that we liked and parked the car. Right there, we saw the sunset, waited until the stars came out, set up our enormous tent and had dinner. The guys were scared of snakes and scorpions and didn’t want to get out of the tent, but I refused missing out on sleeping under the full moon, so I took my sleeping bag out and spent the night there, alone, with a jackal howling in the distance.

Baldwin woke us up before six and we went to do what people usually do in the Namib desert, we climbed the dramatically red dunes, hung out in the beautiful dried out lake, and took many photos. Luckily, we got to the places before the tourist masses and could leave before the sun got too intense.

On our way out from the park we were asked why we hadn’t gotten out before closing and made up the best excuse in the world. It worked, and the drive home was even more fun as we had a great adventure to laugh about, and great music to sing along to. My hair was full of sand – and I got to drive all the way home.

Once again, I will mention how amazing it is to live in Maputo, with the most beautiful places just a short drive away. Yesterday, Manuel got the brilliant idea to cross the border and take a daytrip to Blyde River Canyon in South Africa which is the world’s third biggest canyon. We got there just as the sun was setting and the gates had closed, but we asked nicely – and got in to see amazing light over a breathtaking view on our own. I love the flexibility of this place.

I drove us back home and everything was pitch black, but the roads in South Africa are a dream to drive on and going through all the curves in the mountains with the girls sleeping in the backseat was simply enchanting. It was me and my iPod against the world – singing to Vetusta Morla and swaying to electronic music. The drive would easily have made it to be my favourite part of the day had it not been for the overwhelming view of the canyon. Go there if you live anywhere close by. Or come visit me and we’ll go together.