2023 - Central Namibia - 2 - 5 June

Chasing desert elephants in Central Namibia (Damaraland) was our goal. A friendly South African in Kgalgardi had given us some detailed tips on the best places to drive the dry riverbeds and wild camp to find them.

We bypassed Spitzkoppe and headed to Mt Brandberg with its rock paintings. Not finding the elephants on the Ugab River here, we continued north towards Twyfelfontein.

We turned left as the main road crossed the Ugab River for lunch. Nestled in the deep sand we had just finished, looked downriver, only to see a herd of elephants heading our way. It was an unexpected, spectacular, close sighting next to a small village, they were super chill.

Paul and I clearly have different risk tolerances. Paul loves to push the limits of elephant sightings, ensuring we are face on to see them in all their beauty, careful to never corner them but forgets to think of an escape plan.

We had a lovely quiet wild camp before we headed towards Twyfeltontein. The rock carvings exceeded our expectations - there were simply so many - with huge rock slabs that had clearly fallen off surrounding cliffs covered in them.

Next up was to find the entrance to Huab River from our rough description. Failing a few times, we eventually we found the track into De Riet with it's waterhole. Within minutes of reaching the main river we had tracked them down. We enjoyed a full day driving the river bed and enjoying the animals.

We had a small mishap trying to find a campsite, we eventually found something a little protected from the wind. A huge elephant wandered towards Paul as he made coffee the next morning, startling him: a fantastic adrenaline start to the day.

Namibia's desert elephants were an adventure.