At the end of the trip, the days are even more special. You want to be present in the moment even more, because time really flies. Of course, if we had such a great time. The car was terribly dusty and messy, the luggage was untidy, but the heart was so full of all the past adventures. After three weeks of driving, camping and sightseeing, we reached the last stop – Waterberg Plateau .
A camp full of Pumbics
We spent the night at the Waterberg Rest Camp, a government-run campsite . It turned out to be a total hit – while the neighboring, private Waterberg Wilderness Resort was fully occupied, ours was almost empty.
The bathrooms were neat, clean , there was enough space and... already at the reception we had our first contact with the Pumbas - or warthogs , who until that moment had been shy and we had only observed them from afar. Here, they were grazing on the lawn.
Then we realized that there were a lot of them here. And that they just live there and browse for leftover food from us tourists. And the mongooses also liked to wander around the camp. And the baboons stole fruit from our neighbors.
We stayed for two nights . The first evening we cooked something warm, walked around the camp, including to the pool, and went to bed early – as we had a climb to the plateau the next day.
Waterberg Plateau hike – red rock hike
The campsite was a good starting point. The trail was well marked , and most of the way was in the shade of trees . It wasn't too difficult, but the terrain was rugged and rocky.
The Waterberg Plateau is a magnificent natural formation of red sandstone , rising some 200 metres above the plain. It was formed over 120 million years ago when rivers flowed here, leaving behind layers of sediment. Today it appears to float above the landscape , with a flat top and steep cliffs.
The view from the top was fantastic – far away, to the wilderness below us.
The Silence of History: The German Cemetery and the Erased Memory
In the afternoon we went to the nearby cemetery , which is part of the sad history of this place .
In 1904 , the Germans carried out ethnic cleansing of the Herero people in the area after they resisted colonial rule.
Thousands of Herero were forced to flee across the Waterberg towards the desert, where they died en masse from thirst and exhaustion.
Today, only German graves stand in the cemetery – nicely marked, with plaques.
There are no Herero graves there because they have different burial customs: Their deceased are often buried without markers, as they believe that the soul is where the community is.
We talked about these historical events and returned to the camp shaken.
The last night under the stars – with a bow in hand
The next day we drove a little closer to Windhoek – the last stop before returning home.
We spent the night at Monte Christo Riverside Camping , which is located 40 km north of the capital , in the middle of nowhere, and the road to get there was a bit complicated. The specialty of this campsite? The river and archery.
For about €10 , you rent a bow , get brief instructions, and then go for a walk around the gmajna , where 3D animal targets are set up - from baboons, antelopes, to cheetahs.
The four of us had a blast. We shot, searched for arrows in the bushes and grass, and had fun until dark.
In the evening we lit a fire for the last time. It was getting colder every day. And that's how we said goodbye. We listened to the sounds of Africa for the last time , stared into the fire and admitted to ourselves that we could stay.
And everyone was sad that it was over. I felt the most gratitude that we actually went, that we succeeded and experienced Namibia together as a family.
The next morning we packed up the tent, organized our luggage, packed up the car, and were in Windhoek by 11 am .
We returned the car, everything went smoothly with the car (we didn't even change the tires!), went for one last lunch , and then slowly headed towards the airport.
Three weeks. 4000 km. One family. One Namibia.