Fri Jul 31 2026

Spitzkoppe to Madisa

By Will

Bumpy and dusty roads dominated the day.

We set out this morning for Madisa Camp, about 3 hours drive North. The roads were pretty much all gravel tracks and there were some hairy moments as we bounced into and over big dips in the road and nearly got air a couple of times (no mean feat in a 3 tonne fully landed Landcruiser!).

We got to Uis in about 1.5 hrs, and carried on North into Damaraland. This is the home of the desert elephant, a highly adapted animal with thinner legs and bigger feet to cope with the sandy environment. We were hoping to see some casually walking by the side of the road, but sadly every time we spotted one, it turned out to be an elephant shaped rock!

Eventually we arrived at Madisa Camp, left the main road, engaged 4x4 and set off down a sandy track. As usual, we were presented with a beautifully designed campsite nestled in the rocks with the most appealing pool yet (a doughnut shape around a large rock in the middle), with cool car and van shells making up the tables and chairs.

We enquired about an elephant tracking safari, but when we discovered it was NAD1,900 per person (about £80 at today’s exchange rate), we decided it was daylight robbery and made other plans. We got to our campsite which was once again a secluded spot within a small retaining wall nestled amongst the trees with a tree house shower and toilet and a hot water donkey (this time, self managed) just next to a large dried up river bed.

Once we had set up camp we headed to the pool. it was one of the first opportunities to properly relax, some of us takling hammocks, some lying on the back of an old Chevrolet truck that had been converted to a sun bed, and some spending the time in the pool. We opened a tab at the bar then engaged in some reading, sleep, blog writing etc.

Once fully relaxed, we headed back to the campsite then back to the reception area to climb the rocks and watch sunset, a specatacle from the high vantage point overlooking the African plains. Still no elephants to be seen, but another good day in Namibia!