After months of planning and researching it was finally time to embark on our epic overlanding holiday that would take us through three Southern African countries whilst searching for the big dunes of Namibia.
| Happy Campers Namibia 2017 – Travel log Day 1 | |
| Place | Van Zylsrus Hotel, Van Zylsrus, Northern Cape |
| Type of lodging | Boutique hotel |
| Ablutions | En-suite |
| Powered | Yes |
| Water at site | Yes |
| Kilometers traveled | 667 km |
| Diesel top-up | 118.5lt – R1,540-00 |
We left very early on the Saturday morning and we traveled to Van Zylsrus via first the N12 and then the N14. At Kuruman we turned off the main road and we visited Hotazel before we got onto the infamous gravel road that would take us to Van Zylsrus and then past Askham the following day. I have to say, I pleasantly surprised with the condition of the road as I’ve read many reports saying that the road was in a terrible condition. We found it to be very easy to travel on, provided that you deflate your tyres and you keep to an average speed limit of 90km/h. Such a nice road to travel on and we saw plenty of animals in the grasses next to the road. Sadly we also saw plenty of foxes and owls that had been run over, the owner at the hotel said to us that with the huge amounts of rain they’d had the grass has grown very tall which forces a lot of animals out into the open road, making them easy targets to get run over by travelers. Luckily we managed to avoid any such incident as we found quite a few tortoises on the road to Askham.
We spent the night at the Van Zylsrus Hotel and we also booked a sun downer drive out to their lodge just outside of town. Before it was time for us to get ready for the drive and our dinner afterwards, we lazed around the pool whilst drinking beer and marveling at the awesome decor at this boutique hotel. We got to place our dinner orders before we left for the sun downer drive. We booked the drive with a small snack platter and we took our own wine and beers and off we went to see what the sunset was like in Van Zylsrus.
We weren’t disappointed as it was just as magnificent as we’d come to expect from Kalahari sunsets. The views from the koppie were brilliant and the snacks were delicious and as we leaned back in our arm chairs, enjoying the peaceful surroundings, it started to feel like we were finally on holiday….
Some more info on the Vanzylsrus Hotel:
You can book various type of rooms at the hotel, we booked a family room which were very comfortable with our own kitchenette and en-suite bathroom. The #BritishInvasion booked the honeymoon suite which were gorgeous with an outdoor shower and private courtyard. There is a good sized swimming pool that were perfect to cool off in after the long drive to get to Van Zylsrus and there is several pieces of cement art and metal art dotted through out the hotel. The pictures cannot do it any justice so we would recommend you visit this charming hotel when you’re in the area…
Happy Campers SA 