It’s Christmas Time and It’s Pretty Hot and a Bit Rainy Here in Northern Namibia🎄🇳🇦

So it’s Christmas now and we're spending it lazily in northern Namibia, here in the Zambezi region. We wish you a happy holiday times from here amidst the rains and sunshine.

So it’s Christmas now. For many years, it has felt a bit weird, since 2019 we’ve spent it here in Africa. Quite a different atmosphere compared to where we are originally from, Finland, where it looks like a winter wonderland at the moment. 👇

Piritta’s mom sent a pic how it looks like now in Tampere, Finland.

We’ve never been people who would have especially liked winter. It’s mostly just cold, snowy — and dark. And the darkness was always the worst. Daylight hours were only a few in the 24-hour cycle, and your body felt sleepy most of the time. No wonder when your metabolism thinks it’s night all the time 😂 The ”joys” of the north…

Yes, it’s fun to go skating, downhill skiing, snowmobiling, etc., when the weather is great, but remembering the winters back in Finland doesn’t make us wish we’d be back there. However, if we could just briefly fly to Lapland, to northern Finland, for Christmas and New Year’s to some cozy log cabin in the wilderness and then fly back to the sun and warmth we have here in Africa…maybe. ;)

But now we’ll stay here in Namibia's Zambezi region (formerly known as the Caprivi Strip).

Hippos lounging in the Kwando River in Bwabwata National Park’s Kwando Core Area.

At the Shores of the Kavango/Okavango River

Almost two weeks ago, we crossed back to Namibia from Zambia after visiting the Liuwa Plains National Park and spending about a month in Zambia.

We first thought about only briefly driving through to Botswana, but after getting stamped a new 90-day visa to Namibia, we decided to stay here. We’ve always liked this Zambezi region; it’s such a different area from anywhere else in Namibia.

Here, the Kavango/mighty Okavango River flows through the area, and the National Parks feel like the Okavango Delta with swamplands and lots of green grazing. Beautiful Red Lechwes are numerous, i.e., in Bwabwata and Mudumu National Parks. You can’t see them elsewhere in Namibia than in the Zambezi region.

We have been taking it easy now, and it’s been great. :) Spending 2-4 nights per campsite and going on game drives to the parks. The national parks here are not expensive, either, so it’s very affordable to enjoy them (it’s a different story for Etosha). The elephants are not here in many numbers at this time of year, but some are here anyway.

We spent 4 nights in the wild of Mudumu National Park and heard lions roaring very close to our wilderness campsite every night and early morning. We also found the lions thrice on our game drives — and we could even watch them right from our campsite, trying to hunt for the red lechwes in the riverbed!

A few days ago, we also drove to the beautiful Horseshoe bend in the Kwando Core area of the Bwabwata National Park, which we last visited in 2019, when we had just started our overlanding lifestyle. It brought back some fun memories.

We had an absolutely pouring rain (like a monsoon rain!) and hot sunshine on our ~5-hour visit. That’s how the rainy season plays out here, and the rains have finally (!) started. All the animals were craving for the rains already.

The sunset view from our campsite in Mudumu National Park where we could watch lions hunting down there!

Then yesterday, we moved more West, and now we are tranquilly spending the Christmas days near Divundu, at the shore of the Kavango/Okavango River, while watching hippos lounging just in front of our campsite. Happy days! :)

We’ll probably stop by in the Buffalo Core Area of Bwabwata, too, as it’s right behind the corner.

Oiur views of the Kavango/Okavango River with hippos down there.

What About After Christmas?

After Christmas is over, we’ll drive towards Windhoek. We have a lot to do there in January. Some maintenance will be done to Honey Badger the Defender, and we’ll see some of our old friends again. We’ll also try to arrange as many visas as possible for the Western route from Namibia to Morocco. Wish us luck and hope that all goes well and smoothly!

This year, 2024, has been quite a rollercoaster in many different ways, but now it’s ending. 2025 will be fundamentally different — fundamentally better. We just know that in our bones.

But that’s for now for this short, almost live update.

And lastly and most importantly, we wanted to wish all of you, our dear readers, a wonderful and happy Christmas! 🎄❤️ ✨

Piritta drew this Christmas card in Procreate. It’s called ”Christmas in the forest.”

Stay Wild,

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