Khomas Hochland Calling!

On the six-day Khomas Hochland Trail near Windhoek, you can explore riverbeds, kloofs and mountains. It’s affordable, there’s a slackpacking option and you can have a hot shower every night. What are you waiting for?

- Erns Grundling

The hill is steep and I’m struggling. I stop often, leaning on my hiking pole to catch my breath. The other hikers are higher up, closer to the top. The sun is beating down on my back. I’m hot, sweaty and thirsty. Thank goodness I’m only carrying a daypack; had I been carrying a full backpack I would have curled up in the foetal position in the middle of this gravel road.

Moments like this often make me wonder: How did I end up here?

Maybe everything will make sense at the summit. When I eventually get there, I discover a green sign that reads, “Yippie on top!” Indeed, my fellow hikers are all smiles; it was worth the effort.

“Look! Namibia’s own thousand hills,” says hike leader Albert Bossert. It’s an apt description of the Khomas Hochland: seemingly endless yellow hills dotted with thorn trees and sickle bush and no signs of civilisation. A true wilderness.

Before this hike, I had no idea that the Khomas Hochland could offer so much. “When you’re in Windhoek, you can’t imagine this place being so close,” says fellow hiker Yvonne van den Berg, her voice filled with wonder. “It’s like another world out here.”

It’s day three on the Khomas Hochland Trail. Windhoek is less than 50 km away, but you’d never know it. The capital of Namibia – and the rest of the world – feels very far away.

A multi-day hike is good for body and soul. It gives you the opportunity to make time for yourself. As Henry David Thoreau writes: “An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.”

In the Khomas Hochland, there are blessings all around.

DAY 1: 14,4 KM

Düsternbrook to Otjiseva