Last year, my beautiful lady, Lord Tirion, my trusted rescued companion and I took our first trip through the African continent. We had traveled Europe before and most of South Africa. Now was the time to get know a little more of our continent. Each year around February we go on a spirit walk. It's our time to get out of our comfort zone and shed off the troubles of the past through an enigmatic lived experience. Some people attend drug-fuelled music festivals; we get our dose of endorphins from connecting with mother earth through travel. We had just adopted the 'Good Lord' from a dog shelter and moved into a dog-friendly apartment. Suffices to say we were making big doggy moves at a Hussein Bolt speed. Now, here we were in a rental 4x4 with a tent strapped to the roof gunning it up the West Coast to visit Namibia or as President Trump calls it "Shithole Nambia". Travelling with a dog abroad requires a lot of planning and patience. For example, you have to visit a State Vet in every country for a stamp that confirms that all it's vaccinations are in order and that there are no quarantinable diseases in the country you've come from. This can be a timeous nightmare as some countries have better risk policies than others. Also, you have to find dog-friendly camps and accommodation as not all abodes are accustomed to the idea of man's best friend rolling like a human. We set off from Cape Town on a scorching summer's morning and camped out under the African stars. We spent the first 3 night at riverside camps in S.Africa. It's no wonder they call her the Mother City; all her surrounding getaway are worthy children and nothing short of 4-star hospitality. Camp living is perfect for budget travellers and yet the experience is equal if not more fulfilling than predictable luxury holidaying. Each campsite has fresh water, hot showers, electricity, swimming pools and even a sink to wash your dishes. It's not camping when it's like this it's glamping. Each night we braaied (*barbecued) a feast that would carry us to dinner the following night. On the fourth day we crossed over the border into the beautiful Namibian desert. The Namibian desert is a vast and mesmerising place. Stay on the national road and the drive flows with ease. Venture into the dunes and that's when the adventure begins. It is where all car tyres go to die. So bring be sure to pack more than one spare wheel. Our first night in Namibia was spent at the Castle of Seeheim. Hidden in the desert beneath the valley of sand along the Fish River Canyon, Seeheim is an old mining post as tranquil as the bramble bushes that beat the desert sand. One minute you're driving along and the next, like a mirage Seeheim magically appears. Lord Tirion was treated like a prince and got to run with the Gemsbok and roll with the pangolins. The owner curbed us from travelling direct to the capital and repurposed our adventure through the desert towards the dream like instagrammable Sossusvlei and Swakopmund. Even though they wouldn't let the 'Good Lord' into the Sossusvlei Reserve we got to camp out at one of the most amazing camps just outside the picturesque plateau. Swakopmund; move along nothing to see here. So we booked our first accommodation at Rossmund Golf Estate, where we picnicked over Champagne on the green with thousands of bouncing Springbok adding a romantic spin onto our African experience. Next stop, Windhoek, the capital city of Namibia, the only place in country with any kind of nightlife and a WTF attitude towards our travel companion. Little did they know that he would charm their socks off the same way he had done with the rest their countrymen. We lost some time in the desert and only spent one night at the Urbancamp campsite. Turns out this is where the locals hangout on a Friday night. We partied up a storm with the locals and woke up early the next morning to ascend towards the Caprivi Strip to Botswana. This has been pure bliss.