Epupa Falls and a Himba Village: Overlanding Northern Namibia

Cold open: part two of Where Paths Begin

Welcome back to Tusk and Tyre Overlanding. In part two of this eight part series in Namibia, we follow the river to Epupa. On paper, an easy trip, but in reality, not so much. One small mistake turns into a big moment, and the river starts showing Corne and his friends what it is capable of, as well as a fascinating visit to a Himba homestead. Welcome to part two of Where Paths Begin, on our Namibian journey. Start this train. Let's go.

On the track in

I wanted to go check it out, but I see it's closed. I googled it, but it's temporarily closed. Are you guys still alright? This is where they said if you stay on the track, you can get through. Yeah, I think this is where the guy got stuck. It just looked difficult, but when I drove down, I saw he was okay.

Morning at Epupa Falls: the drive in

Cheers, on a lekker morning. Coffee. I'm talking to you guys from Epupa Falls, Namibia, on the border of Angola. We arrived here yesterday. 115 km travelling from Ruacana. The campsites, as I said, about 115 km. We had some 4x4ing, there is some low range in between. Done about a million dry river crossings. I think it's the streams coming from the mountains. When it rains, they turn into rivers. Had a couple of steep, steep uphills. Low range, first gear to climb them out with Motsumi and the trailer.

We stopped for about an hour to make lunch. We just turned into a dry riverbed, and then that hour turned into two hours, because the tyres were still hard and we got stuck. So I had to deflate wheels, take out the shovels, dig out the heaps, sand in front. And eventually we got out, stopped on the road again, inflated tyres, and off we went. The 114 km took us about 6.5 hours to do, but we were slow going. According to locals, it's doable in about 4.5 hours. As I said, we were travelling very, very slow.

About Epupa Falls

Epupa Falls is a stunning waterfall on the Kunene River, right on the Angolan border. Its name actually comes from the local Herero word for foam, because of all the foamy water. The area has deep cultural roots with the Himba people, who have lived there for centuries. There were once plans to build a dam that would have flooded the area, but thankfully those were stopped. Nowadays it's a popular spot for travelers who want to see the falls and learn about the local culture.

So we're going to have a guide this morning who is going to take us to a Himba village, and then take us on a short walk to go see crocodiles, and to some of the local places, to enjoy the local culture in the surroundings. All in all, we're going to be here for two nights. Last night was the first night. Today we're going to do some cultural local stuff. And tomorrow evening, off to Opuwo to stock up before we head into the Marienfluss, the Hartmannsvlakte, Kaokoland. So stay tuned, and let's see how this goes.

Tygon, the Himba guide

My name is Tygon Reiler. I'm a local Himba guide. I live at Epupa Falls, and I do different activities. I brought the people to the village to visit the Himba village. They are going to explain everything about the Himba culture, as well as the Himba tradition. You are more than welcome to be in the village. Thank you very much.

So we bought the food for the Himba, and we're on our way, leaving to the cultural village of the Himba people. Stay tuned to see what it's all about.

Inside the Himba homestead

Hello. Hello. Nawa (are you good). Moro (morning). Nawa. Can I take a picture? They are very happy for your visit. Thank you for your visit, it is highly appreciated. So you can make a picture for anybody in the village, it is not a problem. Thank you for bringing us young people who come to see the Himba. They are very happy of that.

So this is the main hut of the chief and the first wife, and that's why it's bigger than the other huts. And in the middle here is a holy fire. And this is the kraal for the animals. So the holy fire is very important, especially for the Himba and Herero community. It's the place where we communicate with the spirit of the ancestors, because we believe in the spirit of the ancestors and we also believe in God, the almighty. So every ceremony takes place at the holy fire: the wedding ceremony, the commemoration, the circumcision, the healing ceremony. And it's only the head of the village who is allowed to communicate to the spirit of the ancestors, if there's any kind of ritual. And the line between the main hut and the kraal, we are not allowed to pass. We walk around the kraal.

So the Himba ladies, when they are a teenager or adolescent, then they have two ponytails in the front, like these two ladies. When they reach the puberty stage, like the age of 13 or 14, they braid it to the front, many hairs like the one on the back, but to the front, because at the puberty stage the lady is very shy. So that's why they put it on the front so that she can hide her face. When she reaches the age of 15, they change the hair to the back like the one on the mature woman, but without the crown. When she has her first period, they make a ceremony to wear the crown, to symbolize that she has become a mature woman. And so that is the meaning of the crown.

They build the hut with the tree called mopane. And after that they use the cow dung and clay to put on the hut. The hut is divided into two parts. One part is for the woman and the other part is for the men. Over there is the part of the woman, here is the part of the men. So there's a place where they make fire to keep the hut warm and to light up the hut. This is leather of the cow. They use it as a mattress where they sleep, and they cover themselves with the blanket. Here is the pillow for the men, one of the comfortable pillows in the whole world. So you put your head like this so that the insect cannot enter your ear.

A guest, not an audience

Near Epupa Falls, we stepped off the track and into a Himba homestead. Before anything else, we greeted. We asked permission, and we slowed down. I'm not here to explain somebody else's life, only to share that moment. We were welcomed into the red earth, the smoke rising softly from the fire, the quiet rhythm of daily work. It wasn't a performance. It was real life continuing while we were simply guests. I watched hands at work, children moving between laughter and curiosity, and elders holding the space with calm presence. We listened more than we spoke. We kept the camera respectful, because some stories are not ours to take, only ours to witness. And in that quiet exchange, no rush, no noise, this journey reminded me again: the best paths don't just lead to places, they lead to perspective. Where paths begin, respect must lead the way. I could only share a little bit of what we saw that day.

Crocodile walk on the Kunene

We're on a guided walk with Tygon, here next to the Kunene River. We're looking for crocodiles. We found a little small one, but it was difficult to film. I've got a little small picture of it. There are many crocodiles.

The falls from the drone

From up here at Epupa Falls, it changed everything. The Kunene River, wide and steady, suddenly breaks into a hundred threads, spilling over dark rock and disappearing into mist. As the drone climbs, the noise becomes a texture you can almost feel, a constant roll softened by distance. Sunlight catches the spray and turns it into drifting silver, while the river keeps writing its own route through the land. What I love about this view is the contrast, the power and the calm in the same frame. The water doesn't fight the landscape, it follows it, finds the edges, and then it commits. And standing here behind the controls, I'm reminded: sometimes the best way to understand a place is to step back and simply watch. Where paths begin. Even the river teaches us how to move forward.

The roar took over the conversation

Epupa wasn't just a stop on the map for us, it became a place where the group softened. Out here, days are measured in distance, feel and plans. But standing at these falls, none of that mattered. The roar of the water took over the conversation, and somehow it made space for the things we don't always say. We arrived there separate people, different moods, different stories, different worries. And then nature did what it always does, it stripped the noise away. The mist on our skin, the wind in the palms, the river pushing forward without hesitation. It reminded us to breathe deeper, to look longer, and to be fully present. A waterfall like Epupa doesn't just impress you, it resets you. It washes the mind clean and stitches a group together without anyone trying. And that's what this journey keeps teaching us. Where paths begin, nature doesn't just show you the world, it shows you each other.

Why I do this: the Okavango

I said in each episode I'll share a little bit of myself, on how I got to overlanding and touring and camping the way I am now, and my love for nature, for wildlife, and for solitude. Another story I can share is of the Okavango Delta. We left Maun one day very late, to camp we were building on Chief's Island. I don't think we got lost, because at that stage we knew that road so very well, and we went through a, what can you call it, a river crossing? It's one of those crossings in the delta. It was dark though, so we might have been a little lost. Just a little, of course.

Since we went through the river crossing, before we knew it the roof only stuck out this much above the water. So we were four in the car, all jumping on the truck on the outside, because it's night. You can't see. There are crocodiles, there are hippos, there's elephant. So that was about 11:00 at night. We were construction guys. We were not overlanders at that stage. As overlanders, you don't travel those kind of roads at night. But construction workers, what do we know.

Now we're sitting on the vehicle, contemplating what we're going to do. Are we going to wait here for the lions to catch us, or the hippos to get us, or the crocs, or are we going to walk back to camp? At that stage we were about 3 or 4 km from camp. And it was a full moon night, so that helped. The unanimous decision is, let's walk. At that stage we were there for two years already, so we kept our eyes open.

So we started walking, and every now and then, I mean, you're scared. I was 22 years old. You're scared now. So then you stop, and you look around. You listen. And you see nothing. And you start walking again. Then you hear something in the grass again. You stop. Listen. Look around. Nothing. Make a long story short, we got back to camp. And the next morning we took one of the tractors to go pull out the Nissan. And as we were driving with the tractor, there were lion tracks on our tracks. So whether the lion was two meters behind us or two kilometers behind us, we don't know. That was quite scary. And then the rule in camp came that if you can't make camp by nightfall, then you stay in Maun and you leave early the next morning.

The construction company that I was working for, we were in the hospitality industry, building housing, lodges and hotels and stuff like that. We worked in Hoedspruit a lot. We built Royal Malewane, we built Thornybush. So it's that kind of areas that I worked in, that's a little bit more of why I'm overlanding and why I'm camping like I do. But I'll share some more in the next couple of episodes, and I'll tell you where actually my love for overlanding began, the opportunity we had for our very first overland trip. Speak to you then.

Last morning at Epupa, onwards to Opuwo

Good morning. Our last morning at Epupa Falls. Sad to leave, but the journey must go on, and what lies ahead is very, very exciting. Going down to Opuwo, then turning westwards into Kaokoland and the Marienfluss, Hartmannsvlakte, Damaraland. That is what lies ahead for us in the next 14 days. But before we leave Epupa, the last view. And over there, the mist from the waterfall. Cheers, Epupa. You were good to us. Until next time.

Goodbye Epupa. So that was Epupa, onwards to Opuwo. We leave the river behind and head inland, to restock and refuel, because the real wilderness is awaiting in the next stretch. It won't be about highlights. It will be about grit, distance, and whatever the road decides to throw at us. Here is a clip from part three.