Suzuki Safari - Project Lilies

There’s some amazing natural phenomena that happens on this planet, a fair bit of it being unexplained, but that doesn’t take away from the awesomeness of it. Africa has more than its fair share of these amazing sights, and neighbouring Namibia is home to a few of those. There are things like the Sossusvlei dunes, the wild desert elephants of the Namib, Etosha National Park, the Fish River canyon, the Caprivi strip – and the wild Crinum Paludosoum lilies that flower en masse in an 800 hectare pan about 50km from the small town of Maltahöhe. Known as the Sandhof lilies thanks to the naturally-occurring pan being found on Farm Sandhof. This lily pan is world-famous and attracts visitors from far and wide, but the catch is that they only flower after the year’s first good rainfall when the pan floods, which is only at a depth of around 30-40 cm. 

​With Namibia being a rather arid environment, the arrival of these rains can’t really be timed properly, so if you’re planning on traveling to see this absolutely amazing natural sight, you need to be ready for immediate action – or utter disappointment. This year the rains came early but luckily those in the know, like Johan and Justin du Toit from African Expeditions who head up the unforgettable Suzuki Safari Expeditions, have their proverbial ear to the ground with these things. When the pan floods, the flowers spark to life, and in day 1 – 7 the stalk shoots up to about 40-50 cm above the water, then from day 7 – 14 the flowers bloom in a sea of white, pink and red petals. From day 14 – 21 the flowers die, the petals fall off and the phenomenon is over. This means you either have to be ready at the proverbial drop of a hat, or you can sort of plan by getting ready to leave but with a month’s (or at least two weeks) leeway and a trip to Farm Sandhof and wait for the signal to go. If you keep in contact with the African Expeditions crew a trip like this is possible, and it’s even better in a Suzuki Jimny. 

​With the way I work I’m lucky enough to be able to leave for a shoot at short notice, and thanks to that freelance life I was able to join Suzuki SA and African Expeditions on a few days’ notice, destination Namibia, subject Sandhof lilies in bloom. The Suzuki Safari Jimnys get around to all parts of Africa, and they happened get the heads-up about the lilies and so made their way to Namibia to check the status of the flowering. With a quick decision, a passport collection and a short flight, I landed in Windhoek where I met up with Justin du Toit and his Superior White Jimny that was fully stocked for a road trip. To get to the pan there’s a short 350 km or so drive. We headed straight there on one of the longest, straightest tar roads I’ve even seen, and that soon changed into the longest, straightest gravel road I’ve ever seen. Luckily for the Jimny it ain’t no thang. Before seeing the lilies, we stopped off at our accommodation for a couple of days which was the Maltahöhe Hotel that’s oddly located in the town of... Maltahöhe. It’s a great place with amazing staff, a very well-stocked bar and some top-class food. The accommodation is great, and even though it feels like the town is in the middle of nowhere, the location means it’s a popular stopover for travellers heading to see the Sossusvlei dunes, the iconic Duwisib Castle and a bunch of other historic and natural landmarks. It makes for a brilliant base to travel out for day trips from. Here we met up with Johan and Karen du Toit in Safari San, the African Expeditions Suzuki Safari mascot.

​Once settled in, we headed to Farm Sandhof about 30 minutes or so further along some of the most amazing gravel roads I’ve ever seen. I actually didn’t know they could be so clean and smooth. After a short drive from the gate where we paid a ridiculously low R20.00 entry fee, we spotted the lilies, and the sight is pretty hard to describe. How would you describe an 800 hectare pan of around 18 000 000 naturally-occurring lilies? At first I thought the shining white flowers was reflection of the sun off a large dam, but as we got closer you could see that it was lilies pretty much as far as you can see. I now know that the term ‘breath-taking’ is used way too often. JJ (Johan) is hooked up, and it wasn’t long before we met Oliver Morgan who’s family has overseen the lily pan for five generations, to say he’s a local is an understatement. Really nice guy with typically Namibian friendliness, one of those guys that after a five minute chat you’d swear you’ve known him for years. With VIP status achieved, we were lead to an area that the regular folk didn’t have access to for a different view of the pan, that’s how Suzuki Safari rolls. We soaked it all in for a while before following Oliver up to a higher view point for a sundowner view while making plans to return first thing in the morning.  

​And I mean first thing, we arrived back at Farm Sandhof before 06:00 to see the lilies in the soft morning sunrise. The gates are usually only opened up at 08:00, but our VIP access allowed for a pre-dawn arrival. #BecauseJimny. Thanks Oliver, you rock! A decent photo session with a pair of Suzuki Jimnys in between the lilies was had, the light was just insane. You’ll see in the pics the sky has pink in it, and that’s exactly what you see, the colours are just amazing. Oh, and before anyone complains that we had the Jimnys parked in the lilies, there’s no environmental damage done. The flowers were about a day away from their death cycle but that doesn’t mean they just fall off and the plants die down, the flowers actually get decimated. When the petals fall, cows are let in and they have themselves a jolly old feast flattening millions and millions of Sandhof lilies. Incidentally, it’s only cows that can eat and digest the flowers for some reason, probably that four stomachs story. Other animals apparently don’t feel so great if they eat them. So while it is a delicate ecosystem of sorts, a couple of Jimnys with special access aren’t going to do any damage. There was damage done a bit later though, to the monster omelette back at Maltahöhe Hotel.

​After breakfast and with the lily shots sorted, we hit the road again to go and see Duwisib Castle, about 70 km from Maltahöhe. It’s a historic Namibian landmark that was built in 1909 by Baron Captain Hansheinrich von Wolf, a German officer and avid horse breeder, and he built it as a gift for his American wife, Jayta Humphreys. In 1914 the couple was travelling to Europe when WW1 broke out, and after re-enlisting in the army the Baron was killed at the Battle of Somme. Some say his wife never returned to Namibia, being too heartbroken, but the locals will tell you she did return to the castle, but she only stayed for two years before the heartbreak kicked into overdrive and she returned to America. Not before she released all the Baron’s horses into the desert which is where the feral, wild Namib Desert horses are believed to have originated. The castle has had many owners since the early 1900s, and since 1979 has been owned by the Namibian government. At a time, not too long ago, you could stay at the castle - there was a restaurant and all sorts. These days you can visit Duwisib Castle for a basic guided tour but you can’t stay there anymore. Apparently plans are in place to revamp things so this could potentially happen again. If you’re in the area, it’s well worth a visit. While a lot of the fittings and furniture aren’t as they used to be, there’s still loads of amazing old stuff around. The cupboards and some chairs were bespoke pieces and likely priceless. A pair of chairs with Habsburgian double eagles flank a doorway to the courtyard and they were said have belonged to King Philip of Spain in 1581. One bedroom cupboard is marked as being built in 1735 - and the craftsmanship is brilliant. 

​After a few more photos in front of the castle, we headed back to Maltahöhe with a lunch stop at Betta Camp. Another place you have to see, there’s accommodation, a curio shop and a restaurant that knows what its doing. While the place is surrounded by sand, it’s amazingly clean. 100 km later, it was dinner and beer time at Maltahöhe Hotel, and then bed. The following day saw another early start to get back to the main airport in Namibia and then head back to Jo’burg. As far as shoots in 2023 went, this one was one for the books. Thanks to Suzuki SA and the African Expeditions crew for this absolutely amazing experience and the chance to take in something most city boys will never have the opportunity to see. Y’all are awesome!