This morning we visited Kolmanskop – the deserted ghost town about 10 kms outside of Luderitz. Why they established a town there in the first place is beyond me. The guide told us that they get on average 10mm of rainfall a year. They used to ship water in from Cape Town (not kidding). The town had everything. A recreational hall including gymnasium equipment, a kegelbahn (like Ten Pin Bowling), a 250 bed hospital (which was big enough to house all the inhabitants of the town), an ice maker, a bakery, a butcher, a shop keeper and even it’s own tram (which was built to take the water around to everyone in the town). The level of sophistication for the town was quite incredible – they even had their own refrigeration room. Pretty much all built on German engineering. It seems Germans have dominated the engineering space for quite some time given that the town was started in the early 1900’s.

Some of the buildings are remarkably well preserved and it shows how good their building was as well.  The mine manager’s house is in almost a liveable state still. The kegelhall is similarly in very good condition still and the guide said that VIPs visiting the town with NamDeb (the owner’s of the town and all the diamond fields in Namibia) still play on the lanes from time to time. Some of the furniture is even preserved and in the shop keepers house they have set up the furniture. The shop keepers ledger is also still available for you to flip through. They have original employment contracts of the workers which are very detailed for that time including stipulating annual leave (which started at 5 days per year), sick leave and when termination due to sickness would occur and what you would get paid. Stephen worked out that the one person was paid the equivalent of around £7200 per annum which is a pretty good salary for well over a 100 years ago. It is clear that there was a lot of money flowing at that time in the town. They apparently used to run out of money and then just used to pay their bills in diamonds.

They also went to great lengths to prevent people stealing diamonds. In that regard the town was the first one to get a n X-ray machine in the Southern Hemisphere. And it wasn’t to detect broken bones – it was used to X-ray people for where they were trying to smuggle out diamonds. There is a room in the recreation hall just dedicated to the ways people have tried to smuggle diamonds out including in the handle of luggage, in their shoes, in various orifices of their body, using doves etc. It remains a problem today even. The entrance to the biggest active mine in Namibia is right next to Kolmanskop and they have a full search security point including a form of X-ray for vehicles available.

In the afternoon Stephen and I went to visit Dias Point (and Dias Cross) and we did some birding along the way too. What is bizarre (I am sure I have used that word a few times this trip already) is that you drive through the diamond ‘forbidden’ area.  No fences though. Just a sign warning you not to enter or steal diamonds. They are apparently places where there are still diamonds simply lying in an open field. Of course Michael has been looking hard everywhere we go to find one! Dias Point and Cross was nothing special but we did add a few more birds to the trip list taking us up to 130 for the trip and 10 lifers. We only have 1 more day to go so my 150 target is unlikely to be met unless we get very lucky in the next day.

We went to the only other restaurant in town tonight. It was relatively full with mostly locals. While the service was slightly slow (which can be expected in a place like this), the portions was incredibly generous and the quality was good (and the prices very reasonable). Helen got the biggest rump steak I have ever seen served as a standard portion in a restaurant.

Our view of Luderitz hasn’t really change but we have had an enjoyable, relaxing day as we near the end of our trip. Even Helen was not complaining about spending the extra night here by the end of today. Even the weather improved today from overcast and quite cold to not having a cloud in the sky and seeing a beautiful sunset over the bay.

Until tomorrow …

S (because he said I have to acknowledge he found the hotel in Luderitz and that he chose well – which he did), P, H, M, C

We left Sossusvlei this morning after a leisurely breakfast.  We really did enjoy (in case you missed that from the previous blogs) our time at Sossusvlei. The night sky there is incredible. They have a skylight above your bed that you can look up from your bed and see the stars. And the sky at night is covered with them. The NamibRand Nature Reserve (in which the lodge is situated) has recently been declared an ‘International Dark Sky’ location.  In order to get this you have to comply with a number of requirements including only having outside lights that don’t affect your night vision.  The reserve was the first place in Africa to comply with the requirements and at the time it was awarded the status it was the only one in the world with Gold Status. I simply don’t remember seeing a sky so full of stars as it was last night.

We left at about 10am and continued heading south, this time heading until we eventually hit the tar road at Aus before turning west to Luderitz. The roads were gravel roads until we hit the main tar road to Luderitz.  About 300 kms of gravel roads. They were generally in very good condition though and at times we were able to drive 120 km/h even on the roads.  It is incredible how they manage to produce gravel roads almost as good as the tar roads. There is pretty much nothing in the way of towns between Sossusvlei and Luderitz. We stopped at Aus thinking we might but lunch and met up again with our travel buddies – the Beigers. They had been staying elsewhere since Etosha though we had been at Sossusvlei yesterday together (and had seen each other).

The road from Aus to Luderitz is stark. It really is how you expect a desert to look. As you approach Luderitz the landscape starts to look ‘lunar’ in rock formations with the sand in between. About 10 kms outside of Luderitz is Kolmanskop which is a ghost town that was abandoned in 1954 and now is fighting against the encroachment of the desert. We plan to visit it tomorrow am so I won’t blog more about it now. We arrived in Luderitz at 2:15pm and Helen immediately asked if we could change our reservation from 2 nights to 1 night! If Kolmanskop is a ghost town then parts of Luderitz are exactly the same. Our GPS was directing us down a small gravel road to get to our hotel which I thought was clearly wrong but it turned out to be correct. The town is half deserted and so could easily be confused with Kolmanskop itself. It is a start contrast of one building being used and the very next building next to it being abandoned and derelict. It is quite bizarre. One of friends called it Ludecrous and another called it Looseritz. I think Helen has asked 3 times already about shortening our stay!

We are staying at (without a doubt) the best building in town – Luderitz Nest Hotel (http://www.nesthotel.com/). It is a nice, good quality hotel and is right (and I mean right) on the sea.  As I type this I can hear the sea lapping against the building. All rooms have a view over the sea.  Just a quick look out of the window managed to secure another 4 birds for the trip. We went for a drive around town and to do some more birding later in the afternoon. We discovered that there really is only one other restaurant (besides the one at our hotel) in town and when we tried to book tonight for ourselves and the Beigers, they told us it was already fully booked and only outside was available.  Given it is about 12 degrees C with a wind chill factor there was no ways outside was an option. We drove around the whole of Luderitz (probably twice) and didn’t find anything of note. We then headed south down the coast to see what else we could find bird wise and did eventually also see another lifer (Common Whimbrel – for Paul) today (now up to 127 for the trip).

We settled on having supper in our hotel along with all the German tourists staying here as well. The quality was quite good (it bettered my expectations) and it was topped off by a freshly prepared Crepe Suzette for Stephen and I as desert.  They made the sauce and flambeed it from scratch. I last had them down like that for my 21st birthday at a restaurant in Cape Town! First time my kids have seen it done. And they tasted really good as well.

Until tomorrow….

S (because he had Oysters for the first time today in his life followed by sharing Crepe Suzette’s with me followed by resolved by internet Wifi issues at the hotel), M (because he too tried an Oyster), P, C & H (because she keeps asking whether we cut our stay down to 1 night only)

It was an early start today.  Wake up call at 5:30am, coffee at 5:50am and off to Sossusvlei Reserve and the dunes by 6am. We needed to be there as the gate opened (opens at sunrise) to get the best light on the dunes.  Even though we did it five years ago it, it was again very special to see the sunrise and the red coloured dunes. You have to drive 60 kilometers to get to the end of the dunes through what they call ‘The corridor’.  It is basically the corridor between the dunes and ends in the pan.  There are 50 dunes and they are numbered from the first one on the right down to the pan and back up the left side again. The biggest (tallest) is meant to be number 7 but George (our &Beyond ranger) tells us that there is a lot of dispute around that because it depends on where you measure from.  Number 45 is the one closer to the road and the one that the kids climbed last time. This time we went right through to the end of the road and into the river bed and down to the pan itself. At the end is the dune called Big Daddy.  Michael, Stephen & Chloe made it up (that is Michael on the left side of the photo climbing up still), Helen went most of the way and I stayed at about 25% of the way (I am realistic – there was no way I was going to make it up as it was so cold I was struggling to breathe from just climbing that much).

We definitely arrived at a good time because as we were finishing, the people were pouring in including the Asians along with enough camera equipment for the whole of Japan. And they were trying to climb the dunes laden with all that equipment. Even more amusing was that a good number of them were wearing masks. What did they think they might get to breathe in? Fresh air? They were the stereotypical Asians – taking photos of everything including directly down at the sand (like they had never seen sand before), the grass (which was pretty dry and sparse) and also Chloe & me (like we were a unique species). They didn’t even do it surreptitiously!  After the dune climbing and photography was finished, we went for breakfast in the pan. Our ranger (George) cooked bacon, egg and tomato on the skottle gas braai.  It went down very well.  We then headed back to the gate (60 km) and all managed to nod off for that but of the journey. A quick side trip down to the Sesriem Canyon (the water flows through there and down to the pan when it rains a lot in the escarpment). And then back to the lodge again.  We eventually got back at 12pm.

This afternoon George took us to ride the ATV’s (or what we commonly call Quad Bikes). We thought we would not be able to do it because all their guide books say you have to be 16 and older to do it. But they said we only needed to sign a waiver for the other 2 and we could do it.  So that duly signed we headed out. Unfortunately, only 4 were functioning so Michael had George sit behind him (give George some credit for choosing Michael to sit behind) and Chloe went behind Stephen. Helen had the automatic one. It was great fun and we were able to go up the dunes and ride in the dunes for quite a reasonable amount time. We rode for about 1.5 hours including seeing the sunset while on top of the dunes. Chloe also got to drive as she eventually went in front of Helen and she did very well too. Michael was in front and on the way back everyone was going much quicker than on the way out. We were going so fast we hit the bumps so hard you actually had to either stand up or at least get your bum off the seat.

We did manage to also add a few more birds to the list during the day and the list is now up to 118 and 8 lifers. Now waiting for dinner (in about 40 minutes). What you do at any &Beyond lodge is eat too much. Their food is generally very good and Sossusvlei Lodge is no exception. Last night we had pumpkin soup as a starter, choice of Lamb Tagine or Dorado for main and then Apple Pie for desert (though it was actually raisin pie … why .. oh why .. do people put raisins in APPLE pie). (Food details given especially for blog reader  Josie.)

If I can make one recommendation to everyone who reads this is to try and get to Sossusvlei once in your life for this experience. And if you have enough money, then stay at the &Beyond lodge (that’s a picture from the lodge – those are bedrooms on the left). And if you have a lot of money, fly in (they have a landing strip) rather than having to drive in over the bumpy gravel roads. It really is a superb experience.

Until tomorrow …

C (because she handled a quad bike for the first time in her life), H (because she also handled a quad bike for the first time and only went off the track once), P, M (because I still vaguely re-collect some reversing he did) and S.

Our opinion of River Crossing Lodge was reinforced this morning. It really is a very nice place and the staff try very hard but they just slip up with little things that could make them much better.  At breakfast this morning Helen asked for some apricot jam for her bread and they came back and said sorry they are out. We then asked for any jam and they said sorry they are out of all jam. Seriously?! How can a hotel/lodge not have any jams?!

We left at about 9am and were heading South and then West as we headed to Sossusvlei and in particular to the &Beyond Lodge at Sossusvlei which is in the Namib-Naukluft National Park. Our first stop on route was at Rehoboth to refuel the Beast. First petrol station – no diesel – awaiting delivery. Second petrol station – no fuel at all – closed totally. Mild panic setting in especially as our range was only 70 km and that was not enough to get us back to Windhoek even. Third petrol station, one pump open of diesel. Filled the Beast to the brim and also filled the Jerry Can as well.

From Rehoboth we began heading West and onto the gravel roads from then until we got to Sossusvlei.  About 250 kms of driving on gravel. And at some stages the road was not very good.  It started off quite rocky and you couldn’t go more than 80 km/h. It then improved and I was able to drive at about 100 km/h. But then we hit the rollercoaster section. You very suddenly hit the down section and the up section starts so quickly you have a little ‘air’ time in the vehicle especially when you hit them at 100 km/h. The innocuous ones caused the most ‘air’ time. We grew up calling them ‘thank you mums’ but have no idea where that phrase came from. Helen said it gave you a little adrenalin rush each time. Chloe asked if I was trying to break her back! After that section came the sandy section where the car drifted across the road like a ship in the night. My hands, arms and shoulders felt like they took a pounding and my wrists are hurting like crazy still. Helen did offer to drive but I was concerned that if I let her at the wheel we would hit those bumps even harder. About 70km out we stopped on the side of the road so I could stretch and 3 of us could defuel at the roadside (no toilet in sight).

We arrived at Sossusvlei Desert Lodge (http://www.andbeyondafrica.com/luxury_safari/namibia/sossusvlei/and_beyond_sossusvlei_desert_reserve/accommodation/and_beyond_sossusvlei_desert_lodgesossuvlei) at about 1:30pm (just in time to still have lunch at the lodge). We regularly visitors to &Beyond lodges and this is our second time at Sossusvlei. It definitely has the best accommodation of any of the lodges. The only negative is that they only have showers (I say showers because there is an inside and an outside one) rather than a bath and shower. They have limited water here (not surprising given it is a desert) and so I guess a bath would be a luxury.  The rooms are really superb though with an incredible view over the plain towards the dunes of the desert. Even the toilet is positioned so that you look over the plain! You can watch the Gemsbok and Springbok wander past while you are busy … or they are watching you!

At 3:30pm we headed out on a drive. There is not a lot of game here that we had not already seen but we did add Aardwolf and Bat Eared Fox to our list of mammals for the trip. We also saw Gemsbok, Springbok and Zebra. The most amazing thing is the bird life is quite prolific which you wouldn’t expect for a desert.  We are now up to 111 birds for the trip with 6 lifers. The sun sets very quickly here and we had drinks at about 5pm in the desert and watched the sunset. The temperature drops very quickly here as well and the trip back with the wind into our faces was pretty chilling.

As you can see, we have a Wifi connection in the lodge (they didn’t have that last time we were here) and so I can at least post the blog and keep up with emails. It is pretty intermittent though and slow (it took about 30 minutes to add one photo). So limited photos today and if you want to see more about the lodge then have a look at the link above.

H (because she told me that if she wasn’t first tonight she would seek revenge and because she never commented once on my driving on the gravel today), P, M (because I am still remembering his reversing skills), S & C (she is last by choice and not because of her age – it is because she accused me of trying to break her back!).

It was our last morning in Etosha today. We were heading from Halali through the park heading West to Okaukuejo and then out through the Anderson gate. We were on the road by about 8am.  We agreed to stop at the various waterholes on the way out (it is about 70kms to Okaukeujo from Halali) and at the first one we pulled in and what do we find but a pride of 6 lion lying at the waterhole.  They looked fairly full like they had just eaten and the animals were coming to the waterhole to drink with a small degree of concern only.  While watching the lions doing nothing we also managed to spot a few birds including another lifer (Ovambo Sparrowhawk) so that really did round it off.  The next batch of waterholes didn’t yield much new but did have a lot of the standard zebra, springbok, wildebeest as per usual.

We then went to a further waterhole and what do we find there but another pride of lion lying on the ridge. They also went doing anything but sunning themselves and sleeping but once again we added a few more birds to the list while we watching the lions doing nothing.  Then back onto the main road again and on the left we see an animal walking along which looked like a zebra. But lo and behold when we look through the binocs it turned out to be a lion masquerading as a zebra.  And after further scanning we saw the beautiful male (aren’t all males beautiful?) walking about 100 meters behind the lioness. We reversed about 200 meters and since I was driving and not Michael, I got bored of that technique and turned the Beast around and followed the lions as they walked parallel to the road. We followed them until the lioness lay down under a tree and then we reckoned nothing more was going to happen quickly. So after having not seen any lions in Etosha we made 3 prides and 11 lions in total in about 2 hours. It put the cherry on the top of a great Etosha experience again.  The Kgalagadi is left in the dust of Etosha.

We then had a 400 kms drive down to just outside Windhoek for tonight’s stay at River Crossing Lodge (www.rivercrossing.com.na/‎). It is a lodge set on hills just outside Windhoek.  They say it is only 5 minutes away from Windhoek but actually it is 5 minutes from the turn and then you have to negotiate the severely rutted dirt road up the hill to get to the lodge.  It is very picturesque and the sunset over the hills was once again photographed extensively by Helen who is now becoming a sunset photographer (almost exclusively).  And the good thing is that they have Wifi in the lounge area so I can much more easily post the blog and upload some photos as well. Helen pointed out that she is a little suspicious of a place that gives you complimentary Doom in your bedroom though! It is one of those places we they are trying really hard but the small things let them down.  Like it takes about 5 minutes for the hot water to arrive in the shower.  They clearly pipe it all the way from Windhoek. And there is about a 2 inch gap on the top and bottom of the toilet door. And you either shower plastered against the wall or you flood the bathroom. And the wine list shows about 90% of the red wines as ‘Out’ and when you order one of the two remaining ones at dinner they tell you it is out too but the other ones actually aren’t ‘out’ anymore, they just have updated the wine list. But they are very pleasant and friendly and helpful and honest (even when they mess up). I am just hoping the aircon works in the room because it is getting pretty cold now.

And in case you’re wondering, bird list stands at 104 in total with 6 lifers so far.

Until tomorrow (I hope because we are again entering a no-cellphone, no wifi area for the next 2 nights so don’t panic if you don’t hear from us) ..

P, S (because he sat in front most of the day with me while everyone else was sleeping), M (because I am still remembering his reversing skills), H, C

We thought it would a quiet day today. We were wrong. We had to change accommodation from one set of huts to another so we decided to have a morning drive, come back for breakfast and then pack up and hopefully move over. Fortunately they did have the new rooms ready and so our plan worked out. Michael, Chloe and I then decided to go for a drive. The others including the Greyers decided to stay in camp and visit the waterhole.

Given the circumstances I might have been tempted into letting Michael drive, if it was legal. About 15 kms from camp a guy stopped us and said that there was a very aggressive elephant about 1km down the road. I thought how aggressive could it be and so we continued. We approached slowly and were making good progress when it turned and flapped and started charging. Michael might have done extremely well to get the car into reverse and start backing up quickly (if of course he was driving). And he would have needed to reverse for at least 300 to 400 meters before said elephant stopped charging. In the reversing there might have been a bend that was slightly missed and so one thorn bush less now in Etosha. And assuming Michael was driving that might have been the right time for a more skillful driver to take charge again.And the best way to change drivers might be for Michael to simply vault over the gear lever and for me to run around the car into the drivers seat. The changeover would have been competed in about 2 seconds.

We still needed to get past the grumpy elephant though. While I was edging closer (Michael later explained over the braai tonight that it was like we were playing a game of K I N G spells king) another car came from the other direction. We tried to warn them to go back but they ignored us and the elephant promptly charged at them. That gave us a little space to creep up some more on it. It kept turning back to have a look where we were though. Eventually it went far enough in and had its back to us still while watching the other car that I could gun it past. The elephant immediately started charging us at full speed. And I kept accelerating. Only problem was that the other car realized he had a big problem as he was facing the wrong way and he had an elephant charging at him.  He had the best 2 point turn in the bush I have ever seen (including also taking out a bush or two) and by the time I was level with him he was also ready to accelerate after me. I clocked 80 km/h while getting around Mr Grumpy. Mr Grumpy followed us for at least 200-300 meters.  Our adrenalin was pumping. I needed a Coke and Michael kindly passed it to me and he couldn’t keep his hand from shaking. Michael and Chloe then needed to defuel about a km down the road as well. The encounter legends are made of. After all that who really cares about the rest of the drive or day for that matter?

The rest of the drive and day was sedate and pleasant. In the late afternoon we visited the waterhole and watched the sunset and we saw mother and baby rhino come down to drink. The waterhole never fails me. Every time I have been there it has had something to offer and usually one of the big five. We also went after supper and we saw a small matriarchal herd of elephant wth a baby drinking (or should I rather say slurping).

The other highlight was the braai. After making the fire we tried to put the grid on (it was a chimney type of braai place) only to discover that the braai grid didn’t fit probably because of the expansion due to the heat. But in discovering this we got the grid stuck in half way. And in the effort to get the grid out, I tried to pull the grid out with the tongs and they got stuck into the grid. It was a comedy of errors. Mrs Greyer was helping and summed it up by saying if she we’re a marshmallow she would have been toasted brown by that stage. If the fire wasn’t so hot it might have been slightly less inconvenient getting the tongs stuck. And to make matters worse it was the only set of tongs amongst the utensils from all 4 huts we had between us. Stephen kindly posted a Facebook photo of the incident!

So that was our day. Hope yours wasn’t as exciting. Until tomorrow.

P, M (gets promoted for his driving skills), C (because she was with us), H and S.

Ps: if you read something today or yesterday that doesn’t make sense it wasn’t because I was drunk or suffering the effects of an insect bite on my groin (first didn’t happen but second did), it is because I am typing and posting this on my iPad and the predictive text has a mind of its own!

Despite not seeing any predators today, Etosha continues to impress. We went for an early morning drive to two waterholes. There was a reasonable amount of game around and we did a black backed jackal again (almost getting bored of seeing them now). We also addmum numerous birds to our ever growing list. We are now up to 97 for the entire trip and so hoping to clock over the 100 tomorrow. We did see the biggest herd of zebra I have probably ever seen – well over a thousand.

After we had breakfast, Stephen and I went to spend some time at the waterhole again in the camp. We saw some more birds and then a herd of elephant came for a drink. It was amazing watching their antics. Another herd also came down and there was a bit of pushing and shoving and trumpeting. They all wanted to drink from the same spot and they chased away any other animals you tried to dink including guinea fowl and impala. A kudua managed to sneak in for a drink while they weren’t watching. A solitary male arrived and he calmed everyone down. Quite funny to see him imposing his presence and how everything did clam down.

Helen and I went up before lunch and again saw elephants drinking. This was a bigger herd of about 24 with some of all ages including some really young ones. Their antics were also very entertaining. One of the teenagers was very amorous and wanted to mount another teenage female who was having none of it. She was more interested in chasing away the guinea fowl. Eventually she sprayed the male with water – aka cold shower!

We went for an afternoon drive down to the Etosha lookout. You can go about a km onto the pan. A freaky kind if feeling. Erie. Cannot post photos now as only access is on iPad but will try to post a few tomorrow. As we came back into camp we decided to go to the waterhole and watch the sunset. Stephen was smiled at and waved to by 3 young ladies. His response was ‘not surprising when you have his looks’. He seems to be a babe magnet even in Etosha.

At the waterhole it was quite when we got there but we were enjoying the sunset and so weren’t bothered by the lack of game. Then suddenly out of the bushes came a black rhino. It was very skittish and walked all around the waterhole (in the bushes) before finally approaching and having a drink. A great sighting and once again the waterhole delivers one of the big 5. Every time we go we see one of the big 5. Tomorrow we are hoping for some more predator sightings which have been sparse on this trip. But we aren’t complaining as we are thoroughly enjoying Etosha.

We had another braai tonight with our travel companions – the Reders. They had spent two nights elsewhere and rejoined us today at Halali. I am tired and my only connection is on the iPad and so sorry for no photos today.

Until tomorrow …. P, h, s, m, c

 

Today we left Otjiwarongo heading up to Etosha where we will spend the next 3 nights. While we had breakfast this morning, one of the guesthouse staff was cleaning all the cars. That was quite a big thing for us as the Beast was really looking very dusty and the seeing through the windows (especially the side ones) was not easy.

I do find Namibians quite paranoid about their security. The guest house we were staying at had electric fence all around (and yet I believe crime is almost non-existent) and the lady from the Mariental guest house told us to be very careful at ATM machines because there were two (yes you read that correctly – two) incidents involving robbery that had been publicised. I bet there are two a day per machine in South Africa.  She was muttering about ‘what is becoming of our country’.

We left Otjiwarongo heading north toward Etosha. You got through one town on the way.  It is about 180km to the gate of Etosha. Not much intellectual conversation this morning though. Helen though was ‘educating’ us with her music selection. It all started as we went through the town and saw Delarey Butchery selling biltong. We had to stop and re-stock and while I was inside doing that, the rest of them were singing ‘De la Rey’ by Bok van Blerk in the car. Now we are not only speaking Afrikaans we are now listening to Afrikaans songs as well (if you’re so inclined you can watch it on YouTube www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtKKJSfYraU‎). We moved on from there to other supposedly ‘educational’ songs.  One of which was ‘Kung Fu Fighting’ which was meant to be for the kids education and it turns out they all knew the song already and I had never heard it. Helen says her parents played it all the time (it was written in 1976) but clearly my parents deprived me (or in this case protected me). She played other classics from our childhood such as Super Tramp and a few others which only Helen seemed to know.

We got to the gate at around 11am and filled in the necessary forms to give us entry. Within 500 meters of the gate we had seen Giraffe, Springbok, Impala and Gemsbok. Why did we waste 3 days in the Kgalagadi was my first thought and that was echoed by everyone else. We are staying at Halali so after passing through Okaukuejo (the equivalent of Skukuza in Etosha) we headed to Halali. At the very first waterhole we saw elephant (the whitest elephant I have ever seen), impala, springbok, gemsbok, ostrich and a few other birds.  The one male elephant looked quite amorous and so we stayed to watch for some time but he never got up to any nonsense. The comments from the occupants in the car (especially from Michael) were rated (R18) and can’t be repeated on the blog.

To get to Halali you basically drive along the Etosha Pan. It is very stark and impressive. You can see animals from a mile away.  We saw a lot on route including large herds of Springbok, Zebra, Wildebees, Giraffe, Gemsbok and Impala. We seriously saw more on that drive (68 kms) than we saw in the entire time in the Kgalagadi. For those ‘friends’ who think the Kgalagadi is great – let us introduce you to Etosha!

We also managed to increase our bird list total to 86. Some of those were actually seen in the camp as we were driving and parking at our huts. We have two very nicely furnished Family Units.  Each has 2 bedrooms, a lounge, small (ill-equipped) kitchen and an outside braai area. It is very good quality though and much better than any Sanparks accommodation in SA.  At about 4pm we headed out for an afternoon drive down to the nearest waterhole. We didn’t see a huge amount on route (except a few birds) but at the waterhole we saw a herd of elephant and then ticked off another 4 or 5 bird species as well.

As soon as we got back Stephen and I headed for the waterhole at the camp and once again saw elephant bathing and drinking at the waterhole. As you can see from the photo, the waterhole is very close to where you can sit and watch and so you feel like it is a very intimate experience.  We watched the sunset and saw a large flock (around 100) of Double Banded Sandgrouse come in to drink (and make a huge racket) and also added a Pearl Spotted Owlet (flew into the tree right behind where I was sitting).

We went back to the hut for dinner and then straight after dinner headed back again to the waterhole.  It is flood lit at night. As we arrived we saw a Hare come to drink and then bounced off again. About 5 minutes later we heard a whoop from the far side of the water which was responded to by a whoop from just next to us on the left. That continued for about 10 whoops. It was Hyena undoubtedly calling to each other. About 5 minutes later a Hyena appeared and cautiously approached the water. It eventually got there and drank and we could hear the lapping.  It then suddenly got a fright, jumped back and headed back into the bushes and all was still again at the waterhole. I wonder how much game you could see by just sitting there the whole day (pretty sure more than you could see in the Kgalagadi). And the sunset and evening star rising were amazing as well. Only been in the park for 1/2 day and it is already matching (or surpassing) my memories of last time.

Until tomorrow (assuming our connectivity holds up!) – P, H, S, M & C

 

We left just before 9am this morning as we headed up to Otjiwarongo. It is 530kms and you pass through Rheboth, Windhoek, Okahandja and then there is nothing for 186kms until you hit Otjiwarongo. 530kms of very straight road. As there is very little of interest, when you see anything strange or odd (see photo), it starts a lot of guessing what it might be until you approach it more closely and can actually figure out what it is (in this case a very large communication tower).  The other thing that we do on these drives is discuss items of random interest.  Today we discussed courts, trials, juries and the judicial systems worldwide, the death penalty, OJ Simpson, Anna Nicole Smith, Bernie Madoff, Nick Gleeson, Ponzi schemes, Pyramid schemes, Arbitrage and a few other subjects of interest. You can probably see the link through all the subjects covered today.

By this stage we had reached Windhoek where we stopped to refuel and defuel. Michael already was the occupier of the front seat by this stage as Helen had needed to have her first morning nap. After Windhoek, Stephen and her had a further morning nap. That left Michael and I to occupy ourselves and we did that by talking about another whole stream of subjects including driving skills (I have a lot to impart in this regard), people’s response to Christianity, driving speeds, overtaking, road signs and the like.

On the 186km stretch into Otjiwarongo, there are numerous warthog on the side of the road. So many that they in fact are constantly warning you about them. The problem is that they are pretty hard to avoid when driving at a speed of 120 km/h (or over). This was evidenced by the fact that as we were overtaking a truck at one point, the car in front of me did not pull back in immediately and I wondered why until I drove over a warthog which was lying in the middle of the road. Now that is a fairly large bump to drive over at 120 km/h but the Beast handled it magnificently (the car not the warthog in case there was any confusion) – I never even had to use my superior driving skills to do anything. Those who were asleep kept on sleeping even. Shortly after this a bird decided to test the strength of the windscreen glass. It hit the windscreen so hard that I ducked thinking it was coming straight through. That put me level with Mrs Blacker (our travel companions) who had managed to kill a bird on the first day of the road trip already. I didn’t even get a chance to ID the bird but there was definitely some crimson involved.

We made excellent time and arrived at Otjiwarongo at 1:45pm – averaging around 105km/h including stops. We are staying tonight at Hadassa Guest House (www.hadassaguesthouse.com/‎).  And once again I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for accommodation in Otjiwarongo. The rooms are of a high quality and the WiFi is much faster than last night.  We went to the Spar in Otjiwarongo to re-load our snack bag and also buy food for the next 3 days (self-catering). Quite a nice shop with a mix of SA and German brands. The bizarre thing was that there was no chicken on sale except frozen whole ones. People in Otjiwarongo clearly don’t eat chicken.  When we got back to the Guest House, the owners (who are French) saw us birdwatching at the Guest House and told us about the hidden secret of Otjiwarongo.  He said there were 10 lakes (read sewerage ponds) where numerous birds could be seen so Stephen, Helen and myself headed there for a quick 30 minutes of birding. Nothing like visiting the sewerage plant at Otjiwarongo while on holiday. But that is what we did and he was right about the bird life. The only problems were the smell (it was so bad Helen got back into the car), the visuals (you could see the raw sewerage being pumped into the dams) and the fact that the sun was setting quickly so we needed to get in as many sightings as possible before it was dark. Given that we did not expect to add many birds to our trip list today, we impressively added 13 new ones including ones that are not very easily seen (African Purple Swamphen – for you Paul).  And to top it off we got some beautiful sunset shots (have a look on Instagram under #templetravels).

We had asked about dinner and were told by the Guest House that it was too late for them to arrange for tonight. I asked what is the best restaurant in town and was told Kari’s. When we searched on our GPS for restaurants it only came up with 3 choices one of which was the Wimpy! We went to Kari’s and we were the only customers at 7pm. We took the only inside tables and so we had our own private dining area. No Haute Cuisine expected and none obtained. Stephen and I went for the Oryx steaks (Gemsbok for those of you who are less posh) and they were actually quite nice (either that or I was hungry). The others went for the boring option of chicken (not obtained from the Spar obviously) and hamburger. We just realised how fortunate we are living in Cape Town with all the restaurant choices we have.  Some more interesting conversation over dinner including Gini coefficients (Michael can give you the formula of how it is calculated if you would like that) and the population of Namibia and where are they (because we haven’t seen them yet). We did discover that only 40% of the Namibia population live in Urban areas and most of those are in Windhoek.  Otjiwarongo (for example) only has 21000 people living in it.

Still a lot more driving ahead and so no doubt a lot more facts to be gained.  Until tomorrow – P, H, S (back in his usual spot because he suggested we do the birding thing this afternoon at sewerage plant), M & C.

PS: I was told I have to correct yesterday’s blog – it was oversteer not understeer.

It was freezing cold this morning as can be evidenced by the photo at 8:11am. It was our last day in the Kgalagadi and so we thought we would give it one last chance and do a loop down to the nearest waterhole from Mata Mata. Going down we saw nothing of note. At the waterhole a bird of prey flew into the tree above our car and by the time we had positioned ourselves to try and ID it, it was attacked by Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk and chased away. On the road back we saw a White-backed Vulture collecting twigs for it’s nest and it was right on the side of the road (nice photo opportunity). The only the interesting sighting was 2 black backed jackals. We added no new birds to the list of 60 as well. So we remain underwhelmed by the Kgalagadi and can’t see ourselves rushing back. There is no question in our minds that the Kruger National Park, Etosha, Masai Mara, Karoo National Park, Augrabies, Okavango Delta all beat the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park by some distance. Seriously have no idea why so many friends of ours have raved about it. Might be time to change friends.

We exited the KTF at Mata Mata. We had done SA passport control at Tree Rivieren 3 days ago (in case you missed that) so we only had to do Namibia immigration. That involved a reasonable amount of paperwork and also paying a road tax (Western countries would consider this a form of legalised bribe). Fortunately all of this was done relatively quickly as there are not a lot of people entering Namibia through this gate.  As we crossed the border our GPS kindly told us we had just crossed into Namibia and flashed up a Namibian flag.

It was then a 330 km drive from the Mata Mata gate through to Mariental. 90% of the route was gravel. The gravel roads are in superb condition though and the speed limit is 100 km/h.  Within a kilometer I was up to 100 km/h and feeling very comfortable on the gravel. I did warn our travel companions (the Whiters) that they should give us a little space as you kick up a lot of stones and dust when you are traveling at that speed on gravel roads. While the roads are in excellent condition, you do have to keep paying attention all the time just in case there is a stray large stone or a hole or a rocky section or a dip or loose gravel. On one corner the gravel was very loose and at 100 km/h (or maybe slightly more), the back of the Beast slid out (I can hear the gasps from the grandparents) but the Beast is not called the Beast for no reason.  Along with the power and agility of the Beast, my superior driving skills ensured we recovered easily. Stephen said that going into a corner and sliding through it like that (with understeer) would be highly rated by the men from Top Gear and that would make us real ‘Petrol Heads’ (even though the Beast drinks Diesel I don’t think she would mind).

As with most things in Namibia, you pretty much drive for ever and not see a farm or town. It took us about 2 hours before we hit Gochas which was the first town since we left Mata Mata. We had to stretch our legs and refueled and unfueled (the ladies). And then we were off again. The Whiters didn’t stop and we only caught up with them when they stopped at the next town (Stampriet) which was about another 75 km down the road. That was where we enjoyed Namibian tar for the first tar. It was also our first Namibian road block. Why you would put up a road block in a place that only about 5 cars will pass all day is the question I have been pondering since we went through it. And they did the road block straight outside the police station. Element of surprise I suppose.

We stopped for lunch just outside Stampriet and then on to Mariental. We are staying at Mariental tonight. We are at Anandi Guesthouse (www.anandiguesthouse.com/) for the night. It the same place we stayed at 5 years ago. And the quality remains the same. If you ever need to stay over in Mariental, this would be our recommendation. The boys and I went into town for 2 purchases – Namibian SIM cards (which we had to get 4 of to ensure everyone was connected again) and biltong. We found both. Paul will be pleased that there was no requirement to be RICA’d or any other ‘namby pamby’ such Western legislation. Just pay cash and get the SIM cards.  The biltong was a little harder to find – we drove the town flat until we found Wessie’s Biltong Shop. Wessie himself was there and we conducted the whole transaction in Afrikaans. Wessie told me about his daughter and apologised they had no Springbok biltong. The Kudu biltong was cheaper than the Beef. We bought both. The boys were standing with their mouths open that I could conduct such an extensive conversation in Afrikaans.  I was proud of myself.

We had an extra hour to kill of the afternoon because Namibia is on it’s own time zone and is an hour behind SA (i.e. on same time as the UK now). Why they have done it I have no idea. It was ‘pitch dark’ outside by 5:30pm this evening. Helen and two the Whiters went for a run around Mariental and ended up coming back in the dark.  It got dark very quickly. Fortunately they found their way back from the bread crumbs they dropped. The rest of us were just enjoying the use of the free WiFi and trying to catch up on Facebook, Email, Whatsapp etc.

The guesthouse arranged dinner for us – they don’t really have a restaurant but they will cook a plate of food for you if requested (what you would call ‘n bord kos’ here in Namibia). We had Chicken Schnitzel, Vegetables, Chips and Salad.  The Whiters had pizzas.  We got the better deal. (Food details given for you Josie). The rest of the evening has been spent catching up on emails, blogging (for me) and for Helen it would be watching a 4×4 racing competition (racing isn’t the right word – more like a skills challenge). Not kidding about Helen!

Until tomorrow from somewhere else far away in Namibia … P, H, C, M & (the least important because he has been insulting me the whole day) S.

PS: I said in the previous post that we saw a Civit and actually it was a Genet.  The biology teaching (Mr Whiter who is traveling with us) gave us wrong information but we corrected it with the use of our mammal book.