Ganora Farm to Coffee Bay

Posted on April 4, 2023 by Peter

Today was a big travel day. Ganora Farm to Coffee Bay was 7.5 hours on Waze and that is not allowing for stops. 560 kms – which you would usually think would take 5-6 hours allowing for you traveling between 100-120 km/h. Read on to see why it takes 7.5 hours without stops.

Before breakfast, J managed to get to feed the lambs (see pic above). Little does she know that all she is doing is fattening up the little one for future guests to eat lamb pie for dinner. We had breakfast at 7:30am and already had our cars packed and ready to go as soon as we finished breakfast as we knew it was going to be a long day on the road. The first 25 km were on dirt road to get back on to the tar roads.

Our first stop was Cradock as I was dangerously close to running out of fuel. The Beast (aka my Toyota Landcruiser) is a bit of a diesel guzzler and the 4×4 route yesterday didn’t help as we were doing most of it in 1st or 2nd gear on the way up. A was in the lead and passed the first two petrol stations and I was wondering if he wanted to test the limits of my range until I found out he was looking for a BP so he could earn his Discovery points. Turns out the BP had become some other strange brand and so we then had to find another petrol station. By the time we found that I was down to a range of 45 kms.

The next stop was going to be Queenstown to buy groceries for the next few days as we knew where we would be staying had no shop whatsoever. When we arrived in Queenstown it was loadshedding and all the traffic lights were out and it seemed the whole population of Queenstown were either driving or walking in the roads. The place was teeming with people. You would have thought it was a Saturday morning. After negotiating around drivers, taxis and people we found the mall and went to P n P to so some shopping. Options were pretty limited. As an illustration, the poultry counter was half filled with chicken feet. After negotiating our way out of Queenstown we headed Butterworth and back onto the N2 (which is a main national road).

We refueled in Butterworth and again had to negotiate through masses of people to get out of Butterworth. By the time we turned off the N2, it was showing +- 70kms to Coffee Bay (our destination) but that it would take 1 hour 20 minutes. The navigation software was wrong – it took longer. The reason – the road. It is hard to explain how bad the road was. Besides navigating through goats, sheep, cows and people wandering over the road at random intervals, you had to navigate through potholes. I say ‘navigate through’ and while that sometimes could be ’round the potholes’, in many cases it was simply through. It is hard to describe 40-50kms of road with significant potholes. Sometimes you are only doing 10-20 km/h as you weave your way through the potholes driving from left to right and right to left. Sometimes it is actually better to leave the road entirely and drive on the gravel on the side of the road. Sometimes it is better to drive on the left and sometimes it better to drive on the right into oncoming traffic. Avoidance of the potholes is an impossibility. The photos (taken by H) hardly do it justice how bad the road was and for how long it was so bad.

The good news is that we finally managed to make it to Coffee Bay and it is beautiful. We had been warned that due to recent flooding in the area, the main bridge was washed away but we could take the diversion around and that we could get to our accommodation. We are staying in self catering apartments called Cottages @ 20. We have 3 separate apartments with have having 2 bedrooms. We drew lots (or something very similar) to see who got what rooms and A&O are sharing the 2-bedroom one with R&J and then B&S and ourselves have individual ones.

We had cleverly thought to bring ready made lasagna’s with us for dinner tonight knowing it was going to be a long drive so dinner was relatively hassle free. We had found that loadshedding was at 7pm (pretty inconvenient when it comes to eating dinner) especially since the sun is setting at 5:55pm here now. Turns out though that the apartments seem to continue to have power through loadshedding. We assume solar generated but haven’t entirely figured that out yet but pleased that is the case as it makes our lives much easier.

It is now 10pm so time for bed!

Until tomorrow

P, H, O (just generally being nice to me), A (some responsible driving even though Discovery don’t think so), R, J, S & B (some very dodgy driving which was apparently cheered on by S, R & J so we they are all appropriately demoted)

Ganora Farm

Posted on April 3, 2023 by Peter

It rained heavily overnight. The tin roof of our accommodation no doubt made it sound like it was raining harder than it was but it really did sound like it was bucketing down. It woke us up at least twice during the night. The thought crossed my mind about flash flooding, crossing the low lying bridges and rivers on the way in and it seemed to cross a few others minds in the group as well. By early morning it was clear and crisp and so most of us headed off for a short walk along one of the farm roads. The bird life was prolific and it was actually quite hard to keep track of all the birds we were seeing. Managed to add a lifer (which was unexpected) of a black-throated canary.

Breakfast was at 8am and then we decided to use our 4x4s and headed up the mountains behind the farm. There was a route of 13.5 km to the beacon and slightly shorter back as it was more directly down the mountain. It was pretty rocky and steep in places I had had to engage Lo4 in a few places to make it easier to go up. The route was marked as between a 3 and 4 in terms of technical difficulty and I think that was pretty accurate. Toward the summit the road became less distinguishable but we found our way and enjoyed some coffee and rusks and biscuits at the beacon before heading back down. We did add a few birds on the way up and back again and we saw a wildebeest and springbok.

We got back late morning and then headed out to Nieu Betheseda itself for lunch at the mirco brewery in the town. Their beer isn’t available anyway except at their brewery and they had an option of a bitter ale, honey ale, pale ale or cider. They do a cheese and meat platter with homemade bread. The town of Nieu Betheseda was founded in 1875 and I think it hasn’t changed since then. It was really founded so that the farmers had a place to go to Church. It is now a tourist attraction because of the Owl House which is basically a house that became a work of art done by Helen Martins. It is a but freeky and strange – it has over 300 concrete statues and works of art of various things but obviously owls are a major theme.

This afternoon B, R & O went for a 5 km run and S, H and myself went for a birding walk. We added a few more to the trip list (for me that is on 56 now). Dinner this evening was lamb pie and vegetables followed by chocolate brownie or malva pudding. Loadshedding happening again at 9pm so trying to post the blog before the lights go out (it is now 8:30pm).

Until tomorrow …

P, S, H, B (he didn’t get lost today and he bought his table for our coffee), R, J, O & A

Swartberg Pass to Nieu Bethesda

Posted on April 2, 2023 by Peter

We went for a (bird) walk before breakfast at 7am and S & B added 2 lifers to their list. A coffee stop at the Lazy Lizard and then back to our guest house for breakfast, pack the cars and hit the road.

We took the Swartberg Pass which (not surprisingly) runs over the Swartberg mountain range. It was completed in 1888. The dry-stone retaining walls that are in place today are still the original ones so now over 130 years old. The pass is a dirt road but in good condition and easily navigated in our cars. The scenery was spectacular as you start almost immediately driving through the high rock faces (photo above). We stopped a few times on the way up and then again right at the top of the pass which is at 1575 meters above sea level. The scenery on the other side of the pass is farmlands and valleys and beautiful in a different way.

We then headed to Oudtshoorn where we filled up our cars and then headed to Willowmore in the Eastern Cape. On leaving Oudtshoorn we managed to lose B & S because their navigation software took them in the opposite direction. We all ended up in Willowmore for lunch at least though B & S arrived a little after the other 2 cars.

After lunch we headed to Aberdeen (quick detour through the town to find H’s Moms old house) then Graaff-Reinet and then onto our overnight stop being Ganora Guest Farm near Nieu Bethesda. The last 2 hours of driving were not the easiest because it started to rain and the wind was blowing. The final 20 kms were on a dirt road leading up to the farm. The navigation software had the speed limit on that road as 100 km/h but there is no way you could do that at all – even 40 km/h sometimes seemed too fast.

Before dinner we watched the owner feeding a lanner falcon and a cape eagle owl – both of them have broken wings and so they are caring for them. The lanner falcon has just been with them for a week but the owl has been with them for 3 years (and is unlikely to improve). They do dinner at the farm and we had ostrich steak (which seemed very fitting) plus veg & potatoes followed by malva pudding. Simple but very enjoyable.

Bird list up to 36 birds at the end of today for me – everyone on slightly different numbers as we have all seen slightly different things while driving.

Until tomorrow (trying to send quickly as loadshedding is at 9pm tonight)

P, S (she gets a rise by virtue of the other two falling), H (severely critical of the blog I wrote yesterday), B (kept getting lost today – maybe even worthy of two drops of places but he let me drink his wine last night so I saved him from a two person drop), R (did some excellent bird spotting including a Cape Rockjumper), J (she defended me a few times today so deserves a rise actually), O (some good quips over the walkie talkie today), A (just ended up here by virtue of the others rising above him)

Swartberg Pass Aerial (Courtesy of R’s drone)

Road Trip 2023

Posted on April 1, 2023August 3, 2024 by Peter

In some ways it feels like a long time since our January Namibia trip but in others it feels like only the other day. It was only 2 months ago so you might be surprised that we are ‘on holiday’ again (my Dad asked me ‘How much leave do you get?’ with a surprise in his voice when I told him we were heading off on a road trip today). This was a long time planned road trip with our friends – B & S and J & R. We also have a new addition – A & O – that have joined us for this trip. They thanked us for inviting them at dinner tonight and I replied ‘You better wait to the end of the trip to make that judgement’.

We left Cape Town this morning at 8am heading for Prince Albert which is our first night stopover. J & R had their Toyota Fortuner stolen some time ago so they are sharing a ride in our cars for this road trip. It is only just over a 4-hour drive to Prince Albert and so we weren’t under any time pressure so we took it relatively easily including a couple of toilet stops to get rid of the morning coffee(s).

The weather got progressively warmer as we drove and by the time we arrived in Prince Albert (around 1pm) it was in the high 20s (C) already. We are staying at Karoo Lodge and our host graciously let us check in early. After check in we headed to the Lazy Lizard for lunch (recommended by our host). We were impressed by the quality of the lunch (and generous portions). Some people wanted to take on a horizontal pose after lunch and the others of us just enjoyed the clean air and gardens. A&O only arrived at 4pm because they couldn’t leave earlier from Cape Town. After they arrived we headed for a bird walk through the town. We didn’t see anything special but added to our trip list. Slowish start on the trip list – I am on 19 and some of the others are on 20 – the one bird advantage is the benefit of not driving and rather being a passenger.

Drinks at the Gin Bar after the walk followed by dinner at Karoo Kombuis (recommended by A as they had eaten there before). At Karoo Kombuis you could get chicken pie, babotie (google it if you don’t know what it is) and roast karoo lamb. You can choose all of them, one of them or two of them. Desert was a steamed lemon desert or malva pudding. Genuinely nice, simple and straight forward dinner complimented by our own wine. We were finished dinner by 8:30pm.

It is 9:30pm and we are all already in our rooms and heading to go to sleep. Loadshedding starts at 10pm so basically nothing to do from that point onwards anyway. I am typing furiously to ensure I finish before it goes dark!

Until tomorrow

P, H (just because she is my wife), B (because we drank his wine and he paid for drinks this evening), S (by virtue of the fact that she is tied to B), A (good recommendation on restaurant for tonight), R (for photo below from his drone), J (for her choc chip cookies) & O (she has some work to do)

Aerial view of Prince Albert – photo courtesy of R

Windhoek to Springbok and Home

Posted on February 5, 2023 by Peter

We left Windhoek just before 8am on Saturday morning and Waze said 915 kms and 8 hours to Springbok where we were overnighting. The drive was pretty uneventful with not a lot of traffic and a very straight road for much of the trip. We crossed the border back into South Africa at just before 3pm and arrived at our guesthouse (Mountain View Guesthouse) at just before 4pm. The only remarkable part of the drive was that at one point the outside temperature hit 40 degrees C!

It turns out that we stayed at the guesthouse back in 2008 when we did our first ever road trip to Namibia. The lady at the guesthouse recommended we eat dinner at Tauren Steak Ranch and that given it was first weekend of the month we better book. We duly did but when we arrived for dinner we realised we didn’t actually need to book but it did fill up somewhat by the time we left. We also realised that in 2008 we ate at the same place. They hadn’t updated their decor since we last ate there in 2008. The food was OK and the service was good.

This morning we were on the road again heading home by 8am. It was just over 5 hours and 520 kms to get home and we made good time arriving 1:20 pm. I know you’re all concerned to know whether I made the 200 mark for birds for the trip and the good news is at 1:19 pm before we turned into the estate, I saw my 200th bird for the trip. No detour – just straight home and managed to see number 200 before we pulled into the driveway. H finished on 204 – I managed to close the gap in the end to 4 birds as number 199 was one of the ones she had seen previously which I hadn’t seen yet until today. 18 lifers for the trip – probably best I have done in a trip for 3-4 years. I’m on 529 lifers overall and it isn’t easy to add 18 lifers in 2 weeks anymore so very happy with the trip overall from a birding perspective. As you probably know, we generally end up seeing one bird more than anything else on these trips and H and I concluded that the bird of this trip was definitely a Sabota Lark. Never seen and heard so many of them ever on a trip.

As I usually do when visiting a foreign country, here are my random thoughts about Namibia:

It has definitely declined since we last did a road trip through the country – the roads are worse, the facilities are worse – maybe the impact of Covid?
The Namibian people outside of the main areas but working in the tourist trade are apathetic, unmotivated and depressed. It seems they are only working because they must and they seemingly have been told that doing the minimum is fine and they will still get paid. For a country that relies on tourism, they are going to have an issue if they continue like that.
NWR (Namibia Wildlife Resorts) are a poor second cousin for Sanparks (in SA). Everything about the way they do things is poor. They need to go to SA and visit some of the Sanparks resorts to see how things should be done. It made us appreciate Sanparks a lot more and even though they have declined too (especially in the Kruger Park), they are head and shoulders still better than the NWR resorts.
The game viewing in Etosha was poor – if you want to have good game viewing – go to the Kruger Park rather.
Windhoek was a bit of an exception for us in that it seemed much more organised and more like a small city you would find in a more modern country. Things seemed to work, people were friendly and efficient and welcoming. The quality of everything seemed better.
Namibia is a big country with very little population and massive distances between places. It really made us wonder what some people did in the small towns though as there doesn’t seem to be much happening at all.
Despite us being warned to keep your valuables on you at all times and to keep your passport safe, we never really felt unsafe at any time. It seems much safer than many places we have traveled to and safer than SA too.

We did enjoy our time especially because of the birding and despite me getting sick. It was a good 2 weeks away. Doubt we are heading back to Namibia for a few years though as it is just too far and not as rewarding as we expected it would be.

Until next time …

P & H

Windhoek

Posted on February 3, 2023 by Peter

We came to Windhoek to do some end of trip birding at two places – Daan Viljoen Game Reserve and Avis Dam. They are both birding hotspots and we hoped to get some of the birds we have so far not seen on the trip. City Centre Windhoek is also a known place to see Bradfield’s Swift but as we managed to see that already earlier in the trip, we no longer needed to get that one. We had breakfast at the hotel and headed out to Daan Viljoen and got there just after 8:30am. It is only a 30 minute drive (20 km) out of the city.

It is not a big reserve and you can walk/hike but neither H nor I were kitted out for hiking. There is a self-drive route of 7km but on the map it was marked as 4×4 only. We asked the lady at reception whether we could do it in my car and she leaned over to check my car out and said ‘sure’. First mistake of the day made right there. About 0.5 km in we realised that a 4×4 would be much better. At one point H had to get out of the car and direct me through a particularly poor spot and she said my front right tyre didn’t touch the ground while navigating through it. There were a few times when H asked me to stop so she could identify a bird and I just said ‘no ways not right now’. I reckon if we had stopped it would have been permanently. We did make it to the end with no damage to the car. H summed it up when she said “I think that we just fully tested the limit of the car”. We did add 6 birds to the trip list at least though admittedly only one of them on the 4×4 route.

View from 4×4 Road in Daan Viljoen Game Reserve

After the reserve we headed to Avis Dam. The bird life was significant there and probably the most number of Diederik Cuckoos I have ever seen at one time. Unfortunately not that many new birds for the trip as we only managed to add 2. One of those was sufficient though to take H over the 200 target we had for the trip. She is now on 201 which means I am on 196. I was hoping to close the gap by at least one today as both places we went to were known for the bee-eater that H saw and I didn’t. I will just have to try and sneak in some birds on our homeward drive over the next 2 days!

By the time we were finished birding at the dam, it was lunch time and we were hungry and thirsty (the sun was baking down on us at the dam). We had lunch at Olivia’s Kitchen (apparently a top 10 restaurant in Windhoek according to TripAdvisor). A thunderstorm started just after lunch and it has been raining constantly since then – I can hear the thunder and rain coming down as I type. We stayed in the room for the afternoon.

Dinner was at CTFM. We learnt our lesson and so we went straight after breakfast to book a table. Only to be met with an incredulous look and “It’s Friday night, we are fully booked already!” It seems you have to book well in advance for a Friday night – unclear how well in advance but definitely more than a day it seems. It turned out OK though as we still managed to get a table when we decided to go down for dinner. The food was pretty good last night and was again tonight.

Off to bed soon as the plan is for an early start tomorrow as we have a long drive ahead.

P & H

Etosha to Windhoek

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Peter

We packed up, had breakfast and then started to head south out of the Etosha and toward Windhoek. We had 17 kms of road before the gate but failed to add either birds or animals to our list despite our best attempts. Another paper form to be filled in as we exited the gate but I think I could have written whatever I wanted to and no one would have cared at all. There is a mandatory police check but the lady couldn’t have been bothered to get up from her chair to come to the car so she just waved us on.

Brief stop to refuel at Outjo where the three guys refueling and cleaning the windows (and what turned out to be the car in the end almost) were definitely the most cheerful and friendly of anyone we have encountered. They even washed our number plate (it was unreadable due to the mud from Etosha).

The trip south was pretty uneventful with traffic picking up as we got closer to Windhoek. The drive was just over 4 hours. There are many things I just don’t understand in Namibia. From Okahandja through to Windhoek (about 70-80 kms) the road is actually a 2-lane highway. About in the middle of it is a permanent police roadblock. You are going 120 km/h and have to come to a total stop. And it is permanently there so any crook would know and wouldn’t drive that way anyway. Even if they did though, no one is actually going to bother to get off their chair or come out of their air-conditioned hut. It does really make you wonder why it is there in the first place (besides making you brake very quickly).

We noticed the culture of just hanging (or sitting around) was very prevalent in the towns we passed through today. In one town, some people had their boots of their cars open and we using that for seating. Another bloke had actually brought his own fold-up chair to join that boot conversation. It seems people actually plan to sit around in Namibia.

We arrived in Windhoek around 1:30pm and got stuck in traffic making our way through Windhoek to our hotel. We are staying at The Weinberg which feels like 5-star luxury in comparison to what we have been staying for the last week. It is part of a complex and there are 4 restaurants on site too which means we didn’t have to drive anywhere for dinner. We actually went to CTFM (that stands for Cape Town Fish Market) for dinner. Seems somewhat odd to eat at a CTFM in Windhoek but after meat for a week we both felt like fish. What we did find funny was when we arrived we asked for a table and they asked if we had a reservation. Never made a reservation at CTFM in my life – as H said ‘it’s like making a reservation to go to the Spur’! But it seems necessary at CTFM Windhoek as the place was packed and we were lucky to get one of the last remaining tables outside on the patio. The food was good actually so really no complaints from us.

Until tomorrow …

P & H

Etosha

Posted on February 1, 2023 by Peter

Today was our last day in Etosha as we are leaving tomorrow am as we slowly start to make our way home. We are currently 1926 kms from our home in Cape Town so a long way to drive over the next few days.

We went out again this morning heading west and repeated our route from the first day we were here. We probably saw less game but have added some more birds to the trip list. I am at 187 birds now and H at 192. Seems like at least one of us might make the 200 before we get home. Still haven’t managed to catch up the missing birds that H saw earlier in the trip unfortunately but still a few days to do that.

We have been relatively disappointed in the game in Etosha. H said today that we would recommend this time of the year if you are a birder but otherwise I would suggest you come in winter rather. It is just so green and the game is very sparse. We have seen no elephants at all during our time here and we have only seen one lion, one rhino (though H saw another one today while I was starting the fire tonight), two hyena and a few jackal (besides the normal giraffe, zebra, wildebees, impala, springbok, gemsbok etc). If we weren’t birding it would have been very disappointing.

The other thing is that the service in Etosha (and to be fair was also like this in the Waterberg) has been very slow. H said she thought South Africa could be slow sometimes in the rural areas but Namibia is even slower. They could also do SO much to improve the general tourist experience. The shop is poorly done (especially when you compare it to the Kruger Park shops) and their systems are terrible. At one point when I wanted to pay the lady just said ‘tap the credit card machine’. I did but thought to myself ‘surely you need to put in how much I am paying first’. She just kept telling me to tap it and then took the card and inserted it and said ‘tap isn’t working’. When the insertion didn’t work either I ventured to suggest that maybe she needs to put the amount in. No apology or embarrassment or thanks – she just did it and said ‘tap’. That is just a microcosm of every interaction. Checking in on arrival was three paper forms asking the same information and handing them to two separate people (but must be done in the right order).

It feels to us that the people working here are doing so because they have been told they must and not because they want to in any way at all. They are not unpleasant – they are just slow and seemingly unmotivated. Somebody ought to tell them that if you want to attract tourists you actually would do so by being friendly and helpful.

We are also surprised by the lack of local SADC people in Etosha. We think that besides us, everyone else is from Europe with about 95% of those from Germany. It seems German’s favour Etosha and Namibia.

That all being said, it has been a relaxing and enjoyable 4 days here and we have enjoyed the birding particularly. We have become experts at identifying larks and pipits (for those of you who don’t know – they are what we call lbj’s – little brown jobs). When you’re in Etosha and everything is grey and brown then you have to become good at identifying lbj’s!

This evening after dinner we went to the waterhole for the last time and managed to spot a Marsh Owl hunting in the lights and also identified a square tailed nightjar (nightjars are very hard to identify as they basically all look the same – you ID them by the call and look usually – and mainly the call). The Marsh Owl was a lifer and earlier in the day we saw an Ashy Tit right outside our chalet in the tree so now up to 17 lifers for the trip.

It’s late and so now heading to bed!

Until tomorrow ..

P & H

Etosha

Posted on January 31, 2023 by Peter

Lack of WiFi and cellphone signal has been the cause of no post over the last day or so. We are also experiencing an issue in that emails go out to some subscribers but not all of them and we can’t figure out why. The blog is posted on templetravels.co.za if you didn’t get it. Last night we also had a large thunderstorm and that seemed to further disrupt any connectivity we did have.

Yesterday we drove west from Okaukeujo toward Dolomite camp. We didn’t drive the whole way there (that would be over 100 kms) but just did a loop. Game seems very sparse at the moment in Etosha. They say it is because it is so wet and so the game doesn’t need to congregate around the waterholes. We can attest to it being wet. There are puddles on the roads (and in some cases it feels like dams on the road). Today we found three teals swimming in one of the puddles on the road (that gives you an illustration of the amount of water). All this has meant that yesterday we only saw hyena on the morning drive (plus the standards of zebra, giraffe, springbok, gemsbok, wildebees, impala). We spent some time midday at the waterhole and then went out late afternoon for another drive. The bird life has been impressive though and we added 18/19 birds yesterday to our trip list (H got one more than me and extended her lead now to 6 – I was just too tired to sit at the waterhole when she saw it).

We did see a large flock (like in the hundreds – not exaggerating) of Abdim’s Storks. They apparently congregate and feed on terminates. They were all moving together through a field eating the termites as they just up into the air. It looked like an efficient vacuuming operation. First time we have seen that in our lives (and also haven’t seen so many Abdim’s storks together before either).

By the time we got back to the camp yesterday evening the wind had picked up and the storm clouds were brewing. Just managed to get the braai done and supper eaten before the rain came. We made a trip to the waterhole as it was only raining very lightly but while we were there it became perpetually heavier. Walking back to our chalet gave us a free shower!

Okaukeujo Waterhole at night with storm clouds

This morning it was still raining when we woke up so we decided to eat breakfast at the camp (it is included in the accommodation price) and then head off afterwards. It was a good call as the rain abated after breakfast but it was still relatively cool (22 degrees). We headed to the east toward Halali (another camp) which is about 70 kms away. We got there at about 11:30am and by that time the clouds had broken up and it was starting to heat up. We saw jackal on the morning drive (of the more unusual game to see) but nothing else too different but we did add another lifer taking us 15 lifers for the trip. The most unusual sighting though today was at one of the waterholes we saw 2 blue cranes. The bird app doesn’t even list them as being seen in the area but they were definitely blue cranes (H said ‘I know our national bird’). I have now seen 173 unique birds for the trip and H is on 179.

We will just take it easy this afternoon and stay in the camp. H is actually at the waterhole now while I type. She sent me a text message to say that all the storks are at the waterhole at camp today.

Until tomorrow (wifi dependent)

P & H

Waterberg to Etosha

Posted on January 29, 2023 by Peter

It was overcast and raining lightly this morning which is never conducive for birding. H and I did a short walk before we packed up and headed for breakfast. We only added one bird to our trip list on the walk. I also didn’t want to walk too far or uphill because I definitely still have some virus/infection still lingering. At least today I felt better than previous days and I was able to do all the driving again.

Etosha (or at least Okaukeujo where we are staying … I think I must just refer to is as Ok in future and you can fill in the rest!) was about a 3 hour drive from the Waterberg. We stopped briefly at Otjiwarongo for fuel and to buy some tongs so I didn’t have to braai using a fork anymore. We entered Etosha at the Anderson Gate and arrived at Okaukeujo camp around 12:30pm. The camp seemed very quiet and it was no problem to get the key to our chalet. We are here for the next 4 nights.

It was 32 degrees and there was not a lot to see from the gate to the camp. We figured rather wait to later and then head out. We went out at about 4:15pm (and it was still 32 degrees) and headed east. All the roads are gravel roads in Etosha and the first 10 kms or so was dry and very barren. Some springbok scattered around but the only thing we stopped for was to do some birding. Incredibly a lot of birds around and calling so easily identifiable.

There definitely has been a lot of rain in Etosha recently. Many of the gravel roads are flooded in portions and require one wheel through a large puddle and another hopefully on firm ground. Some of them required a drive of faith and just hoped the water wasn’t too deep. Another time I would have preferred to have the Beast with us and not my Mercedes SUV.

On the road back toward camp we saw a white rhino – the first significant game sighting. Up until then we had only seen springbok, gemsbok, giraffe, one scrub hare and some red hartebees (and lots of birds obviously). Strange that the first of the big five we would see would be rhino.

We got back to the camp around 7pm and started a fire for our braai and then headed over the waterhole to see if there was anything interesting to be seen. Black faced impala were drinking at the water hole and a few birds but nothing else significant. Just when we finished our braai and were sitting down to eat, we heard a massive roar of a male lion. H and I looked at each other, took our plates inside and headed straight for waterhole. We weren’t disappointed. A male lion was in the process of coming down to waterhole to drink and roaring to make sure everyone knew about it. The waterhole is just a short walk from our chalet which is really convenient. A fantastic sighting watching him drink and then back off again into the night.

It is hot and we are tired and so we are about to head off to sleep.

Until tomorrow …

P & H

PS: It seems yesterday’s blog again didn’t email out to everyone but you can read it on templetravels.co.za