Back in Bots

We've just arrived in Maun, in Botswana.  Sadly there won't be any photos in this entry either, as time and internet connection just aren't happening.

We spent our last night in Namibia last night at Ngepi camp and there are some photos I will just have to add.  The camp was right on the Okavango river and instead of dozing off listening to lions & jackals, or other campers, last night we were serenaded by the hippos.  Such a good sound to hear again!

Jenny was under strict instructions that if she heard a serious ruffling of my tent, she was to photograph it, regardless of her White Balance setting on her camera.  I am endeavouring to encourage her to move her camera setting off P - or auto everything - but if the hippo was at my tent, we thought that could be an exception to the rule!

The border officials this morning were the chirpiest and happiest officials I've ever come across.  makes a great welcome into a country.

We're really running out of time for the drive we had hoped to do, and sadly won't be able to make it to Zimbabwe or spend the time in Botswana we'd like.  That will have to be another drive.  And for those who have asked, no, we're not getting up as far as Kenya either!  Well, not this time.  If we had more time, we'd add Zambia, Zimbabwe and of course Mozambique, but that will be on another "drive" I am sure.  Anyone want to come along?

Between Ngepi camp and the border, there was a small game park so we were treated to kudu, impala, zebra, roan antelope, tsessebe which was a fitting farewell to Namibia.  Such an amazing country of contrasts.

We had a stop at our "Okavango Delta" also - it really was part of the Delta, but this bit was right beside the road so we couldn't resist.  We kept a Fish Eagle company for a while.  Later on we saw a chameleon trying to cross the road, so we stopped, gave it a "lift" to the other side and then of course photographed it.  The village people nearby were doubtless muttering about the "strange white women"!

I will update this again when we reach our friends' place in Jo'burg, before we head off to Kruger.

Etosha

This will be a first - a blog entry with no photos.

At the moment we're sitting in the back garden of a cafe in Tsumeb. We arrived in town early as it's only a 45 minute drive from our campsite literally just outside the northern gate to Etosha. The town is far bigger than I expected - and the cafe back garden is like sitting in a garden jungle. AND they have coffee!!!!! Woohoo - with a menu in German and then English as is quite normal here in Namibia.

They also have community craft shops, which I am sure will be glad we've been to town. We filled up at the garage and have come away with the cleanest windscreen we've had since leaving Cape Town - it's like driving around with no glass in front at all, it's soooooo clear. It may not stay that way for long because we're back on dirt/gravel once we leave town.

Yesterday in Etosha. I know I've been in game parks before, and we did have a whole week in the Kgalagadi, but yesterday the terrain was different and we were thoroughly spoilt. The campsites either side of Etosha have been almost full, and the lodges would be doing good business too, but driving around Etosha you'd never know. We hardly saw any vehicles and at most waterholes, we were the only ones there.

We were spoilt having a male lion all to ourselves again, just not for as long as we had in the Kgalagadi. Still, an awesome experience to be sitting at eye level next to a lion!

Giraffe drinking at the waterholes - they are very skittish and take a loooooong time to decide where and if to drink. And the variety - at the Chudop waterhole we were treated to Giraffe, Wildebeest, Impala, Springbok, Kudu, Gemsbok and Zebra ALL drinking there at the same time. What an absolute spectacle. We sat there for ages just drinking it all in - pardon the pun.

In the heat of the day, we went to our campsite to pitch our tents. That meant we could spend longer in the park in the afternoon and not have to worry about pitching the tents in the dark. You have to leave the park at sunset, but that's really early at this time of year, around 5:30 and then by 6 it's dark.

We went "elephant hunting" in the afternoon - very successfully of course. My 'elephant photo ban' had officially been lifted, but Jen's was still in place. I made the most of it.

When we left the park in the afternoon, I thought to 'save time' I'd put my big lens away. Then I reminded myself that it ain't over till the fat lady sings, and decided to wait until we got to camp. Thank goodness - we were treated to a sidewinder snake, Dik Dik, Zebra, stunning giraffe in silhouette at sunset - and then the best feature, a leopard just trackside. What a way to finish Etosha.

This morning we had a sleep in till 6:15 and then down on a tar road to Tsumeb. After I've finished this, we'll be checking out the craft community shops and then heading up to Tsinsabis and tonight we're staying in a Bushman camp, with a village visit this afternoon.

Two more days in Namibia - this time.

Hope you can imagine the scenes we saw yesterday. I am open to coffees and meals to show you the photos and my book once I get it done and to answer any other Qs

A Supermarket experience

Yesterday we drove from Swakopmund up to Opuwo.  For those who are asking me for a map, the easiest way is to have a look at a world map, choose Africa, and put your finger on the bottom, preferably on the left.  That should be about Cape Town.  Move your finger up to the next country, and that’s Namibia.  Keep moving your finger up and stop just before you get to Angola.  That’s roughly where Opuwo is.

Why did we take a 1,000km “detour” on a dirt/gravel road to stay at Opuwo?  

Well, the drive was of course lovely.  Namibia doesn’t just have wide open spaces, nor does it have WIDE open spaces.  It really has an abundance of     WIDE  OPEN   SPACES.

 And Opuwo is a small town with an almost frontier feel.  30kms out of town, the road became tar.  So the last of the drive into town was almost normal.  We needed to get some firewood and a couple of other things, so we stopped at the Supermarket.  Before I get to our supermarket experience, I should say that around here there are the Himba and Herero people. 

The Herero women seem to have skipped at least a century.  Their dress was based on the very early missionaries, and it hasn’t changed.  So they are in very long dresses – down to the ground – and it looks like there are several layers of dress.  Definitely NOT low cut, and all have short sleeves.  They also wear an amazing headpiece that almost looks like a dragon-boat outline, sitting across their head.  Try to picture Sally Field as the Flying Nun, only widen the head-piece.  Their dresses are always colourful.

So back to the supermarket.  We walk in, and while it may be surprising to have such a large well stocked supermarket in a place like Opuwo, this is one time where the shoppers are far more interesting than the goods piled on the shelves.  There are a few shoppers with European style clothing (jeans, shorts, t-shirts) mixed in with the Herero women standing right next to the Himba women.

 It makes downtown Newtown and Enmore look almost boring!

Some of the younger teenage girls are obviously trying out something new – they have discovered brightly coloured bras, and so proudly dress in animal skin “skirts”, lots of beads and a bra. 

This morning, we went out to one of the Himba villages and spent a few hours with them.  We had a local guide, who spoke good English and explained everything.  Jimmy had been fortunate enough to go to school for 4 years.  He said he learnt English “on the street” and now thinks he may try to learn Italian.

 The women had just finished milking the cattle when we arrived.  The Chief came out to say hello, and wanted to know what was wrong with my leg.  As Jimmy explained, the Himba aren’t backward in coming forward, so if they see something odd, they ask.  The children were also fascinated with it, and wanted to touch it just to see what the hole felt like! 

I had quite a few photos I wanted to add, but I'm having internet problems.  Mind you, I should be surprised that there is internet at all!

As a major contrast to this morning, we headed back to our campsite.  The Opuwo Country Hotel sits atop the hill behind the town.  Spectacular views – of course!  And they have a camping area a short drive away from the main hotel.  There are 15 camping places – each one numbered, and with a patch of grass to pitch the tents.  They also each have a braai, tap, bin and a light.  Pretty good eh?  The only drawback last night was that there were 3 Karibu overland trucks full of older French passengers, and they’d decided just to pitch their tents everywhere.  They went this morning, so it will be easier tonight.

This afternoon we’re up at the Hotel – they have a pool, lounge area, and the main building, where we’re sitting now, boasts the largest single-span thatch in the country and is quite impressive.  We treated ourselves to lunch here, and chose from the “Light lunch” menu.  The other feature of Namibia is that Vegetarian meals are almost unheard of, and they favour the American sizes for servings.  Jenny ordered a smoked salmon baguette – and apart from the fact that it was the longest baguette I’ve ever seen, it needed to be that long to hold the ton of smoked salmon they piled on to it.  I ordered a burger, and the meat patty was as thick as my fork.  We ate as much as we could, but really couldn’t finish the meals – we’re not used to eating so much these days.

Tomorrow we leave here in the morning and we’re heading down to Etosha, this time I’ve decided to lift the ban on photographing elephants.

Sand territory! Sculptures, textures, colours and unbelievable vistas ...

Sunday / Monday 12^th & 13^th May 2012

We were both looking forward to a coffee this morning at Mariental.  It was our first coffee in over a week, and the girl in the shop cum breakfast area had assured us that they did indeed have a coffee machine.

If any of you are coming to the Bastion to stay, I would certainly recommend it.  But it’s best to bear in mind that you could go and order your coffee, then go back to your room and have a shower, then pack up your gear, get it all into the car and then wander back and wait for your coffee.  It would seem that their version of a coffee machine didn’t quite match what we had in mind, but suffice it to say that after about 20 minutes, she did appear with two drinkable coffees.

I can't show you a photo of the coffees because we were parched by the time they arrived, and so we actually drunk them without photographing them first!  Very remiss, I know.  To make up for that, I do have a photo of the place

And one other note.  The beds were really comfortable, and the rooms were great.  Remember I said about the amount of crafy things they had just about everywhere?  Well, can you imagine waking up in the morning, in a darkened room, and looking at this first thing in the morning - you know, before you've really woken up?

Isn't that sight enough to make sure you're awake?  (ps - the crack in the wall was indeed very real ...)

We headed back into town to have a look at some of the very “African English” shops and also fill up with petrol.

 I guess in Mariental they really can't have a "White Lady Funerals" now can they?

The road to Maltahuhe was good bitumen – very flat countryside and it looked like it would continue like this all day.  Just after Maltahuhe we turned off on the C14 road – a really good dirt road but very well graded.  The Zaris pass and valley we descended into was as spectacular as it was unexpected.

After a few very necessary photo stops, we arrived at the Sossus Dune Lodge just before 2pm.  We’re staying here tonight because it affords us the best advantage for the dunes tomorrow.  There’s quite a big choice of accommodation in this area but the reason you come here is to see the Sossusvlei sand dunes, and the best time to see the dunes is at sunrise.  There are two park gates, and if you stay at the lodges or campsites outside the first gate, you have a very long drive to the actual dunes, and the outside gate at Sesreim opens at sunrise.  Because we’re staying at the only place inside the second gate, we have a time advantage.  So tomorrow morning we’re leaving here at 5am (with a packed picnic breakfast box they supply) and we have a short drive to the Big Daddy dune.

This afternoon we went out to Dune 45.  Even the drive out is absolutely stunning.  The whole valley and endless dunes are utterly spectacular.  You could spend days here and not tire of the drive or the views, or the artistic or photographic opportunities.  Even if you were not interested in picking up a camera, you would still just love the scenery.

Actually, when we unpacked the car, we did remember the Esky/Chilly bin/Cooler but we forgot the rest of the stuff, so we ended up with a very healthy lunch!  Enough to fortify us for a heavy afternoon running around dunes.

The time we had at Dune 45 just flew, and all too soon the sun was setting.  Here it’s not a case of the sun slowly setting, it just seems to drop and by 5:45pm it’s gone and the very short twilight period starts.  We had to be back at the Lodge 30 minutes after the sun had set and by the time we arrived back, it was hard to believe that we’d been out for a tad over 3 hours.

Dinner is included in the tariff, and it was a set 4 course meal.  We’re used to having a few things on the braai, so the meal was quite daunting.  Some of the menus in different countries can be unintentionally hilarious.  This didn’t fall into that category, but an English teacher would cringe at the Starter of “Mediterian Salad” (this turned out to be cold deep fried calamari on top of lettuce, tomato and cucumber which were all swimming in salad dressing).  The starter was followed by “Pea’s Soup” and after the Mains, the Dessert was “Kahluwa Panacotta”.

Sunday morning saw us up at 4:30, packed and heading out to the Dunes by 5am.  We spent a magical 4 hours there, which seemed like about 45 minutes. 

 

Yes, there is a certain amount of work involved!  How else do you celebrate such a wonderful sunrise?

 And to reassure you all, we still had an opportunity to keep our game spotting skills updated.

I’ll try not to wax lyrical about the dunes too much.  For those of you who’ve been here, you’ll completely understand.  For those who haven’t – yet – been here, you will probably wonder why a sand dune is worth so many paragraphs.  I’m not talking about the Avalon sand dunes, or even Stockton Beach.  I’m talking about sand dunes that cover an area larger than some of the tiny European countries, and it would seem probably not much smaller than Tasmania.

On the way back on the 4WD shuttle to the car park where the 2WDs had to park, we met Kelly, a Canadian guy from Calgary.  Spoke very briefly about photography and then said good-bye.

The lodge had given us a breakfast pack and that turned out to cover us for breakfast, lunch and dinner on Sunday and I’m having the last part for breakfast now on Monday.  We set off in good time to get to Swakopmund, but got as far as Solitaire to refuel and then found that they’d run out, and “might get some on Tuesday if we’d like to wait”.  Well, we really couldn’t, so we had to drive back to Sesreim and refuel, and then drive back.  Thankfully the scenery is just sooooo stunning (have I mentioned this before?) that in one way it was a pleasure!

Look what happened to the last person who decided to wait at Solitaire for the petrol tanker to arrive!

This meant that we were still driving while the sun quickly plopped in a bath of glorious colour.  After that, we really knew that we were the only car on the road.  We were glad to arrive in Swakopmund and we’re at the Desert Backpackers.  They have a house with apparently really good rooms with all facilities but they have what looks like a great back garden – lovely grass, picnic areas etc and that’s the camping area.  The first person we saw, standing outside the kitchen, was Kelly.

We pitched our tents in the dark, which actually was quite easy, and then rocked up to the kitchen.  The American girl was in the process of making everyone coffee, so timing was perfect!  This is the other great part about travelling – the people one meets.  There was a Spanish girl, who will call London home (as you do) who had just finished a few months working as a zoologist in Madagascar.  A Scottish girl who has just finished her Philosophy degree, the American girl who is a scuba diving instructor and 2 guys, on Brit and a Swiss guy – they headed off somewhere.  Then Kelly came in – he’s from Calgary and is, not surprisingly, a lumberjack.  But his “other job” is the RV park he owns, and he’s a motorbike enthusiast (as well as a pilot).  He runs a BMW Challenge each year, which is growing in popularity, and one of his friends runs BMW rides from Cape Town to Vic Falls.  He’s also into photography ….. so you can guess that we had a lot to talk about.  It will be continued tonight!

Back in Namibiaaaaaaaaahhhhhh

It's taken a while, but I'm back in Namibia.  We had a wonderful last drive up through the Kgalagadi this morning and crossed into Namibia from Mata Mata camp.

The few hours drive - on superb gravel/dirt roads - into Mariental was interesting, and the time went quickly.  The amount of dust we found in the car when we opened the doors was a sight to behold!  The car is having a service in Swakopmund on Monday, so we think we'll ask them if they can clean the inside as well as the outside ...  :-)

And just to prove how difficult this life is .....

We're staying at the Bastion Farmhouse B&B tonight.  Quite an interesting place!  How often do you see this in rooms? 

And I made friends with one of the residents!

They have a lot of crafty work just about EVERYWHERE, but this one caught my eye

Thinking back to the choking giraffe, and his possible Facebook profile photo, I was playing on the drive, and thought perhaps this should be mine for a while?  Jen has already taken her new profile photo, and this would make a change from the bike gear.  It would def need some tweaking though!

What do you think?

The incomparable Kgalagadi

We’ve spent the last 5 days in the Kgalagadi, and we leave tomorrow.  How to sum up the experience quickly?

First, the pronunciation:  You would say “Ka-la-hardy” and it’s the old Gemsbok-Kalahari Game Park.

I’m typing this outside on the verandah of our room at the Kielie-Kranke Wilderness Camp.  I’m sitting under a huge sky – the Milky Way is completely visible, the myriad stars also.  Just absolutely amazing.  The only noise – apart from this keyboard – are the animals in the park.  Sunset tonight was the usual spectacular occurrence and we’re waiting for the moonrise.

Just a reminder that the photos I'm putting up here are as I took them - NO changes.  They are reduced in resolution obviously, but defects have not been deleted ....

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I decided when I was in this park that I would stop myself from taking yet more photos of elephants.  I love elephants, but I’ve decided this week that they are on my “banned” photographic list, so you won’t be seeing ANY elephant photos …

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We’ve spent two nights at Mata Mata camp, then two nights at Nossob camp and last night we were at Twee Rivieren.  We quickly established our routine – up, packed and ready to leave each camp when the gates were opened at 7am.  We’d drive for a couple of hours and then stop at a picnic spot to have breakfast.  Then either drive back to camp or on to the next one, arriving by about 1-2pm.  We’d have a couple of hours “rest”.  This went quickly as there was lots to do – chatting to the other campers, swapping sightings and stories, download photos, shower, washing and if we were lucky, we’d get a page or three of our books read.  Then we’d be off for a late afternoon drive, but we had to be back at Camp by 6pm when the gates were locked.  Then dinner, watching the sunset and moonrise and occasionally we’d spend some time chatting with whomever our neighbours were, then early-ish to book and bed.

On our first night at Mata Mata, we stayed in a chalet - we were late-ish arriving, and pitching a tent in the dark is never a good idea.  Well, it is fun recounting the experience later, but at the time it never seems like "fun".

On our second night, we did camp though! 

And this is taken at our campsite at Twee Rivieren - yes, camping and laptop combined!  Now that did seem strange ...

We’ve been really fortunate to have seen lion most days (sometimes up to 4 sightings of different lion prides) and we’ve seen cheetah on a few days too.  One morning, we stopped at one of the waterholes to see what was happening, and we spotted a lion in the distance.  So we waited, and it walked up to the waterhole – didn’t stop for a drink – and then up the hill, past us and out along the road, so we followed.  We spent about 45 minutes with this majestic lion – no other cars at all.  What an experience!  Both nights at Nossob camp there were lions roaring most of the night, and the Jackals joined in too.  It's hard to beat the experience of being in a tent listening to the lions roaring!!!

This is the lion we had to ourselves

The drawback to having such a small car is that on the rare occasions the grasses are high, it's hard to see over the top.  But the benefit of the car (apart from petrol costs and consumption etc etc etc) is that when you do see the animals, you are eyeballing them - or they're eyeballing you!!!

And some other shots of that amazing experience

We then went back to the waterhole because we were sure he was with a mate, and the lioness was sitting on the road just near the waterhole.

That was our second lion sighting that morning, so all up it was a wonderful day!

While I'm on the subject of lions, one other time we spent with them went something like this

Male walks down to the waterhole, bypasses it and keeps walking for a while

the girls then come down to join him

Well, at least the two single girls had the decency to look the other way while the action was happening

And I'm assuming she wasn't impressed with his performance, and may have said something, and he's reacted .....

and she's either agreeing ...  or complaining that it 'should have been her'  ...  or I'll let you add your own translation to this shot!

anyway, eventually they all decide to wander off and sleep for the rest of the day under a nearby bush.  Yes, we know, because later that afternoon we saw them still under the same bush!

This time we didn't have the lions to ourselves.  There were a few other cars parked nearby.  The funniest part of this whole experience was looking at one of the other couples and how they coped with this sighting!

To me, this is priceless!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The cheetahs have been memorable too.  The morning we arrived in the park, we’d managed to see cheetah, lion and a leopard all before lunch!  Sadly, this was the only leopard we saw, but the cheetahs have certainly made up for that.  Having the time to just sit and watch them is superb, rather than having to drive on if you are on a set tour.

  

I’ve also loved the Cape Squirrels.  At Mata Mata and Nossob, the camping areas were full of squirrel “bunkers” and to have the time to sit and watch them provided endless amusement.  Naturally Jen and I were out with our cameras too.

These guys were at Mata Mata

And these were at Nossob.  This one had nicked a piece of sweet potato, and was busy devouring it

and his mate had to make do with a nearby melon

We saw Springbok, Wildebeest, Hartebeest, Ostrich, Secretary birds, Kori Bustards all the time as well as a range of birds.

And for something different, let me introduce a Ground Agama Lizard .....  drumroll, drumroll  .....

On Monday morning, I was reminded that Bob Geldof and The Boomtown Rats weren’t the only ones who “didn’t like Mondays”.  The first group of animals we came across were the Springbok, and there were a few pairs of them having a barney. 

Then the next group we came across were the Wildebeest, and they too were having a barney.

Generally these are more like practice, or a bit of fun.  But beware, if the fights get a bit out of hand then you could end up in trouble.  Just ask this Gemsbok!

We wondered if his fighting days and romantic interludes would be affected much ...

He would certainly be noticed among his peers

Jen and I are not “birders”.  The variety of birds is stunning, and we are happy to watch them fly past, or stop and watch if an eagle is nearby or the Secretary birds are catching something to eat.  But we don’t know all the bird names, and so most of the time we’d just say “there’s an eagle-y thing”.  If I had more time here, I can see how you’d want to spend it bird watching though.

I spent a couple of hours in the hide at the Nossob camp waterhole - it felt like about 10 minutes. There were 3 Jackals trying to catch dinner. The pigeons (?) filled the nearby trees, and every now and then they’d all mass around the waterhole having a drink. Then one of the jackals would rush in to try to grab one, but invariably missed and then seemed to be stunned at the mass flight of all the birds. Then one of the jackals seemed to have another idea – he waited until all the birds were again around the waterhole, and then almost crept up to them, but when he stepped up to the edge of the waterhole he lost his balance and fell in backwards. Quite funny from where we were watching!

 

One day we came across several giraffe, but one of them had just picked up a melon and had tried to start eating it. It was a huge melon, and as we watched it looked almost comical, and then we wondered if we were going to have to learn how to do the Heimlich manoeuvre on a giraffe, because it looked like he was going to choke on it. It took him a while, but he finally managed to get it cracked and then it was just a case of munch and dribble until he’d eaten it.

Phew, after all that effort, he's now one happy and fuller giraffe!

but then he's spotted a good looking few leaves on the nearby acacia tree ...

and if you thought that would make a great Profile photo for his Facebook page, I think this one would have to be "it"

I had seen many times the weaver birds and the nests they make, but I’d never seen the Social Weavers’ nests.  These are like council estates or whole suburbs in a tree - or on top of and wrapped around roadside telegraph poles!  It would be fascinating to know how long it took the birds to make them.  There were many instances of the nests being so big that the branch they were built around couldn’t take the weight any more and the whole thing collapsed.  Apparently it is quite common for snakes to weave in and out of each of the “apartments” finding something to eat, but we never saw that – this time!

The ones I'm used to seeing are these ones

and they look like this

and then there's the Social Weavers nests!

and this one I dubbed "The Grenadier" for obvious reasons ...

Earlier I had a road sign theme going, and this one I just loved!

To Lisa and Liz, and anyone else who is reading this and working in an office, I realise that it's the start of another week in the office for you.  And talking of starts, these are the ones I am having to cope with ...

...  both the sunrises

and the moon rises



so enjoy your week, and I'll head back to my work!  I'll enjoy your comments please ...