6: Safari Time!

We head for Etosha National Park for this next phase of our journey... a full-on safari experience and our hopes are high.

The park is unique in Africa; the main characteristic is the huge salt pan - so large it can be seen from space.

A couple of miles from the park entrance we arrive at the scene of a nasty accident. Three people are injured - one of them pretty badly. An ambulance appears apparently from nowhere. The police seem to have the situation well under control.

We are spending the first two nights in Etosha in another NWR campsite - Okaukuejo and it is, as expected, OK but a bit tired.

Our pitch is facing the camp fence and almost as soon as we arrive we are treated to the sight of a massive bull elephant wandering past just the other side of the fence! If you look closely, you'll see he's carrying a passenger on his forehead - an Armoured Ground Cricket is hitching a ride!

The campsite benefits from a really good, floodlit waterhole where people gather in the dark of evening and sit in silence hoping to see animals coming to drink. 

This evening we see an amazing sight - two rhinos arrive at the waterhole but instead of drinking they stand facing each other - sometimes with their faces touching.

They make an extraordinary noise, very high pitched and not what you expect from such an immense animal.

After squeaking at each other for a while, they - mainly the male - start to make a much deeper grunting noise.

This goes on for ages until one, then both the rhinos immerse themselves in the water - they move apart and the noises continue. This carries on for about an hour until it ends as soon as it began and the two wander off in different directions. 

What have we just witnessed? We’re not sure; we thought it was some kind of mating ritual but if it was, it all came to nothing. We ask a wildlife guide and he tells us that it may have been that, or it may have been a juvenile rhino, already living independently, trying to make contact with his mother only to be rejected. It will remain a bit of a mystery but goodness it was a sight to see!

We get up early the next morning to take ourselves on a game drive. A few minutes in and another treat awaits us - a pride of about ten lions relaxing right by the road!

They play it very cool and look right through us as if we don’t exist; we have the luxury of just watching and admiring them for some time but other vehicles arrive and we move off to let them have a clear view.

Of course, we see many other animals, words can’t do justice to all the wonderful sights so we’ll let the pictures do the talking……

This evening the waterhole delivers once more and we are able to watch two female lions come to drink.

We have decided to go on a guided game drive this morning. It’s cold, so the driver issues us with rather fetching quilted ponchos, we laugh but goodness we're glad to have them, it's absolutely freezing!

Guided drives have the advantage of being able to enter the park before sunrise and therefore before any self-drive vehicles. Also, the guides are very experienced and knowledgeable - and Nick is able to have a break from driving and concentrate on photography.

Before we know it, we see two big male lions - one of whom gets gradually closer and closer until he crosses the road right in front of us - a wonderful sight!

We don’t see any other big animals on this drive but our guide is able to point out and tell us about myriad small animals who live on the savannah and who play a vital part in its ecosystem - we see scrub hare, ground squirrels and yellow mongoose to name a few.

Our next stop is a private game reserve - Onguma - which is just outside the National Park gates.  It’s going to be a long drive through the park so we don’t hang about doing too much game viewing.

We do however very much enjoy seeing the massive salt pan which makes up a large proportion of the park’s area. We see a pink line on the horizon which we believe are the hundreds of thousands of Flamingos that have gathered here after the recent heavy rains.

The heat rises from the pan in a shimmering haze and it puts us in mind of a mirage.

In order to enter and leave the park it is necessary to cross the Vet Line that exists in Namibia designed to combat the spread of Foot and Mouth Disease. This line restricts the movement of raw meat and animals from the north to the south of Namibia. On the way into the park we had no problem as we were heading south to north. 

We had thought there would be no problem leaving the park either but we have obviously misunderstood the rules.

At the check point, the inspector looks in our fridge where we have some mince. Instead of confiscating it, she suggests we cook it there and then as cooked meat can cross the line - we take her up on her suggestion and soon the aroma of cooking fills the air! 

Onguma Tamboti Camp proves to be exceptionally good. The staff are all very friendly; the showers hot and powerful and the bar and restaurant area is a shady and cool haven that overlooks a waterhole.

There are a couple of cheeky squirrels (like grey squirrels but smaller) who are very forward indeed, one even climbs up Nick’s leg.

Around the pool and reception, there is also a big group (apparently the collective term is mob!) of mongooses who are very sweet. Not sure that the swimming pool water can do them much good!

We again opt for a game drive but this time at the end of the day.

Quite early on we see a lone rhino at a waterhole; this in itself is very exciting as we are able to get really close - but this rhino puts on a show for us - wallowing in a mud bath, he rolls over and over, it’s a joy to see.

Our guide had hoped to show us a nearby pride of lions which includes some cubs but although we hear them in the distance, they don’t show themselves. We do see a mix of birds and animals, some that we haven’t seen elsewhere…

We then indulge in the time honoured African tradition of the Sundowner - gin & tonics in the Bush as the sun sets. And what a sunset! The sky is glorious and so vividly orange that as the moon rises, it too seems to have been set alight.

Another monster drive faces us today although we can see from the map that it will be on mainly tarred roads which will make progress much quicker and significantly smoother.

As the journey progresses, the landscape changes and settlements line the road.

The houses vary in construction materials from thatched rondavels with dried mud walls, to corrugated metal to breeze blocks. Along the road are stalls selling firewood, wood carvings and pottery.

We can’t buy any firewood as we’ve been told that you can’t take it into Botswana and we’re headed there tomorrow; Janette sees some pottery that looks interesting and she always likes to get into conversation with the locals so we pull over.

Janette chats to Theresita and discovers that she makes the pots using clay from the river bed. A pot is duly purchased, we’ll just have to hope it makes it home in one piece - Nick’s not holding his breath! 

After a long drive we finally turn off the tarred road onto a sandy track. We are informed that the road has only just reopened after flooding.

The track takes us through wetlands adorned with waterlilies and at one point we come across people mending the road which had been washed away by recent flooding.

This place is so different from what we’ve become used to in this desert nation. It is lush and green and we sit and enjoy a drink on the banks of the mighty Okavango River looking over to Angola on the opposite bank.

As the setting sun turns the sky to flame we think it doesn’t get much better than this.

Today we are crossing briefly, into Botswana so we’ve got our documents ready but we make a rookie error - we arrive at the border at lunchtime so only a skeleton staff is on duty and there’s quite a bit of hanging about.

Once things get going it’s all very efficient and it’s service with a smile which is nice. 

As soon as we leave the border and drive out into Botswana the difference from Namibia is striking. The countryside seems lusher, there are more people and donkeys, cows, goats and dogs line the road in far greater numbers.

We’re glad that we don’t have far to go now to reach our overnight stop - Drotsky’s Cabins. Claire and Jonathan are here for one night and then they will leave us to start their journey back into South Africa via the Okavango Delta.

We on the other hand are here for three nights and so we decide to book into one of the picturesque, thatched cabins - a good decision. It’ll give us the comfort of a proper bed and bathroom and a chance to regroup before the next stage of our journey.

We enjoy dinner at the lodge with Claire and Jonathan and bid them farewell and bon voyage the next morning. We’re on our own for the next few weeks now until Janet and Chris (who have featured in our Morocco and India blogs) come out to join us in Zimbabwe……wish us luck!