Africa - Botswana

We joined a guided tour in Windhoek, Namibia for the Botswana and Zambia part of our journey. There were 18 people on the tour, which was a big change from the other guided tour sections of our trip ( Bhutan, Kenya and Rwanda) where it was just the two of us. It was fun meeting a bunch of new and interesting people - mostly Canadians, but also a some Americans, English, Germans, Swiss, Australians and one Scot

The tour started in the Kalahari desert, where we were treated to dancing and singing by the local San tribe bushmen. Instead of applauding, the women ululate and the men growl like tigers. We kept doing this for the rest of our trip - it was hilarious! 

The bushmen also took us for a walk through the bush and dug up different plants that were used for medicine and tanning hides. Listening to them talk was fascinating, since their language has lots of clicking sounds. 

Next we did a scenic flight over the Okavango delta. The Okavango river flows south into the Kalahari desert and eventually just gets soaked up into the ground, making the area an excellent habitat for wildlife. Steve won the rock paper scissors with Jackie, so he got the front seat (a Cessna 206 Ivan!). 

He was bucking himself in when the pilot said, "Um, I'm sorry sir, but you're in my seat!"  Kind of funny - I guess old habits as a pilot die hard. 

We did an overnight camping trip and were transported to the campsite island in Mokoros (dugouts) by some of the locals. 

We got to try out poling the dug outs (WAY harder than it looks!) and went for a game walk after dinner. 

We did see elephants and hippos from the dug outs, although our guides were keen to give them a wide berth. Dugouts are not very stable!

The next day was the highlight for us. We stayed at a resort called "elephant sands". It was in the middle of the desert, and contained an artificial watering hole. The region used to have several private game reserves, but they shut down, so now the next nearest water hole is 17 km away. There are 90,000 elephants in the region, and 200 to 300 visit this water hole every day. It was mind boggling! There were constantly 10 to 30 elephants at the watering hole, 24 hours a day. The owners of the resort were doing the best that they could to both accommodate the elephants and their paying guests, but these animals were both sly and determined to hunt down any source of water. A month before when the dry season was getting really intense, elephants walked onto the patio and drank the swimming pool i.e they completely emptied it!

The owners had a crew of workers who did repairs every morning on the damages the elephants wrought the night before. They would pull up water lines and knock over water tanks in their quest for quenching their thirst. One elephant knocked over a washroom, ripped the tank off the toilet and then took off into the desert with the toilet bowl. They have never found it!

The elephants were a constant source of entertainment. In the morning, one went back up onto the patio to check out the pool (very empty) until he got shooed away by one of the  owners. 

The next day we did a cruise on the Chobe River. Plenty of crocodiles, hippos, birds and ungulates. 

Overall, a great tour - beautiful country, fun people and neither of us had to drive!

NAMIBIA The Water Holes

 Animal viewing in Namibia is much different than Kenya. Namibia is very dry so animals congregate around the watering holes. Etosha National Park has built a number of manmade watering holes throughout the park. 

During the day you see many zebras, giraffe's, ostrich and ungulates. 

The numbers can range from a handful to hundreds of animals. 

The shiest and most interesting  the animals to watch are the giraffes. They approach very slowly and cautiously, then still wait at the edge of the water before committing themselves to drinking. With their long necks they need to  stretch their legs out to the side or bend at the knees to reach the water. It is fascinating to watch them get in and out of the drinking position.   

One of the driving rules in Etosha is that you cannot drive before sunrise or after sunset. By staying at a Camp in the Park you have walking access to lit water holes for viewing any time of day. The most interesting time is after sunset as that is when the larger animals come to the water hole. Movement in the distance forms shapes that became discernible only as they near the edge of the lit watering hole. 

Both nights that we sat at the watering hole we saw lions, rhinos and elephants. 

The most spectacular sight was seeing the elephants on the second night.  The matriarch came first followed by 7 others. A minute later 14 more arrived We watched the group of 22 elephants drink and shower themselves for a long period of time. 

Eventually the matriarch started to walk away and the others followed just as they had arrived, in single file. AMAZING!

NAMIBIA - Adventures in Driving

"How big is your fuel tank?"  

Ok, when this is the first question that a girl asks you after you ask for desert driving advice, you know that you're talking to the right person!
"100 litres"
"You'll be fine. The gas stations, here, here and here reliably have fuel. This one doesn't always have fuel - my brother was stuck there once for three days!"
Kayla, the receptionist at our hotel in Windhoek, knew what she was talking about. The two  young German engineering students who were in line in front of us at the Hertz counter did not!
"The roads are not paved! They are terrible! It will take you forever to get anywhere!"
Well, the roads are not paved - by the end of our trip, we will have driven about 2,000 km on gravel - but most of them are excellent. We could usually do 120 kph but there were often twisty sections where we slowed to 60. 

The scenery of Namibia is astounding, and driving is really the only way to see most of it. 

You do have to plan ahead a bit - even though we were on relatively major roads and on the typical tourist circuit, we could go hours without seeing another vehicles. We bought four big jugs of water and we filled up at every station that we passed. 

Some of them looked like scenes from the old Mel Gibson Mad Max movies. 

At one little hole in the wall in the middle of no where, I commented on how hot it was (42C). 
"Mon, you just need to hangout in the sun a little more. Then you get nice a black like me!", responded the rotund station attendant. 

Along the road side women had little curio souvenir) shops. They were dreesed in tradional costumes. Some people still dress in Victorian Dress wearing lacey full length Victiorian gown with frily hats. 

The others a complete contrst, Kalahari Bushwomen with very little on.

Two pieces of advice that we could not follow:
Carry two spares ( rental only came with one)

NEVER get out of your vehicle in a national park - sound advice, but how do you change a blown out tire if you don't get out of the car? The roads in the national parks varied between good and truly awful. I figured they were natural speed bumps. Suddenly, our car started making even more noise than usual. I was only doing 50 kph, but by the time I coasted to a stop the tire was shredded. When I looked at it, it appeared that a previous renter had almost ripped the interior sidewall out of the tire. Time and heat resulted in the blow out. 

Not sure if all Toyotas have the same system, but the spare on our SUV was attached to the vehicle with a taut chain. Several minutes of head scratching preceded the realization that the jack crank could be inserted through a small hole in the bumper to crank down the chain and liberate the spare. As Steve hoisted the vehicle and replaced the blown tire, Jackie kept a conscientious watch for wildlife. We saw 6 lions and a leopard in the next three days - glad that she didn't spot any of them while we had the flat!

The National Parks are copletely surrounded by fencing to keep the livestock out and the wild animals in. To keep yuo safe while lunching or using the facilities the privide a gated enclosure for your safety. Kind of feels like being in the human zoo, but it made bathroom stops way more relaxing 

Overall, our driving experience in Namibia has been fantastic! It has been great to have the freedom to go where and when we please, and it is a very safe and organized country. 

THE BIG 50

There was a time when I was dreading this birthday.....cuz after all 50 is old .......or so I thought when I was much younger!!  Once we started planning this trip my concerns about turning 50 started to fade. Our idea was that if 50 had to happen, then let's make it as much fun as we can. Here is how the fun played out on my birthday..

I celebrated the end of my 40's watching the sunset over the Namibian desert, dining on Oryx tenderloin with a lovely glass of red wine.

The place we stayed, The Agama River Lodge offered to make a bed on the upper deck/roof of the adobe house we were staying in.

I fell asleep gazing at a million bright stars in the black sky. It was a perfect night to do it as there were no clouds to obstruct the star gazing, no bugs and a nice cool temperature that required only a light sleeping bag for warmth. 

We woke the next morning to the stars slowly fading and the sun rising over the mountains.

Steve sang happy birthday and offered a piece of delicious chocolate coconut brownie complete with a burning candle. 

We drove the hour to the park gates of the National Park for the Namibian Desert and spent the day exploring the red sand dunes. 

One of the highlights was climbing up to the top and beyond of one of the dunes. 

It was really a good choice as a place to spend a 50th birthday. Not only was it a beautiful and very different place then we usually visit, at one point I was in a stand of 500- 600 year old petrified trees next to sand dunes that were 2000-3000 years old and part of the oldest desert in the world. I felt like a kid in comparison!!!!

Once the day became too hot to be out in the desert we checked into our room at the amazing 5 star lodge, the  Hoodia Desert Lodge, that Steve had booked for us. 

We lounged by the pool enjoying the pristine desert landscape that surrounded us. 

Next on the agenda was  a perfectly chilled bottle of South African champagne on the front deck of our desert villa. 

 

As if being on a round the world trip, staying at this awesome place drinking champagne wasn't gift enough, Steve gave me a necklace with a lapice endless knot pendant that he bought in Bhutan. 

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We both got new clothes for the occasion. Check out my $15 outfit complete with matching shoes!!  

Dinner was as amazing as the rest of the day. We had Oryx as the main, this  time done as kebabs and a divine chocolate dessert.

When our waitress found out it was my birthday she immediately returned with a chilled bottle of champagne. The only thing better than one bottle of champagne is....

All in all my birthday was fun (sleeping under the stars), fiery (hiking through the red sand dunes), fancy (the super luxurious lodge), fantastic (the champagne)  and just fabulous (celebrating with the love of my life). Thanks Steve!!