FRIDAY 25TH - PETRIFIED ROCK AND ORGAN PIPES

We spent a long time in The Beast today but didn't travel very far. We had been warned about the roads we travelled and the warning was well and truly warranted They were perhaps the worst we have ever travelled on but The Beast handled them OK, albeit at very low speeds.

This morning we visited an area known for its petrified trees. The trees were about 300 years old when, in a monstrous flood millions of years ago, they were buried in sediment and eventually turned into rock. The rock is very tree like complete with bark and knots. Some have now been unearthed. It is not known how many more remain buried in the vicinity.

We enjoyed lunch on the side of a dry stream bed, very reminiscent of the Australian Outback.

We are now settled at the very novel Twyfelfontein Country Lodge. It is in a truly spectacular setting nestled into a rock escarpment on the edge of a very broad valley.

 

This afternoon, we explored the Twyfelfontein Visitor Centre where there is a walking track up on to a rocky hill where there is a significant of bush art done between 2000 and 6000 years ago by the bushmen who used to live and hunt in the area. It is carved into the rock, not painted, so is enduring very well.

THURSDAY 24TH - ON THE MOVE AGAIN

Today was predominantly a driving day. We have left the game parks behind us and are heading for the coast. We get there on Saturday. Tonight we are at Mopane Lodge near Khorixas.

 

Last night, as we were going to bed, several rhino came into the resort waterhole. Apparently quite a number came in somewhat later. The photo is not that great thanks to the poor light but you get the picture.

 

Our only activity today was a stop at and tour of a Himba tribal village where they are trying to maintain their traditional lifestyle. They are welcome to it. It was very basic with no mod cons, not even a water supply in a very arid area.

Tomorrow we explore the local area before moving on.

WEDNESDAY 23RD - REST DAY TODAY

Very relaxing day today. It started with the photo below taken at the waterhole 50 metres from our accommodation. I have posted it upside down just to cause a little confusion. This is an oryx. They are quite common but I don't think I have specifically mentioned it before.

 

Most days we have been up at 5:30 for breakfast and a game drive or vice versa but today, we had the luxury of breakfast at 7:30 and a game drive at 8:30.

As game drives go, it was one of our less spectacular but still notable for the the herds of zebra, wildebeest and springbok we saw converging on a natural spring on the edge of the salt pan.

When we got back from our morning drive, there was quite a level of activity at the home waterhole.

And after lunch, there was even more activity, about 25 elephants came to drink and play.

This afternoon, we had our last game drive as such. We move on to other activities from here. But of course we had a grand finale, a lion and two lionesses.

What fantastic experiences we are having.

TUESDAY 22ND - CROSSING ETOSHA

Yesterday afternoon, we went for our usual afternoon game drive. Unfortunately we didn't find any cheetah but we did find some cute babies, a giraffe and an elephant.

 

We also found a new animal, a dik dik.

 

Otherwise it was the usual suspects.

This morning we took four hours to drive the 130 klms to Okaukuejo where we are now staying in a “waterhole chalet”, so called because it is adjacent to the waterhole immediately outside the resort compound. As I sat down to type this, I was distracted by two elephants arriving at the waterhole.

 

Along the way, we stopped on the Etosha Pan for some trick photography. It is a salt pan 4732 square kilometres in area.

When we arrived about two hours ago, the resort waterhole was crowded with zebra, springbok and gemsbok.

 

Our new animals for today were rhino, hyena and red hartebeest. We have now completed the big five.

 

Along the way, we also saw numerous zebra, wildebeest, ostrich, springbok, giraffes and a lion and lioness – a routine day's drive around here.

 

MONDAY 21ST - NAMUTONI - ETOSHA

As anticipated, today was an exercise in game driving. This time it was done in The Beast so, by comparison with Moremi, in considerable comfort.

Cheetah apparently frequent this area so the challenge is to find one. Unfortunately we haven't yet done so but have discovered some animals we haven't previously crossed paths with.

Namutoni is a camping and accommodation resort surrounded by a large fence with a very substantial gate at the entrance, no doubt to keep the lions out that we hear roaring at night. We haven't seen them yet. If you look carefully at the photo, you can see a herd of Zebra drinking at the water hole just outside the resort fence.

Tomorrow we spend the day in the National Park but driving 134 klms to our next destination Okaukuejo where we will again spend two nights. The park covers an area of almost 23,000 square kilometres so we will only be seeing a very small portion of it.

The animals that we have seen here and not previously encountered are:

Wildebeest

 

Springbok

 

Gemsbok

 

Jackal

 

Ostrich
 

SUNDAY 20TH - STILL ON THE MOVE

Today was a driving day in that we most of it in The Beast transiting from nKawazi Lodge near Rundu to Namutoni Camp on the eastern edge of Etosha National Park where we will be staying for tonight and tomorrow night. Along the way, we passed many little communities. They obviously have a very basic lifestyle.

 

In my hurry to get the blogs up to date yesterday afternoon, I omitted two of the photos I was intending to post, The Porsche and the reflecting elephant.

We are now having a few meals from The Beast. It is very well set up for catering and we have our resident chef, Israel.

This afternoon, we went and checked one of the nearby waterholes and the animals didn't disappoint. We will be spending more time exploring the local area tomorrow.

 

SATURDAY 19TH - ON THE MOVE AGAIN

We got up at our usual game watching time of 5:30 but this morning, we had a plane to catch. After a quick breakfast, we headed for the airstrip to be reunited with our geriatric Cessna 206.

There was only one animal which we had not yet seen, a male lion so our journey to the airstrip became a quest to find one and, sure enough, we did. The grand finale to our Moremi experience.

 

We enjoyed a very scenic flight along the Okavango Delta – a spectacular but substantial oasis in an otherwise very dry country.

We spent three hours in The Beast and are now comfortably settled at n'Kwazi Lodge, having crossed the border into Namibia. The power doesn't come on until four but the shower has a plentiful supply of hot water.

While we were having lunch, a Porshe rolled in towing a camper trailer It appears to have come from Zambia. Camper trailers are very rare here so to see one being towed by a Porshe is very novel. There are no caravans.

The Lodge is located on the Kavango River which forms the boundary with Angola so we are looking across at Angola. Some of the locals are doing their washing on the bank of the river. Presumably there aren't any crocs in it. Apparently they get their water supply by carrying large containers of water on their heads from the river back to their homes.

Tomorrow we head for Etosha Game Park. More game drives no doubt.