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Namibia
  • Sue Wang
Nov – Dec 2019

Namibia

A 17-day adventure by Sue Read more
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  • Trip start
    November 15, 2019
  • Sue WangNamibiaTraveler

    The flight was cancled? And JFK

    November 15, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 3 °C

    Thursday, Nov. 14th, when I was in the office late afternoon and checked on my emails, suddenly a email from South African Airways popped up and said “your flight was canceled due to industrial action”. WTF! I was supposed to fly out tomorrow and you canceled my flight the last minute?! I immediately picked up the phone and called the number given. While holding on the line I told Dale and texted Finn. It was the bed time for Finn but he couldn’t sleep. Dale ran his searching engine high, trying to find me an alternative route. He told me the “industrial action” meant strike. Sure enough the news said SAA was having a strike for the better pay and benefits. Dale couldn’t find anything good that could get me to WDH quick enough. The anxiety was running high in the twenty minutes holding the line. Finally someone picked up. After checking she said my flight from JFK to JNB wasn’t canceled, but the next one, from JNB to WDH was. She then found me another flight run by Namibia Airline that departed from JNB one hour later than my original one, which wasn’t too bad and also gave me more transit time. Finally, the chaos was over. Finn could go to bed with peace of mind. Phew, what a drama!

    Next day I got up at 6:30. Tian Yong picked me up at 7:30 and took me to the airport. I put the backpack on shoulder and took a picture. Wanted to take a full length but only end up with shoulder height.    Read more

  • Sue WangNamibiaTraveler

    On the flight

    November 16, 2019 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 6 °C

    Flew over the Atlantic Ocean and got to the edge of Africa continent. The route is the straight line as seen on the map, not a curve as going to one of the polars for “shorter distance”. So it must be the shortest distance by crossing the equator.

    The airplane is Airbus 340-600, an quite old version. The low def and pull-up TV. Watched Toy Story 4. Quite like it. The best way for me to like a movie is to know nothing before hand. With an open mind I just go with the flow of the story.

    The food was OK. However, after the frantic experience of the airline strike and flight cancellation last night I won’t be picky anymore. It’s better to let the SAA save a few dollars so it can continue runny, at least through Nov. 30th so I can get back without troubles. The service was attentive. The guy who served my row named John. A very nice guy. He tried the yellow dragon fruit I brought on board and liked it.    Read more

  • Sue WangNamibiaTraveler

    Transfer at JHB

    November 16, 2019 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Exchanged $200 at the airport, which is all I had. Not a great rate, 13.96 vs. 14.71, plus 5% commission. The guide book said it’s better to have South Africa Rand than Namibia dollar. Rand is accepted in Namibia but it’s not vise versa. So by calculation I am worse off by about $30.

    JHB allowed passengers to go to international terminal directly, but everyone still needed to go through an immigration to get the passport stamped, plus a security check point later. Both were pretty quick.

    Flying to Windhoek takes about 1 hour and 50 minutes. It’s a full flight. I’m sure the strike of SAA sent a lot of customers to Namibia Airline.

    I was supposed to be able to use the lounge by my Jade card but got denied. It sucked.

    JHB and Namibia counter.    Read more

  • Sue WangNamibiaTraveler

    Flying from JHB to Windhoek

    November 16, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    The flight provided meal, I was a little surprised. The rice was dry and hard, the fish was ok. The guys sat next to me are from Indian. They came to visit. One of the guys offered to help me taking a picture, unfortunately, the wing covered two-third of the picture. Underneath, it’s Africa.

    I had no picture but Johannesburg looked pretty from above. Can’t believe it’s a town full of crimes and danger. It’s said the U. S. doctors like to come here to practice their skills on gun wounds. The U. S. also have such cities, like Washington D. C. The doctors got the first taste of blood here before sent to a war zone overseas.

    Only slept two hours from JFK to JHB but couldn’t catch up sleep this leg because how bright the cabin as well as the food service.    Read more

  • Sue WangNamibiaTraveler

    Windhoek airport

    November 16, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Just landed. The KLM was Finn’s flight. His flight made a stop in Luanda, Angola, then continued on to Windhoek. KLM only runs this direct flight twice a week. We were supposed to arrive at the same time but now I was one hour delayed.

    The immigration officer asked me where I was going to stay. “ I don’t know!” I knew Finn had book a lodge but had no idea of its name and location. I told her that I could only know it when I got out and found my travel partner. I was just standing at her counter in silence for two minutes, really couldn’t give more information. She finally stamped my passport.

    I got out but didn’t see him the first sight then finally found him at the counter of SIM card. He told me his luggage didn’t arrive, I caught it when he repeated again. Apparently he was not the only one. He exchanged a few words with another guy who also didn’t see his luggage. (It was funny we ran into this guy in the parking lot of the grocery store a few hours later. He had a car similar to ours.)

    We had no choice but continued on to pick up the car in the city. As it turned out the luggage didn’t arrive till three days later.    Read more

  • Sue WangNamibiaTraveler

    At the car rental place

    November 16, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    Finn rented a satellite phone and a GPS. I’m the second driver on the lease. The rep also gave him a map and told him a lot roads are new. It’s better to refer to the map from time to time.

    The satellite phone costs N$ 25/min, to make a call.

    It took at least 40 minutes, even longer, for Finn to get the car. He later told me that he was shown every compartment, equipment like air pump, gauge, fridge/freezer, hot shower, charge cable, batteries, sleeping quarter, storage places, two spare tires, etc. The car also came with shovels, a hatchet, a jack... Finn wanted to get a pair of tracks in case the car was stuck in sand but they were not available.

    I waited in the office and was wondering why it needed so much time to pick up a car. I only understood better after spending a lot of times with it.

    We were the last one to pick up the car that day.

    We then went to shop for groceries in a neighborhood supermarket. Finn asked the security guy to watch out for the car. When we walked out two guys pushed the cart for us. Finn gave them N$ 5 pp.    Read more

  • Sue WangNamibiaTraveler

    On the way to Windhoek

    November 16, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Very hot...! Finn’s luggage didn’t arrive. His flight flew from AMS to Windhoek directly with one stop over Angola. There was no reason for the luggage to be lost, but it happened. He was not the only one, another guy, too. It would be terrible if the luggage didn’t leave AMS because KLM only flies here twice a week! Customer service didn’t have any answers for him. He has booked the first five days. Don’t know what are we going to do.

    For a while I thought the guy who picked up at the airport drove at the wrong side of the road, then realized this is what I have practiced in my mind back home, it’s right side driving like UK and Japan! I need to keep training my mind to get used to it.    Read more

  • Sue WangNamibiaTraveler

    Windhoek city center

    November 17, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Leaving the reserve we went the city center. On the way there we passed by an area that was jammed with small houses made by corrugated metal sheets or some other materials, very much like the ones photographed as poor area in South Africa. However, I didn’t take pictures of it. I lack the sense of a journalist and often miss the interesting part.

    The bottom pictures are: the parliament garden which was closed to the public that day, the parliament, a church and its plaque, a building I didn’t get the name.    Read more

  • Sue WangNamibiaTraveler

    River Crossing Resort

    November 17, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    First night in Windhoek. The wind blew violently, not like the summer wind at all. Looked like wind in South Hemisphere is just stronger. We learned the same thing when in Patagonia.

    I had a huge breakfast, a bowl of yogurt cereal, some cold cut meat then a big omelette in the hotel. The hotel cost $158 per night, each room is a single “house” even though the house/room isn’t so big.Read more

  • Sue WangNamibiaTraveler

    Avis Dam Nature Reserve

    November 17, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    We went to this reserve after breakfast. It’s a local park, cost N$25 to get in. On the google map it’s a big reservoir. However, the reservoir was totally dried out, for a long long time, left behind a big patch of green grass.

    The binoculars worked great.    Read more

  • Sue WangNamibiaTraveler

    Daan Vijloen Game Reserve

    November 17, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    After an hour in the reservoir park we went to this game reserve. It’s a big dry land, didn’t find one single wild animal. At least they won’t be roaming around in the bright high noon, at 33 degrees. The gravel roads was quite beaten and bumpy in some sections, it was my first taste of gravel road. It had a campsite and a hotel/restaurant area which Finn said he stayed when he was here last time. The park welcome center was well designed and maintained. We paid the admission fee there. Later I found out it seemed common to pay the admission inside the park, not at the gate of entrance, like Etosha. Therefore it’s very important to keep the receipt. You will have a trouble to leave the park without a receipt.Read more

  • Sue WangNamibiaTraveler

    Trans Kalahari Inn, 20 kilo from WDH

    November 18, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    After spending two days in the hotel while waiting for the luggage we decided to move out and camped at Trans Kalahari Inn on the third night. Finn was so happy to be out in the nature and sleep in the car-tent. I was new to all these and didn’t see why a hotel wasn’t better. Of course it’s much more economical to use our car, or it’s like we were double paying for a sleeping place. We had our own toilet and hot shower, plus dish washing sink.

    I cooked the jambalaya for dinner. I prepared to cook this before leaving home and brought the Cajun mixture and Bay leaves with me. However, It was just ok. The rice needed to be cooked for 45 minutes. It would use too much gas, so the rice ended up very al dente.

    We had a beer in the bar/restaurant of the inn. It had a pool where you could also see the sunset. But we didn’t use the pool. Most guests there were Germans. We left for the airport again around 8 pm to see if his luggage would arrive with a flight landing at 8:30. Of course it didn’t arrive. The anxiety was running higher. Finn called KLM again. The rep didn’t sound too friendly at the beginning but went on giving us more information than the reps before her.    Read more

  • Sue WangNamibiaTraveler

    The luggage arrived

    November 19, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    After three whole days of waiting, a lot of phone calls to KLM in Amsterdam and three trips to WDH to look for the luggage in person, it finally arrived. Picked up the luggage and out on the way north at 12:00 pm. By the original plan we should make our first stop at Waterburg Plateau National Park, a highland park where some endangered animals, like black rhinos, were put up there to protect them from poaching. However, we had to skip it altogether.Read more

  • Sue WangNamibiaTraveler

    On the way north

    November 19, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C

    On the way to Etosha but don’t know if we could get there before sunset. The park and all campsites/hotels closed the doors at sunset and reopen at sunrise so nobody would be allowed to wondering in the park after dark.

    Highway B1 was a divided highway, almost new. Workers were painting the side road line in yellow in some sections. About 50 kilometers out of Windhoek it became the original two way traffic and remained this way. Still, almost no traffic.

    The roads in Namibia are classified as B road, tarred roads, mostly are two way traffic; C road, gravel roads, quite wide, some in good condition but some corrugated. D road, can be in any kind condition, some are natural terrain, like rocky or sandy, without any maintenance. Some are gravel roads, narrow or wide, most of them corrugated.    Read more

  • Sue WangNamibiaTraveler

    On the way to Etosha

    November 19, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ☀️ 37 °C

    Passed Otjiwarongo and heading to Etosha East gate, which was the original plan by Finn, yet one day late. Finn pushed hard in driving. He didn’t want to lose more time on the road. Finally by 6:30 pm, after nearly six and a half hours of driving we got to East gate of Etosha National Park.Read more

  • Sue WangNamibiaTraveler

    The first early morning in Etosh, Part I

    November 20, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Animals supposed to be more active in the morning, so we got up by 5:30 as planned and heading out as soon as the door was open.

    We turned north. Finn’s plan was to see the waterholes in that are and come back to the camp for breakfast, then go further west. The morning was quiet, we didn’t see much at first, mostly giraffes, zebras, wildebeests, oryxes (Namibia’s national animal, Finn’s all time favorite because of their symmetric prints, yet he had it for dinner once), ostrich...Read more

  • Sue WangNamibiaTraveler

    The first early morning Etosha, Part II

    November 20, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    The Etosha’s pan looked like a big lake on the map but it’s actually a salt flat, which looked very dry and had a little vegetation grown on it. The northern part of Namibia is experiencing a drought since last year. The animals in Etosha are OK with a few natural and more man-made waterholes. It’s said that big numbers of wild animals died in Khaudum National Park that’s adjacent to Botswana.

    Continuing on to explore the east side of the park we saw animals here and there. The most memorable one was at a big man-made waterhole called Stinkywater where we saw so many animals gathering around it’s almost like in a Disney movie. Most were zebras, wildbeasts, kudu, oryx... some of them just stood there, doing nothing. A few antelopes were even sitting on the ground, very relaxed. Too bad my phone camera couldn’t catch it. But I took one zebra having its penis erect long. LOL. We sat there quite long time, at least a half hour, just to look at them, amazed. Finn took many pictures of a few zebras standing in a row aligned. Their stripes looked folding on each other.

    Satisfied with this morning hunt we rushed back to the camp to have breakfast, muesli and milk, packed our chairs and table and kept on going.    Read more

  • Sue WangNamibiaTraveler

    After Namutoni... the afternoon hunt

    November 20, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    After a quick breakfast, we packed up heading out the southern line of the park. I paid N$50 for a a WiFi password last night, however, stupidly threw out the little slip, thinking my phone remembered it. But it didn’t. I couldn’t get on. Fortunately the office found me a slip left by a client I got to load my emails before leaving Namutoni. This was the last time to connect to the outside world till we got to Twyfelfortein on the 25th.

    To catch up the time lost we would not spend the night at Halali (we were supposed to be there last night). Instead, we planned to pass there for a cold drink then go to Okaokuejo for the night where Finn had made the reservation for tonight.

    We saw a lion napping under a tree. A team of cars, which had Volkswagen Driving Experience printed on the car, was there first. Finn said the cars were shipped here from Germany for the “driving experience”. Quite a luxury to do it. I wonder if I may find the similar promotional trip with Porsche. LOL

    Also saw a large group of elephants. Quite a sight. The younger ones were really cute.    Read more

  • Sue WangNamibiaTraveler

    Kalkheuwel, Etosha

    November 20, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C

    This group of photos covered a bigger area than just Kalkheuwel, most likely the first picture with four giraffes was the only one taken at this location, the rest were not. I decided to leave the rest here because that was how I put them together on the day. I may move them after figuring out where each picture is supposed to be chronologically.Read more

  • Sue WangNamibiaTraveler

    Which waterhole is this one?

    November 20, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ⛅ 35 °C

    We have seen quite many interesting scenes at this waterhole. First we spotted a Rhino, very excited. I thought it was rare to see a rhino, later proven the rhinos were not so rare.

    We also saw a cougar. Too far to capture it on camera. After a very short glimpse it hid behind a tree trunk for shade. We waited but it didn’t come out.

    Then the elephant family we passed on the road appeared. The cougar was forced out from its hiding site as soon as the elephants reached the edge of the water. It made a few side steps but found no place for it to stay longer then it ran into bushes disappeared.

    While most elephants enjoyed the water, made mud bath (a young one simply lied in the water, a baby also had its whole body in the water) one large elephant had a stand off with the rhino. It confronted rhino and made it stay away from the group until the family had the fun and were ready to move on.

    Found the name! Rietfontein. It’s right next to the main road but quite far away from the parking site. It looked like a natural waterhole from the Google Earth. I almost wanted to go back there the second day.    Read more

  • Sue WangNamibiaTraveler

    Saw lionesses at a waterhole, Okaukuejo

    November 20, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    Continuing the afternoon before getting to the campsite, Okoukuejo, we saw a group of lionesses lying around a waterhole, one even had a collar. A lot of antelopes ran in the sunset, quite a sight. Unfortunately my camera couldn’t catch one tenth of what it was.

    We got to Okoukuejo right before the door was closed. The direction to the campsite 46 on the map simply gave us no help at all. We asked a guy and he offered to take us there by riding with us. I was squeezed out of my seat and sat on the plastic box in the middle. The car turned and turned finally we found it. Finn asked for a quiet spot far away from the big travel group, “yes, yes...” but our right hand neighbor was a big group of Aussies. Finn later talked with a guy and learned their trip was from Cape Town all the way to Victoria Water Fall, for two weeks long. Their vehicle was like a school bus, no air conditioning. It’s tough to sit in a bus whole day, especially when the temperature could be as high as 96F. Three locals, two guy and one lady, were driver as well as cooks and all other roles. They all lived in tents. Everyone pitched in, doing dishes after dinner. Next morning, three guides got up early in the morning to cook breakfast. The campsite had quite a few large groups like our neighbor, each had about a dozen people.

    We had the leftover of jambalaya, boiled potatoes, blanched broccoli/cauliflower/carrots for dinner. The tri-veggie became our staple dish and I cooked them every evening the same way till they were all gone, maybe seven days later.

    We went to the waterhole and saw a lone elephant. It slowly disappeared into the darkness after drinking.

    The water was cold. I had a quick shower and spent quite some time doing my laundry. It’s a long day, but seen a lot. As Finn said “you are spoiled.” In Chinese we would say “人品大爆发” lol.    Read more

  • Sue WangNamibiaTraveler

    Seen a black Rhino

    November 21, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    We got up early again and soon found this rhino. Felt so lucky. It’s quite close to the road side, Finn had eyes of a hawk. He could always spot something quickly. He said what he did was to catch something didn’t look like the surroundings. It’s easy say than do.

    I believe it’s a black rhino but couldn’t tell if not see the shape of the mouth. To tell apart a white from a black was not by the color of the skin, maybe possible if they stand side by side. Black rhino’s gray is more purely gray while the white rhino’s gray has some tint of yellowish to it. The biggest difference is the black has smaller mouth whereas the white has a square mouth.

    A jackal... animals came to the water in line. If you looked at them each really didn’t spend much time to drink. Just around ten minutes, then left.    Read more

  • Sue WangNamibiaTraveler

    I drove today! Elephants stand off

    November 21, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ⛅ 36 °C

    I drove today! Somewhere in the park Finn wanted to get out of the car and took a picture. I offered to make a switch and I took the wheel.

    The fist time I drove a stick shift was in 1990. I bought a Subaru from a Korean classmate, I can still remember his look, for $1850. Three days later I drove it from Mississippi to New York, without a license plate. The shift was very smooth and easy to maneuver. I surprised myself how quickly I learned to use it. The car was junked in 1994/5, after the timing belt was broken.

    This car had a long stick shift, like a truck. For quite some time I couldn’t identify each gear clearly, especially the fourth and the reverse. I also needed to step down the clutch pretty hard to get it all the way down. Anyway, I got it moving. Finn was very picky on my each single move, which made me more nervous. But when he was not talking and I could drive freely I even felt the pleasure of driving this kind “rugged” car. It was fun to have the car “jump” up and down on the poor gravel roads, the pleasure made me understand why some people intentionally look for such experience. But soon enough Finn started to pick on me and the fun disappeared. Anyway, I drove to the camp safe and sound.

    The bird nest as seen in the picture is quite common in the park. But this one is really cute. It has the shape of a bird.

    A lot of pictures were taken at the same scene. The elephants gathered at a waterhole and then three of them at the right hand side had a stand off. One elephant determined to not let two get into the water. A timid one backed off a few meters but the tough one insisted on standing next to the water edge and even dipped its nose into water once or twice. So both were standing next to each other, shoulder by shoulder, didn’t want to give up. We sat there and watched for about a half hour and wanted to know how this would end, but eventually had to move one. There was a rhino, too, but my phone could not get it well in such a long distance.    Read more

  • Sue WangNamibiaTraveler

    Camp site, Olifantsrus

    November 21, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ⛅ 35 °C

    This campsite was quite new, I believe only opened to business after the west side of the park open to general public. Two years ago when Finn was here by himself individuals were not allowed to travel to the west side by themselves. They had to join tour groups and be guided by park rangers. That’s why the Etosha National Park map we got only covered a half of the whole park. It was the first time for Finn to come here, too.

    The campsite was built on sand. It’s red sand all over. It had electric fence around, but Finn doubt if it’s strong enough to fend off animals like lions.    Read more

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