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Namibia

November - December 2019
A 17-day adventure by Sue Read more
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  • TravelerNamibia
    Day 6

    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

  • TravelerNamibia
    Day 6

    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

  • TravelerNamibia
    Day 7

    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

  • TravelerNamibia
    Day 7

    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

  • TravelerNamibia
    Day 7

    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

  • TravelerNamibia
    Day 8

    The last half day in Etosha I

    November 22, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    This young curious giraffe forgot the drink and has been staring at the car without moving for as long as we were there. A bigger one came over and showed intimacy by rubbing its neck, but this one just kept staring. So cute! I love giraffes and think they are the most beautiful animals.Read more

  • TravelerNamibia
    Day 8

    The last half day in Etosha, II

    November 22, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    An antelope on the road. We came behind it and found it was running on the road. We slowed down it slowed down. We then speed up so did it. We played this game with it for a few minutes. An interesting little creature. They normally stay off the road but this one felt it had the right to use the road, too.Read more

  • TravelerNamibia
    Day 8

    The last half day in Etosha, III

    November 22, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    Elephants, elephants, elephants.

    A mother and a baby drank and bathed in a invisible waterhole from the street level, then a group of four elephants appeared and chased them away. These four enjoyed a sand bath after dipped in the water. The biggest one threw herself oRead more

  • TravelerNamibia
    Day 8

    Opuwo

    November 22, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C

    The first real African town. A lot of Himba women with bare breasts walking around. Streets are crowded with people, and small stores. I was overwhelmed by how busy it was. Women stood the side of the car and asked me to buy their jewelries while Finn filled up the gas.

    We stayed the campsite of Opuwo County Hotel. The road up to here including the road inside the hotel property was so bad you can’t believe it they were for the best hotel in town which had a swimming pool and beautiful restaurant. The world of inside and outside is totally different. The campsite is pretty good, with decent ablution.

    The name of Opuwo was hard to pronounce.

    We checked in and got to the campsite #2, then discussed what to do tomorrow. Finn pulled out his Namibia 4x4 map (he got it for the trip which tells the roads that requires to have a 4x4 car, the distance and how long it will take to drive) and told me his plan. First he wanted to visit a Himba village, then drive to a 4x4 road to Van Zyl. From Van Zyl, go down to Sesfontein if time allowed. The problem we had at the moment was we didn’t know where to find a Himba village. The lodge provided a guided tour to Himba Living Museum but the girl at reception won’t tell us whereabouts of it (or she might not know) and the town didn’t have a tourist information office. Finn got frustrated. I suddenly remembered the little round house next to our campsite, people lived were locals. They might know. So I jumped up and “knocked” on the door. Sure enough the guy was the tour guide of the Himba Living Museum. He told Finn that how to get to the Himba village and mentioned someone who drove on the 4x4 road had a flat tire. But he said your car, the Toyota Land Cruisers, had no problem to handle the road. So, we got the information for everything we needed to know. Finn was lightened up again. We cooked quickly, and wanted to see the sunset from the poolside, which proven to be impossible time wise. The sun had already gone behind the hill before we started to have dinner. Finn grilled pork chops. I didn’t eat mine as I always have very light dinner. I saved mine for tomorrow lunch.

    After dinner we walked to the hotel for a drink. Finn had a glass of white wine which was not properly chilled. I had a bottle of beer. We sat at the outdoor couches, the next table were a group of Chinese but I could not figure out what was the dialect they used. A Da Ma, “big mom” which is not a complimentary word for women over 40 but before they aged to grandmas because a lot of them liberated themselves from the shy and self awareness young ladies to showy, loud, and careless women, wore traditional Chinese Gong Fu suit made out of satin, very shining. Finn thought it was pajama. No, it was not.

    It was pitch dark when we got back to the campsite. Some young people, Finn said they were from South Africa, stayed at the other sites were having a grill party. Two black guys who we later believed were the security of the lodge were sitting next to our campsite quietly and watching. The party finished around 11. I could sleep with some noise but Finn had to use ear plugs so he hates anyone who makes big sound, that includes me from time to time.    Read more

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