Namutomi, Etosha National Park, Namibia

Crossed into Namibia from Botswana, committing our first rookie mistake for today. Border crossing seemed easy, but we somehow managed to be just short on the road tax fee required for driving in Namibia. We had to cross back into Botswana to the nearest town, find an open ATM, then drive back to the border, exit Botswana again and enter Namibia. An hour wasted, but because there was a time change it’s like it never even happened at all.
Namibia’s pristine, flat, smooth, paved roads were a great relief and pleasure to drive on after having to concentrate so carefully on not hitting potholes and crashing or over-turning our truck while in Botswana. We actually made it to Etosha National Park right on schedule (per the GPS) and enjoyed a very interesting and scenic drive. Because it was Sunday, we saw village after village - all dressed in their Sunday best - walking along the roads on their way to worship. Some churches were simply under big trees with chairs gathered underneath (we saw many people carrying their own chairs to church), others were in large revival-style tents. We noticed various groups seemed to have theme colors as we saw brilliantly dressed people in purple, then green, then red, and so on.
Another thing we noticed was what appears to be a life-changing innovation. Many villages were equipped with a brightly colored plastic port-a-potty – solving an age-old problem and presumably greatly improving hygiene, convenience (we’re not sure if they’re leased and periodically cleaned/replaced or bought outright), and privacy for thousands. We haven’t seen this before but hope this has also arrived in places like Nepal and India where it could have a massive impact.

Namutomi camp in Etosha was very nicely kept – the cleanest abolution blocks we’ve encountered- with expansive lawns (in a desert, mind-you), and grounds. We had some good hyena, jackal, giraffe and zebra sightings, but no cats yet. Our second rookie mistake – we arrived a day early after feeling falsely rushed to get here! Fortunately, they had an empty campsite.Read more