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Victoria Falls bis Windhoek
  • Denise Rankwiler

Victoria Falls bis Windhoek

Safari, Safari – you never know! Read more
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  • Trip start
    October 26, 2022
    Denise RankwilerVictoria Falls bis WindhoekTraveler
    Danke Lola, ich liebe dich auch 😬

    Let's go!

    October 26, 2022 in Switzerland ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    (Deutsch weiter unten)
    It's Thursday evening. I'm sitting at the gate in Zurich airport, waiting for my flight to Johannesburg. My really cool Tropicfeel backpack next to me, iPad on my lap and I'm working on the last tasks that absolutely need to be done before my vacations. I'm in a mess: Not ready to leave at all and on the edge physically as well as emotionally. My grandmother died last month and I took it much harder than I expected. My head knows it was only right she could leave – after all she was 91 and sick. But still, my heart is in pieces. The gap she leaves in the family is enormous.
    I haven't realized until much later how much I needed this vacation. My cat Lola knew though and as a goodbye gift for me, she carried a living slow-worm up the three meters high cat ladder. Thank you Lola, I love you too 😬
    ___
    Es ist Donnerstagabend. Ich sitze am Flughafen in Zürich und warte am Gate auf meinen Flug nach Johannesburg. Mein mega cooler Tropicfeel-Rucksack ist neben mir, mein iPad auf meinem Schoss und ich kümmere mich noch um die letzten Arbeiten, die ich vor meinen Ferien unbedingt noch erledigen muss.
    Ich bin voll im Schuss: Noch gar nicht ready zum Abschalten und physisch und psychisch ziemlich am Anschlag. Meine Grossmutter ist letzten Monat gestorben, was mich viel mehr mitgenommen hat, als ich erwartet hätte. Mein Kopf weiss, dass es das einzige Richtige war – immerhin war sie 91 und krank. Trotzdem liegt mein Herz in Scherben, denn das Loch, das «Grossmami» in der Familie hinterlässt, ist gewaltig. Umso mehr freue ich mich auf meine vierwöchige Auszeit im südlichen Afrika. Wie sehr ich diese Auszeit nötig hatte, habe ich erst im Nachhinein realisiert. Meine Katze Lola hat das aber gespürt und brachte mir als Abschiedsgeschenk noch eine lebendige Blindschleiche über die drei Meter hohe Katzentreppe. Danke Lola, ich liebe dich auch 😬    Read more

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  • Denise RankwilerVictoria Falls bis WindhoekTraveler

    Finally there!

    October 28, 2022 in Zambia ⋅ 🌩️ 33 °C

    (Deutsch weiter unten)
    Finally – I land at Livingstone airport in Zambia. Already the landing approach over the Okavango Delta – stunning! So breathtaking that I completely forgot that I usually get sick during landing 🤩 Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo because of before mentioned exhaustion 🤯 My punishment follows a few moments later: I'm in Livingstone, but my check-in luggage still in Johannesburg. Fortunately, I have practically everything I need in my hand luggage.
    Tour guide Mannex picks me up at the airport – even more punctual than a Swiss watch! He knows I've had some difficult months and surprises me with a t-shirt: «Africa is not for Sissies» 😎
    ___
    Endlich – ich lande am Flughafen Livingstone in Zambia. Alleine schon der Anflug über das Okavango-Delta – atemberaubend! So atemberaubend, dass ich ganz vergesse, dass mir bei Landeanflügen eigentlich schlecht wird! 🤩
    Leider wegen bereits erwähnter Erschöpfung vergessen, ein Foto zu machen 🤯
    Und die Strafe folgt so gleich: Ich bin in Livingstone, mein Koffer immer noch in Johannesburg. Das Glück im unglücklichen Unglück – ich hatte eigentlich alle meine Sachen im Handgepäck.
    Tourguide Mannex holt mich am Flughafen ab, pünktlicher als die Uhr am Bahnhof. Er weiss, dass die letzten Monate nicht so einfach für mich waren und überrascht mich mit einem T-Shirt: «Africa is not for Sissies» 😎    Read more

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  • Denise RankwilerVictoria Falls bis WindhoekTraveler
    Die vielen Regenbögen sind am frühen Morgen am schönsten.
    In Afrika ist einfach alles ein bisschen grösser 😅Der Rheinfall ist ein braves Bächlein gegen die Vicfalls…Selfie mit Regenbogen links und Devil's Pool rechts.Im Sommer leitet Zambia das Wasser in ihrem Teil der Falls um.Siehst du den Bushbuck? :-)

    Victoria Falls

    October 30, 2022 in Zimbabwe ⋅ 🌩️ 33 °C

    (Deutsch weiter unten)
    I booked a group trip, but chose to land a few days earlier in Livingstone, so I have time to visit the Zimbabwe side of the Victoria Falls. My trusted travel agent Maya advised me to not go alone if possible. Tour guide Mannex is pulling up every excuse he can find to not having to come. He knows that the entry fee is expensive, and he doesn't want me to spend so much money on him. As I find out that he has never been inside the Victoria Falls park, I'm not holding back anymore. I tell him that as a tour guide, he should have seen the things he recommends to his guests himself. That helped – nobody questions his pride for his profession!
    We spend a beautiful morning at the Falls and Mannex is thankful that I insisted on him coming along. The residents actually call the Victoria Falls «Mosi-oa-Tunya» which translates into «roaring smoke». Indeed, the «smoke» is one of my favourite details: This fog creates a small rainforest area, where it's actually really raining constantly. And this cool rain is sooooo nice when it's more than 30 °C «outside». Plus, it's responsible for many beautiful rainbows. My recommendation: Visit the Falls on the Zimbabwe side and early in the morning – that's when the rainbows are the most beautiful.
    ___
    Eigentlich habe ich eine Gruppenreise gebucht, bin aber schon ein paar Tage früher in Livingstone gelandet. Weil ich deswegen schön Zeit habe, will ich mir heute die Victoria Falls von Simbabwe aus anschauen. Meine Reiseberaterin des Vertrauens, Maya, hat mir geraten, das wenn möglich nicht alleine zu machen. Tourguide Mannex sucht jedoch alle Ausreden, um nicht mitkommen zu müssen. Er weiss, dass der Eintritt teuer ist und will nicht, dass ich so viel Geld für ihn ausgebe. Als ich jedoch herausfinde, dass er noch gar nie im Victoria Falls Park war, gibt es kein Zurück mehr. Ich argumentiere, dass es doch mit Berufsstolz zu tun habe, die Orte, die man den Gästen empfiehlt, auch selbst zu kennen. Da schlägt dann doch tatsächlich sein Berufsstolz zu.
    Wir verbringen einen wunderschönen Vormittag bei den Victoria Falls und Mannex ist nun doch sehr dankbar, dass ich ihn überredet habe, mitzukommen.
    Die Victoria Falls nennen die Einheimischen übrigens «Mosi-oa-Tunya», was so viel wie «donnernder Rauch» heisst. Tatsächlich sieht der Sprühnebel von Weitem wie Rauch aus. Mein liebstes Detail: Durch diesen Sprühnebel entsteht bei den Fällen ein kleiner Regenwald, in dem es tatsächlich regnet, obwohl eigentlich die Sonne strahlt. Dieser kühle Regen im Regenwald tut einfach so gut, wenn es «draussen» eigentlich weit über 30 °C hat. Plus ist er verantwortlich für dutzende wunderschöne Regenbögen. Mein Tipp: Die Victoria Fälle unbedingt von der Simbabwe-Seite aus anschauen und am frühen Morgen gehen – dann sind nämlich die Regenbögen am schönsten.    Read more

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  • Denise RankwilerVictoria Falls bis WindhoekTraveler

    From Zambia to Zimbabwe to Namibia

    October 31, 2022 in Botswana ⋅ 🌩️ 32 °C

    (Deutsch weiter unten)
    In the meantime, the group has arrived and the safari starts. We drive from Livingstone to Kazungula where we cross the border to Botswana. It's an experience of its own. We visit three different counters to get our clearance for entering Botswana. For our Toyota Landcruiser it's even more difficult though – or for Mannex since the car doesn't take care of its own business. So Mannex goes from counter to counter, up the stairs, come down again, leaves the building, walks behind it, comes back, goes from counter to counter again… and so on.
    In the meanwhile, we are sitting in the car, watching the «show» a bit worried. But since Mannex smiles at us each time he passes the car again, we decide to take it in good humor. We are almost laughing tears each time we discover another parallel to Asterix and Obelix chasing after «passing permit A38».
    After our car is finally clear to enter Botswana and as we make our way towards Ngoma, we encounter an African roadblock shortly afterward: A herd of elephants is crossing the road. Fascinating!
    A bit later we reach Ngoma and cross the border to Namibia which was a very fast process and soon Mannex announced «Welcome to Namibia!».
    Soon we arrive at Caprivi Houseboat Lodge where the two additional guides, Oscar and James, as well as our first lunch of this safari trip await us: Spaghetti Bolognese 👍
    I marvel at strawberries, mangos and papayas, and we sit quietly at the Zambezi River, letting our eyes wander yearningly across the water.
    We don't have much time though – we still have to reach our camp by daylight to build up our tents for the first time.

    ___
    Die Gruppe ist mittlerweile angekommen und die Safari beginnt. Wir fahren von Livingstone nach Kazungula und überqueren dort die Grenze zu Botswana. Das ist ein Erlebnis für sich. Wir stehen an drei verschiedenen Schaltern an, bis wir endlich «gecleart» sind, um nach Botswana einzureisen. Für unseren Toyota Landcruiser ist das aber noch viel komplizierter. Also für Mannex. Mannex geht geduldig von Schalter zu Schalter und wieder zurück, in den oberen Stock, nach draussen, geht ums Haus, kommt zurück, geht wieder von Schalter zu Schalter, und so weiter.
    Wir sitzen derweil im Auto und sind etwas besorgt. Gibt es ein Problem? Mannex winkt uns jedoch jedes Mal fröhlich zu, wenn er wieder mal an uns vorbeiläuft. Darum nehmen wir's mit Humor und lachen fast Tränen, wenn wir wieder eine Parallele entdecken zu Obelix und Asterix auf der Jagd nach dem Passierschein A38.
    Schliesslich ist auch unser Fahrzeug «clear» und wir fahren Richtung Ngoma als wir plötzlich auf einen African Roadblock stossen: Eine Herde Elefanten überquert die Strasse. Einfach nur eindrücklich.
    Etwas später kommen wir in Ngoma an und überqueren die Grenze zu Namibia. Das ging ruckzuck und schon hiess es «Welcome to Namibia!».
    Schon bald kommen wir bei der Caprivi Houseboat Lodge an, wo uns die zwei weiteren Guides Oscar und James sowie unser erstes Mittagessen dieser Reise erwarten: Spaghetti Bolognese 👍 Wir staunen über Erdbeeren, Mangos, Papayas und blicken sehnsüchtig über den Zambezi River.
    Wir haben jedoch nicht viel Zeit, denn wir müssen heute noch unser erstes Camp erreichen – und aufbauen natürlich.    Read more

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  • Denise RankwilerVictoria Falls bis WindhoekTraveler
    Die Büffel verschwinden im Gegenlicht und im Staub
    Coffee in the makingMannex erklärt auf Oscar's Rücken, wo wir gestern durchgefahren sind.Oscar nimmt's gelassen.My home is my castle ❤️Kori Bustard – der grösste flugfähige Vogel.Mehrere hundert Büffel kommen langsam auf uns zu.Von weitem sichten wir eine Löwin, die aber nichts mit uns zu tun haben will.Eine Gruppe Impalas mit ihren charakteristischen Füdlis.«Red-billied oxpeckers» heissen auf deutsch «Rotschnabel-Madenhacker» 😳Nilpferde töten jedes Jahr rund 500 Menschen. Damit sind sie das tödlichste Säugetier in Afrika.

    The first night in the tent

    November 1, 2022 in Namibia ⋅ 🌩️ 31 °C

    (Deutsch weiter unten)
    Yesterday we arrived at Rupara Rest Camp. It's a magical place near the Nkasa Rupara national park. I'm happy to be here and as I look out of my tent into a magnificent sunrise, I finally feel at peace, and I'm able to let the past be the past.
    Today is the last time I have to fulfil a business task: A few weeks ago I was happy to become a member of the publishing.club project team, and today I'm going to moderate my first online event. Before travelling, I asked the guides if it might be possible and they saw no problem. There is reception as well as Wi-Fi and I can buy 4G credit in Katima Mulilo. So far, so good. Buying 4G credit hasn't worked, though, and Wi-Fi is the reception – 15 minutes by 4x4 away from the camp. But since lunch is at 12 and the meeting starts only an hour later, that should be doable.
    So early in the morning, we start on our first game-drive. It's incredible, and we forget about time. We are late, but we were almost able to at least make it back to the camp by 12.15 – but then, Oscar Eagleye spotted a herd of buffaloes walking towards us. We stop and wait very quietly, so the buffaloes won't be disturbed by us. Soon, several hundred buffaloes slowly cross the sandy tracks we just drove on. I get goosebumps. Fascinated, we look outside our windows and I get lucky enough to take my favorite shot of the whole trip: The herd of buffaloes wanders towards the sun, kicking up dust. The last few buffaloes that were not yet inside the cloud of dust stop and look back at us.
    Only after the last buffalo got swallowed by the dust, we look at the time. It's 12.45! James is desperately trying to keep our food warm and I give up my hope to make it to Wi-Fi by one. Oscar comments my bad consciousness with «Safari, safari, you never know!» and Mannex adds «Hakuna Matata!».
    And I think back to the herd of buffaloes and calm myself down by knowing that we discussed a plan B at the publishing.club just for this case.
    ___
    Gestern sind wir im Rupara Rest Camp angekommen und haben zum ersten Mal unsere Zelte aufgeschlagen. Es ist ein magischer Ort beim Nkasa Rupara Nationalpark. Ich bin froh, hier zu sein und als ich am Morgen noch auf meinem Feldbett liege und den ersten Blick nach draussen über den Fluss haschen lasse, fühle ich mich endlich «angekommen» und kann die Vergangenheit Vergangenheit sein lassen.
    Heute habe ich aber noch ein letztes Mal etwas Geschäftliches zu erledigen: Ich habe eine neue Aufgabe beim publishing.club annehmen dürfen und heute moderiere ich das erste Onlinemeeting. Ich habe extra vor Reiseantritt abgeklärt, ob das geht. Die drei Guides haben kein Problem gesehen. Es gäbe hier Empfang und Wi-Fi und ich könne mir 4G-Guthaben in Katima Mulilo kaufen. Das mit dem Handy-Guthaben hat schon mal nicht geklappt und nach Wi-Fi sieht's hier beim besten Willen nicht aus. Auf Nachfrage erfahre ich, dass das Wi-Fi bei der Rezeption sei – etwa 15 Minuten Fahrt mit dem 4x4 von unserem Camp aus. Na gut. Der Termin ist erst um 12 Uhr, also hier in Namibia wäre das 13 Uhr. Sollte klappen.
    Erstmal geht's früh am Morgen auf den ersten Game-Drive. Wir saugen jede Minute in uns auf und vergessen die Zeit. Wir müssten um 12 Uhr zurück im Camp sein, wo James mit dem Mittagessen auf uns wartet. Fast hätten wir es auf 12.15 Uhr geschafft, als Oscar mit dem verdienten Übernamen «Eagle-Eye» am Horizont Büffel entdeckt, die in unsere Richtung wandern. Wir halten an und sind mucksmäuschenstill, damit die Büffel sich nicht an uns stören. Etwa 300 Büffel queren vor uns die Sandpiste. Fasziniert schauen wir aus unseren Fenstern und mir gelingt mein Lieblingsbild der ganzen Safari: Die Büffelherde wandert in Richtung Sonne, wirbelt Staub auf und die letzten paar Tiere, die noch nicht im Staub versunken sind, drehen sich um und schauen zu uns zurück.
    Erst als der Staub auch den letzten Büffel «geschluckt» hat, schauen wir auf die Uhr: 12.45 Uhr und wir sind immer noch 10 Minuten vom Camp entfernt. James tut sein Bestes, unser Essen nicht zu verkochen und ich schminke mir die Hoffnung ab, um 13 Uhr im Wi-Fi zu sein. Oscar kommentiert mein schlechtes Gewissen mit «Safari, Safari – you never know!». Mannex meint «Hakuna Matata!». Und ich denke an die Büffelherde zurück und beruhige mich damit, dass wir im publishing.club ja genau für diesen Fall einen Plan B abgemacht haben.    Read more

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  • Denise RankwilerVictoria Falls bis WindhoekTraveler

    Next stop: Mavunje Campsite

    November 2, 2022 in Namibia ⋅ 🌩️ 27 °C

    (Deutsch weiter unten)
    After two nights at the Rupara Rest Camp, we break down our camp today. I'm up a bit early. So after packing my backpack, field bed and bedroll, I make use of the time before everybody wakes up to write in my diary. Our guides decide to change a tire on our Landcruiser before leaving since it grew a bit of a «belly», which worries them. I take the opportunity to play around with the time-lapse function on my iPhone.
    Instead of going directly to our destination, we take time for a short game-drive in the Mudumu National Park, where some monkeys deliver some of the best comedy entertainment we've ever experienced.
    Just in time for lunch, we arrive in our next camp: Mavunje Campsite, owned by Dan from England. It's a simple and lovely camp, where elephants and hippos travel through at night. Unfortunately, that was not in the stars for us, but at least we see those animals again on our evening game-drive to another part of Mudumu. The hippos come ashore to eat when the sun goes down, and I'm fascinated by those giants shining like diamonds in the evening sun.
    Later, in my tent, I fall asleep to the playful hippo grunting and a lion growling far away.    Read more

  • Denise RankwilerVictoria Falls bis WindhoekTraveler

    Not a Happy Hippo Day

    November 3, 2022 in Botswana

    Today, our guides wore a suspicious smile when they announced a game drive with a surprise. In the group, we agreed that they are probably going to feed us to the lion we heard in the night. But we are all Swiss mountain people, and we have our pocket-knives on us. So our plan is to just walk back to the camp after being dropped off and give our partying guides the surprise of their lives.
    Little did we know how close that came to reality. And little did our guides know.
    Anyway – we spend a beautiful morning in the Bwabwata National Park, unsuccessfully looking out for giraffes. Instead, Mannex and Oscar introduce us to some medicine plants and since some in the group feel a bit sick, we decide to try some of the bush medicine. Our guides agree that that's a terrible idea since our stomachs are not used to «bush food» and it could actually make us even more sick. The only thing they let us try is inhaling burning elephant dung. Good luck, I'm feeling really healthy today and don't have to try it.
    However, the time comes and we are about to be dropped off. To make it worse, Oscar spies some giraffes in the distance that remain invisible to us while Mannex keeps hitting the gas pedal saying we were already late. Luckily, at the drop-off point there was Dan and a boat waiting for us, not a lion. So we take our seats on the boat, looking forward to a nice river cruise back to the camp. Mannex and Oscar don't join us, and I take a picture of them waving us goodbye on the shore while we are pulling away on a little side arm of the Kwando river. This is the last time for today that we smile back at them.
    Dan is in a doomsday mood and tells us how bad all these animals are that we come here to see: Buffaloes give diseases to cows, elephants destroy the crops, crocs eat people, and so on. Luckily, he brightens up a bit after a while and starts telling us some fascinating nature stories as we approach a group of hippos. «The difficult thing with hippos is to know where they are in the water, because you don't see all of them», Dan starts. «If you know what you do, though, handling hippos is easy. Just give them space and pass them slowly», are his last words before the biggest hippo starts running like a torpedo through the water towards us. Dan cries out the f-word and makes the boat go as fast as it can. And that's pretty much how the rest of the cruise goes. To me, it feels like a hit-and-run game with hippos as your enemies. Knowing that hippos are the deadliest mammals in Africa, the group is pretty scared, and I'm feeling a bit unwell, but quiet, since I don't lose hope in Dan wanting to make it home alive as well. Dan gets more nervous the closer the sun gets to the horizon. When the hippos come ashore, they also go into the little river arms searching for food – and that's exactly our way to go back. Otherwise, it's a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful sunset. When we finally arrived back at the camp, Dan left straight away without saying a word, and Mannex and Oscar looked a bit puzzled. Nevertheless, they immediately started showing us photos of their close encounter with a group of giraffes after they dropped us off, but soon realize that we were not faking our bad mood. At last, James rescues the evening with a delicious dinner, and we make Mannex and Oscar promise that they will never ever send us off anymore without them coming along.    Read more

  • Denise RankwilerVictoria Falls bis WindhoekTraveler

    iPhone photography through binoculars

    November 4, 2022 in Namibia ⋅ 🌩️ 28 °C

    Our next stop is the wonderful and creative Ngepi camp at the Zambezi River. We will spend three nights here. Today we enjoy a late afternoon game-drive in Bwabwata National Park – and finally see giraffes! Unfortunately, my 400 mm lens is in the check-in suitcase that is now supposed to be on the way to Windhoek and the giraffes are a bit too far away for my iPhone. I get so desperate that I try to hold my iPhone camera to one of the eyepieces of my binoculars – and it works! It's not the same as my beautiful Sigma lens on my fantastic Pentax camera, but it produces better results than digital camera zoom.
    Suddenly everyone in the car is trying to get better photos with their phones this way. Especially the guides seem to be flabbergasted. Out of all us amateurs I'm the most professional one – I shoot my iPhone photos in RAW format with the Lightroom camera 😎😆    Read more

  • Denise RankwilerVictoria Falls bis WindhoekTraveler

    Lazy afternoon at Ngepi

    November 5, 2022 in Namibia ⋅ 🌩️ 30 °C

    This morning we are headed again to Bwabwata National Park – this time to the other side of the river though. Last night we heard lions roaring there, so maybe we get lucky and see them today. And we did! After this big success, Mannex and Oscar change seats. Normally, Mannex drives and Oscar spots the animals. We are amazed at Oscar's eagle eyes anyway, but even more since Mannex more or less spotted nothing all the way back to the camp. He enjoys playing the role of a tourist though and made us ponder if we are also that annoying?
    For lunch, we head back to the camp, where James awaits us with a meal. There we decide that we want to spend the afternoon in the wonderful Ngepi camp and leave out the afternoon game drive. Every one, including all three guides, grabs a drink from the bar and heads to the pool, which is basically a cage in the Zambezi River. Oscar teaches us his «Hippo Jump». Everyone is laughing tears nobody can see since nothing stays dry when Oscar does the Hippo Jump.    Read more

  • Denise RankwilerVictoria Falls bis WindhoekTraveler
    The «Toilet of Eden»
    The Unlimited Stars Shower ❤️Not the toilet of choice when you're in a hurry 🤣💩💩

    Bathroom day

    November 6, 2022 in Namibia ⋅ 🌩️ 29 °C

    While the group enjoys a tour through the nearby Himba village, I give in to my anti-social side and decide to marvel at what Ngepi Camp is world-known for (apart from being as close to paradise as anyone can imagine): About a dozen creative bathrooms.Read more

  • Denise RankwilerVictoria Falls bis WindhoekTraveler

    Love is in the air

    November 8, 2022 in Namibia ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Yesterday in Tsumed I finally got my lost bag back – meaning that I now finally am in possession of my 400 mm safari lens 😎 The rest of the bag mainly contained clothes from my grandmother who died in September. She was the tallest and biggest woman in our family, so none of us could wear any of her cloths. Because I knew how thankful people in Namibia are, we decided to donate as much as possible here. That is also why I was lucky enough to carry almost all of my stuff in the hand luggage.
    Anyway – today we enter the world-renowned Etosha National Park. It's a tourist hotspot, so it's not our favorite place, although we still enjoy every moment of it.
    We become witnesses to a very rare sight: A black rhino couple is mating, and the photo I take of it will later win a prize in the Swiss travel magazine Globetrotter 🥳
    Tonight we sleep in camp Halali which has a wonderful waterhole where I spot a highly endangered white rhino in the night. Unfortunately, I only have my iPhone on me and I just can't manage to get a good shot of it. So I decide to just enjoy the moments. A swarm of birds is performing an amazingly coordinated dance in the air and suddenly poking down to get a sip of water mid-flight.    Read more

  • Denise RankwilerVictoria Falls bis WindhoekTraveler

    Eagle Rock and Huab river

    November 13, 2022 in Namibia

    After a fantastic early morning hike on top of Eagle Rock to witness a fantastic sunrise, we leave for the Huab river, where we hope to find some wild elephants. But first we enjoy the dune landscapes one last time. While the others are climbing a dune, I discover some track in the sand. I'm guessing it's Oryx tracks since they look like they are coming from an antelope – and the Oryx is the one antelope feeling comfortable in the dunes and eating the highly toxic Euphorbia damarana.Read more

  • Denise RankwilerVictoria Falls bis WindhoekTraveler

    EHRA Elephant tracking in the Ugab River

    November 14, 2022 in Namibia

    We encounter a group of elephants guarding their sleeping friends. It's yet another interesting fact I learn about elephants: They do lay down to sleep, but there are always guard elephants awake and standing up. An elephant needs a bit of time to get up on its feet. Another thing I learn is that elephants have very bad eyesight. If you look closely, you will see that they actually seldom have their eyes open. And if they do, you will see a red eye. Of course, I have to try to capture this on photos… 📸Read more

  • Denise RankwilerVictoria Falls bis WindhoekTraveler

    Night on the rocks

    November 15, 2022 in Namibia

    Tonight is the last day of our tour 😭 We go to the beautiful Spitzkoppe and decide to not put up our tents anymore but to take our camping mattresses and bedrolls and spend the night on the rocks and under the stars.
    The Spitzkoppe is an amazing rock formation with a world-famous rock arch. We are lucky enough to get the campground right next to the arch. My personal highlight are the dozens of curious but shy rock dazzies that keep looking at us from afar. I try to make friends with them and manage to get pretty close, but I'm not successful in getting to pet one. The rock formation I find later make up for it – with a wide grin on my face, I take a picture of what looks to me like two rocks shouting at each other. It's also time now to distribute my grandmother's cloths among the guides, who will give them to people in need they know. Oscar picks an apron for his wife. Putting it on the says «If it fits me, it will fit her, too» and James happily keeping a pair of my granddad's jeans for himself. I'm so happy, knowing that these things go to people who really enjoy them.    Read more

  • Trip end
    November 20, 2022
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