Namibia - 10 day tour - Etosha

Springbok having a poo
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(Please note: this entry has been compiled under the influence of 22 different wine tastings, ranging from champagne, to Chardonnay, Merlot and Shiraz).

Our 10-day tour of Namibia started with a drive north to Etosha National Park via Okahandja and Tsumeb. Following our experiences on the meat wagon in Tanzania, Becs and I were not sure what to expect from Wild Dog Safaris; would it be another 28 lambs to the slaughter or a smaller; more tailored tour as was promised on the brochure. Much to our delight the group size was only 9 and the mode of transport was more like a mobile aquarium with windows over 10ft high, enabling the “fish” to gawp freely and easily.

The march of the elephants

Rhinos
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Straight away Andy took up a seat right at the front, where he spread out; gleefully ripping the packaging from his brand new Lumix digital camera and savagely tearing the cellophane from his matching North Face t-shirt, zip-off trousers and wide brimmed hat (with detachable corks for the Australian collection). As more seasoned travellers, Becs and I occupied seats at the back where we chewed gum and smoked cigarettes.

The group ranged from couples in their mid/late twenties to soloists in their mid forties and early sixties, all with differing levels of expectations but with the same level of excitement. The first stop was Okahandja, which is mainly a small town with craft markets at either end and it wasn’t long before Becs had bought 2 wooden bowls and Andy had bartered cash and a t-shirt in exchange for a wooden animal totem and a drum. With everybody buoyed by their purchases, we moved onto our first camp for the night, which was set in the grounds of a rehabilitation centre for wild cats.

Looks like meat's back on the menu boys
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It was a great little unfenced camp with superb views over the hills from the open air piping hot showers. The centre (‘Africats’) takes in cats from all over Namibia who have been injured, orphaned or generally become a nuisance to the farmers and rehabilitates them. We sat in a hide and watched a leopard feed at less than 5 metres as well as throwing meat to cheetahs from an open safari truck and watch the king of the jungle chow down. More scary were the cheetahs as we were in a completely open safari vehicle wen we went to see them. The owner spent some time throwing chops to the disappointingly scrawny looking beasts but some of them came and patrolled the vehicle, clearly thinking that we looked more inviting than Shoprite’s finest cuts! One of them seemed to be eyeing me up in particular and, like the true gent that I am, promptly asked Becs and Andy if they’d like to take my seat for a better view!

Shower with a view
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In the evening we sat around the campfire and exchanged stories and drank wine. Long after we had all gone to bed, Andy continued to exchange stories with himself and the remaining 2 litres of wine as he waited for some cats to join him at the view point.

Next day, we headed into Etosha National Park via a quick visit to Lake Otjikoto (nr Tsumeb) which is one of only two natural lakes in Namibia . . . and that’s about as exciting as it gets. Our first camp in Etosha was Namutoni and is probably the best kept of the camps in Etosha with a landmark whitewashed German fort. Following our training on previous overland tours, Becs and I put up our tent in record time whilst Andy took a little longer laying out his shrine to Southern Africa; including clever illumination of his newly purchased carvings. Our early evening game drive produced a few highlights, including a grazing bull elephant display its annoyance with an inconsiderate/foolish tourist who leapt up from their seat out of the pop up roof to take a closer look.

Midnight at the oasis
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Whilst Etosha National Park is not as wild as the Serengeti (tarmac roads) it does have an allure with its vast salt pans and numerous watering holes which host a menagerie of wildlife. The following morning from the aquarium, we sat rooted to the spot as we watched no less than nine different species interact around the watering hole; their communications all seemingly played out in slow motion.

After a full day’s game drive we set up camp at Okaukuejo and grabbed our ringside seats at Etosha’s celebrated floodlit watering hole. Once Andy had told some kids to shut up chatting about power rangers we settled down with a glass of red to await the evenings entertainment. Now there is an argument that once you have been on safari any future safaris will not have the same impact so Becs and I were not sure if we would be as overwhelmed as we were in Tanzania.   After about 20mins watching and getting slowly inebriated Becs noticed a shape looming up in the distance, due to the gloominess it was difficult to make out the exact animal and the orangey/white light from the floodlights left a hazy afterglow. As the shape lumbered forward it became clear that it was two large elephants making their way to the watering hole. Pretty soon 6 more elephants followed, including an infant, once the adult elephants had confirmed that the coast was clear. It was humbling to watch these ancient beasts drink and bathe without the normal interruptions of daylight safaris and then drift off like ships in the night.

The Etosha salt pan
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As the night wore on white rhinos ventured to the hole, but never in close proximity to the elephants and we even saw a lioness stalking a springbok. Later on a couple of elephants returned and the atmosphere was breathtaking as you could here the slurp and gargle of the water as it drained through their trunk. Becs, who stayed up later than any of us, even witnessed two bulls fighting. We had already nominated a tour highlight and we still had 7 days to go.

Becs writes – watching the animals at the hole was like being privy to some sort of animal party. They seemed completely unconcerned and unaware that we were there and carried on their business as normal. People think I had stayed up later than them voluntarily but I was actually frozen to the bench as it was pretty cold so had no choice but to stay! Still, being there so long meant that I got a real insight into animal habits. The animals have a strict sense of hierarchy and even etiquette. Whilst one bull elephant would be taking his fill and seemingly chilling out at the watering hole, another one would normally be approaching in the distance. Without fail, the approaching elephant would wait silently until the previous elephant had lumbered off, before approaching the water himself. It was a bit like watching the planes queueing to land at Heathrow.