Running with the Wild Dog - All Creatures Great and Small

Leaving the camp at the Himba village, near Kamanjab, we drove across to the spectacular Etosha National Park in Kunene Region for two days crammed full of game drives and watching animals big (animaximals) and small (animinimals) by watering holes. We stayed in Okaukuejo and Namutoni.
 Wherever we turned to watch, the scene before us looked as though Noah had just parked the ark and let all the animals out!  (As a random aside, I have just discovered that the word animinimals is in use by a techno band from Belgium).

This was my 13th safari in Africa after Lake Manyara, Ngorogoro Crater, Tarangire, Burigi parks in Tanzania, Hwange and Matopos parks in Zimbabwe, Naivasha, Nakuru, Maasai Mara, Baringo and Mount Kenya in Kenya and Murchison Falls in Uganda, so I wasn't really into striking off 'the big 5' of a ticklist. Instead I was keen to just 'be' in the midst of one of the most amazing creations of the natural world. And I have to confess that Etosha is easily one of the top National Parks in Africa for wildlife!

Here are some glimpses of the wonders of our creation, the rest you will find in the photo gallery in the previous posting or if you venture into the park yourself.

Zebra crossing

Two Oryx

The day of the jackal

Cat napping

The Lion King

They are not laughing

The amazing Etosha salt pan

Hartebeest

Giraffe taking a long drink

All too soon we left Etosha behind and headed south to Okonjima, home of the Africat Foundation, the largest cheetah and leopard rescue and release programme in the world.  We spent one night there and learned all about the work of the Africat Foundation and met some of the kitties.

Nature red in tooth and claw

Cool caracals

Bookends - members of the 'Adams' family

After dusk, I was able to catch up briefly with my friend Beth who leads volunteers at the PAWS project just down the path. Later my fellow adventure travellers and I enjoyed a wonderful braai and swapped tall travelling tales around the camp fire before turning in. 

Our band of happy travellers

The next morning we dismantled our camp for the last time and hit the road.

Soon we arrived back in Windhoek and, reluctant to say goodbye, we decided to enjoy a 'last supper' in style at Joe's Beer House among flaming schnapps and a variety of game platters (feeling a tad guilty after observing these beautiful creatures in the wild....) a great way to end a spectacular Namibian Adventure!

From left to right: Ian, John, Vikki, Me, Jonathan and Petr

The Eagle has landed

Hello! I left Johannesburg on a bright and chilly Saturday morning and landed in a slightly warmer Windhoek at 1pm. Wilberforce, one of the UNFPA drivers met me with a wide, friendly smile and drove me 40km into town. The scenery was amazing, rugged hills rising out of grassland interspersed with acacia trees. Driving along a seemingly endless road flanked by red earth and troops of baboons under a wide, bright blew sky made me feel at home in real Africa.

Soon we entered the city and still I felt a sense of space and calmness. Not much traffic on the roads. I checked into the Hotel Pension Uhland on Uhland Street in Klein Windhoek (small windy corner) for a couple of nights. It's a friendly family run place. After chilling out a bit, I decided to eat in and enjoyed home made pumpkin soup and hot rolls. My heater didn't work in my room so I borrowed a couple of extra blankets as the night temperature plummeted dramatically.

Sunday dawned bright and early and after a huge buffet breakfast I set out to explore the city centre. I wandered along Robert Mugabe Avenue up to the German Christus Church, quite a prominent landmark then turned into Fidel Castro Street and ambled down the hill past a street souvenir market where Himba women were setting out there wares and singing and clapping.

I strolled up and down Independence Avenue a few times orienting myself to where the shops, banks and post office were as well as a few interesting landmarks to remember to explore at a later date. By lunchtime I decided to stop at the Balalaika restaurant, near the Zoopark to enjoy freshly baked hot croissants, apple and celery juice followed by a nice, hot pot of tea underneath the spreading branches of a beautiful tree.

I gradually wended my way back to the guest house and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and evening, reading the last book in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series.  By then, some kind soul had managed to fix the heater in my room so I was toasty!