Day 47-50
8/19/09-8/22/09
We made our way into Namibia and I only have ten days left before the end of the tour. 🙁 Our first stop is Windhoek, pronounced with a V. Namibia was at one time a German colony and thus there is a lot of influence here. In the first couple days it’s the most modern I’ve seen thus far of Africa. New highrise buildings and good roads. It kind of feels weird to see civilization.
We spend the night and go out to eat at the most popular restaurant in Africa, Joe’s Beerhouse. Here they serve wild game of all sorts. I go for the skewer of mixed meats. Ostrich, Zebra, Oryx, Springbok, Kudu, and chicken. Wow, what an assortment. While all where wonderful my favorite is the Springbok.
Billdong, dried meat, is very common in Namibia. If you are a lover of beef jerky as I am then this is the place to be as I’ve found jerky of the different game meats and have been chewing my jaw sore.
We are now in Etosha National Park. While it looks similar to Serengeti with flat grassy plains it is quite different. We’ve spent one day game driving and seen very little. It’s interesting after having seen thousands of zebra, giraffe, and gazelles while they where once interesting they are now sort of boring..
It’s dry season here and very arid. All the animals are in the hunt for water. Thus the best part about Etosha is the watering holes. There are several watering holes in the park and game viewing is best sitting in one place. There is a spring feed watering hole at our campsite. The watering hole is around 50 ft in diameter sitting in a small depression of rocky terrain. 50 yards uphill from the shoreline there is a fence arching around a quarter of the hole with a waist high stone wall behind it and raised seating section where we can sit in safety separated from any animals yet with a clear view. During the day we see Springbok, Oryx, Kudu, Zebra, Jackals, and numerous other animals here. At sunset the place comes alive with larger animals and continues on through the night.
Grab a drink, pull up a chair, sit back relax, and patiently wait for all the action. It’s dusk and as we see a dazzle of zebra leave the hole rhinos are in the distance approaching slowly. One heads for the water the other comes around the hole towards us and up to the fence. Looking straight at us it snorts unhappily kicking up a bunch of dust in a cloud around it’s body. Good thing there’s a fence here. I wonder if he’d have charged if there weren’t? As the rhinos wade into the water a herd of giraffe can be seen in the distance. They are super cautious as they approach. One leads the way as a half dozen stay in the distance. The lead giraffe takes 30 or more minutes to approach the shoreline pausing for long periods to scan the surrounding terrain. Once it reaches the shore the others begin there slow but faster pace forward. As they get closer the lead finally spreads its front legs so it can stoop its long neck to get a drink. It’s very apparent they know while drinking in a stooped position they are at their most vulnerable to attack. For a half hour two or more are always alert sentries while the others drink rotating which is watching and whose quenching their thirst. They are lanky and tall, serene and pretty, yet clumsy while elegant in their movements.
A Jackal approaches the fence and he’s small enough to fit through, next thing you know he’s jumped on the stone wall an arm length away from where we’re sitting. Cheeky little bugger looks at us as if begging in such a cute manner and then disappears just as fast.
As the giraffes leave it’s as if there is a numbering system of animals in que to approach from the darkness. Elephants, then more rhinos, and giraffe, followed by more elephants come to tame their thirst from the days heat as the temperature drops to a fridged level over several hours of sitting in awe at the site of the wondrous creatures. I head to bed late delighted with the events wishing there had been a lion or some other hunter in the darkness lurking to attack before my eyes.
After leaving Etosha we head for Sptizkoppe, a rock formation for the night. It reminds me of the topography surrounding Colorado Springs. A few hours hiking for much needed exercise which we don’t seem to get much of feels great. This is our last night of bush camping in the wild and I only have a week left for this leg of my journey. I find it hard to believe I’ve been gone almost three months now and the amount I’ve seen and done is staggering. I soak up the campfire and watch the coals burn into the night knowing I won’t be doing this again for sometime. The crescent moon catches my eye as it’s in a horizontal position which I’ve never seen before. I wonder is this a southern hemisphere thing as it’s always vertical back home.
Most of us skip the tent tonight as there are no mosquitoes and malaria is nada here. Sleeping bag on the ground I lay staring into a star filled sky so intense from the lack of light the only time I’ve seen more is while offshore. A peace filled sleep creeps over for a wonderful nights rest.
