Southern Africa: Week 2

Monday: We woke with anticipation of another big game drive in the Etosha National Park. The sun was just coming up as we ate breakfast and then headed out into the park; where we were greeted with another glorious day of bright blue skies and bright golden sunshine. Endless plains of yellow grass with scattered, Acacia trees providing some shade under the sun which soon would be blazing hot, merged seamlessly with extensive patches of bush and trees, a carpet of green and brown.

Once more we spotted loads of Africa’s classic mammal species, zebra, springbok, giraffe and numerous birds including hornbills, rollers and storks. The cameras kept clicking, capturing the moments, wildlife and scenes.
We pulled up to one waterhole to see it be invaded with hundreds of Black faced Impala.

As the morning grew late things became quiet as the wildlife sort shade from the heat, it was hard to stay alert. Suddenly by the side of the road we saw a herd of 10 African Elephants including young ones, we watched with delight as they ambled across the road ahead and then started munching on the vegetation on the opposite side.

Our safari continued along the edge of the Etosha salt pan, a white shimmering expanse at the heart of the park. Here we stopped at another waterhole and watched as a huge crowd of Springbok made their way down to the water, followed closely by half a dozen Wildebeest.

The sun’s heat was now intense and we headed for another of the parks campsites for a break and lunch. Just before pulling into the campsite we stopped at a large waterhole, and the scene left us speechless. Surrounding the water was a dense throng of zebra and springbok, with pockets of Red Hartebeest, Wildebeest, Giraffe and Impala. The herd covered the grassy plain surrounding deep blue waterhole, a few stood in the mud along the edges drinking the cool water but the pool itself was dominated by two massive bull Elephants tussling in the water. It was one of the most amazing scenes we have ever seen and felt like we had found the heart of Africa, alive with energy and passion.

Shortly three more elephants arrived, wandering round the edge of the pool heading closer to us, splashing about and sucking up the water. Amongst all the commotion of the elephants the other animals got on with their own lives, a zebra foal suckled from its mother, two male springbok locked horns in a brief clash, the rest quietly munched on the grass occasionally looking up cautiously at their surroundings.
It was an inspiring sight.

Soon it was time to make a move and we slowly made our way back through the throng, it was then that something caught our attention. The zebra and springbok had left a wide perimeter around an Acacia tree and there, sat beneath it in the shade’ was a young male Lion! We were blown away to have found another lion and in such an incredible setting.

We left the scene and continued down the road towards the camp site, but once again had to stop as three zebra crossed in front of us. Suddenly the zebra stopped looking intently ahead, following their gaze we saw three lionesses slumbering in the shade of some bushes! One sat up and gazed back at the zebra but none had any intention of moving in this heat. The zebra however were taking no chances and quickly trotted off in the opposite direction. We continued to watch the lions and closer inspection revealed a large, fully grown male lion sprawled out under another bush nearby!
Finally we left the lions and pulled into the camp with our tummy’s grumbling.

With a little spare time after lunch we headed for this camps waterhole, being the middle of the day it was pretty quiet but we did see a Black faced Impala, a very inquisitive tree squirrel and an array of brightly coloured birds.

The sun had started its descent in the western sky as we left the campsite and headed back into the park. We drove back down the road, briefly stopping at the group of lions that still slumbered in the same place we had left them a couple of hours before.

We continued down the dusty road, slowly scanning each side looking for more animals, suddenly Joel shouted “LEOPARD!” we all jumped out of our seats as the truck came to a halt and slowly reversed, looking out the windows straining for a glimpse of the leopard. Very soon it came into view and left us breathless, it was totally unexpected and yet there it was sitting upright under a bush, looking absolutely beautiful, powerful, wild and free.
We were extremely lucky to have seen one and were grateful for the height of the truck. Soon it yawned revealing a set of wonderful teeth, stretched and then padded off into the bush, it had to be the highlight of the day.

We now returned to the masses of springbok, zebra and other antelope around the waterhole, there were now 18 elephants ranging from two big bulls and females to a couple of small calves. They were all enjoying the water particularly the muddy parts, flicking and spraying mud over themselves and each other with their trunks and feet. It was another wonderful scene and we could have stayed forever but the sun was getting lower and we needed to get back to camp, so we left the elephants to their mud bath.

The light was beautiful, golden as we made our way across the park stopping a couple more times to watch Oryx before pulling into the camps gates. We made our way up the tower and watched the sun disappear in a blaze of colour behind the horizon. At the edge of camp we could see some giraffe and 4 elephants – had to be one of the best places we have been too and one of the best day’s wildlife watching we have ever experienced.

Once more we made our way to the camps waterhole, on arrival there was one elephant and a mother and calf Black Rhino at the waters edge. We were astounded when the calf then knelt down and suckled from its mother, touched by the intimacy of the moment. The elephant soon wondered off and another rhino arrived much to the displeasure of the mother rhino. Every time the adult got too close to the baby the mother would come over snorting and grunting, shooing him away. By the time we thought about leaving to go to bed there were 4 rhino at the pool with the inquisitive youngster creating problems for its mother. Each time the baby would go up to one of the other adults sniffing and nuzzling, but when they showed a little too much interest he would go running back to mum or squeal calling her to the rescue.

We are all sad to leave Etosha with its incredible wildlife but we have other places to go and things to see. So we left the rhino’s sniffing and snorting at each other and the jackals running through the campsite and made our way to bed ready to continue our trip through Southern Africa.

Tuesday: After a good night sleep, occasionally waking to hear the low rumblings of nearby elephants or the cackle and howl of jackals, we woke at 5.15am and prepared to leave Etosha. It was a struggle to get up after such a long, exhausting day yesterday, still we were soon up and watching the sunrise over the waterhole that had become one of our favourite places in Africa. We sat in the cool light of dawn watching various goings on as zebra came to and fro, jackals paced the waters edge and birds squabbled in the surrounding bush.

Returning to camp we had breakfast, packed and were soon ready to leave. The 17km back to the gate produced more giraffe, zebra, wildebeest and numerous birds including a Black Shouldered Kite.

Through the gates and we were once more driving though a flat and of scrub and small trees. The warmth of the sun, rocking motion of the truck and endless landscape lulled us into sleep as we continued our journey. A few hours later and a huge, flat topped mountain rose out of the plains and stretched along the horizon before us. We had reached the Waterberg Plateau, another oasis for wildlife in Namibia. The plateau loomed closer and closer as we drove down dead straight roads heading for it. In the shadow of its steep rocky walls we came to our camp, a green, lush oasis amongst the scrub and trees that covered the lower slopes of the plateau in a broad belt.

Under the Acacia trees we set up our camp and ate lunch with many little Banded Mongoose running amongst our tents! Afterwards we got our things together and set off for a walk up to the plateau. The sun was bright above, dappling through the trees as we headed for the path. However it took us over an hour to get out of the camp since there were new birds everywhere! Francolins, weavers, parakeets, shrikes, hornbills… it was paradise. Not to mention the numerous Ground Squirrels and Banded Mongoose basking in the sun, which were very obliging when it came to having their photos taken!

Finally we left the open campsite and picked up the trail, trees and bushes closed in around the sandy, rocky path that climbed steadily. Brightly coloured butterflies flitted around in front of us including a couple of African Monarchs. Suddenly we heard a rustling in the dense bushes next to the path, we stopped, holding our breath and slowly peered between the branches. There looking back we saw the delicate features of a Damara Dik-Dik a small antelope. Quietly we followed as it made its way down hill, pausing briefly before dashing across the path in front of us!

We continued up and soon came to the path at the very base of the sheer walls of the plateau that reared up in front of us, shadows played on the rock face, the deep orange of the rock vibrant in the bright sunlight. We started to climb, first over small rocks that gradually got bigger as the terrain got steeper. Suddenly we heard branches cracking, rustling, howling and chattering up ahead…Baboons! We froze, our hearts thudding in our ears, and watched as a troop of Chacma Baboons crossed the path in front. Slowly we walked forward, peaked round a corner and saw some of the Baboons sat on rocks and massive tree trunks. To be honest we were all a little scared knowing how dangerous baboons can be, we watched a big males stared back at us and little ones tumbled over each other. After a long pause the baboons moved noisily off and we continued up the slope. The boulders became massive as the path led up through a crack in the sheer walls; we scrambled up and soon came across a Hyrax sat on the path in front. The chunky rodent took no notice of us as we crept closer until we were less than a metre away!

On we climbed between towering walls of rock, we were getting closer to the top and all around us we could hear the scurrying feet of more Hyrax. Finally we came up out of the shadows of the gully and into the bright sunlight on top of the plateau. We scrambled up and sat on a huge boulder taking in the awesome panorama. Behind us the plateau top spread as far as the eye could see, undulating slabs and boulders of rock, a carpet of Acacia trees and a maze of dusty pathways between them, up here big mammals like Rhino can be found but we were right at the edge and not likely to come across one. The flat top then dropped abruptly to the plains below which stretched out in a sea of yellow. We sat watching as golden rays of light turned the rock bright orange and the trees vibrant green.

After a while we made our way back down, picking our way carefully amongst the rocks and tree roots. The whole area was now in shade as the afternoon drew into evening, ahead the suns rays still coated the grassy plains. Within 40 minutes we were back at camp, it had been a fabulous bird watching walk.

We spent the evening sitting round a roaring camp fire chatting with our fellow travellers.

Wednesday: It had been a cold night, we woke to the welcome sight of a roaring fire just outside the tent. We had another long drive ahead of us today, over 600km to the border of Namibia and Botswana.

Once more we drove through a flat land covered in densely packed Acacia trees, a few huge mounds of rock rose out of the plain, and for a while the massive Waterberg Plateau kept us company but that soon melted into the horizon as well. It was another clear, sunny day as we pulled into the capital of Namibia, Windhoek. A bustling town, we had two hours while new spare tyres we fitted to the truck. Here we also said goodbye to half our group, it was sad to say goodbye and it was strange with only 9 of us left.

Back on the truck and we continued our trip heading for Gobabis. After Windhoek the land turned much drier, we drove over a small area of higher ground, covered in dusty, yellow soil and a scattering of small, spindly bushes. Soon the ground flattened again and the Acacia trees returned, though this time they were more spread out and yellow, wavy grass filled in between.
Around Gobabis the yellow grass dominated and the few trees and bushes stood silhouetted against the deep blue sky, the shadows were getting longer and the grass shimmered in the golden afternoon light. Gobabis felt very rural and very African with not as much European influence here. Trucks and cars were piled high with bags, boxes and stuff or jam packed with people. There were many people sitting in the shade of trees with their crafts spread out before them for sale and many children running around or hanging onto the backs of trucks.

We continued through heading for Zelda’s Guest Farm a further 95km away. As we drove down the straight road a large, male Kudu ran across the road ahead, marking the only wildlife we had really seen all day. Finally we pulled into the guest farm where we were met by the camps ranger who led us immediately to an enclosure where three absolutely gorgeous Cheetahs were about to be fed. Once the meat had been thrown in the cheetahs grabbed a piece and ran off to eat it, returning a few minutes later to grab some more. They were well fed and a little chunkier than their wild counterparts. These three were here because local farmers will still shoot them and so these were caught and brought to the safety of the guest farm. We now moved onto a beautiful female Leopard called Tonaldo. Raised from a cub in the farm house she now had her own enclosure as she was too big and still a semi wild animal. The meat was placed on a metal platform but Tonaldo took a while to eat it, pacing around the platform and fence. Whilst everyone soon left to pitch their tents we stayed back watching the leopard a bit more, taking some photos, we got chatting to the ranger who had known Tonaldo since she was a cub. It was then that the ranger offered us to come back later tonight and maybe stroke her! Excitedly we agreed and hurried over to set up our tents before the light disappeared, brimming with excitement we dared not tell anyone else as the ranger did not want too much attention drawn to the leopard.

That evening we made our way to the lodge for dinner, it was like stepping back in time, the décor was all old 50s hunting lodge complete with the head of a massive male Greater Kudu with impressive horns and whose eyes followed you everywhere.

It was getting cold outside. It was not until later, when the ranger had closed the bar that he took us back to the enclosure to meet Tonaldo again. It was a cold, starry, black night as we made our way to the gate and waited. The ranger then took Rachael along the fence, calling and whistling softly while Laura and Lee waited at the gate. The half moon was really bright and we needed no torch as we made our way along the fence, listening for the leopard, we walked a short distance then turned and headed back still calling. Suddenly we heard a rustle of grass behind us and then Tonaldo bounded out of the night shadows and into view on the other side of the fence. She followed us as we headed back to the gate and once we stopped she started rubbing against the fence just in front of us! Laura and Lee came over and we spent quite a while stroking her through the wire, she was gorgeous, very soft. A couple of times she jumped up to the wire, spreading her big paws apart like she was giving us a hug! Then she sat back on her haunches, growled a soft purr, sticking her paw through the wire she started batting Lee’s shoes! It was a wonderful, exhilarating experience being so close and stoking such a beautiful and powerful creature, we felt so lucky and grateful. Soon Tonaldo wandered off into the dark and we headed back to our tents chatting with the ranger who teased us constantly with the tales of his electric heater!

It had been a memorable end to the day.

Thursday: It was still rather cold when we woke in the morning and we were still really exhilarated with our encounter last night. The sun turned the sky pink as it made its journey up over the horizon, starting to warm the cool air. We packed our camp and with a final goodbye to the ranger headed off for the Botswana border.

After exiting Namibia we crossed the Botswana border and entered our third country of the tour, it was yet another sunny and clear day that got warmer as the morning progressed. There was more livestock wandering close to the road and Joel mentioned some of the horses and donkeys were actually wild. We were driving through the dry, arid landscape of the Kalahari Desert which covers some 80% of Botswana. The flat land was dominated by red, sandy soil, yellowy dry grass, or gnarled Acacia trees. Every so often we would pass a small village amongst the trees and bushes, small round or square huts, very rural but it was good to see parts of Africa not dominated by European influence.

There was quite a bit of wildlife along the road, hornbills were everywhere and each time we saw them skimming across the road ahead we all started humming “kings don’t need advice from little hornbills for a start”! The Lion King was taking on a whole new meaning to us with our experience of Africa…
We also saw our first vulture, a White-backed Vulture perched at the top of a tree and a number of Ostrich.

Mid afternoon and we arrived in Maun, gateway to the Okavango Delta. Despite being a larger town and having many modern shops, Maun still held a very African feel and it bustled with people. We stopped briefly before continuing to our camp on the outskirts of town and having set up our tents on the dusty ground returned to Maun for the flight of a lifetime over the delta.

Our plane carried Laura, Lee, Rachael, Adrian and Matt, we all squeezed into the tiny six seater Cessna with Richard our pilot and were soon taxiing down the runway wondering how on earth this plane was ever going to take off! The rota blades span furiously so we could no longer see them and then the little plane started to pick up speed, faster and faster until we were suddenly airborne with only a little rattling.

The town dropped away below us and soon we could see the spectacular sight of the Okavango Delta. Only from up here can you gain a real perspective of the size of this oasis in the Kalahari. Great swathes of lush green trees and grass spread out like a blanket below, we were stunned by the verdant greenness of it all after weeks of dry, yellow, dusty soil and grass. Crisscrossing the green were arteries of life giving water (sorry to be so corny!), some were small, ribbons which then spread out into vast pools glinting vibrant blue in the afternoon sunlight. In other places the river was wide and meandering like a snake through the carpet of green. Amongst the trees, on the open plain of green grass, along the rivers edge and even wading in the water were numerous giraffe, zebra and various antelope species. Big herds of Elephant spread across the land; on a bend in the river we caught sight of the huge, rotund bodies of Hippopotamus! Pink blobs against the deep blue pools of water indicated huge flamingo flocks. The sight was spectacular. The whole delta was now bathed in golden evening light as we glided over the green haven below, we could not wait to get into the delta and experience it all on a closer level…this flight was all about getting a sense of scale and a glimpse of the delta’s secrets.

We touched down as the sun was turning deep red, thanking our pilot we returned to our camp to prepare for our trip into the delta, here we were going ‘bush’ no modern comforts, no running water, no toilets and we would be camping amongst nature that includes lion, hippo and buffalo – some of the most dangerous animals in Africa….

Friday: Another beautiful sunrise. We’d packed and loaded our gear onto a 4x4 that had come to collect us, leaving Joseph with 2 days peace and quiet.

The open 4x4 was good fun to ride in if a little breezey! We turned off road at a small village and headed down a sandy road that led past a small collection of huts and into the bush. Bouncing around we passed through spiky bushes and along side Acacia trees. There were many birds and we did our best to identify them as we bounced and swerved along the track.

We soon came to another small village next to a long wire fence and a gate, this fence was here to protect the people from the dangerous animals that live in the delta. Through the gate and we were into wild animal territory.
Deeper into the bush we drove, dodging the spiky bushes, until the bush opened up and we saw an endless land of green reeds. A crowd of people stood at the edge of the water, amongst numerous long wooden or fibreglass boats. Our journey into the delta would continue through the maze of waterways in these mokorros.

It was more than a little chaotic at the mokorro station with people milling everywhere, polers, tour guides and another group. However soon we were paired with a poler who would take us into the bush, we were with a young man called Lesh. Seated in our mokorro, Rachael in front, Lee behind and Lesh standing at the back we pushed off and followed the rest of the guys into the avenues of water surrounded by tall yellowy green reeds. In a long line we went, the heads and pole tips of the other guides could just be seen above the tops of the tall reeds. Tall trees ahead marked the islands of dry land, we kept to the channels, the water looked rusty red and was filled with reeds and lilies. The mokorro sat very low to the water as Lesh pushed us smoothly along. Ours being a traditional wooden mokorro it started to fill with water at the back so that we had to stop every so often to scoop the water out, we were fine though sitting on a bed of straw and then on top of our sleeping mats.

It was peaceful, quiet and wonderful, the sun was hot and high above glistening on the cool water that streamed past. We peered through and over the reeds at various birds and even at some Zebra, dragonflies and damselflies of all colours and sizes zipped around in front of the boat. After a short break to stretch our legs our mokorro ended up at the back of the group and we soon fell behind as Lesh stopped to let us get a good look at a few birds, we had an amazing close encounter with a Little Beeater sat on the reeds. Finally slightly later than everyone else we pulled up to dry land and our camp.

Once the camp was set up and we had lunch we were introduced to our guide and our bush toilet! We then had a few hours before our first evening walk through the delta. We were restricted to our small camp, with so many potentially dangerous animals around we could not go wondering without a guide.

From the cool shelter of our tents we watched small birds flit in the surrounding trees and dozed in the afternoon sun.

As the sun started to drop we headed along the rivers edge through the shade of trees and then out into the open grassy plains with clumps of spiky bushes and tall trees. Across the river in a small stand of trees we saw a rather large African Elephant!

We walked in a large loop around the camp as the sun made its way down to the horizon casting a golden glow over the delta, crunching through brittle grass and scuffing sandy soil. We stopped at a massive, solid termite mound and cast our gaze across the golden grass to a herd of Blue Wildebeest gazing back at us.

Before long the sun turned bright red, setting the sky ablaze with colour, once it had disappeared it became noticeably colder immediately, we hurried back to camp with the last of the light and spent the evening sitting round a roaring fire, watching hundreds of stars glitter in the velvet black sky above.


Saturday: Awake before dawn we huddled around the fire trying to keep warm; we ate a small breakfast and then headed off on another walk. The group was split today and once more Rachael, Lee and Laura were joined by Adrian and Matt. We headed away from the water and made our way across a plain of yellow grass and shoulder high green bushes. The red sun rose setting the sky on fire and started to warm things up, it was going to be another gorgeous day. Making our way through the long grass to a stand of tall trees near a large pool, nearer to it the grass disappeared and was replaced with flatten reeds surrounding the shimmering blue water. In the tall trees we spotted a troop of Chacma Baboons, who started sliding down the trunks into the dense bushes below. Little babies clung to their mothers and once on the ground a couple of large males started having a very noisy fight, barking and screeching at each other.

We made our way closer to the pool once the baboons had quieted and moved off. The pool was alive with birds, out in the water we saw the head of a reasonably sized crocodile and the nostrils of a hippopotamus!

We left the pool and headed into a burnt landscape of ash, dust and charcoaled trees. The land was a monotone of black and grey, the reeds and grass gone, the trees blackened, some still smouldering. The fine ask kicked up and coated us from headed to toe. We were a little shocked and disappointed, it was not what we had expected particularly after the flight that revealed a lush green wonderland. It was even more disappointing to find that it is the local people who burn the area on purpose so they can see wild animals like buffalo and lion, the guides said that in a few months the grass would have grown back and indeed in some areas little green shoots were already bursting out of the blackened earth. But this was little consolation to us and to the whole micro environment of insects and invertebrates destroyed by the flames.

Despite the ash we still saw quite a few mammal species including Reedbuck and whilst heading back, walking amongst a cluster of trees and bushes, a green oasis in the scorched environment we saw a lone bull African Elephant! Slowly we approached, getting as close as we dared, about 50m and we stopped to watch the old bull for a while, it was pretty magical being that close to such a huge creature…

It was hot, dusty and our tummies rumbled as we left the Elephant and continued back towards camp, soon we were back at the big pool and once again came across a troop of baboons, a big male came barking out of the reeds and then the whole troop moved noisily off. Across the far edge of the pool a mixed herd of zebra and Impala grazed keeping a wary eye on us. We stopped for a while at the pool, watching the crocodile and nostrils of the hippo break the still water of the pool.

Leaving the burnt land behind we returned into long yellow grass and tall green bushes, and after 5 hours solid walking returned to our camp, the other group had been back for over two hours!

After dinner and a siesta we headed out on a mokorro safari, the sun was hanging low in the sky, casting golden light over the reeds and water as we paddled down stream. After about half an hour we pulled into the bank and then followed our guide over more crispy land to another pool of water. Here we sat watching the sunset over the pool in which another crocodile swam, birds wandered along its edges, and not one but two hippos popping the nostrils above the water. The baby even stuck its whole head out, wiggled its ears then disappeared.

With the sun hovering over the horizon we returned to the mokorros and started back to camp, stopping briefly to watch the sun drop completely behind the horizon and then to watch a beautiful Fish Eagle fly just overhead.

That night with the stars twinkling across the sky we sat round the roaring campfire singing songs and playing word games with our guides, it was brilliant fun, dancing, telling jokes till it got late…

Sunday: 6am wake up; we had an hour to leave our camp. It was another cool morning and once breakfast was over we loaded the mokorros and left our little island camp.

As the morning light filled in the surrounding colours and detail we cruised slowly back to the mokorro station. It was quiet, peaceful, the only sound coming from the plop of the poles in the water, the breeze rippling the reeds and the early morning calls of birds. The sun rose behind the trees blinding us with its bright golden rays, making it difficult to see but this morning we did not mind, content to lie back, close our eyes, relax and listen….

The mokorro station was still bustling, new groups of people we arriving as we pulled up, unloaded our boats and then sat waiting for our 4x4 watching the animated comings and goings.

Once the 4x4 had arrived we loaded up our things, said a fond farewell tour guides and returned along the bumpy, sandy road to Maun waving at the people and children we passed in the villages. On returning Croc Camp we all rushed over and group hugged Joseph, we’d missed him in the delta! It was then a rush to the showers as we were all coated in dust and ash. Shame the hot water did last long enough for all of us!

After lunch we rejoined the Trans Kalahari Highway and once more the desert scenery rushed past endlessly, tall trees and scrub dominated the sandy soil then the trees would melt away into yellow grassy plains. We slowed a couple of times as donkey’s, horses and ostrich dashed across the road, but kept pushing on until we reached Nata, and pulled into our sandy campsite on the outskirts of town.

Settling down for dinner we enjoyed the sight of a Lesser Bushbaby bouncing from branch to branch and spent another delightful evening sitting round a glowing campfire, eating delicious food and gazing at a hundred stars above…