Namibia 2018

May 26 - Saturday
Yeah, I slept last night! I went to bed at 11 PM, something that I have not done for many decades, and fell asleep instantly. I got a solid 6.5 hours of sleep. Today was a travel day. We went for breakfast at 6:30 as arranged but no staff were in yet. We ended up rummaging around the kitchen and making our own. We were at the airport very early for our 10:25 AM flight to Windhoek, so we had a coffee and some of us had a small breakfast. On checking in we learned that Joanie and I were again assigned poor seats, in the middle behind each other. I complained to Joanie loud enough for the attendant to hear, that I was getting upset that even though we organized this trip, we keep getting assigned the worst seats. He smiled and said, I hear ya. Let me see if I can help. Then he got us a window seat and middle seat. Our flight was full but we left the terminal a few minutes early. I was very impressed with Air Namibia. We had a 1 hour and 46 minute flight to Walis Bay. In this time we were served a cold drink, followed by a lunch, and finally coffee. Our flight gave us a great view of Cape Town and environs. We then flew over Namibia near the coast. It was almost all desert sand with the odd rocky mountain or hill. Walis Bay airport was also surrounded by sand. We were the only plane to land there or even park there. This was great for take off as we really didn't need any clearance to go. The weather was about 30 degrees C. outside with a breeze. Many of the people boarding at Walis Bay wore ski jackets and winter coats. Was there a snow storm coming that we were not aware of? The flight to Windhoek was only 30 minutes, but in that time we got juice boxes and two snacks, a chocolate bar and a bag of biltong.  The airport in Windhoek was 40 km. for the city and we had to walk on the tarmac from the plane to the terminal. Joanie was scolded by a security guard for taking a picture of the terminal building. Good thing too, because I was thinking of doing this highly illegal act myself. We found our driver right away and along the highway to Windhoek I saw two warthogs and a tree with baboons in it. Just a teaser for tomorrow.
Our accommodation in Windhoek, the Arebbusch Lodge, was great. We had very nice air conditioned rooms, a swimming pool, (too cold for most humans to use this time of year but R did go in), restaurant, etc. We had a relaxing afternoon by the pool, except when birds landed in the trees near us and Gerda and I had to investigate. Tomorrow the safariing starts and everyone was excited about that. We didn't bring parkas and winter coats but should be alright by the time this place warms up to 30 degrees. Shorts should be the order of the day for a few days.

May 27 - Sunday

Following another great sleep, we got up at 6AM for breakfast and our 7:30 pickkup by our safari GUIDE, Ben. Ben was 30 minutes late. The safari vehicle had seats for 10 people, with three in the back row and one seat not by the window. The layout was similar to the vehicle we had in South Africa in 2014, but the windows were smaller and it felt like you had to duck in order to see. The walls were covered in rough berber which scraped your skin. After a few hours of highway driving we came to a town where we got groceries, mostly water and snacks because it was Sunday and you could not buy liquor on Sunday. We found out that we had a flat tire so we went to a local service station to fix it. Ben did not have all the tools needed to lift the vehicle up so a tire specialist was called. Then five men stood around and watched as one man took off the tire and replaced it. After about an hour we were on our way. We stopped at a restaurant in Oujo for lunch We could order anything on the menu, but we had to pay for our own drinks. Paying took forever, and Ben did not help matters by getting into long conversations with various staff.  Finally we were on our way again, now quite a bit later than planned.  Along the highway we saw hundreds of guineafowl, at least 50 warthogs, several groups of baboons, and an ostrich. We got to the Etosha National Park gate at about 3:30. We were only a few minutes in before we came upon a herd of elephants, including several young. One large one even stood right in front of our vehicle and first pooped, and soon afterwards peed, which was enough to fill a bucket. We then found a herd of zebra and a few impala and guineafowl. A short distance up the road a large group of vehicles had stopped for a supposed lion laying in the grass. A giraffe kill had been found and it was assumed that na lion had done the deed. We never saw the lion but wasted a lot of time standing, gazing at nothing, then moving vehicle position for another try. We gave up but it was a while before Ben gave up. Ben told u7s we could stand and look through the roof hatch, which was now open, to spot game. In fact, 90 percent of the animals and birds we saw were spotted by ourselves, not Ben. I was a little (OK a lot), disappointed that Ben spotted so few animals, and provided very little information about any we did see. Our animal drive before check in included the elephants, several herds of zebras and lone zebras, many springboks, red hartebeests, a few oryx, impala, secretary birds, kori bustards, black bustards, plovers, ground squirrels, a kestrel, a falcon right next to the vehicle when we stopped, ostriches, a black rhino and a wildebeest. Ben was in a big hurry at the end as the gate to our facility in Okaukuejo closed at sunset, 6:30PM. We made it by only 15 minutes. After checking in and a buffet dinner we went to a water hole about 100 metres from our cabins, but not before Joanie tripped over a curb and scraped herself up. A little reminiscent of a trip to Zion years ago. The water hole was lit up at night. A crowd was gathered to watch. There was a herd of zebras that were drinking, but then were scared away by a black rhino. Then there were 5 rhinos. I also saw two black-backed jackals sneak in for a drink. Very exciting to see. Despite minor frustrations with our driver, and the vehicle, we had a marvelous day and saw a lot of wildlife. The buffet dinner was less than inspiring. Salad, vegetable soup, chicken breasts, pap, (an African grits), oxtail something or other, plain rice with some peas in it and a small white bun. Hard to decide what you want least.

May 28 - Monday

 We started the day with an absolutely gorgeous red sunrise. We were ready to go for the supposed 7AM gate opening. The plan was to do a game drive for 90 minutes and then come back for breakfast. When they say the gates are closed from sunset to sunrise, they mean it literally. It was 7:30 before we were allowed out, just as the sun was above the horizon. We drove for about 2 hours. We did not see much new, but the herds of antelopes were more active. Large groups of young springboks bounced and played together, as did the more rambunctious young zebras. We saw herds of wildebeests and a few black-backed jackals. Breakfast was odd, with pap, some chicken dish, some weird sausage concoction, boiled eggs, bacon strips, and bread with jams, etc.

After breakfast we visited the water hole. It was beyond expectation. There were hundreds and hundreds of zebras. There was a steady stream of them filing in to the area and a steady stream leaving. The water was filled with zebras among a few other antelopes. It was amazing to see. We then went on another game drive. We saw more of the same animals and sat for some time by an old elephant, because the herd of oryx nearby seemed alert and some other guide had told us he saw two lions mating in the area. We waited for the lions to appear but there was no sign of them. We came back, had lunch, mostly leftovers from last night’s dinner, and then had a few hours to relax, do laundry and sit at the water hole. We did have an incident at lunch. We were told that we had to pay for dinner that night according to the agreement. We were sure the safari included all meals. George brought a printout of a safari summary, stating that meals were included. He said he would refuse to pay and skip dinner if necessary. Ben talked to the manager and after some discussion, he said he would pay for the dinner, but we would have to sort it out with African Budget Safari to reimburse him. (Footnote: once we had wi fi I checked again and the itinerary on the web site was exactly as they said. i.e. We were wrong. Our personal itinerary said meals per itinerary. Oops.)

At 4PM we went on another drive. Ben wanted to go back to the giraffe carcass we saw on Day 1 to see if a lion or other scavenger would be there. It was a great drive. We did find a male lion lying behind the giraffe. We also found a beautiful spot with three giraffes, a herd of zebras, a few impalas, a jackal, some vultures, a large flock of guineafowl, and an eagle of some sort, all out in the open. We had an awesome sunset at the water hole with two giraffes who seemed to pose in front of the sunset for a perfect African sunset. Dinner was again unimpressive although a little better. Not sure it was worth 220R. The day finished at the water hole once more, where there was a giraffe and several rhinos, including a mom and baby. I also saw what I thought might be a genet, pouncing on something in the grass, twice. I saw his ringed black and white tail. And Joanie's banged up elbow is on the mend. 

May 29 - Tuesday

Joanie woke up today with one eye swollen almost shut. She had several mosquito bites around her eye and on her arm overnight. Her eye was swollen over her eye lids. What some people will do to get attention! After a leisurely breakfast, a standard one with fried eyes and sausage, we did a final visit to the water hole, before loading up the vehicle and going on a very short game drive on our way to the park gate. We did not see anything new. We then had a long drive back to Windhoek. We stopped for lunch at a long-named town soon forgotten. The idea was to have lunch and spend some time shopping, but then Ben said we were leaving in 40 minutes, and service at restaurants was so slow, we doubted we could get done in time, so we skipped the shopping. The market was across the street. It had all little open boxes with people selling things. It looked like a small shanty town and you could see the people ready to descend on you, pushing their wares. This did not look appealing at all. We got to our hotel B & B at about 3:30 PM and parted ways with Ben. We sat outside sharing some wine and spotting a few interesting birds, including the rose-faced lovebird. (R & R have one of these as a pet so were excited to see it.) We went to a local restaurant for dinner. It was very good. By the time we got back, it was very cold outside, probably between 5 and 8 degrees, which after 30 degrees felt like freezing. We all gave up on sitting together for nightcaps and scurried to our rooms to warm up.

May 30 - Wednesday

Today was another transition day. We had to book out of our rooms at the Utopia by 10AM. It was a nice sunny day, but not super hot. A cool breeze blew. Despite being able to sleep in, I was awake by 4:30 and only dozed a little after that. We were able to keep one of the rooms until we were leaving for the airport, which was around 2:30 or 3PM, exact time was not listed on our itinerary. We spent the day sitting around. Some read books, while a few of us spent a lot of time looking for birds in the trees on the property. There were many varieties including mousebirds, bulbuls, blue waxbills, canaries and more. “For lunch we went to the restaurant on the property that we ate dinner at the night before. The food was delicious. I had lasagna which was different but very good. By 3:15 we were still waiting for our shuttle and getting a little nervous. Our flight to Joburg was for 5:30PM. I had the front desk check, and it turned out there was a big accident which closed the highway and our driver was stuck. Another driver was sent and we were soon on our way. The section of highway we were on was very light in traffic and I think he made it the 40 km. in record time. We checked in and in no time were boarding. The flight left 15 minutes early, because everyone was on board I suppose. It was a 90 minute flight and in that time we again got top service. Westjet and Air Canada take note! We were immediately served beverages including alcohol. As soon as that was distributed, they served dinner. Then they cam around a second time with coffee, tea or cold drinks. They cleaned up and it was time to land. Very hard working and efficient.

We were seated on the last row of the plane, and were the last off. Because Tina needed a wheelchair and a few people ducked into the washroom, we were also the last to clear customs. Our bags were the only ones left on the carrousel. We picked up some wine at the Duty Free, and came out after a very long walk. Almost everyone else was gone and there was no sight of anyone with a “Gerry Meyer” sign. I looked around outside as well but saw no one. My heart sank. Not another glitch! Then Re spotted him off to the side. We got to our lodging, Outlook Lodge, a huge old house converted into a lodge. Very nice! We were even offered a free glass of wine and since we were to return here after our safari, the manager said we could leave behind anything we did not need on safari. Despite having spent a whole day just relaxing and waiting, it was very tiring and we did not last beyond 11PM.