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Namibia, May - June 2017


elefromoz

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When friends asked where’s “Mnanimbia, Munibia , Nanimbia” etc and why were we going?, I said  “sand, sand, and more sand”, I was being very silly and flippant, although there’s a some truth there. But of course it’s really all about what calls that “sand” home.

 

Namibia,  mmm, its taken me a while to really get this trip clear in my head. I’ll plunge in head first and say right-up, “it isn’t for everyone”…..but then,  where in the world is??

I’d read many blogs and trip reports,  so I had a good idea what to expect, or at least I thought so. In fact many of the things that seemed to blow others away, underwhelmed me a little. It may be because I come from a land of hostile, vast open spaces, it may be that it seems nothing will ever compare to the bounty of the Serengeti. On the other hand, laying in bed and watching the sunrise  over the Namib Rand through the Tent flaps, rates up there with one of my finest, quietest, travel moments. Standing 50 metres from a Black Rhino Male, Female and  Calf is a thrill I’ll not forget. Enjoying two full days driving over the Palmwag Conservancy, and being in awe of the beauty whilst wondering how anything survives out there. Watching a healthy Etosha Lioness cross the road in front of us, and her two “about” one year old scrawny, bony “cubs”,  she stops and turns back to wait, several minutes later another painfully skinny cub limps in,  the Lioness waits patiently for her third off-spring and greets her warmly. How much longer can these three hang onto life and what has gone wrong that she has raised them this far, only to fail now?

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It took a while to convince my husband to make this trip, he was “reluctant” at the suggestion of self-driving anywhere in Africa, eventually I talked him around, but we did compromise. In the end we settled on part Self-Drive and part Guided. Our rationale went something like this, it seemed the Southern part of the trip was going to be more about enjoying the drive amidst some nice scenery. We would do Guided drives from our chosen Lodges. No camping for us, Lodges all the way, neither of us regretted that decision,  warm, comfy bed,  a few steps to the bathroom, someone else doing the cooking, Breakfast buffets, Afternoon Teas etc etc. The second part of the trip was with a Private Guide/Driver, my husband wanted to relax and enjoy the Trip as much as me without having to concentrate on the road, and he didn’t want to deal with Wildlife whilst driving (namely Elephants, he has a very healthy respect (read fear) of them). Having a Guide also meant it was his problem if we suffered any mechanical issues. In fact, having a guide meant we didn’t have to deal with any issues really.

The trip was booked through Wild Dog, they also organized out Car Hire  with Namibia Car Rentals.  The Itinerary went like this, 25/05/17 – 15/6/17

 

Arrive Windhoek, overnight Villa Violet, vehicle dropoff / self drive

Days 2/3 Bagatelle Game Ranch

Days 4/5 Wolvedans Dune Camp, (should have added another night here)

Days 6/7 Hoodia Lodge

Day 8 Desert Breeze Lodge,Swakopmund

Days 9,10, 11 Erongo Mountain Lodge

Day 12 Windhoek, Villa Violet

Day 13 Picked up by Guide, Palmwag Lodge 13/14/15

Day 16/17 Grootberg Lodge

Day 18  Hobatare Lodge (supposed to be Dolomite but booking mix-up)

Day 19 Dolomite Camp

Day 20/21 Okaukuejo

Day 22 Namutoni

Day 23 Windhoek, Villa Vista Guesthouse

 

The accommodation in the first half of the trip varied from very good to excellent. The second half was let down badly by a terrible room at Palmwag, we didn’t realize until we’d had two nights there, that we had the worst room in the place. Disappointing as we had 3 nights booked, it seemed the best rooms were kept for larger Tour Groups. Ours was old, stale and stuffy, broken fixtures, pity as Palmwag was otherwise one of my favourite stops. Our room at Okaukuejo was…grim. Breakfast and lunch were awful, I didn’t like the feel of the place and found myself wishing we’d stayed at a Private Lodge outside the Gate. Namutomi, on the other hand was very good accommodation and put us closest to some of our Cat encounters.

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Random thoughts:

We did Tip, it was certainly expected in all the Private Lodges. All had Tip boxes, 1 for General Staff and 1 for Guides. We tipped our Guides individually after each excursion. All other guests seemed to as well. I didn’t Tip because it was “expected”, I tipped because I wanted to acknowledge hard work and good service in a country of extremely low wages.

 

Tony Parks “An Empty Coast” talking book , based in Namibia, kept us entertained on long drives. Theres 20+ hours of it!

 

Would I change “how” we did it? No, it was a good mix for us.

 

Will we go back? No, not because I didn't enjoy it, I just feel satisfied that I've seen enough.  Always a “but”, and for me that’s Kgalagadi, very tempted looking forward. Theres something about all that Sand.

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Our first stop was Bagatelle Game Ranch, after leaving Windhoek, we exited the tarmac of the B1, onto the C21 at Kalkrand, then took the D1268. We passed one vehicle on this D road, that was a gentleman on a pushbike. I really enjoyed this drive as we ventured across the waves of the Kalahari. 

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We entered the Bagatelle gate 

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 just in time for afternoon Tea, a choice of two Cakes, oh dear. I did enjoy this little treat in the Private Lodges we stayed at.

It was the time for our afternoon “Game Drive”, I didn’t have high expectations, not helped when it started like this, don't get me wrong, a Pan is a fascinating environment, but...

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but soon we were in the Dunes and Grasses 

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and started to see some of the more common Game,  Oryx, Giraffe, Kudu. Next some Wildebeest , and the Guide casually says “oh and there’s an Aardwolf just in front of them”. Well, "knock me down with a feather", just as I was thinking this is pleasant but not real exciting! 

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Bagatelle is home to a couple of “rescued” Cheetah, their enclosure was next 

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one of them is in his late teens if I remember correctly, and his face is a little worse for wear 

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I guess they are well looked after, and serve a purpose for educating re their plight, but I dunno... 

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We were up early for breakfast and  walk with the San. This was a very fun couple of hours and we came away impressed by their skills and knowledge of survival in such a harsh landscape, also saddened to think of another people and their way of life under siege by the modern world. The children were a delight of course 

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 We farewelled our Bagatelle friends

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and started the long drive West, to Wolvedans in the Namib Rand, via the C19 and D827. This was a great days driving, estimated at about 5hrs, but due to the ever-changing scenery, it took us over six hours. 

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Then we turned into the Wolvedans gate late in the day and the astonishing beauty of this place started to unfold around us

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We enjoyed a terrific Five! Course dinner with 4 other couples from around the world. Funny thing, both here and Bagatelle, we were told it was safe to walk around at night. At Bagatelle we were informed that Cats were “extinct” in the area and I couldn't help wondering, hmmm Leopards are pretty resilient, and stealthy, I did bustle along the track back to our Chalet after dinner, I must say.  Here at Wolvedans we were again advised it was safe, but….., a few months back there was a Leopard hanging around Boulders Lodge, not so far away.  We had about a 100M walk back to our tent, the furthest from the Dining area,  along a sand track, again, I did not dilly dally on that track in the darkness. My husband was keen to admire the Stars…..stuff that!

In the morning,  we had to negate yesterdays afternoon tea Cake with a healthy breakfast

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We then started our ‘all-day” drive into the beautiful, other-wordly, Namib Rand 

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We enjoyed Lunch with a view 

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and then continued on 

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It was getting late by the time we drove back in the evening, this “mystery Bird” had settled down beside the track, I would appreciate any help with ID. 

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Our Tent here at Wolvedans was lovely 

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and the view we woke up to was pretty good too!

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But, before we knew it, t’was time to leave our Tent in the Desert 

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Some of the Residents saw us off 

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Farewell to the beautiful Namib Rand

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Turning into the gate of our next stop

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Hoodia was to be our base for visiting the ‘big’ Dunes, its about 20mins from the Sesriem Gate. Now this arrangement is not going to suit everyone, but we felt no need to  be at any particular spot at any particular time, so Hoodia was perfect for us.  And so, to our day out,

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and a surprise in the trees by the Carpark , A  Cape Eagle Owl, probably wondering why all those fools, including us,  were stomping around the Dunes in the heat.

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And hot it was, whilst I was ho-hum about getting out there at the crack of Dawn, by the time we had walked over the Dunes and the Vlei it was bloody hot! Thank goodness our Guide had the Esky full of ice, some to keep the Beer and Coke frosty, and some to wrap in flannels for the face and neck, bliss. I settled on a Coke by the way, while the blokes downed a Beer. We then had a lovely Lunch under a shady tree, enjoying the views and the Birds.

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Its so dry out here, when we left our Guide tipped out the canvas bag with the hand washing water in it, the little Sociable Weavers were into the puddle in a flash before it disappeared into the sand before their eyes.

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Pamshelton3932

This is bringing back memories.  I loved Wolvedans! 

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Plenty of "big piles of sand" on your route so far! And excellent photography also. We were not thrilled by Bagatelle either, yet Wolvedans tent looks like a place to go one day. 

Why staying at Sesriem camp or Sossus Dune Lodge?! To get the light as it is on your Wolvedans view, and to beat the heat and the crowds.

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@xelas, well yes, SDL would have done all that, and it was a toss-up,  but I had to keep the husband happy, Hoodia looked really nice (I'm sure SDL is too) he enjoys a sleepin and I doubt "good light" would have got him up for sunrise. I suffer more with the heat, whilst I sat in a narrow strand of shade on the Vlei, he stomped around happily, and tells friends that was one of his best days. Different strokes for different Folks, as they say. The heat did keep the crowds away though, most were heading back by then. Some crazies were just heading off up Big Daddy, madness.   

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It was pretty much an all day drive to Swakopmond, through some of the most desolate, harshest terrain I’d ever seen

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  I mean no offence, but Swakopmund is the “weirdest” place I’ve ever seen. It was planned simply as an overnighter, somewhere to breakup the drive between Sesriem and Erongo, and it served that purpose well. What was the highlight of this stopover, was our accommodation. The Desert Breeze Lodge sits on the Dunes on the outskirts of town, overlooking the now dry, Swakop riverbed. All the lovely Chalets are positioned so that laying in bed, you look over the Dunes 

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We ate a very good Seafood dinner at the Tug restaurant, overlooking the ocean, (and the adjacent Jetty Restaurant). We parked the car immediately below the Restaurant and tipped the “ Car Attendent”  $N20 to car-sit as the Carpark looked a bit “dodgy”.  Next morningI woke in time to watch the Sunrise

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Funny, just writing this Ive remembered that when we came back from Dinner, I went to our Chalet to unlock the door, the key was a bit tricky and I was swearing at it in the dark, suddenly the door opened from the inside and some bloke stood there, I was only trying to get into the wrong room,  oops.

 

We left Swak on the B2, my scary driving moment here having to overtake a large truck carrying a Bulldozer, the pickup blade extending quite ways over the middle line. My husband was “urging” me to keep the right hand wheels on the outside yellow line and “put my foot down” as there was traffic approaching in the distance. There was a good 2 inch drop off said yellow line into the gravel. I was bloody close, within millimetres to that truck as I overtook, and also within millimetres of coming off the tarmac onto the gravel with my outside wheels. Husband also telling me “do not hit the brakes if you hit the gravel, you’ll do an anti-clockwise skid into the truck.Phew,  I feel better now telling that story, free counselling.

 

We left the B2 at Usakos onto the D1935,  we then had our only real “uncomfortable” driving experience. This road passed through some “shanty towns”, we were the only tourists on the road and a couple of times men ran out at us shouting, a while later we had that experience, you know you pass a parked car with several men in it, then they overtake you, then a couple of Kms up the road they’ve stopped again, as you pass they follow….Luckily at this point we turned into the D2315 turnoff and the Erongo Gate was in front of us. Once inside the Gate we relaxed, until we saw this 

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 you’ll remember me saying my husband was a bit afraid of Elephants, actually me too, out here on our own with 45kms of dirt track to the Lodge. I was a bit relieved to see this. (As it turned out, there are no Elephants in the area at the moment, so an hours sweating for nothing.)

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Our Tent was as lovely, kinda Rustic Lux,  

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and Dinner was on this Deck

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The next morning we did a nature walk up and over that rock. You have to be fairly fit to stay here, everything is a climb up. Tents are up steps, meals are up steps and walks are up large rocks!!  The Dassies were stacked up, trying to keep warm in the morning chill

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Oops, don't know where that last photo popped in form

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Even the Sundowners are “up”, in this case, as the top of this rock seen here in front of me, it was about a slow 20+ min step, climb, scramble to the top

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Only problem for me was that I had worn my prescription Sunglasses up, of course it was pretty well dark by the time we came down and I hadn’t bought my regular glasses up, so I had to scamble back down in the dark in my Sunglasses. Luckily we had decided on a “single” Gin, rather than the “double” on offer at the top.

The Dining Room is open and a small bird bath is busy all day with thirsty little birds

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Back in Windhoek, car dropped off, us dropped off at Villa Violet, we decided we’d have a very early dinner and walk up to Joe's Beerhouse, early was a good idea, it was about 15 mins walk and a bit seedy at that, certainly would not have done it in the dark. The food was OK, that’s it I think. I spent my wait-time in the morning enjoying villa Violets garden visitors. 

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Next morning,  our Guide arrived a bit later than expected to pick us up, but then we were on our way to Palmwag, hubby sat in the front with George our Guide, and me in the back. We kept it like that for the trip as it suited both of us.

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 I’ll say upfront , I loved Palmwag (except for the crummy room). The Conservancy is massive and we were lucky enough to be able to spend 2 full days out there, the first full day we did a “Game Drive” and the second, an all day “Rhino Tracking “ day. We had the same Palmwag Guide, Stan, on  both days and trust me when I tell you, you really need to know how to drive out here and Stan sure did. Boy do those vehicle take a hammering. On our first Drive, our Guide told us to look at it as “a Drive to enjoy the scenery, if you see any Wildlife, its a bonus”.

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Overall we didn't do too bad

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9 hours ago, elefromoz said:

Oops, don't know where that last photo popped in form

 

From Desert Breeze Lodge maybe? And thank you for mentioning this location; while Swakopmund is not as excellent location as many others are, it is a crucial stop-over between South and North of Namibia. Staying away from the ocean might be beneficial as there was very damp inside the town camps. What was dampness at Desert Breeze Lodge, @elefromoz.

 

I can feel your heart beating when overtaking the long haul truck with bulldozer. Probably at the same rate as mine when I have to overtake the road train somewhere deep in the Northern Territory. The bloody truck just never ends :blink:.

 

Erongo Wilderness Lodge ... Namibia has so many lodges located at such fabulous locations!

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I'm really enjoying this report.

 

I've been on the fence about Namibia. It seems like the landscapes and those red dunes and the dramatic shadows are the centerpiece, though it does amaze me that the wildlife there can survive such harsh conditions.  Perhaps it's more of an advanced level trip for someone like me. 

 

I'm looking forward to hearing more of your overall impressions, and I definitely appreciate your candidness thus far. 

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Looking forward to reading the rest of this enjoyable report. 

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@xelas that is probably a very good point about the humidity on the coast, we didn't have that problem where we were at all, our room was "dry and shiny", and importantly, perfectly in keeping with my "sand" theme. I forgot to mention that we also went to Walvis Bay for Flamingoes, I recall your terrific photos, but not a Flamingo to be seen. Surely you, king of the "self-drive", was not intimidated by a lil' ol' road-train?

 

@Alexander33, Namibia seems to present a bit of a quandary to many. It's vast, open and exposed, dry (although @Dave Williams might challenge that), extensively fenced and farmed, and some would say you have to work hard for your Wildlife. You are on the move a lot and being in a regular vehicle has its limitations.  We never went further North than Etosha but we did meet a lot of others who were "doing" both Namibia and Botswana. OTOH,  Kgalagadi certainly seems a fantastic extension of Southern Namibia. 

 

@Dave Williams, thanks, I recall you encountered a few "showers" along the way....

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The next day, more of the same, 0530 breakfast, into the vehicle with our Guide Stan and a Ranger from the Torra Convservancy, and we were joined by another couple who were camping at Palmwag.

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We join with another vehicle who have 2 guests, so six of us all up.  Rhino tracks are located early

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and the Trackers head off on foot to find the animal . In the meantime we trundle off...why you wouldn't bring your own vehicle out here 

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At 0800hrs we find our targets and we’re really in luck. Our prize is a Male, Female and their 3yr old Calf.  We stop, get a few instructions, namely "be quiet", and then walk on foot, silently toward them. This in itself was a challenge, I found myself stumbling over those rocks, clunk, clunk. I didn’t want to be the one  a) to fall over  b)cause a Rhino charge  c)cause them to run away and never return!  We then stop, what seemed to me a very short distance from them and just watch…a very special 20 odd minutes or so. At one point the Guides wave for us to squat quietly, the Rhino seem to know we are there, all looking in our direction, sniffing, ears flicking back and forth. “No sound” we are told, if we frighten them they will bolt and not be seen again. The shame of causing that.

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For such hulking big things, their defences are pretty poor really. Brute force is useless against a shotgun. Every time I see a Rhino, I think of the thrill of just seeing them everywhere, as in days long gone,  thundering along, like the opening scenes of Hatari. 

From there we drove to our lunch stop. This place is just sooo big, that meant at least two plus hours drive away, when Stan said it was over and around the Mountains, he meant just that, you travel at a slow pace out here

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 We got there eventually 

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and the Ranger told us how his job was to ID each Rhino he saw. Its all done with “ear notches”, our Male went by the name “Speedy”, glad I didn’t know that as I stood in front of him. 

We had a terrific view for Lunch, this Bull grazing nearby

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If you look closely at the next photo, middle, you can see a couple of Elephants walking up the mountain, 

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The rest of the Herd was near the top. Each day they go up, each evening they come down...

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We were lucky enough to come across another Rhino in the afternoon, the Ranger had to go and identify him, so we were asked if we wanted to walk out there as well, “hell yeah” we all said. Although as we got closer it was obvious we were very exposed this time, flat, open ground with no where to run ( ha, ha) I ducked behind a lone Euphorbia as the Rhino strolled toward us, still seemingly oblivious to our presence.

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And then we rocked, rolled, tilted left, right, up and down as our tougher than tough Toyota took us home in Stans capable hands. large_A101.JPG.cb48597f702b1b31fa3aaa3483aaf9da.JPGWhat a brilliant couple of days we’d had here at Palmwag. 

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6 hours ago, elefromoz said:

Surely you, king of the "self-drive", was not intimidated by a lil' ol' road-train?

 

Well, I am here, 16 years later, to tell the story ;). But being named "King of the self-drive" is an overstatement! Not even "king of self-drive in Namibia", at least until conquering the VanZyl's Pass:D.

That was one Close Encounter of the Rhino Kind you have had in Palmwag !

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It was a short 2 hour Drive from Palmwag to Grootberg Lodge. We had an Elephant Game drive booked for the next day, today was a quiet day to take in the stupendous views from the Lodge deck and our own room. I actually think the Pool detracts from the view but it serves to provide perspective I guess. We've travelled a bit, here and there, and agreed that this rates pretty high on our list of views you could never tire of.

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 An Afternoon Sundowner Drive along the plateau, to get out into it 

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I actually think the view “out the back” beats the view from the Lodge, 

 

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The next morning there was just the two of us and two Guides for the Elephant Tracking. We’d located them by 8am, on a scrubby hillside. 

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I was happy seeing them from afar, but off we went “bush-bashing”, crawling over rocky terrain through the scrub with limited visibility. All the time the vehicle moving a few metres forward, then backwards, turn a little, then repeat forwards, then backwards, sideways a little, trying to navigate a way through. Suddenly, whoa, theres the Herd right in front of us, a little closer than I’d bargained on. 

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That said, they were pretty relaxed once the vehicle stopped and we quietly watched.  They were grazing and moving about around us, there was a couple of mock charges from a couple of young ones. A tad un-nerving, I was acutely aware there was no quick exit outta here.large_A110.JPG.133ff956bcd141e4929f8ef1dcc25aac.JPGlarge_A111.JPG.5af059ebad5177258228e778aa812ac9.JPG

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When it came time to leave, the “entry” procedure was repeated, as we crashed thru scrub, down embankments, it seemed each way we went there was an Elephant, or several, behind the Scrub blocking our path. It was a bit of a relief to finally break out into the open again. On the Track out, a big ol Bull trundled ahead of us, we gave him plenty of respect and right of way. My husband reckons he's had enough of Elephants!

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I did a thorough check of the room as we left, this is something I'm "very" particular on, an hour down the road I realised Id left my new Aussie made hat and Pashmina (doubles as a scarf and camera wrap) on the desk. So, if you are visiting Grootberg and you encounter a very sharply dressed Housekeeping person, say Hi from me.

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Your Elephant tracking was a bit more exciting than our Rhino tracking which in hindsight was a bit disappointing and I'm glad we went to Grootberg before arriving at Etosha.

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Love your report and writing @elefromoz you never fail to entertain. I kinda feel the same as you about Namibia but I find myself seriously considering a second visit in a few years. The wildlife doesn't come close to East Africa but there is alot to do activity wise and yes Swako is weird but I loved it, might need a week there next time!

 

I've never seen anything on tipping in any reports I've read on here so maybe I'm missing something but I would presume most people do with such low paying wages.

 

Tony Park has helped me while away many hours in Africa!

 

Rhino tracking is great fun isn't it!

 

The view at Grootberg is pretty good isn't it.

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@The_Norwegian, thanks, you must be due another trip back soon? 

 

@Dave Williams, I think we had it just right with Palmwag Rhino/Grootberg Elephant tracking, OTOH, maybe we just got lucky with both. We didn't see any Rhino out and about on our Drives in Etosha, so you just never know

 

@dlo, Hi, nice to hear you're thinking of returning, maybe pack some Factor 50 sunscreen and a big Hat, theres a very nice one at Grootberg somewhere.  I, and Im sure others, still remember your previous experience. :( Yep, the Rhino Tracking was great, just a bit "tense", my husband was very relaxed, my middle-name is "quick escape path". Just a couple of weeks after we got back Prince Harrys mate was charged and "gored" by a Rhino. I read the article to my husband who was shocked and said he wouldn't have gone out if he'd read that first. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

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Next we had an overnight at Hobatare Lodge, this was not on our itinerary and came as a surprise when we received our “updated” itinerary, it was “instead of” Dolomite, where we ended up with just one night instead of two, as anticipated. Whilst we were not happy about this, that is no reflection of Hobatare. The Lodge was very nice, we arrived in time for Lunch, and this was our view as we ate.

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We spent the afternoon at their terrific Hide, overlooking the waterhole, it was hot and dusty and unfortunately the Herds that were very active whilst we checked in and had lunch, had all but disappeared. We did a Night Drive too, saw a lot of the animals we had seen during the day, the other group saw Lions, we were a bit jealous of that but with Etosha looming, I felt sure we’d get our turn with the Big Cats. Hobatare is a very worthy inclusion on a Safari in this area, in fact I wished we had another night there to make better use of the Hide, but there you go, roll with the punches. I was very keen to get into Etosha.

 

Im going to roll Etosha into one big post as Ive already waffled on far too much. I had planned on writing a “concise” report with only a few photos, as I felt Namibia had been covered so well by many before me. Here I sit, far too many  pages on my Word document and well over a 100 photos so far. I have committed the mortal sin of not knowing or naming any Waterholes, so this will all be a bit random.

 

I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t like Jackals, I love ‘em, always there….just in case

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"mornin Mr Dog, mornin Mrs Pig"

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Elephants and Waterholes 

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You can never have too many Zebras, and Etosha is full of them 

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Okaukuejo, hmmm, I feel the need to elaborate on my opening comments here. Why didn't I like it? Maybe we'd just been spoilt by our accomodation so far. It certainly was a come-down. The room was gloomy, the shower cubicle got drenched when you showered. There was a   kind of linen "sheet" covering and forming the ceiling, all night something thumped around on this sheet. I ignored it, thinking it at least wasn't in the room. Imagine my surprise to wake up in the morning and find little piles of droppings on the floor. I suspect it was actually running around on top of the mosquito netting instead. Look, its Africa, vermin is part of the deal I know....its not as if we don't get Rats and Mice in our own Garden and Ive had Mice in the Tent before. Here with so many people and associated garbage, it didn't appeal. The meals were "buffet" style, breakfast had been all pre-cooked and was sitting in the "bain-marie", including the "sunny-side up Eggs", dozens of them stacked up in an Egg moosh.Yuk. Not a staff member in sight, obviously had cooked and ran. Dinner at night was good actually, Soup, BBQ, veggies, Salads, cake. My only criticism was watching the BBQ man lifting the raw Chicken out with Tongs (tick) then lifting Cooked Chicken off with same Tongs ( big cross).  Anyways, enough First World whinging. The Waterhole Chalets look nice, prime location and well ventilated and bright I imagine,  but they are as rare as Hens teeth. We stopped at Halali for lunch one day and it seemed to have a nicer feel to it, good food and very friendly Staff. Namutomi too was a nice surprise. I didn't make as good use of the Waterhole as others, husband wouldn't get out of bed and I wasn't inclined to wander around on my own in the Darkness here. Aside from that, I felt we had plenty of day-time Water-hole opportunity on our Drives. So probably for us, we'd have done just as well to have stayed outside the Gate. 

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We did have both Rhino and Elephant visit the Waterhole, the Rhino we could hear before we could see, snorting and thumping in the Darkness.

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And the next day, Lions at last

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What happens when there's a couple of Male Lions wandering around

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This is what all the fuss is about, and why not

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