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Published: August 6th 2007
Our last full day in Swakopmund was spent on the township tour. We visited a witch doctor, an artist, the chief of the local tribe, a local pub, ate traditional food including worms (which weren't too bad!) and some children performed a traditional dance for us. That evening we went to a really nice restaurant on the beach.
The next morning we began our drive up to Etosha National park. On the way we stopped at a seal colony where there were literally thousands of seals as far as the eye could see. They live at the seal colony all year around and visitors can get right up close to them. The place regrettably stank of seals but it was awesome to just be among so many of them. We spent most of the day driving, stopping at a large large rock formation called Spitzkoppe for the night. The locals, who ran the community camp, performed dance in traditional dress for us for almost two hours. The money donated was then invested in the local community, as were the campsite fees. Being at Spitzkoppe really felt like being in the middle of nowhere - no running water or electricity. The
night sky was so clear that night, the stars were fantastic.
We left Spitzkoppe early in the morning and arrived at Etosha National Park late in the afternoon. We didn't have much time to do game spotting as the sun was setting and game drives are forbidden after sundown. We did however see some zebras, springbok, a pair of lions and an elephant which was right up close to the road. The campsite we were at had a floodlit waterhole which we were able to see elephants, rhinos and a hyena at. Seeing them at the waterhole was quite special as it felt less invasive than driving in a big truck.
The game drive the next day was spectacular. We were able to see kudu, springbok, gemspok, impala (all antelope), elephants, zebras, wildebeasts and a variety of birds. It was stunning to see so many of them - Etosha (translated as great white place) is a large salt pan which means that its very flat with limited vegetation in many areas, so you could see animals for miles. We stayed at the same camp that night and saw even more elephants, including some baby ones with their mothers.
On the way out of the park we saw lions three times - the first a pack of females and cubs with one male, then two males seperately. Being able to see the lions is quite unusual because they sleep 20 hours a day, so seeing them active is pretty special. Our journey took us on to Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. We went to a really cool restaurant in Windhoek called Joe's beer house. I had zebra steak, which was really tasty. That evening we visited Dylan's a 'club' which was really little more than a glorified bar, which we then got lost on the way back from when our taxi driver didn't know the way. We were left at a petrol station where a kindly fellow helped us and in the end we got a lift home in a police van!
We left Windhoek the next day and spent the whole day driving. We crossed the border into Botswana. We arrived in the evening at a campsite called Ghanzi, where we stayed in really cool traditional huts made from sticks and grass (although they had
a lightbulb in!)
This morning we took a walk with
Bushmen from the area. While there are no bushmen living off the land left, their culture has been passed down and we were shown which plants they used to live off and use as medicine. The people are short (about 1.5m) and skinny, and they were dressed in traditional tanned cloth. We then drove on to Maun where I now write this entry. This evening we will camp outside of Maun.
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Miggie
non-member comment
Your eating habits
I notice that you are gastronomically working your way through the wildlife of Africa - can you tell me when you are going to start on the vegetation? From your mother x