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Published: June 22nd 2010
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June 7th
I woke up stiff as a plank of wood, I hadn’t slept on two sleeping mats as I typically do, and the roof of the truck is as hard as metal…weird eh?
Since we woke up so early we didn’t have much of a breakfast at the camp but rather just tea. Being the awesome driver that Farron is, he had made some sandwiches for us to munch on while we entered the park.
Before we knew it we had entered Etosha National Park and began searching for game life. Right away we had giraffes grazing next to the side of the road, a stones throw away from the windows of the truck. That really was child’s play because once we got to the watering hole about an hour into the drive we were surrounded by zebras, giraffes, springbok antelopes, eland, and tons of birds. We spent about 30 minutes at the watering hole, amazed at the social etiquette the animals had for each other. Only one species of mammal was really allowed to drink from the water hole at once. Rarely did we see a zebra drinking from the hole the same time a giraffe
was or an antelope. They each took their turn and it was an absolutely awesome spectacle!
After leaving the watering hole I tried getting some shut eye since the night before I woke up five or six times, and on top of that my stomach had begun acting up again. I must have had my eyes closed for about 10 minutes before David made the sighting of his life. We must have been going about 30 miles an hour when he and his wife Kelly spotted a leopard in a tree RIGHT on the side of the road. I jumped out of my slumber and got to the front of the truck and got a couple snapshots in before he jumped down. The morning had begun spectacularly and to top it off we had seen a leopard before lunch, (it is fairly rare to see a leopard, especially as close to the road as we had seen!).
We continued on through the park and I got some more sleep and rest for my stomach before we arrived at the Halali campsite to eat our lunches and enjoy a couple hours in the sun. Thankfully my stomach did get
much better and I was able to enjoy a dip in the pool as well as some sun tanning. Before we left the campsite Wendy and David found a rodent that ate bread and cheese out of their hands! I even had the chance to do so, it was great cause I have always wanted to since I had hamsters when I was eight years old!
So after feeding some game of the small rodent family we jumped in the truck and headed for the Etosha Pan, a desert like area in the national park. We tried taking some of the funny photos that you may have seen before, dear reader. They didn’t quite turn out how I had imagined but you get the idea.
After our brief stop at the Etosha Pan we headed for the Okaukuejo Campsite about 30 miles away. We all looked forward to it because at the camp there was a watering hole that they lit up at night with flood lights. After setting up our tents we all headed down to the watering hole and were amazed at what Namibia had to offer us. A rhino was quenching his thirst but before
long a huge elephant showed up and the horned animal knew that he should sciddadle. A few more elephants showed up and wetted their throats whiled about ten giraffes waited their turn on the outer rim of the watering hole. It was another perfect ending to a fantastic day. You will eventually be able to see a few videos of the day
here.. My stomach began acting up after about 20-30 minutes at the watering hole and so I skipped dinner and jumped in my tent to do some writing and watch a movie.
I really hope you enjoy the photos and this looooong entry!
Until next time, PURA VIDA!
-Brendan
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