Do it yourself safari....

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Well as Lush has pointed out we did our own little Safari tour of Namibia in three nights and four days in a little two door car with four people and all of our crap. It was loaded down and a little cramped but it was well worth it....and the car ended up doing the trick...

It was not so much Charlie's driving that scared me as his lack of fear in the game park. Right in the park and there is Charlie getting out of the vehicle to go take a closer look a the giraffes. Then, not even 1 minute later there is a male lion on the road and we're driving right along side it, going past it, and then driving up from behind it to get another look. Luckily it was Charlie driving because there is no way, not in a million years would I have driven so close to the elephant and the Lion. Looking back, it does seem very unlikely that the animals would have freaked out and attacked the car, but it is just knowing that at the distance that we were at, if either one of those two animals would have wanted us dead...well I would not be writing this. I think the car came up to the knee cap of the elephant, and well the Lion....looking into his eyes....it freaks me out even thinking of it now.

While we only spent about one day in the park I think that we got to see more than most people do in several days...we got very lucky. The place was simply amazing and it was funny to notice that by the end of the day we were just driving by the zebras and wildebeasts even though five minutes in we stopped for every one. The hyena and caracal were probably the most rare and difficult animals that we spotted and since we did not get pictures of the Hyena, Charlie got out of the car to see if he could go track it down. Since we are not suppose to leave the car, his plan was simple if a car were to come by: I take off and he hides so as not to make things obvious. Then I return for him in a little while.

Favourite animals:

The Giraffe and seals. The giraffes were simply amazing and we got to see quite a few of them. They really do look like an animal left over from the dinosaur age. Awesome, awesome animals.

The seals too were super cute and if the did not smell so horrible I would probably say that they are my favourite animal. I just wish they were not so useless. Really, I don't think that they do anything, but it is funny watching them try to run away from you.

Dunes:

While in the park and the 2000kms were awesome experiences, I don't think that there will be much on this trip that will top the dune experience. From camping in Namibia under the stars, with a fire, to climbing what I reckon is the tallest dune there, it was truly an awesome experience. We climbed up the crest of the dune sometimes finding hard chunks of sand and sometimes sinking in like you would with snow. We were bundled up because of the cold temperature and high winds that were blowing the sand from the base of the dune on the left up over the crest of the dune where we were climbing. Unfortunately Jas and I did not have the goggles Charlie did. Nearly no life was around as, nor as far as the eye could see. Then, once we had reached the top we opted to boot ski down it (took about 20 minutes) rather than make our way back down the crest. It was a great way to start our safari. Plus we got to introduce the Aussie and Birgit to PB and J.

Anyway, I can't possibly speak highly enough about Namibia, it is simply an amazing country. Even though I have seen much of it in pictures and on television before getting here, it does not even come close to being the same. Simply incredible....The funny thing is that it has only really begun to hit me today....

I could not get that great of pictures due to the distance..sorry. I do have some good videos of hearding zebra while driving and with the elephant. The video with the elephant has a lot of F*##%^ and S!@!$ because Charlie let it get so close though.

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