Namibia and Botswana!

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Hi everyone!

Sorry for the delay in blogging. Turns out there's not a lot of computer cafe's in campsite and safari lodges. And where there is one, they are invariably slow as molasses.

I'm in Tanzania right now, getting ready to climb Kilimanjaro (wish me luck) and this internet is not that fast either. Or reliable (the power keeps cutting out). So, you're going to get a rush entry for the next few, and hopefully I can expand on it after I get home (in less than 3 weeks - wow, has time flown by!)

After Swakopmund we went to Cape Cross, to see the 80,000 Cape Fur Seals there - man, did they stink. But it was very cool to see them. As well, we got to see a jackal skulking around the edges looking for a pup by itself, or a carcass to munch on. He came quite close to the people.

That night, we drove to Spitzkoppe, an isolated rock formation in the middle of the desert, and I got to sleep out under the stars. It was gorgeous - never thought I'd be sleeping in Africa without a tent!

From there, we drove to Etosha National Park for two days. Wow. It was incredible - our campsite was beside a waterhole that was floodlit at night, so we got to see rhinos, lions, giraffe and elephants. During our day game drives, we saw tons more elephants, zebra, wildebeest, giraffes, springbok and orynx (the last two are types of antelope). On the way out of the park, we stopped to watch a herd of elephants, and one decided to mock charge us. Didn't like the look of the truck, I guess. The power behind an elephant is incredible!

We spent the next night in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, and then we crossed into Botswana and got a morning walk with the San, Kalahari bushmen, in the cold desert. It was a bit of a disappointment; it was early in the morning and very cold, and the San were not interested in showing us anything of the desert, and all the animals were sleeping (since it was so cold). We were supposed to have the walk the afternoon before, but a delay in leaving Windhoek meant we couldn't do it until the morning. Ah well, it was still somewhat interesting.

The next day we drove to Maun, and the following day went on mokoro's (dugout canoes) for an overnight camp in the Okavango Delta. This was incredible. Elephants, ostriches, hyenas, hippos - we could hear them all that night. The guides stayed up in case something wandered into the camp, and there were tracks of ostrich right beside the campsite the next morning. On our game walks, we didn't get to see too much (an elephant, quite close, a dazzle of zebra, tsessbe (antelope), and wildebeest) but were treated to an incredible sunset and sunrise. After we got back, we were able to take an overflight of the delta to spot animals. Tons of fun - at one point we were at 100 feet altitude!!

Our next stop was Chobe National Park. There, we did a great morning game drive and got to see Cape Buffalo. We also did a "boat" game drive, and got very close to elephant and hippo, as well as seeing crocs.

It was a fantastic ten days of wildlife!

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Photos

Sunset at Chobe
Elephant shadowed in the foreground ...