Blogs from Etosha National Park, Namibia, Africa - page 8

After bush camping with the San people we had a nice lie in, until 11:00am!!!! Longest lie in we have had all trip really, although I was still wide awake from 5:00am it was nice not to have to rush around. Our first challenge was to make it out of the bush camping site without getting stuck again. The way we did this was to let down the tyres on the truck, drive down the sand road and then let them back up again before carrying on down the main road. This meant that we had about 45 minutes of waiting around in the midday sun when we were letting the tyres back up again but I didn't mind that. I found a nice bit of shade under a tree on the roadside and carried on ... read more

29 Sep - we drive through the Damaraland region today stopping off at Twelyfontein to look at Bushman rock engravings and a petrified fossil forrest....Yaaaaawnnnn. Sooooo boring, such a come down from yesterday's adrenalin rush. Great rock in the area just wish I could climb it rather than walking round it, lol. It's Team B's day off from duties so we head to the campsite bar for an early start on the Savannah ciders :) Later that evening the staff perform traditional Namibian song and dance for us including some audience participation, go Bruno go!!! Head back to the campfire with the intention of going to bed but Ulf has appeared with a bottle of vodka so Jason (the English surfer dude) and Jason (Canadian juggling dude) and I keep him company...an extremely drunken night follows ... read more

We joined the overland truck (it may have seats like a bus but apparently it's most definately a truck) in Cape Town and spent a week traveling up to Swakopmund on the west coast of Namibia, taking in Orange River, Fish River Canyon (the second largest canyon in the world after the Grand Canyon) and the amazing huge red dunes of the Namib desert on the way. Unfortunately we've had a (hopefully minor and temporary) issue with our photo back ups - when we get to somewhere more urban we're going to attempt a rescue so I'll save the blogs for the first part of the trip until then - hopefully soon! Swakapmund is a pretty town with wide streets and german looking architecture which has fast become the adrenaline sports captial of Namibia. And unfortunately ... read more

On Sunday morning we started the 516 km north via the towns of Okahandja, Otjwarongo and Tsumeb to the Sachsenheim Guest Farm (+264 67 230011) (Cost: N$60.00 pppn + $15.00 pv) (Location: S18 44.809 E17 15.670) On Namibian roads it is wise to be on the lookout for animals next to road. The biggest danger is in Kudus that can easily jump a 3 m fence to cross the road. You really don’t want a Kudu through the front window. The second problem is warthogs. A warthog under you vehicle lift the wheels of the road, you loose control and end up in the ditch. If you keep your eyes open you may also be as lucky as we were when we saw four cheetah's on the stretch between Okahandja and Otjivarongo. We pulled over and ... read more

Etosha National Park was spectacular! The highlight came on the first night/morning where we camped at an amazing water hole. Once we arrived (sunset) we sat at the water hole with our tripod and only left for dinner at 7pm and a short sleep break between midnight and 3:30am. The elephants were the first to show up followed by 3 to 5 black rhinos. When they were finished, the place was a bit less busy but we did see some more animals including a spotted hyena, jackals, giraffe, zebra, springbok, more elephants and rhinos. We went through a bit of a drought between 3:30 and 5:30 (guess we should have slept longer...) and then a black rhino showed up. It was quiet again until about 6:20 when the morning game drive that we opted out of ... read more