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Week 2 of our Africa tour got off to a nice relaing start. We spent two days in the Amanpuri Lodge in Swakopmund which meant a break from the tent and access to bug free toilets and hot showers (it's the little things!). One week into our camping trip we have the whole process of putting up / dismantling the tent down to about 10 minutes. Even when doing it at 5am which we feel is quite impressive!
Swakopmund is the adrenaline capital and second largest town in Namibia. We arrived on a Saturday afternoon and quickly found out that Saturdays are very much like Sundays with everywhere in town closed. So we opted for a stroll on the beach. For anyone wondering - the Atlantic Ocean is just as cold in Namibia as it is in Clare!! Sand boarding in the Namibian Desert was our choice of activity in Swakopmund - reaching speeds of up to 57km (Mau) and 56km (Donal)! No need to ask who's writing this paragraph.
Leaving Swakopmund we set off for our first night of bush camping - no electricity, showers or running water, and long drop toilets. We wont go into too much
details on those. We climbed one of the granite peaks in Spitzkoppe and enjoyed a beautiful sunset (one of our new found hobbies) before indulging on a delicious dinner around the campfire as has become our evening ritual.
We were going so well on the trip, a TIA (This Is Africa) moment was bound to occur. It duly arrived on Tuesday morning when after a 7am departure disaster struck within the hour as our lando became stuck in soft sand on one of Namibia's dirt roads. With help from a local family, we tried to free the lando by emptying it's entire contents, including the two spare tyres, digging sand, releasing air from the tyres, using rocks and wood for traction. After three long hot hours we gave up and Darlington our tour guide hitched a ride to the next town where he arranged a construction vehicle to tow us. We could have done with the New Holland (Flan) or the Case (Mattie). Darlington arrived back not only with the tow truck but also a 24 pack of chilled beer. Hard to know which we were most happiest to see given the 32 degrees Celsius heat! After 5 hours
of a delay, we were finally back on the road.
We passed Namibia's tallest mountain Brandberg en route to the camp site and stopped briefly at the Damaraland Living Museum where we got some insight into the history and way of life of the Damara tribe. That evening, we met with another G-Adventures tour travelling in the opposite direction and enjoyed some singing, dancing and home made punch by the campsite fire.
Our next stop was one of main highlights of our trip - Etosha National Park. With over 28,000 sq. km. in size it is home to four of the big five (elephants, lions, leopards and rhinos) missing only the buffalos. We stayed in a beautiful campsite / resort adjacent to a natural water hole where we spent most of our free time in between game drives as well as sunrise and sunset. We had some magical encounters with rhinos and elephants at the waterhole. During our three game drives we also saw two sleeping lions, hundreds of zebra and springbok, giraffes, eagles, vultures, jackals, wildebeests and more. We left Etosha having seen three of the big five and eagerly awaiting our next national park.
Our
Sandboarding in Swakopmund
Mau's posture a lot better !Namibian adventure finished in the capital, Windhoek. Here we bid farewell to four of our fellow travellers but welcomed an additional member to the group. Our trip continues over the border into Botswana and we're excited to see what the next week will bring.
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