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Published: December 3rd 2008
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Black Rhino at Etosha
Large baby rhino suckling off mum at the waterhole at night. We arrived in Etosha after a long drive. We saw a few zebra, giraffe and Springbok on the drive to the first campsite. The Lonely Planet said that black rhino usually visit the waterhole between 8 and 10pm and sure enough we saw four during that time including a large baby trying to suckle off its mother. Although the waterholes are floodlit, it was an awesome moment to see these guys up close.
The next day we did a morning gamedrive to the second campsite Halili where we were planning to do a night gamedrive that night. We were a bit late getting away at 7:30am and most of the game animals were under cover although we did see our first hyaena and lions.
The afternoon gamedrive was not particularly fruitful although we saw Dik-Dik, Hartebeest and Kudu. Unfortunately the rains arrived that evening and the torrential downpour resulted in a cancelled night gamedrive and a lake where our tents were. After some emergency drainlaying and removing all the crap that was effectively damming the area, the tents were high and dry except one; luckily not ours.
At about 1am Geoff had to make a mad dash to
the bathroom to be sick and unfortunately only made it halfway. At least he made it out of the tent. It took him 2-3 days to come right and it was the wrong time to find that he had left the anti-nausea medication in the US. The only thing that managed to get him off his seat/bed was two male lions that had chased a bunch of Hyena off a zebra kill.
We then headed to Windhoek the capital of Namibia where Helen went out for a nice game dinner that included Oryx, Springbok and ostrich. We also managed to buy some of the antinausea medication Geoff had left behind for about $10 USD a tablet!!
The next day we crossed the border into Botswana and spent the night in a grass hut (Chalet according to our guide!!) We had a great walk with the San people the next morning who showed us how they foraged and dug up roots that stored water and what ants were best as a garnish.
Maun was our next stop which is the gateway to the Okavango Delta. We organised to do a flight over the Delta that day which was awesome.
We saw our first elephants, hippos and buffalo from the air and the flight unfortunately just wasn't long enough. The next morning we drove offroad into the delta to begin our Makoro (dugout canoe) trip. We managed to go through three vehicles on the way in with a stuffed clutch in one and a broken driveshaft in the other. Nevertheless the Intrepid team seamlessly transferred all the gera and passengers into the last remaining vehicle hoping that it wouldn't breakdown past the Buffalo fence in the company of lions.
We made it to the Makoro station and the local villagers poled us through narrow channels to our campsite. The trip was awesome and the water beautifully clear. We had an old woman poler who did an amazing job considering our collective weights and all the gear we brought. We set up camp and went for an afternoon gamewalk and saw zebra, baboon, mongoose and a leopard tortoise culminating in a hippo pool with about 30 hippos we got uncomfortably close to. The following morning gamewalk was much better with lots of giraffe and a close encounter with a honey badger. It was just good to get out and do
Oryx
Probably our favourite antelope so far (taste good too!!) They have a vascular network in their head which prevents overheating and they can survive in the most arid deserts. some exercise. We were praying that there would be more thatn one truck when we returned to the makoro station and were not disappointed. The trip back to Maun was pretty uneventful (and long).
We had a long drive to Chobe national park the next day which didn't seem so arduous when about 4 different groups of elephant showed up alongside the road. We got some great closeup photos of them and it was great to see them interacting with each other and one group had about 40 with 5-10 babies. We though that elephant spotting wouldn't get much better but it would the next day on the evening cruise along the Chobe river. Before that we had a morning gamedrive in the park which was a good chance to get close to hippo, impala, baboon and a few waterbuck. We also had a fleeting glimpse of a small rare bushbuck that Helen spotted. There were also a large group of warthogs with 4-5 mad piglets tearing around like blue-arsed flies. It made for quality entertainment.
That evening on our cruise on the Chobe river we were treated to an incredible spectacle of over 100 elephants coming down
Male lion on a zebra kill
We came across two male lions just after we saw 4 spotted hyaena with very large bellies. It is most likely the lions chased the hyaena off the kill. They were about 10 metres from the truck and we could hear them crunching bones like toothpicks. to the river to drink, bathe or just fool around. We saw a whole family group cross the river including a tiny baby whose trunk was the only part you could see above water as he crossed. We also saw tons of hippo, some Red Lechwe, waterbuck and impala, kudu and giraffes and buffalo from a distance. It was probably the highlight of the trip so far.
We got up very early the next morning to try and get to the ferry early across the river to Zambia. We didn't understand why until we got there. It was a complete shambles and took over two hours to get all of us and our truck across. We found out that two hours was a good time! Some people wait all day.
It wasnt far from the c rossing to Livingstone near Victoria falls. We went and had a walk around the Zambia side of the falls which at this time of year has very little water. THe cost of getting a Visa for Zimbabwe and back into Zambia has mneant we will do a Microlight flight over the falls tomorrow morning for about the same price and less risk
Blue Wildebeest
Not the Serengeti migration variety. More often by themselves. of cholera or robbery.
Tomorrow we head to Mfuwe in South Luangwa park to chill out for a couple of days before we meet up with our group again in Chipata near the Malawian border. It is supposed to be an amazing park with the best chance of seeing leopard. We are crossing our fingers that it will not get too wet for us.
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sydney
non-member comment
the place is just too beautiful
i have been there before its really great i agree with u, hope i will visit it again))