Journal from Namibia & Botswana trip

Sunday August 26

(Scroll down or click here for photos, photos added 27. september)

The time is 2 pm and I have just arrived in Gatwick airport in London. There is over 3 hours wait until checkin to the Windhoek flight starts. And there is nothing to do in Gatwick airport.

5 pm. People are starting to line up for checkin so I do too. While waiting for checkin to start I see a lady in another checkin queue be asked to measure her carryon bag in the bins that are all around the airport. She seems really pissed because she is sure it fits. And it does. Checking the bags seems very random though. I saw other bags on the flight that was much bigger than the one that got checked.... Tsk tsk. Whats the point of such a rule if it is not applied consistantly?

Finally checkin starts at Air Namibia desk. Before it was my turn I noticed that a lady was asked to weigh her carryon bag. And it seemed like she was told to removed something from it because of too much weight. That didn't look good because if they wanted to weigh my MiniTrekker bag then I would definately have a problem as it weighed about 12 kg which was 5 kg more than allowed. But fortnately all that happened when it was my turn was that they asked if I had a carryon bag. I answered yes and pointed to my bag on my back. And that was it. I asked for an aisle seat and if possible wih extra legroom.

Then it was time to go through security. All over the airport there are signs that you are only allowed ONE bag through security. When I was waiting to get through I saw a lady coming out with 2 bags so it looked like they meant business with that rule. But apparentl this rule too is only applied very randomly because I saw several people with more than one bag once I got through security. Oddly enough there were 2 security points. The first was the normal where bag is scanned and you go through a metal detector. A second point you had to removed your shoes so they could be scanned. Weird.

Once through security I sent a text message to Dave o let him know I had checked in. Close to 7 pm we met and went to get something to eat before the flight.

At 9.30 pm the flight left Gatwick on time. I got a nice aisleseat with extra legroom and nobody next to me so it was not as uncomfortable as these long distance flights usually is. Dave on the other hand didn't get extra legroom. He had specially asked for a seat at the doors but was told those seats would cost £50 so he just got a regular seat but he had 3 empty seats next to him.

Monday august 27

We landed on time 7.45 am in Windhoek airport. Its a small airport and we walked from the airplane to the terminal. We got our luggage fairly quickly with no problems whatso ever. Then we met the represants from Asco Car Hire who would drive us to the Asco garage so we could get the first backie. Everybody at Asco were very friendly and we could soon drive to Hotel Pension Steiner where we rested for a couple hours. Around 1 pm we went on a walk to a nearby Pick&Pay to get some lunch. After that it was waiting time for the us gang to arive.

Dave picked Becca, Pat, Jake & Sari up at the airport. But they did not have their luggage with them it was still stuck in Johannesburg.

Tuesday august 28

After breakfast Dave, Pat, Becca and Jake went to pickup the second backie. Meanwhile Sari and I went for a walk to find an internet cafe. The garden at Pension Steiner turned out to be a little birder heaven. There were lots of activities with different kinds of birds like Weavers building nests.

When Dave and the rest of the gang returned it was time for some lunch. That was quite an experience. The food at Pension Stiener is not the best. Some had a pizza and it was really greasy. I got a bratwurst with potato salad and well I didn't really like it.

Then it was time to go shopping for the 3 weeks to come. We went to the local Pick&Pay store. The food available was nothing like any of us knew from home. Everything ofcourse had different brands and it was a bit of challenge to find what we neeeded. Especially since there were a lot of things I don't like. Such as tomatoes. Thanks to all for accomodating my special eating habits. Anyway the shoppings carts got filled and the total came to around 1.800 Namibia Dollars which is approx 300 US Dollars so that was not too bad considering we got more than we ever used so a lot was given away at the end of the trip.

After shopping it was time for a town walk. We walked through the town to a church. On the way everybody was shooting away. I didn't shoot many people but Sari, Pat, Becca & Jake did. Sari got really into the shooting and at one point layed down on the ground to get just the right angle for a shot.

We ended the evening at the restaurant The Gourmet with a game meal. Dave, Becca and I got Springbok. Jake went for the known and got a t-bone. Pat went all out and got a meal with several different game steaks (Kudu, Oryx, Ostrich & Crocodile).

Wednesday august 29

After breakfast at Steiner we left for Etosha. Approx 450 km via Otjiwarongo and Outjo. We arrived at the Anderson gate at 3 pm. After paying annoucing our arrival at the gate we went for our first game drive before going to the camp.

Our first game drive was down the first detour on our left. Finally the wildlife spotting and photographing commenced. Within minutes we saw zebras at a waterhole and a few sprinbok's. After the game drive we arrived in Okaukuejo rest camp and got settled in the rooms.

At sunset all must be back in the camp before the gates are closed. Yes from sunset to sunrise all visitor inside Etosha is locked away behind fences and gates for their own protection.

Safely inside the gates it was time to think about dinner. On our way from Windhoek we stopped in a small town to buy some fresh meat to grill on a Brai.

We ended the first day in Etosha at a lit waterhole. The lighting though was really bad. All photos came out with a yellow tone. Maybe they will work in black & white. Will find out later. At the waterhole we saw Rhino's, Elephants and Giraffs coming down to drink.

Thursday august 30

Wakeup call at 0530 am to get ready for 6 am game drive. From the camp we drove south-east and on the way we stopped at the borehole Gemsbokvlakte where we saw Hartebeast, Springbock, Zebras and lots of small birds. We continued to Olifantsbad but there were no animals around. At the next waterhole Aus we saw elephants, zebras, springbocks and gemsbocks. At this waterhole there were also several other vehicles parked. Some were small vehicles but other were huge overland trucks with 10-15 tourists. It was rare that there were this many vehicles at the waterholes. We continued north-west towards the Pan and then we headed back to the camp driving south-west.

We returned to the camp around 10 am to have breakfast and relax until the next game drive around 1500. On the second game drive we saw our first lions at Okondeka. On the way back Dave stopped at a tree were we saw a Bustard under the shade. But it turned out that that was not what Dave stopped for. He had spotted a lizard crawling around.

Friday august 31

On the morning game drive we first stopped at Nebrowni where we watched gemsbocks fight as well as springbocks fight. There were lots of elephants taking mud baths. Generally there were lots of activity at Nebrowni.

We returned to the camp for breakfast and then we needed to checkout from the camp at 10. Our next camp was Halali.

On our way to Halali we stopped again at Nebrowni which again proved to be a very active waterhole. We arrived in Halali camp around 1330 where we had some lunch and then we spent some time at the camps waterhole and watched elephants. There were a little baby elephant that practised chasing other animals away from the waterhole.

In the afternoon we went on a drive for Rhino's. Unfortunately we saw no Rhino's.

Saturday september 1

On the first game drive this morning we came to the waterhole Goas. Here we saw a couple lionesses eating a kill. There were also a lion male which probably had eaten already. At first he was resting in the sun. After a while he went to get some water and after that he started to walk away from the waterhole. Then Pat drove our truck into a better position where we though the lion would pass the road. And sure enough the lion walked slowly across the road very close to our truck.

Then we drove back to where we saw the lionesses eating. One of them then took a swim in the waterhole. Hmm I thought lions didn't like water. While we watched the lions for a while a jackal came by hoping for some leftovers. Then elephants came to the waterhold to drink.

When we got back to the camp we had some breakfast and then it was time to move to a new camp. On our way we did a short detour back to the watergole Goas to see if the lions still were there. And boy are we glad we did. Because when we got there we saw a Leopard in a tree.



Sunday september 2

More to follow....



Wednesday september 19

Back home in Copenhagen.