Day 14 Over the Okavango Delta

Monday December 27th.

This morning I had a quick breakfast and then a short swim in the quarry again. The water was beautiful and warm. Then we were off. We drove for the morning to Maun, Botswana. There we did some more grocery shopping while most of us tried to get some pula (Botswana currency) from the ATM's. I had some difficulty, but finally managed to get some from the ATM at the airport. I also bought a new pair of headphones for my iPod.

Botswana is a cattle ranching country. Ever since we crossed the border we have had animals on the road. They are free range animals and there are no fences. We have to slow down for cows, horses, donkeys and sheep. Makes for an interesting ride.

Then we went to our camp, Island Safari. It is situated on a river, that apparently has both crocs and hippos in it, but we are protected by a fence. It's another nice campground with a pool. We hung out for the afternoon and I updated my blog, but without photos.

Then we went to the airport to take a scenic flight over the Okavango Delta. We were loaded into three planes, two five seaters and a twelve seater. I went with John, Richard, Roger, and Stan. I got to sit in the front seat with the pilot.

The flight lasted about an hour and cost $100US. We flew over miles of open land dotted with marshes, rivers, trees and grasses. We saw some elephants, hippos, giraffe and a few antelope I couldn't identify from the air. Unfortunately it was very difficult to get photos from the plane and I'm quite disappointed with mine.

I was also disappointed with what I saw. I think I'd seen too many National Geographic documentaries about the Okavango where you seen lots of water and lots of animals. The reality for us was that it's basically the dry season in the delta, as the rains from Angola have yet to arrive. As a result the area looked a lot drier than I expected and had more trees and grasses too. And there weren't as many animals as I expected either. However, I'm glad I did it and did enjoy the ride and trying to spot the animals from the air.

Afterwards we all had a beer in a bar near the airport and then drove back to camp for dinner. While they were cooking, Larry, John, Edward and I had a swim to cool down.

After dinner, Retief gave us a long briefing about what to expect and what to pack for our three day, two night bush camp trip into the delta on mukoros (wooden dugouts). There are no showers or toilets, no electricity, just bush, water and animals. Should be lots of fun.

Now off to bed to get ready for another early rise.

Day 13 Ghanzi Botswana

Sunday December 26th. Happy Boxing Day... Sorry I wasn't there!!

We had a buffet breakfast in our hotel at 6:30 and packed and were ready to leave by 7:30. Said our sad goodbyes to Pia and Leland. We now have Bella from Sweden joining us and another American girl is missing. She was supposed to meet us but she's a no-show. We think her flight was cancelled in the States because of bad weather.

The first stop was at the Windhoek Airport to see if John's bag might be there. As it turned out it was there!! The confusion was caused by the fact that we had two people with missing bags from different flights. When our guides phoned and tried to find them, someone screwed up and put John's name of Ben's bag and vice versa. As a result no one really knew where either was. John's bag with Ben's name on it was shipped to Etosha, but when we arrived looking for John's bag they told us they didn't have it. But they didn't tell us they had one with Ben's name on it (which was actually John's!). And so on..... Now to find Ben's.

The next stop was by the side of the road as the clip holding the diesel hose had broken and we needed to repair it or burn out our clutch.

The third stop was at a grocery store in a small town that was thankfully open because the guides needed to buy some fresh food for us.

Next we stopped at the Namibia/Botswana border. The crossing was quick and painless. Shortly after that we stopped for lunch at a picnic spot beside the road.

Then, after a two hour drive we arrived at Ghanzi and the Trailmakers Camp. It had started to rain as soon as we got to Botswana, which is the Kalahari Desert. As a result the two activities that we were told we could do have been cancelled due to wet weather. We were supposed to have a bushman walk and after dinner and we were to witness a traditional bushman dance around a fire. Apparently bushman of the desert don't know how to deal with rain!

Now we are camped about ten kilometres up a dirt road beside a quarry. We all went for a swim in the clean, clear, water of the quarry. Then dinner and shortly after to bed.

Day 12 Christmas In Namibia

Saturday December 25th.

It's Christmas! But it sure doesn't feel like it. It's hot, no snow, there are few decorations and I'm wearing shorts!

Today we drove from Waterberg to Windhoek. We tried to buy groceries but all the stores were closed. We stopped at a gas station for a pee/smoke break. There was a local market with hawkers trying to sell their souvenirs. I bought myself a cooper bracelet for Christmas.

Then we drove until we arrived at the Safari Court Hotel just outside Windhoek by about 1:00. We had the rest of the day to ourselves in this very nice hotel. There was a beautiful pool to swim in and they had wi-fi! I was able to pick up and send e-mails but could not access my blog. They had blocked all blogsites and Facebook and the like, because they didn't want people tying up their computers. I told them I had my own computer, but rules are rules. Very frustrating.

So, after e-mailing, I reorganized my backpack, cleaning and sorting it. Then I had a swim. Then using Skype I called home and wished everyone a Merry Christmas. I talked to Mom, Dad, Chris, Megan and Danny. Nice to hear everyone's voice and to see they were having a good time.

Then we had our Christmas dinner. It was right at the hotel in their restaurant. It was buffet style, with beef, lamb, chicken and lots of other dishes. Unfortunately no ostrich!

During the dinner Leland said his goodbyes and gave everyone a card with one of his photos on it.

Day 11 Waterberg and Random Thoughts

Friday December 24.

We left early again this morning and did a short hour long game drive to the park exit. We saw a couple of warthogs and then stopped at a waterhole where we saw zebra and giraffe drinking as the sun came up. Got some beautiful photos.

The rest of the morning was spent driving. We stopped at two towns to get supplies of water and what not. The second town was quite big and looked quite prosperous. There seemed to be a mad frenzy of Christmas shopping, especially in the large grocery store.

We continued and arrived at Waterberg Plateau, our new campground, about 1:00. We set up camp and had a good lunch.

In the afternoon a group of us went for a hike up onto the Waterberg Plateau. The plateau is at least twenty kilometres long. The road out of the camp starts off gradually but quickly turns into a long fairly steep hill. Then we branched off onto a foot path that became a rock climbing exercise. John, Stan, Roger and I led the way and we took the steeper more challenging route. When we got to the top (about 45 minutes) we climbed a rock pillar there. That's where we are posing in the photos.

On the way down John and I jumped into the camp pool fully clothed, to cool down and wash the sweat off of us. Then back to the camp for a couple of beers before dinner.

Our Christmas Eve dinner was provided by the guides: steak, chicken kabobs, squash with spinach, potato salad, and a bean salad. For pudding we had jello with caramel string and whipped cream.
We also celebrated John's birthday which is tomorrow.

Then some sitting around talking, drinking and limbo dancing?!?!

T'was the night before Christmas

And all through the camp..... (some random thoughts)

So far the trip has been everything I hoped for and more.

My tent mate John, is an excellent guy and just as immature as I am. We have similar interests and ideas. We are both into exercise and do ½ marathons and triathlons.

John and Ben, are still waiting for their bags to arrive... both got lost in transit on two separate flights. They have been lost and found a couple of times during the trip, but have still not arrived, and there appears to be little hope.

Camping life is good. So far the washrooms and showers in the camps are better than expected and are actually quite clean with normal toilets.

The three guides are great young men. They are friendly, helpful and lots of fun. They obviously love their jobs. They work very hard guiding, cooking, buy groceries, repairing tires, doing anything that's needed. They are on duty 24 hours a day. Because they can't be bothered setting up a tent for themselves, they sleep on the top of the truck. The one night it rained I could hear them scramble into various parts of the trunk. I found Retief sleeping in the luggage area and the two others sleeping in the sitting part of the truck.

The food is great. Breakfasts and lunch are sometimes just cereal or sandwiches with salad, depending on how much of a hurry we are in to getting somewhere else, but dinners are very good, especially considering where we are and how they are doing it.

We all have a work group that we are assigned to and we rotate through the chores daily. There is packing the truck, washing up, keeping the cooler boxes clean and tidy, and cleaning the inside of the truck. Works well.

Sleeping in the tent is good. They are roomy, more so than Machu Picchu, and we sleep on two inch thick foam mattresses. Life on the road is fantastic!

Day 10 Game Drive!

Thursday December 23.

We got up early to get underway before the heat of the day. The animals are more active in the morning and late afternoon when it is cooler.

We set off and drove east through Etosha Park. Right away we saw springbok, zebra, and gemsbok. As we travelled along we stopped whenever we saw a group of animals or something different. We also stopped at a couple of waterholes. The land is flat bushveld, with low bushes and small acacia trees. We saw blue wildebeest, giraffe, kudo, black backed jackals, various birds, including a secretary bird. We saw a couple of lions and a cheetah too.

We arrived at our new campsite, Namutoni, about 5:00 and set up quickly while they made a quick delicious South African dinner. Then John, Ed, Tessa, Ben, Katherina and I went on a night game drive. We set out at dusk. It was a beautiful night, warm, still, full moon, thunderstorm in the opposite direction at a distance. It was in small ten seater jeep. As the driver drove he shown a high powered red light around to catch reflected eyes. We saw two small spotted gannets (small nocturnal cats), hyeana, jackals, three elands, lots of zebra and giraffes and a leopard that just calmly walked across the road in front of us. Great experience!

Back and immediately to bed.

Day 9 Living Museum and Etosha

Wednesday December 22.

After packing up by 7:00 we drove to the Living Museum. It's a tribal village set up by the Himba tribe to show their traditional lifestyle and customs. There were a number of them demonstrating cleaning hides, blacksmith skills, jewelry making, game playing, explaining herbs and cures, and finally doing some traditional dances for us. Then they sang two Christmas songs, one of their and one of ours – Silent Night.

After that we drove to two villages, one for a snack and the other for supplies for us and for fresh veggies for our food.

I was wondering if the Himba women only dressed (or undressed!) in their traditional way for the tourists, but I actually saw one shopping in the store, surrounded by clothed people who paid no attention.

Then we drove to Etosha National Park. On the way to our campsite we saw a few animals, mainly antelope and ostriches. We set up camp and then headed for a swim in the beautiful pool. It was definitely Africa Hot Today!. As we drove north we left the dry desert heat and the humidity climbed. The temperature was high thirties. So the pool felt really good after a hot day on the truck. We are staying at Okaukuejo campsite. It is built right beside a waterhole.

Then about a half hour before sunset we walked to the waterhole lookout. You can sit there and watch various animals come to get a drink. We saw springbok, impala, jackels, three giraffe (who stayed in the distance), zebra and five black rhinos! - a pair and when they left a third showed up, and then a mother and baby.

After dinner I went back to the waterhole and watched all five black rhinos. It was totally dark but the hole was lit up. They were all around the waterhole drinking and were in no hurry to leave. It was great to see five of them because they are endangered.

Back to sleep before another early morning.

Day 8 Cross Point Seals and Native Tribes

Tuesday December 21. Today we had breakfast by the A frames and then headed north up the coast. We stopped seven times today for different activities. The first stop was at Cross Point to see the largest Cape Fur Seal colony in the world. We were there at a good time, as the mothers had all just given birth. There were hundreds of pups around, but unfortunately, a number were dead, either crushed by the bulls, or orphans whose mother hadn't returned from the sea.

The second stop was to see a shipwreck along the Skeleton Coast. The ship had run aground last year after being towed.

The third stop was at a small village called Uis. This town used to be the site of the world's largest tin mine, but now the mine is exhausted. So, the town is also focusing on the tourist trade.

The fourth stop was at a roadside stall to buy some trinkets from some women of the Himba tribe. They are almost naked, cover themselves with a red ochre mud and apparently never wash. They were selling some small jewelry bracelets and we were encouraged to buy something as a means of supporting “sustainable tourism”. The tribes are having a hard time in their traditional roles as herdsmen and farmers, so they sell things to tourists in their traditional clothes. That way they get to stay themselves, preserve their culture and make a living.

Next we stopped further down the road to see some members of the Herero tribe. We met one of these ladies in the townships. The women wear a horned hat, to symbolize the cows that they tend, and beautiful patterned dresses.

The sixth stop was at Namibia's first World Heritage site, called Twyfelfontein. It's a rocky area that has rock pictograph art created by Bushmen 5000 years ago, depicting various African animals.

Finally we stopped at a strange geological formation, where the rocks are formed in large crystal tubular shapes.

We arrived at our camp, Abu Huab, in Damaraland, shortly afterwards. As we set up our tents, the guides changed a flat tire that we discovered that we had. Then we had a delicious homemade soup. The guides had arranged a tribal sing song for us at the bar in the camp. Five women and one man sang a number of tradional tribal songs and then we had to join in and sing and dance with them. They sounded great, like Lion King type songs.

Then back to the camp to have a fish (large snook fish), sweet potato and beet root dinner.

Day 7, Sandboarding and Tobogganing

Monday December 20th. Today Richard, John, Leland and myself and the three guides Retif, Verron and GP went for breakfast at a restaurant in town. Then we headed back to the A frames to be picked up for our next adventure. We were loaded into a mini-van (John got the door closed on his fingers!) and we were driven out to the dunes to go sandboarding.

After some basic instruction we climbed the 90 metre dune, wearing ski boots, a helmet and carrying our sandboard (which is the same as a snowboard). Very tiring climbing in sand! The first time down the hill was challenging. You had to stand on the board horizontally across the dune, facing uphill. Then using pressure from your toes (to slow down) or your heels (to get going down) you tried to keep balanced and head down. The first run was fairly successful. Then back up, rewax the board and try again. This time much better. The third run was a mess, because there was a girl in front of me who was having some trouble and I was afraid of hitting her. The fourth time, the instructor met us at the top and let us try the other option (which some people were doing the whole time because they were afraid of standing). They gave you a rectangular piece of panelling and you laid on it, with your feet hanging of the end and hold up the front edge so it wouldn't plow into the sand. Then away you went, down a very steep 90 metre dune, at speeds up to 70 kms! I completed two runs of that at 64 and 66 kms and then climbed up yet again for the last run down on the sandboard. That was the best and I was able to basically get to the bottom successfully. However, I didn't manage to learn to do a turn.

As you can imagine we all had sand everywhere, eyes, nose, mouth, ears and all over the rest of us. They feed us a sandwich lunch with a drink and then they drove us back to the A frames for a much needed shower!

Richard made reservations for us at the Tugboat Seafood Restaurant down on the beach. Richard, John, Leland and myself had a great seafood dinner and a great time talking and chatting. I had a fish fillet that came with a large prawn, calamari, potatoes and veggies. For dessert I had fresh fruit with a bit of ice cream.

The rest of the group had a birthday party for Vernon, and somehow forgot to tell us until we already had a reservation. He will be 21 on the 29^th, but someone cocked it up and threw the party for him on the 21^th.

This afternoon, I wandered around town buying some fruit, new sunglasses (as the big silver ones broke in half) and now I am updating in the offices of the company where we booked our tours. They have wi-fi for clients. Tonight the five of us are planning on going out for a seafood dinner.

Day 6, Swakopmund and Township Tour

Sunday December 19th. Up at 4:00, loaded and gone by 5:30. Long drive today on a very bumpy dirt road and I was in the backseat with my buddy Edward. We stopped at a tiny town called Solitaire that had a post office, a general store, a bakery and gas station and not much else. Later we stopped at the sign that said we were at the Tropic of Capricorn and we took a bunch of group photos. The third stop was at a canyon lookout that was quite nice.

We saw some ostriches and a couple of gemsbok, or oryk, along the road. The land is getting drier and drier as we headed north and then west. By the end of the ride we were in true desert with virtually nothing growing and lots of sand dunes. We arrived at Swokomund on the Atlantic (Skeleton) coast by noon.

We were immediately taken to a tour activity place where we could sign up for activities. John and I signed up for another township tour for this afternoon, and to go sandboarding tomorrow.

Then we were given our hamburger lunch in the activity shop and brought to our new home for two nights. It's an A-frame complex. John, Richard, Leland, Edward and I are rooming together.

After we got settled in our rooms some of us (John, myself and about six others) were picked up for a tour of the townships. It was the same type of miserable surroundings with happy smiling children everywhere. We were taken to the homes of three women, including a woman who was chief of her tribe) from three different tribes and given an insight into their lives. At the end of the tour we were taken to a local bar in the township where we had a beer and then taken out behind to a hut where the served us a traditional meal. This included a paste type bread, beans, some nuts and fried caterpillars! I tried it all, including the caterpillars (I ate three, I think the beer helped!).

In the evening the whole group had a reservation for dinner at a local Italian restaurant. We had a few drinks and some really good game meat. I had a platter of sprinkbok, oryx and kudu, all farm raised or culled from herds. I have to say it was the best red meat I've had in years.

Then we went to a local club and had a couple more drinks. John and I challenged Retif and Vernon at pool and won two out of three games. Fun evening and then back to the A frames to sleep.

Day 5, Dune 45 and Bushman Frans

Saturday December 18th. Up at 4:00 and load up on the trunk and leave by 4:30. Drive 45 minutes to the true Nabibian desert and the sand dunes. Arrive at dune 45 and we all climb up the 120 metre dune to sit at the summit and watch the sunrise. Spectacular colours and vistas. We had a great time up there taking pictures and posing for them. Then John and I ran down the ridge, lots of fun.

When we got down the guides had made us a great hot breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, brown beans and sausage.

After that we drove further into the dunes to take a tour of the dunes. We all paid 220 Nabibian dollars for a tour with “Bushman Frans”. We were shuttled in smaller trucks further yet into the dunes. Frans knows and understands the desert very well. He told us about the history of the area, how the bushman fought the Europeans who were hunting diamonds. Then he should us how to find some desert animals, including spiders, beetles, lizards and a sidewinder snake that were hiding beneath the sand to escape the heat. Then he taught us some basic survival skills on how to survive in the desert. For example the shape of the dunes tells you the compass direction because the wind always blows from the west in the morning and the east in the afternoon. The end of the hike was up over another dune where we could see a white limestone flat area and some trees that had been dead for eight hundred to a thousand years after the dune cut off the flow of the water source that would occasionally water the trees. As the water dried up and sunk lower in the water table the tap root of the acacia trees couldn't reach the water anymore and they died. Frans was a great guide.

Then we drove back to the camp. We had lunch and hung around for awhile. The wind was blowing and sand was everywhere. Then we set off in the truck to Sesriemvlai Canyon, which is nearby. The area is made from conglomerate rock. The canyon is pretty deep and attractive from the top, but we walked down into it to walk along the dirt dry bottom. Good views there too.

After we came back to the camp again, Richard and I went for a walk to the camp store to get a cold drink. We sat and drank it there and watched the social weaver birds and their colonial nest. When we got back, I sat and listened to my iPod for a bit, until Larry, 47 from New Zealand, came and talked to me. Talked about our boys, he's traveling with his 17 year old, he was asking about my 4 over 5 and then we talked about exercise, triathlons and the like.

Then update this while waiting for dinner. It turned out to be steak. Very good. Shortly afterwards we turned in for another early rise.