Friday 13th October
(The link above takes you to all the photos I took on the 13th October. There are a lot!)
| Introduction | Windhoek | Okonjima | Okaukejo 1 | Onguma | Okaukejo 2 | Mowani |
| Swakopmund | Hoodia | Namtib | Fish River | Springbok | Babylon’s Toren | Going Home |
We set off from Okonjima and were soon on the B1 heading north.
It was easy driving – a decent road and precious little traffic. We stopped in Outjo to fill up with diesel. There was fencing all along the road and the occasional shepherd looking after goats on the verge. (There was a few metres between the road and the fence.)
Some of the fields looked completely cleared of vegetation. Many of these field had charcoal burners at work. At first we thought this was dreadful but it seems that what they are doing is stopping bush encroachment which is good for the farmers. And it is a source of much needed employment and income for areas where there is little of either. It is probably the best thing you can do with a very thorny acacia tree! Google “charcoal in Namibia” to read all about it.
Eventually we arrived at Etosha National Park, signed in at reception and were told in which of the Waterhole Chalets we would be staying. We were very close to the Okaukejo waterhole – the reason Okaukejo exists. After unpacking we went to look at the waterhole and saw a few animals.
Then we joined a game drive to see what we could see around Okaukejo. The answer was rather disappointing – certainly to start with.
We then had a long period of trying to find some lions. Our wildlife guide and driver assured us that he could see one in the distance, hiding beside a tree. Possibly he was correct but I did not see it. There may have been brown splodge in my viewfinder or it may have been a bit of dust on my lens. Anyway we drove around radioing other game guides if they could see anything – they couldn’t. Eventually we photographed a ground squirrel – desperation indeed.
Things started to look up for we found a wildebeest.
We were heading towards Anderson Gate when we were told that there was a white rhino nearby. Our afternoon had been saved!
We then headed for home, passing a giraffe on the way.
Back at our lodge we checked out the waterhole then headed for dinner.
Dinner at Okaukejo was quite good. For mass market, which the encampment is, it exceeds expectations. We had been spoiled by the very high standards of Okonjima.
Back at the waterhole it was almost dark but there are some lights so that you can see what is going on – and quite a lot was.
And then we went to bed.
Saturday 14th October
(The link above takes you to all the photos I took on the 14th October in Etosha. There are a lot!)
The next stage of our journey was to make our way to Onguma and this meant a long drive through Etosha. We stopped at several waterholes near the edge of the main salt pan and saw lots of animals but most were too far away to get good photos.
We got mixed up with the geography of Etosha and thought we had to go through Halali. But this would have led to us going along back roads so we returned to the main through road.
We went through the Namutoni Gate and were soon at Onguma.