Onward to Etosha!

Our plan for Tuesday was fairly basic. Serving of breakfast at our pension began at 7:00am, and the safari would be picking us up at 7:30. The majority of the first day was purely travel to Etosha Wildlife Reserve. Windhoek, where we were staying is in the center of the country, and Etosha is in the northern quarter, so it was to be a long ride.


My internal clock was a bit confused and had woke me up at about 2:00am, worried we were oversleeping. Since I was up, I decided to refill everyone’s water bottles (the old-school large flat rubber bladders in a cloth bag) with hot water. Alexandra had said she didn’t want one when we went to sleep, so we had given Kalyssa two. At this point though, since they were both right in front of the windows, and I had noticed that my toes had gotten a bit cold even with my bottle, I was worried she may have changed her mind, and I gave her one of Kalyssa’s after refilling it.

Waking up when the alarm actually went off was very difficult. The beds were very comfortable, and had thick down comforters. That, in addition to the hot water bottles did a fairly good job of keeping us warm. We debated the benefits of having a shower when the room temperature was probably in the low 50s, but I decided it would be worthwhile. I got in and relished the warm water heating me up. I was actually not able to turn it up too high, as my hands were so cold, that anything that felt very warm on my body, burned my hands.

After I told everyone how much warmer I felt after the shower, Natalie decided to get in. Two minutes later, she called me: Could you come here? I went into the bathroom, and she was standing with a very shocked look on her face. She said that as she was rinsing her hair, the warm water went out, and it was cold---and she had to finish her hair with cold water. She was not happy.

Breakfast in Windhoek, Namibia

Needless to say, no one else took showers this morning. Allie headed down to an early breakfast, and the rest of us finished getting ready and packed up the room and joined her. The pension had a limited continental breakfast and/or made-to-order eggs and bacon. As we finished it up, a woman came into the room from New African Frontiers (the agency that arranged our Namibia activities) and introduced herself as Swenja. I had corresponded with her many times over the last 6 months via email, so it was nice to put a voice and a face to the name. She asked us how our night at the hotel was, and we said “Cold. There is no heat.” Her mouth dropped open, and said “really?” (She had arranged the hotel for us). We replied (in friendly jest), “but we did have hot water bottles.” She did say that this has been an unusually cold period the last week, and that it normally is not this cold here. But she did assure us our lodging in Etosha tonight would have heat, and is very nice.


With that, we brought half of our bags out to an awaiting van (the rest we are leaving in storage at the hotel) and climbed in. They took us a short distance to the Chameleon Safaris office, where a larger van, and our 2 soon-to-be compatriots (Mikey, and Izzy, from Scotland) met us. We signed a few papers, received a briefing of our itinearary (ours is 6 days, though Mikey and Izzy are only 3 days I believe, so they will depart half way through, and we may get new ones for the latter half) in front of a large map, illustrating which parts of the country we’ll be covering. After that, we jumped in the car and were on the road.

 
 

Signs You Don't See in the USA: Warning-Warthogs



Blogging on the Road



Most of the 5 hour drive was spent travelling through uninhabited, wide open African plains with silhouettes of mountains in the distance. As we were driving, we would occasionally see a family of warthogs trotting down the side of the road.  We made one stop on the way, for a bathroom, and leg stretch break, and by about 2:00, we had reached our lodging for the next 2 days:  Taleni Etosha Village.  This is a resort on the outskirts of the massive Etosha National Park.  We were welcomed at the lodge, with champagne glasses filled with apple juice, and sugar around the rims of the glasses.  After receiving our keys, we then went back to our respective lodges.  Natalie and I in one, and the girls in another.  The lodges were extremely unique.  Each one was a large permanent tent on a wooden planked platform raised about 2 feet off the ground.  The shower and toilets, though with full plumbing, hot and cold water, were open air surrounded by a screen of two inch logs (as well as mesh along the lower parts to improve the privacy.) These were both fully “outdoors” however, and were open on the top, but covered by a roof that protected the entire structure from rain and sun.  The tents zipped closed and had heaters in them, so at least we would be warm tonight. Each lodge also had a small refrigerator, and electric range outside, with a large eating/gathering area.  Very cool.  The only challenge for us was showering, as we knew that it would be 30s/40s (0-10 C) in the morning and the evening, but the showers are outside.

Our Room

Our Outdoor Bathroom

After 20 minutes or so to drop off our bags, we then headed out to the wildlife park. There are a series of gates to get in, and then it is just miles, and miles, and miles of open land with some paved, and some gravel roads throughout. We spent the next 2 and a half hours looking at hundreds of zebra, and springbok, a few dozen oryx, a dozen or so giraffes, a few jackals, an Ostrich, a Wildebeest and a Black Rhinoceros.

Outdoor Vanity and Shower (on Right)

The vehicle in which we were travelling was somewhat reminiscent of a large camper from its outward appearance. The passenger section seated 12 and was raised significantly from the driver’s cab to aid in viewing. Most of the sides and front of the vehicle were made up of windows, and the roof of our van opened up so that we could stick our heads out and take pictures.

The black rhino was the highlight of the afternoon and our guide said they can be difficult to find, and his last group almost didn’t see any until the very end. As we were driving, at one point a bus from another safari pulled up, and told our driver they had just seen one. Our driver got on the microphone and told us he had a treat for us, and we sped off to another section of the park, and sure enough, there was the rhino.

Shortly before sunset, (when the park closes), we headed back to the lodge.  We rested for a couple hours, and then enjoyed a dinner cooked by Oeckert at his tent including chicken kabobs, game sausage, steak, and all sorts of other sides.  Much more than necessary for our small group, but very good nonetheless.

SPECIAL SIDEBAR FROM KALYSSA:

Hi!  This is kalyssa speaking.  My dad forgot to put something on the blog on Sunday in Mauritius.  When we got back from the beaches and everything my dad dropped us off at the house when he went to return the car.  So we went upstairs and dad had the key to our room so we had to wait.  Well we put all our shells on a little dressure in the living room and a moment later one of the shells fell on the floor.  So I go and put it back up and go sit back down.  Then five minutes later the same shell fell off the dressure.  So my mom says “Maybe there’s something in it!” and sure enough there was a crab in it.  I played with it for about half an hour.  It would come out every now and then and it would go back in for a long time cause it was scared to death so I would put water on it and be as patient as I’ve ever been and ever will be and he would come out.  So dad got home with the key and everyone went inside our room except me and the crab.  It was time for dinner so I left the crab there and went to eat and my mom comes down with it and I got a little worried that she was going to get rid of it cause I wanted to keep it and have it as a pet.  So she tells me that she was going to put it in a plant.  I wasn’t happy but I was ok with it.  That crab was pretty cute crab.  I was going to name him Mr. Crabs.  Or crabby.  I’m going to miss the few hours I spent with him :]