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(23 June)

We had breakfast at first light. A bit after 7 am we drove the 10-15 min to the Andersson Gate, our entry point for Etosha National Park. Gates open at sunrise, times changes everyday. Today the park was open 7.30 until 18.30. We were the seventh car in line, signed into the park at 7.35.

17 km after the entrance is Okakuejo. Here we had to stop and pay the entrance fee for the park, NAD 80/adult and NAD 10 for the car. Alex was free.

We then headed of on our self-drive in search of wildlife. The roads inside the National Park were of various conditions. Some quite good, others shook up our inner organs pretty good, even at very low speed.

Etosha covers more than 20.000 sq km, and is said to be one of the world’s great wildlife-viewing venues. The charm of Etosha lies in it’s ability to bring animals to you, when parked by a waterhole. The most important rule was to stay in the vehicle at all times, also at the waterholes.

This year the water supply is low, waterholes fairly small. Still, in each one, there were wildlife to be seen. It must be a very harsh environment for the animals, in this stoney desert.

We decided to stay inside the park the whole day, having lunch at Halili Camp. This enabled us to drive almost as far east as possible. We read in the log for recent sightings, that there were a greater chance of lions the further east we drove. That was true, we did spot a male lion in the tall grass at Okerfontein. It got up and walked away, as we moved slowly forward, we then spotted a lioness. According to the sightings log, it was supposedly a family. Maybe the cubs were hiding in the tall grass.

After our stop at Okakuejo waterhole, where we overstayed our planned departure time, with about 10 minutes, we set off towards Andersson Gate. The gate was closing at 18.30, we clocked out at 18.26.

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The vast Etosha Pan, an immense, flat, saline desert, is the essence of Etosha. Now, in the dry season, everything, from the elephants to the grasslands, seems cast in Etosha’s white, chalky dust. The pan is mostly dry, like now, but after a rain it will have a thin layer of water. It makes up a large part of the Etosha National Park.

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(22 June)

The first part of the road was the same dirt track as yesterday. Then we continued north on the gravel road we had come on yesterday from the south. We did meet quite a few more cars today. On some pick-up trucks people were riding in the back. Can not have been very nice with all the dust caused by the tires.

On our way between Osire and Etosha, we made a lunch stop at Otjiwarongo Crocodile Farm. It was a nice little place with a beautful garden, and lots of carp in a pond. We didn’t pay to see the crocodiles, just had them for lunch. It seemed to be a place where locals came for lunch as well. There was even a children’s birthday party in one part of the garden.

Lunch Pictures

During our drive we saw three oryx (antelopes) running along the highway. And, for sure, no drive without warthogs.

At the gas station in Otjiwarango a pick-up truck with two little kids in the back drove by. Whatever happened to seatbelts and carseats?

We arrived at our lodge in the afternoon, in good time before dark. Spent the afternoon doing laundry and watching birds outside our little cottage, then a nice dinner before bedtime.

Otjiwarongo was about half way between Ouhave and our next stop Etosha . Total driving time was about 4,5 hours, with lunch it took us about 6 hours.

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At Ouhave farm they had African cattle. One little calf was only a day old, so cute! In total they had 650 cattle. The skin was very varied in color, some almost shimmering.

Bianca made and sold products, like handbags, from the skin.

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When Bianca showed us our little octagonal cottage she told Alex he could sleep on the rooftop terrace if he wished. He was warned it might be very cold. A mattress was put up there, and made up for him with a duvet and two extra blankets.

At bed time we all lay up on the roof for a while, talking and watching the stars. We aren’t familiar with the constellations of the southern hemisphere, but we could easily find the southern cross. There were thousands, and thousands of stars. Such a beautiful, clear night. The sky looked vaulted. It was truly amazing!

Alex stayed up there, determined to sleep under the stars. He dressed in everything warm he had, a long sleeves t-shirt, another long sleeves shirt, a thin wool sweater, a rain jacket (he needed the hood since he didn’t have a good hat to sleep in), and a thin down jacket. He said he watched the stars for a bit, then fell asleep. He dreamed that he was so cold he went downstairs and went to bed. When we woke him up at 7.25 am on the roof, he thought he was indoors.

Temperatures were down to about 2 C during the night, but his hands were warm when he came down . Only his nose was a bit cold!

I think he was rather brave to sleep out there on his own under the African sky.

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(21-22 June)

We had a lovely stay at Ouhave Farm. The farm is run by Hans and Bianca. They have two children, Laura (18) and Rohan (16). They go to boarding school i Otjiwarongo, about 130 km from the farm. They go to different schools, a girl’s school and a boy’s school I assume. Hans is from family that origins from Germany. They came to Namibia in the early 1900:s. His parents have the adjacent farm, a trophy hunting farm.

Ouhave is a very large working farm. They have about 650 cattle (African), sheep, wild game.

The house zebra was seriously injured by a leopard about two months ago on the grandparents farm. It was moved here to recover. It stood a 10% chance of surviving, and is now doing well. It was tame enough to even try to walk into the house (not allowed, though). It was really soft to pet.

Water for the showers were heated by burning wood from the veld. On top of the brick construction there was a water-tank from where there were pipes to the bathroom. This construction was called a donkey. Maybe we waited to late to take our showers, because the water was quite cold…

The sunset from our patio was so beautiful. It is very quiet and peaceful. We could hear birds, and a jackal in the distance. The sunrise in the morning was just as beautiful.

Before dinner we had a glass of wine with Hans and Bianca by the fire while waiting for the boys to come back from hunting. We had dinner together with the family. Oryx, baked butternut pumpkin, a garden salad, and flatbread (like tortilla). It was a delicious meal. Lemon cake for pudding.

Breakfast was also eaten together with the family. They had a corn porridge, this is eaten with warm milk and biltong, a form of  dried, cured meat. It was pretty good. There was also home made bread, home made cream cheese, eggs, dried oryx slices, cheese, jams, and much more.

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(21 June)

Post written by Alex

First of all I had to put on a warm coat, good shoes and long trousers. When me and Rohan (the son at the farm) both were ready, we took his open car and drove to a small area. From there, we walked, maybe five minutes, to the hunting tower. We climbed up a ten meter ladder, and then we sat mostly quiet and waiting. We didn’t see anything besides some birds and a warthog.

After approximately an hour we went back to the car and drove to an other location. We stopped and walked for short time. After 30 seconds we saw a jackal. He hit the jackal, but it didn’t die. We ran after it, but it was too fast. We stopped and looked for blood trails but we didn’t find anything. He told me that you can’t eat it but that he tried to kill it because jackals eat their sheep.

We went back to the first location and 50 meters before the hunting tower we saw an oryx (a kind of antelope). Rohan grabbed his rifle and jumped out of the car. He aimed and shot. This time it died.

It was a fence but me and Rohan could easily go through. We went and looked for it. We found the or, but it was stuck in a bush. We pulled it out by the horns and laid it on the ground. We couldn’t take the oryx to the car, so we had to take the car to the oryx. We went back to the car. We couldn’t drive right to the oryx, because of the fence. We drove around, but it was just bushes everywhere. We went back to the fence and took it down. I stood on it, and he drove through and to the oryx. The car had a thick wire that we pulled it up in the car with. Then we went to the fence and put it up again. We drove back to the house, and slaughtered it.

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(21 June)

Happy Midsummer!

This morning we filled up in Gobabis, and also made a quick stop in Shop-Rite. It was a busy place this morning. A mix of people, some Herero women in their traditional dress. The dress stems from the Victorian styles worn by the wives of missionaries.

Today we had a 3,5 hour drive ahead of us. Most of it was on unsealed roads, or rather, one road. It was in fairly good conditions, though there was loose sand in some parts, and other parts were like an old fashioned wash board. Not much traffic. Lots, and lots of warthogs running across the road. There were fences, but they were elevated to enable the warthogs to get underneath. All the sand on the road make the landscape really dusty.

The last 15 km we drove on small dirt roads across farms. We had to stop to open and close gates between the fields.

When we arrived the gates to the farm were locked with a padlock. Some men were building a house on the land. He called the farmer, and we spoke to her. They were in Windhoek, and would be home in about an hour.

Two women of the staff let us in, gave us some juice and the wifi-password. Not very fast (the wifi, not the women).

We have seen at least 4 dogs, a horse, a house zebra, and a heard of sheep. It seem to be a fairly large working farm.

When the farmers were back we were shown our little house. It has a roof terrace. Alex is planning on sleeping up there tonight.

Asked for a cup of tea. Are now enjoying the quietness of the country side, and our roiboos tea, and some rusks.

There are two children here. A girl, 18 years old, and a 16 year old boy). In a bit Alex will go hunting with the son.
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(20 June)

We were ready to head off about 8 am. Stopped by Hillary’s to pick up our lunch sandwiches.

Ahead of us we had a 6 hour drive. Our estimate was that with stops and border crossing it would take at least 8 hours.

We’re heading back the same road we came. The almost completely straight road makes it tiring. In Botswana, though, there’s a lot of animals on the road sides. Cattle might suddenly cross the road. A herd os sheep came storming across the road from nowhere. On with the warning lights, and slam the brakes.

Again, there were two veterinary check points. At one of them we had to get out of the car and stand in a solution with our shoes, and also drive the car (tires) through the same solution. No search of the car, we only had our sandwiches, and i suppose that would have been ok. They did look into our trunk, but that was it.

There were a few ostriches. We stopped to take a photo, we were in the car, and a bit away from them. The Mom didn’t seem to happy still, protecting her babies.

We had a nice little stop at the Kuru Art Center and the San Museum. Got stuck in the loose sand, but managed to get out.

Ate our sandwiches at a road side rest stop.

Not much traffic, closer to the border there were quite a few trucks.

Border crossing was, again, smooth. Stamped out, stamped in. Then we had to pay a border crossing fee for the car at the Namibian Road Fund Administration.
Arrived at our over night stop in Gobabis, Namibia before dark. It took us a good 9 hours.
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