Epupa Falls

Day 11 March 11th 2008
From Etosha to Epupa Falls

We picked up another hitchhiker! This dragonfly landed on our bull bar and rode along for several kilometres. It really seemed to enjoy the breeze and braced itself into the wind! At least it is prettier than the locust I had on my window! LOL

The roads to Opuwo were good, even though there were extensive roadworks from D3700 we still made excellent time. Opuwo is a tiny, very African, town that has a bustling market and large, busy, main street. We stopped briefly for fuel before heading on to Epupa.

The roads deteriorated after Opuwo. The effects of the recent floods were more apparent as we climbed into the mountains. Sections of the road were washed away, sometimes almost the entire road was destroyed and we had to pick our careful 4x4 route across the most navigable sections. The road markings in Namibia are excellent, there is a road sign whenever one is required. Yet I was highly amused to see that each damaged section had a ! sign before it, from both approach sides. Some poor fellow obviously had the dubious privilege of hand delivering these ! signs at every hazard. And some of the crossings were very !

Then we got to the river crossings. Some areas are just dips in the road (marked with a road sign, of course) while others do have a concrete causeway. The extent of the floods was often apparent here, with the debris being trapped against the concrete. Sometimes we had to wait for an earlier arrival to get across the bridge. This poor cow was having a bad time of it. She kept stepping close to the edge and slipping off the concrete. She did make it safely to the other side though.

Most of the river crossings looked more like this. Sections of the road were totally washed away and navigation involved assessment, decision, and careful driving in low range. Simon's driving ability really came to the fore here and I was grateful for his skill. In sections the mud was still quite deep and looked very icky and sticky. If we had gotten stuck it would have been a gooey nightmare trying to get ourselves out. Yes, very grateful indeed!

Finally we came to the last village before reaching the falls, and our largest river crossing yet. The river here had burst its banks and totally flooded the village. It was probably about 200m/600ft wide at the crossing point, two thirds of which covered village fields. This meant mud, unknown hazards and who-knew-what else!

We were debating our options when a very well turned out policeman appeared. After the obligatory African greetings, we asked him about the road to Epupa. He told us that he had just come from there and the road would be much better after we had crossed the river. He warned us not to pay attention to the locals at the river, they would deliberately direct us into an area that would get us stuck, and then charge us N$800 to help us get out. Then he carefully explained the route we should take to get through the flooded river. His advice was pure gold, and we got across - much to the annoyance of the rogues waiting for their ill-gotten gains!

The roads were indeed much better, exactly as Mr Plod had explained, and we were able to make better time. From here onwards we climbed continuously into the mountains, the air grew cooler and the roads were drier. (And still expertly signposted.) The bush was lush and green and we saw many goats and cows grazing contentedly. And then I noticed they were dalmatian cows! Yup, they had spots like dalmatians! Some of them were white with black spots, and some black with white spots. I was thrilled - they looked so cute! I found out later that these are Nguni cattle and their hides fetch quite a premium due to their unusual colouring.

When we got to the falls the first thing that struck us was the noise. It was deafening! Like being next to the motor of a huge 16-wheeler at full throttle! The next thing was the flooding. Water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink! When we went on our tour the next day we got to see the full extent of it, and it was awe inspiring!

There are 4 campsites at Epupa Falls. The first one, right above the falls, is a community-run campsite. It is basic, but very neat. The next 3 are privately owned and have mod cons like electricity. We elected to stay at the community campsite, mostly because it was empty and we had the place all to ourselves. (Although one other vehicle turned up a bit later.) My greatest desire was a hot shower, and the camp attendant dutifully disappeared and returned with a wheelbarrow full of wood to stoke the donkey boiler at the shower. Hot showers on tap! Yeah!

As the sky was clouding over fast and we were anticipating rain, we set up camp very quickly. Simon liked the idea of being right next to the water, so we positioned the truck about 10m/30ft from the water's edge and set ourselves up. Notice the falls directly behind the nose of the truck?

We quickly put together a meal and packed everything away in order to beat the downpour. As it turned out, it only rained later in the evening, so we were able to sit out under the stars and enjoy the night. Simon had negotiated with the camp attendant to organise a load of firewood. so we had a lovely bonfire going with a kettle on it to make some mint tea. I figured we would sleep very well with the white noise of the falls to lull us. However, I had not reckoned with the storm that would follow. It kept me awake for quite a while, worrying that we would be flooded out and swept downstream!

Only 3 zebras and a giraffe

Day 11 Tuesday 11th March 2008
Halali to Okaukuejo - Etosha National Reserve

Indeed, the animals were in the Namutoni region, for we saw fewer large mammals as we drove to Okaukeujo. However, we were very amused to be stopped by a couple of German tourists who advised us they had seen "only 3 zebras and a giraffe!" We told them about the elephants and buck we'd seen at Fisher Pan and they took off in a cloud of dust to "see the big game" - straight past a small herd of Hartebeest. We laughed. They wouldn't see anything if they drove like that all day!

This dirty fellow had obviously had a wonderful mud bath! They might have seen him even at high speed.

They may even have seen these giraffe, grazing on the tops of the trees. There were about 8 giraffes in this herd. The very large one on the left towered over the others, and they were all feeding on the tops of these acacia thorn trees.

Please notice the lush grass and lovely yellow flowers and lavender bushes. The landscape was exquisite after all the rains and I took several photos of the terrain and the flowers. They didn't come out very well, unfortunately. When my camera is on zoom, I struggle to snap photos when we're moving. The zoom blurs too much, even with the Steady Shot activated.

Anyway, our German friends would definitely have missed the smaller creatures as they travelled. Such as a small flock of guinea fowl scurrying through the flowers. They are exceptionally stupid creatures, and would run in different directions, bumping into each other and getting totally flustered, somehow not getting out of the way of the car if they were in the road. Nature's comic relief! They look pretty though, their dappled grey and iridescent blue against the flowers.

And our Germans would definitely miss the extremely shy and very elusive klipspringer. This little guy is almost impossible to catch on a photo, as he normally hears you long before you hear him and takes off like a self-propelled ballistic missile! Fortunately Simon is very appreciative of the necessity of cautious driving and silence (sometimes we would travel in silence for an hour or so, until we saw something, which we would point out in low tones) so we did happen upon a klipspringer on 2 occasions. Unfortunately this was the best photo I could get of the tiny fellow. The other photos are obscured by foliage.

Around mid-morning we stopped for breakfast, cooking oats as usual. Only this time I managed to spill the almost-cooked oats over my leg! (I did mention that I get boiled and fried as often as my food! That's why Simon usually does the cooking! LOL) Having screamed in agony and been doctored by my ever-patient (and somewhat impatient "how do you always do this?) wonderful man, Simon started a new batch of breakfast and noticed that the spilled oats was being rolled away by beetles! We couldn't believe it! They came in, rolled up a ball of oats, and rolled it off somewhere. Just like dung beetles! What surprised us more was that we didn't see a single ant.

Breakfast over, we continued down to Okaukuejo, but there were no more large mammals. We did see several giant spider webs. Some of them were over just a branch of a tree, while others actually covered the whole tree, some over 1.5m/5" in height! My dad has told me about bird-eating spiders. I don't know what spiders these were, we didn't see any of the spiders themselves (I didn't want to go looking, frankly), but these webs looked large enough to stop a small bird!

We passed a watering hole that was absolutely covered in storks! There were hundreds of the birds, all just wandering around the water hole doing like an afternoon tea party. They were not too upset by our presence and we drove very close to the water, to discover it was man made! You can see the concrete edge of the trench in this photo.

Anyone who knows birds, was this a migration stop? They weren't nesting or anything, just congregating around the water like a rest stop.

Further along I noticed a large chameleon crossing the road. We went back to take a photo and he really didn't appreciate the interruption. He turned around and went back the way he came, climbed into a shrub at the side of the road and went to the highest point furthest away from the road. He obviously was camera shy!

Well, that was the last animal we saw before we got to camp. The last couple of hours were just bush and scrub and a few birds flying too far or fast for us to get a picture. I did try to take some photos of the landscape, and I got a couple of lovely photos of the beautiful flowers that were scattered all over the place. Besides the ubiquitous yellow flowers that have appeared so prolifically in so many of these photos, there were delicate whites, pretty pinks, and even deep, deep blues in different areas.

We made it into camp quite early and were assigned to a camp next to a tree with huge nests in it. The lower branch on the left hand side of the tree is being supported with a large, ladder-like wooden structure. The nests must be very heavy, as one was also lying on the ground under the tree. Breeding season was in full swing as the adult birds were constantly swooping in with beakfuls of yummy grubs for the hungry chicks, and the cacophony that ensued when an adult when into the nest was deafening. How did the adults know which chicks to feed?

The adults were not averse to grabbing a morsel for themselves either. We had delicious grilled steaks for dinner, and I mixed up a batch of instant mash as accompaniment. Simon dropped some smash as he was dishing up for himself, so he scooped it off the table and threw it on the floor.

The birds scrabbled over the titbit and then looked for another helping. They reminded me of Oliver Twist, three bandits in a row asking
"Please sir, may we have some more?"

Cheeky little fellows!

After dinner we went to the watering hole, as we had done at both Halali and Namutoni. As at the other two, not a thing. Due to the rains, the animals had no need of the watering hole. Apparently during the dry season you can go to the watering hole at Okaukuejo at any time of day and see animals.

Simon had made a flask of divine peppermint tea, we were bundled up with jackets and blankets against the cold, and armed with camera and binoculars. Unfortunately, we were out of luck - not even a ground squirrel popped up for a sip!

However, we did meet a lovely German couple who we'd seen the previous two nights as well ... and they turned out to be Geocachers! (For more info on this game, see www.geocaching.com) Simon and Wolfgang trotted off to go find a cache while Alexandra and I chatted. No luck on both of the listed caches in this area, but the men enjoyed the jaunt!

Finally, eyes drooping, we decided to give up and go to bed. Each day I would "make the bed" in the tent so that we could just climb in and go to sleep. It was cosy and comfortable and perfect after a long day.

Zzzzzz .....

Ban this Bus Driver!

Day 10 Monday 10th March 2008
In Etosha National Park, from Namutoni to Halali

Having been told that I have too many words and not enough pictures, I'll keep it brief - except for the rant that will follow shortly!

Namutoni has a fort, built originally by the Germans in the 1800's, and now restored and revived as used as a central point by the Reserve. They have a smart walkway up to the fort, and the interior has been utilised for various shops and a restaurant. On the upper wall of the fort is a viewing deck where you can look out over the water hole which is floodlit at night. Unfortunately, a huge bank of reeds blocks the view, but I don't know if it is just there due to it being the rainy season.

The camp rangers told us that most of the animals were in the Namutoni region, so we started off at Fishers Pan before driving down to Halali.

There were several herds of zebra, wildebeest and other buck on the way to the pan, a lot of them really close to the road so we got some good pictures. Simon watched me snapping away for a while, and then obviously got bored, so started making a grunting sound, similar to a hippo grunting in the water. Well! The zebras and wildebeest were all unhappy about it, but the wildebeest really didn't like it at all! Two of them came charging at the car, and then stopped short and looked at Simon! We couldn't figure their reaction at all, and Simon thought it was a great joke.

Further along on our way to the pan we came across a huge herd of elephant having a ball in the river! They would walk around, splashing as much as they could, and there was a lot of trumpeting and squealing! The adults kicked and splashed with legs and trunks, and the baby elephants ran around and generally got in the way.

All of the elephants were rolling in the mud and getting themselves thoroughly coated in the gooey mess. A whole herd of white elephants! LOL They were having a marvellous time!

To our surprise, all the elephants came out of the water and crossed the road to an ant heap on the side. They rubbed over the ant heap, using their trunks and legs, even climbing up onto it. What was the attraction? They didn't seem to be eating the sand, but they were all congregated around the mound, and it was quite "polished" when they were finished.

We must have watched them for about half an hour, following them slowly, trying not to disturb them at all. We made sure to stay just as far back as necessary so as not to bother them. They were not able to enjoy their peace for very long! In the distance we heard a low rumble, which grew to the roar of a bus engine being driven very fast. Then this idiot in this bus (click on the photo to get an enlarged view of the number plate)












drove right up to the elephants, crossing in front of us and blocking our view.

The elephants were extremely unhappy about this and moved off. The jackass bus driver (you're an idiot!!!) immediately followed, driving right up to them again. The elephants moved further on, and the dumbass in the driver's seat chased them again! We couldn't believe that a registered tour operator would behave so badly! The elephants eventually fled into the interior, away from the water. Two of the young bulls were extremely upset, lots of trumpeting and running around. We were concerned there would be an incident, but a large matriarch came back and herded them off with the others. That bus driver should be banned. I understand he has to please his tourists to get his tip, but this kind of harassment of animals should be forbidden!

Okay, rant over. Here are the photos you asked for, Candice!

Into Namibia

Day 9 Sunday March 9th 2008
From Botswana to Etosha Game Reserve, Namibia - Namutoni Camp

As we didn't have to pack up the tent, we were on the road as the sun crested the horizon! The border post was quick and efficient and we were through in minutes! A quick stop for fuel at Dvumba (where the petrol attendant told us that one Pula = one Namibian Dollar - he must have thought we were total idiots!) and we were on our way.

The roads are in excellent condition, tarred, wide, and with no stray animals peppering the area as in Botswana. We made excellent time and I calculated that we would be at Etosha shortly after lunch. Browsing the map, I noticed there was a National Monument Baobab tree only a short distance (as the crow flies) from our route. I suggested to Simon we have a look. Oops.

The tarred roads are excellent. The gravel roads are in good condition too - but they sure do slow you down plenty!

We made it to the baobab in time for lunch, then it's about a 10 minute walk through private property to actually get to the tree. I've seen baobabs before, larger than this one, but this is the first time I've seen one with a split trunk. My arm span is about 1.5 m/5ft, and look how little of the tree I managed to cover with a full spread! I balanced the camera on an information stone there so that we could use the auto function - so here I am! (For all those who've been asking why there have been no photos of me, I'm usually behind the camera. Here's me now. Happy? Heheheheh)

I also wanted to go see the Hoba meteorite but I stuffed up and didn't. Totally my fault, and it meant we got to Etosha really late. Simon was understandably cross with me and I was very subdued for the rest of the afternoon.

They were very quick and efficient at the gates and it was only a few minutes before we got to the camp. Good thing too, as we only had a few minutes to set up the tent and the gazebo before the heavens let loose with a major rain storm. It poured down and the wind whipped the rain into a sideways angle. Simon cleverly rigged the ground sheet on the side of the gazebo and we huddled under the cover and waited it out. Well, I huddled. I was wet, cold and miserable. Simon is apparently impervious to cold. Most offensive! ;o)

The rain eased off after a while and we got out the makings of some tea and fried picnic ham over the burner for dinner. Picnic ham AGAIN!

Suddenly I noticed we were not alone and pointed out our visitor. A black-backed jackal was just outside the line of light, hovering on the edges of the camp. He had obviously smelled the picnic ham and was hoping for a hand out. Eagle-eyes Simon spotted the second, more cautious, jackal further back in the darkness. We found out later that Etosha has a problem with these animals entering into the camp and scavenging, made worse because people do feed them. They are very cute, but it's not good for folk to encourage them. They carry rabies and, when somebody gets bitten, it's the jackal that gets shot, not the dumbass who provoked it!

As we'd had a long day and it was too cold and wet to do much, we packed up and went to bed early. (By the way, this habit of going to bed early is hard to shake. Even now I find I'm nodding off by about 20h30 - a month later!) ;o)

Tomorrow we go looking for big game!

Okavango Western Panhandle

Day 8 Saturday March 8th 2008
From Moremi Game Reserve to Drotsky's Cabins

As mentioned in my previous post, we left early.

On the road out, we saw this lovely kudu female. She was very nervous, watched us for a few seconds then dashed into the bushes. I have found that the kudu are extremely jittery, which surprises me as most of the larger animals such as gemsbok and wildebeest are more relaxed than the smaller one like klipspringer.

Again, with the dense vegetation and abundant water, we only saw the kudu because she was right alongside the road. We didn't even see elephant on the way out, but we did pass a small herd of giraffe who also made a quick getaway. I managed to snap three quick photos, the last being the rumps disappearing into the trees. Sigh!

The roads out were in pretty much the same condition as the road in - sandy with a lot of muddy patches. After our baptism the other day, these patches were a breeze, but Simon was still cautious going through them. It took us about two hours to get from Xakanaxa to the South Gate entrance, we would probably have gone a little slower if there were any animals to watch and photograph.

The paperwork on the way out this time was minimal, amazingly! Simon mentioned to the gate sentry how annoyed we were at not being advised of the construction work, and he asked us if we would like to stay an extra night in recompense. Wow, somebody in the organisation cares! Unfortunately we were on a schedule and had to refuse. Even more unfortunately, nobody in the Botswana Parks Board will give a damn about those of us that had an unhappy experience, as they know there will be a steady stream of visitors for a long time to come. (My last little rant! It may be totally ineffective, but at least I get to let off some steam! LOL)

We had an long, uninteresting drive up the Western Panhandle of the Okavango. Passing through Maun I was again sorrowed by the poor state of the dogs in the street. I also noted how many of the donkeys and horse are cruelly hobbled, their front legs tied so close together that they can barely walk and can only move forward by rearing up on their hind legs and "leaping" forward. Surely this will damage their spines in the long run? Aaarrggghhhh! My bleeding heart drives Simon crazy. Ok, love, I'll drop the subject. It's going to come up again later in the trip anyway!

From Maun until about halfway up the to the border the road is desolate. No animals, huts, even birds were few and far between I noticed. The road is good, tarred and wide, and not particularly busy - or at least, not on this trip. Once you pass Sepupa, it starts to get much busier, with donkeys, goats and cattle once again all over the road. In the upper third there is a plethora of huts and settlements.

We had hoped to visit the Tsodilo Hills, but the roads were just too bad and we had had about enough of mud, so we decided to just go on to one of the lodges on the Upper Side of the Western Panhandle. Reading our guide books, we decided to try Drotsky's Cabins and Simon suggested we try to get a cabin so that we could leave very early the next day without having to pack up the tent. It would also be nice to sleep in a bed for a change.

Eileen, the owner of Drotsky's Cabins was very welcoming and accommodating and we found ourselves comfortably ensconced in a cabin after a couple of ice cold beers at the bar! The cabins are right on the water's edge with a view over the river. We relaxed on the deck outside the cabin for a while, enjoying the last few minutes of daylight and being able to stretch our legs. Suddenly, we heard an almighty cracking noise! We rushed to the water's edge to find an entire section of the bank had broken away upriver and was being carried swiftly downstream in the current - a floating island. I rushed to grab my camera and snap a pic. It didn't come out very well, I had no time to adjust the camera or put together a good composition, but you can see the whole section of bank being bobbing away in the fast-flowing water.

Tired, and grateful for our soft, comfortable mattress, we headed for bed soon after sundown.

A Day of Rest

Day 7 Friday March 7th 2008
In Moremi Game Reserve

In the early hours of the morning we were woken by a loud snuffling sound. It was a hippo! He was huge and hungry and wandered around the truck taking an odd bite out of the few patches of grass around the area. Simon shone the light on him very briefly, and then he was gone. I tried to get a photo, but all I got was an excellent print of the mosquito netting of the tent. Grrrr... So you'll have to put up with this snap of one of the hippo's footprints that I took when we got up.

Simon wanted to clean up the undercarriage of the truck a little, so we decided to stay put and have a relaxing day. He removed all the grass and debris from the truck and undercarriage of the truck, emptied the water out of the headlights, and did some general maintenance. The truck was trashed, covered in mud and dirt and Simon removed enough muck from underneath to fill a horsebox! It was only days later that we realised the front number plate had been torn off. If you're in the Okavango any time in the near future, let us know if you find it!

We met a delightful British couple who were camping about 300m/984 feet from us, Jane and Adam. Fine British names! Anyway, they'd driven up through Namibia, then gone to Chobe before coming to Moremi. They had tales of bad roads and water hazards too! They said that they had seen no game at all in Moremi, apart from elephant and impala, and they'd chatted with a professional game drive from one of the lodges who had also seen nothing. It was a very disappointing visit for folks this time. We agreed that it was most probably a combination of the construction work and plentiful water that kept them in hiding. The Botswana booking office had also not told them of the construction work being done and we all felt that, at the very least, we should have been warned at the gate when we were filling out our paperwork! Very poor show! Boo to the Botswana National Parks!

Well, we may not have seen any large game, but we were kept entertained by some of the smaller animals. Two squirrels chatted and chased each other around us all morning, and then I spotted this little guy under the truck. He was totally mesmerised by the undercarriage, and I couldn't figure out why. I had just snapped this photo when another squirrel jumped down from the undercarriage and the two ran away! Simon said he had seen the other squirrel climb up over the tyre and into the wheel arch at the front of the truck. I snapped this photo just before the back wheels, so the little guy had had a ball running around the undercarriage! Only once we had loaded the photos onto the computer did I notice that I had managed to get two creatures into this pic. Do you see the second one?

We were also amused by feathered entertainers. There was a dove or pigeon, I couldn't get a clear view of it, whose call sounded like laughter - absolutely heaven! I chased it around a tree trying to snap a photo, but no luck. Later on, this cheeky fellow hopped around very close to us, even up to the door of the truck and peered in. I wondered if he would jump in for a look-see, but he didn't. Simon was eating pistachio nuts and he flicked a shell at the bird, who promptly grabbed it and flew off! I really don't think it would have made good nesting material, so I cannot imagine what he would have wanted it for, but he seemed very proud of himself when he nabbed it!

We also had a few LBJ's around us. I don't know what they're called, but in South Africa we call them Little Brown Jobs (LBJ's) and they are very cute and inquisitive. There were no crumbs around the camp and we weren't carrying bird seed, so had nothing to offer, but he checked us out thoroughly to see if we were possibly hiding some tasty tidbit!

I snapped a few other birds that were in and around the camp, but the photos didn't come out as well as I had hoped so I'm not posting them. Apart from that, we saw no wildlife at all. Until about 5pm that is ...

With loud roars and shouts, a troop of people drove into the camp. Shouting and swearing, they manoeuvred their trucks into half a laager, set up their tents in the other half, unpacked most of a forest off the roof racks, fitted fluorescent lights into the trees so that daylight lasted an extra four hours, and then settled down to some serious drinking. When they did finally all go to bed, to add insult to injury, the night silence was shattered by stentorian snores!

Unable to sleep, Simon and I were up before dawn and ready to leave shortly after sun-up. The British couple drove off just before we did, obviously as disturbed as we, followed soon after by the only other couple camping in the vicinity.

What an ignominious end to our ghastly Moremi experience!