On the way to Spitzkoppe, we stopped at a seal colony. This one had between 80 and 100,000 seals! It was amazing but kind of crazy. And smells to high heaven...We continued on driving into what looked like a barren waste land ala Mad Max. Finally in the distance the peaks of Spitzkoppe rose. After what seemed like ages we finally made it. (Remember the distance overland that we will cover from Cape Town to Nairobi is approximately 11,700 kilometers… that’s a lot of ground to cover over 41 days).
At Spitzkoppe we didn’t setup tents but went on a Bush hike lead by a local bushman to see some paintings and learn about the local flora and fauna. Afterwards we climbed one of the peaks to watch the sunset. Tonight we had the option of sleeping in tents, a cave or up on the rocks. We all went up to the rocks so that we would be able to easily see sunrise and just to sleep out under the stars. The moon was nearly full and extremely bright. I ended up finding a small gully to break the wind and sleep there until sunrise.
Day 12 (Acacia day 9) – Etosha
Today was a long drive day over to Etosha. We really didn’t see much or do much on the way. When we finally made it, we did a quick drive in the park. Etosha National Park covers an area of 22,912 square kilometers. It has just about all of the stereotypical animals of Africa in it. In the middle is the Etosha Pan (an old dried out lake bed) that covers 4,731km and is 110km by 60km at its widest. There are three campsites that each have a large watering hole that is flood lit as well as a series of watering holes throughout the park that you can drive by. However the roads are clearly defined and you cannot go off of them.
When we arrived we did a quick drive around and saw small herds of springboks (as well as individual springbok) everywhere, some wildebeest, zebras, Oryx, and ground squirrels. At night we had to be extra careful as there are a lot of jackals here too that will scavenge and whatnot. We were setting off in the am for an all day
game drive around the park.One easy word I have picked up along the way is lekka. Its Afrikaans for cool and is used in the same manner and connotation as cool is in English. Poa is the Swahili equivalent.
Day 13 (Acacia day 10) – Etosha
We had a quick breakfast and went out driving. We were only out of the camp a little while when we came across a herd of giraffe. It was really cool. In addition it turned out one was pregnant and we actually saw it give birth. However the baby must not have been healthy as after waiting awhile the herd moved on. The baby looked like it tried to stand once or twice but just wasn’t able to. As we were taking off, we looked back and couldn’t help but notice that a few jackals were moving in…
We drove around the park for the day and saw more of everything (springbok, zebras, Oryx, various birds, giraffes…). But unfortunately nothing big and new - no lions, leopards, elephants or others. Thankfully there are two other parks that we go to so there is more time to see the big ones.
Tomorrow we head to Windhoek, the capital of Namibia and also say goodbye to 3 of our happy little family as they were only booked on a short tour.
What I neglected to mention was that part of the lack of game to see was due to the rain. See its rainy season here. I was thinking rainy season in Africa – no big deal. But we had a storm last night that was crazy and left some neighboring campsites flooded under a few inches of water. It also means that the animals don’t have to depend on the watering holes for water and are harder to find… oh well.
As they say TIA, This Is Africa… basically don’t expect the internet to by highspeed 24/7, or even working, or things to be on time or in any way properly functioning. And you can’t really get mad at it… after all its Africa, it’s just the way it is.
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