Monday, April 27, 2009

Namibia

Is Namibia the BEST country in Africa? It is easy to see why it is a favourite amongst travelers when you arrive. Namibia has a definite European feel (the Germans and Africans were coloniasers- Namibia gained independence in 1990) that exists in perfect harmony with its African appeal. Namibia could be the perfect place to visit for first timers as it has all the beautiful scenery you would expect, the animals that you want to see in abundance would and the convenience of being elsewhere.

Located in Southern Africa it boarders Angola, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia and South Africa.

Our boarder crossing into Namibia was so uneventful that 1 week after the event i can't even remember it... which is saying something of a girl with the memory of an elephant.

Our first few days in Namibia were spent at the Etosha National Park where big yellow (our truck)and the team went for a game drive. With low expectations i got out my binoculars and got ready for some spotting.


Our first 30 minutes were spent cruising through the park and I contemplated sleep having done it all before and then something remarkable happened - we saw a family of lions and then another and before long we had spotted more than a dozen on route to our camp. So dense was the park with lions that even i 'no spotter' parry coudl ID the kind of the jungle at a hundred paces.

At Etosha, we also saw our first Springbok (almost identical to a Thompson's Gazelle (only bigger) and our first Kudu and Orax. Their was also tens of Giraffes (my favourite animal)

At night we feasted on a game BBQ and fell asleep sitting up exhausted at 830pm. Our guide Tito, an early bird had been encouraging us to do early starts for weeks it seems with our latest departure since taking over from Julius was 8am and it had taken its toll.

The following day we drove through the park on an en route game drive to another more up market camp ground complete with resort style pool, sun beds, curio shop, resteraunt, bar and canteen and instead of participating in an afternoon game drive i laid under a sun umbrella and read Barack Obama's autobiography (i am sure lots of you have read it all ready- he is a phenomenal writer.... seriously the book is exceptional and a must read!!).

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