Etosha

Etosha National Park is pretty huge, but unlike Kruger in South Africa it doesn't have much of a road network, basically just one major road through the park and a number of side roads off that (it's dominated by a massive salt pan, which you can drive out into, and is pretty impressive with it's endlessly desolate horizons. And at one stage driving along the edge of the pan we could see a distant herd of zebra strolling across the pan in single file, just shimmering on the heat-hazy horizon). It also only has three major centres that provide accommodation, all of which are pretty expensive, even just for camping. So we stayed just outside the park on our first day, getting up early the next morning to head into the park proper.

The camp we stayed at was actually gorgeous and we ended up staying two nights. The owner guy was a real outdoors-man and had a big collection of rescued animals, snakes, scorpions, etc. My favorite though of course were the meerkats, the first of which appeared in the car as Sarah was clearing it out. They were very friendly, hugely inquizitive and of course very cute. They also had a tame young antelope just wandering around.

The wildlife viewing in Etosha was pretty much the same as the other parks we've been in - that is to say lots of driving around with occasional sightings. But really the highlight, and the huge atttraction for me, of Etosha is the permanent waterholes they have set up just outside the three accommodation centres. These waterholes attract many of the animals throughout the day, so once you're prepared to just sit there for long enough you've got a really good chance of plenty of sightings. They are also floodlit all night, and so they provide a fantastic opportunity to view nocturnal animals if your prepared to wait up for them.

The first campsite we drove too had a huge number of antelope at their waterhole, a really impressive sight, especially as you get so close to all the animals and can just sit there and observe them at your leisure. The campsite was very recently renovated and so I took a peek around one of their new luxury lodges (basically I just spotted a cleaner cleaning one, and strolled up to her and asked if it was OK if I had a look around - and of course she didn't mind in the slightest) - very impressive it was too with a great view of the waterhole.

Afterwards we drove on to the Halali camp where we stayed for a few nights. It's a nice camp and had a lovely big pool, which came in very handy after our first day as we got a nasty puncture while out on the road (the tyre split and was not repairable). We didn't really know what the rules were for changing a wheel in the park, as they are very strict about not leaving your car (due to all the dangerous wildlife around). But having no choice really I started to change the wheel as Sarah kept a lookout. Luckily a Swiss guy came along and gave a very helpful hand, as I'd never changed a wheel in my life, and needless to say neither had Sarah.

When we got back to the camp I talked to the manager guy about getting a new tyre. He was very helpful but told me they'd have to get a new tyre delivered from one of the other camps. The next day it turned out the guys forgot the tyre and so we ended up having to stay all day lounging around the park (I didn't want to be driving around without a spare tyre). The next day they screwed up yet again, but the manager guy then sent one of his lads out in a jeep direct to the other camp to pick up the spare tyre. It ended up costing a relative fortune too, but it was an education to see the garage dude actually remove the split tyre and fit the new one. He had to use really basic equipment and it took him ages (the sweat was poring off the poor 'auld lad), and I thought for a while he wouldn't be able to do at all, but eventually he got it all sorted out.

So over our three days in the park itself we didn't get to drive around it too much. Instead I spent many hours sitting at the waterhole, including getting up before sunrise to watch the parade of various animals come to the water. Sarah got bored easily and never really hung around the waterhole for very long (something I noticed amoung a very large proportion of the couples that would come to the waterhole - the couple would arrive, sit around for an hour or so, then the girl would leave while the guy would sit there for a good while longer on his own). Indeed nothing much really happens most of the time, so you have to be comfortable just sitting there contemplating really - something I reckon I'm pretty good at really!

After dinner on the second night I went back up to the waterhole (Sarah didn't bother coming at all), but after about four hours or so I was richly rewarded. By this stage there was only about 8 people at the waterhole (all guys), and the first thing I noticed was a huge porcupine walking up to the water. He was really impressive and I moved up to the edge of the viewing area to get a better look. After he'd ambled off I remained where I was and about 5 minutes later heard ominiously loud, crunching footsteps. After a minute or so of wondering what it was approaching, two huge black rhinos appeared in the floodlights. We'd seen loads of white rhinos, but the black lads are much, much rarer, so this was a real treat.

Not much later an anteater appeared - a mental looking furry critter that zigzagged all over the place before disappearing again. I was thinking all this was great - seeing all these nocturnal animals so clearly, but it was now past midnight and I was getting a bit tired. I decided to hang around for a bit longer though, and about 15 minutes later nothing less than a leopard appeared. After all the safaris we'd been on, and all the months in Africa, the only major animal we hadn't seen was the elusive leopard. At first I thought it was probably just another boring lion, but it quickly became clear it was a leopard - acting very suspicious and nervous. He drank for a short while before running back into the bush. I'd borrowed a pair of binoculars from a German guy beside me to get a really good look at him, but I couldn't focus on him properly before he legged it.

I was really delighted at this stage, and there was nothing more I really wanted to see, so I went back to our tent. Poor Sarah was obviously quite miffed that she'd missed the leopard, but of course you can only get 'lucky' if you give yourself the opportunity to be 'lucky'.

After leaving Halali we popped into the third campsite, Namutoni. This is another lovely site, newly renovated, based on an old German fort, although it had a pretty dead atmosphere when we were there. We had a bit of lunch here and swam in their 'residents only' pool. And then we left Etosha, making our way to the Waterberg Plateau.

The plateau is an impressive goelogical sight, and we stayed a couple of days relaxing in the nearby pool (which at times was like dead-fly soup!), and hiking in the area (including hiking up to the top of the plateau itself, and having a tasty lunch sitting on the edge!). Then it was back to Windhoek for a few days R&R at the Chameleon Backpackers again, which I really loved, and eating in lovely restaurants like Am Weinberg and Nice, and lunch at the Heinitzburg Castle (with it's impressive views).

When it finally came to leave Namibia we decided to head back to Cape Town again for another week. We'd changed our flights to alow us 3 weeks in Namibia, but ended up doing it all in just over two. I'd loved Cape Town so much the first time around that I was actually quite keen to spend a bit more time there just relaxing and stuff, so back on the bus again, and the next day it was back to Long Street and the Carnival Court hostel right in the heart of the action.