Okahandja and making our way to Etosha National ParkAs we have already driven more than 10.000 kilometres it was time to get the car serviced. The last week Wilfred made numerous phone calls to different Toyota garages…always getting the same answer…we don’t service import vehicles, as we can’t get the right parts for your vehicle. After some calls back and forth, explaining that the only difference is that the steering wheel is on the other side, but is exactly the same model as the African troopy and we have most spare parts with us…we finally get an appointment ! On Monday morning we bring the Cruiser to the garage and within one hour service is done, just some fresh oil, a new oil filter, check of the brakes and all the other fluids and we are good to go ! From Tuesday to Thursday we have booked campsites in Etosha and from Okahandja it is almost 350 kilometres to the Andersons’s gate of Etosha National park. We also needed to do our shopping in Otjowarongo for the next four days of camping as there are no other major towns on the way to the park. Judith did the grocery shopping in a Super Spar store. It is the biggest supermarket we have seen in Namibia so far…and lots of tourists walking through the aisles to get their groceries for the stay in Etosha as well. Our plan was to stay overnight Outjo, but since we arrived early in the afternoon, we decided to have a late lunch and drive another 80 kilometres to the Etosha Safari Camp…but not before calling them and book our campsite, since it still high season. The campsite has grassy pitches and several animals room the grounds… Next to two Zebra’s, we were surprised by several small antelopes we had not seen before that looked like a crossing between Tintin (Kuifje) and a Steenbok (after browsing the mamal book, we find out they are Damara dik diks). In the morning around six, we here some noise around our car. Unfortunately, it was still too dark to see anything, but other guest tell us that several giraffes were enjoying the trees around us. Etosha National ParkSeptember 6th is the day we drove into Etosha. We signed in at the Anderson’s gate where you also need to declare if you have any meat with you or not. Etosha is part of the so called ‘Red Line’, the animal decease control checkpoint between the north and south of Namibia. This means we are allowed to bring meat into Etosha but not out and as Wilfred loves a good beef fillet, he doesn’t seem to mind that much. We have booked three nights in the park at three different campsites, so next to seeing lot’s of animals we hopefully will see different vegetation as well. Our first day is Etosha was very successful ! We saw three herds of elephants drinking and bathing at a waterhole, many springbok and gemsbok, black-faced impala’s, korhaans, kori bustards, blue wildebeest, spotted hyena and even black and white rhino’s at the waterhole from the viewing deck at the campsite. The next days we drove almost all the tourist roads in the east side of Etosha all the way to Namutoni. All campsites at Etosha have a waterhole in walking distance of the camp, however the one at Okaukeuja really stands out from a viewing perspective. Again we are very lucky on our self drives having seen a pride of 7 lions (two adult males), a spotted hyena and even a leopard resting in a cave in the ridge of a waterhole while zebra’s and black-faced impalas graze right above it. Game driving is different here then in South Africa. Due to the draught of the last five years animals are mostly concentrated at waterholes, meaning you plan your drive from waterhole to waterhole and we conclude that you see the most animals at the hottest time of day the day while they are in search of water. After four days in Etosha and the high temperatures we decided to stays a couple of days at Ethosha Safari Camp again, relaxing, working on the photo album of South Africa and having our laundry done.
1 Comment
Edvard
23/9/2016 13:14:53
Mooie foto's. Goed om te zien dat jullie genieten.
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