Day 4, Sept 12 – Kunene River Lodge to Epupa Falls

The day started well but guess what? We just made it outside the Lodge gate and another flat tire occurred. 

Roelof and Bertie change tire with lots of supervision.

After changing the flat, we drove just over an hour for lunch at Swartbooisdrift, which is on the Kunene River. Here we enjoyed a nice brunch.  We also came across a beer bottle house…reminded me of the beer can house in Houston…and also found a retired Land Rover.  I thought the tires looked pretty good and considered asking Tom if he was interested in a couple extra tires.

Lunch at Swartbooisdrift along the Kunene River

Beer Bottle House

Retired Land Rover...shame to waste such good tires!!!

 A few minutes drive from the river we came across a monument commemorating Afrikaaners who crossed the Kunene near here returning to Southwest Africa from Angola in the late 1920’s.  They were desendents the Dorsland trekkers (Thirst land trekkers), who settled in Angola in around 1870.  The Dorsland trekkers suffered horrible casualties to fever and starvation.

Dawn, Tom, Salome and Bertie checking out the monument

Afrikaaner graves from the late 1920's

Many of these earlier settlers died as conditions were a bit difficult.  Can you imagine traveling over this terrain in a covered wagon with all your belongings?  It is difficult enough in a landcruiser with 2 weeks worth of food and supplies!

Tough terrain for early settlers

Himba boy who appeared from nowhere when we stopped at a road junction

We left Swaartbooisdrift and headed towards Epembe on the D3701.  After Epembe we headed back north on the D3700 towards Okongwati.  Okongwati would be our last chance to get fuel and we weren’t even certain we could get it here.  Fortunately we found some at the mechanic shop, fuel station, and building supply store shown below.

Salome and Martie organizing fuel at the "we'll help you with whatever we can" shop.

Salome, Leon, and Martie watching the refueling process.
Note the marks on the plastic container used for tracking volume dispensed.

While refueling, which was done in a clever way considering they didn’t actually have any fuel pumps, we were fortunate enough to see the Namibian census team call on a local household and a local boy stock up on grain at the milling station next to the fuel station.  Never a dull moment!

Local boy with freshly milled grain headed home

Young Himba boy following donkey with grain

Namibian census in action!!! Apologize for the chain link fence
but the security at the petrol station was a bit tight!

Back on the road again to Epupa Falls on what was a relatively good road. In spite of road conditions, we had another flat tire along the road before reaching Epupa. We finally arrived at about 4:30 and set up camp at Epupa Falls campground.  A beautiful spot just next to Epupa waterfall…where we ended up staying 3 nights it was so nice.

Another flat! Should have taken the retired landrover's tires!!

One of our first sitings of baobab trees...I just love this tree!!!

View of Zebra Mountains along the way

Himba village just before camp

Scenery across a Himba corral

Day 3, Sept 11 - Kunene River Lodge

Salome and I awoke this morning to the sound of hundreds of red-bill quelea's leaving the trees just above our tent.  According to Wikepedia, the Red-billed quelea is the world's most abundant wild bird species...and if you ever have the pleasure to see them roost for the evening you can believe it! They come in at dusk in swarms of up to a couple of hundred.  And there can be many, many swarms.  At sunrise they leave again the same way they arrived.  I loved being underneath them and listening to them, unfortunately, there was a small problem with our location.  The next morning our tent...borrowed from Billy of Arabia...sorry Billy...was covered with bird poo!

Tent under reb-billed quelea condominiums

We had a nice relaxed morning…no need to get up and rush to move as we were spending another night.  I discovered that Pete Morgan is a highly qualified area guide for local birds…and signed up for a bird watching trip with hopes of catching a glimpse of the Cinderella Waxbill.  This little bird, which Pete is somewhat of an expert on, is located only in one small place in the world, which the Kunene River Lodge happens to be very close to. Pete drove just a few minutes before turning up a riverbed to head for the “spot” the birds inhabit.  The first reasonable photographs of the Cinderella Waxbill were taken just 6 years ago, about the time Pete and Hillary bought the Kunene River Lodge.  It is an extremely rare bird, endemic only to this region.  Pete found and has the only known nest for this bird species.  He has spent hours looking for and watching it, knows its habits, its calls, and its drinking places.  Bird watchers will fly in from Europe for 2 days just to see this bird.  How could I resist taking a look?

Pete and his very well behaved dogs hiking to find the Cinderella Waxbill

The bird trip meant I missed a terrific champagne brunch…you can tell we are not suffering in the food department! But I felt the urge to try to get a shot of this rare bird with my new 300 Nikon fixed lens with 2X tele-converter.  To make a long story short…below is the only shot I got of the “Cindy” bird!  I did get a glimpse of her, however, and Pete is my witness!!! 

My only shot of the "Cindy" bird!

Being the birder he is, Pete pointed out many other birds, some found only in NW Namibia and some more common as the Pearl spotted owlette below.  I also got a nice shot of a white tailed shrike.  Once back at the Lodge, Pete pointed out a Scops owl that has been roosting in a tree by the river for a couple of months.  He was sleepy and could hardly keep his eyes open.  With eyes closed, he is very well camouflaged!

Pearl spotted owlette

White tailed shrike - NW Namibia only

Scops owl

Later that afternoon…after my morning birding expedition, the adventurous girls decided to do a little canoeing.  I can’t call it white water rafting because there wasn’t any white water but Salmone, Martie, Dawn and I took an hours float down the river in a raft…lovely and peaceful.

The fishing is also good along the Kunene.  Here’s a fellow camper who caught a huge Barber (catfish?) from the bank just next to our campsites.

Barber caught from bank at campsite

Here are some other shots of the Kunene River Lodge pool, which we enjoyed, and the deck overlooking the river.

Deck at Kunene River Lodge

Day 2, Sept 10 – Kamanjab to Kunene River Camp

After saying good bye to a Bertie and Dawn’s lovely farm, we went back to the small town of Kamanjab and picked up the C 35 (again) towards Ruacanna.  This turned out to be a straight flat road for many miles.  Before it was tarred it used to be known as the wit pad, which means white road in Afrikaans.  This was my chance to drive so I didn’t take many pictures here.  Shortly after the cutoff to Opuwo, the road turned back to gravel.  I continued driving to Ruacanna but this was probably the last time I’ll drive…unless the doctor gives Salome a sedative!

Upon arriving in Ruacanna, we filled up with petrol as this is the last stop where we know it is available until much later in the trip.  After filling up, we head for the Ruacanna Falls, which is just beyond the customs gate to Angola.  The falls overlook turned out to be a bit of a disappointment as it is the dry season and the electricity generating dam has blocked most of the water flow.  Salome’s picture of the falls, which I showed earlier, was taken in April after the summer rains.  So if you want to see the Ruacanna Falls, go in March, April or May…not in September!

We picked up a gravel road outside of Ruacanna towards the Kunene River Lodge that ran along the Kunene River.  Because of all the rains last summer, this road flooded in spots and still had some water on it.  All in all, it wasn’t too bad.  I think we used 4 X 4 in only one or two spots, although there was the odd muddy water hole and rocky climb.

Nico and Rita crash through the river in the Isuzu and trailer

We did have our first flat tire along this road.  Here the retired gynecologist, Roelof, is put some of his tire changing skills to work…the gravel roads can be very tough on tires.

Roelof jacking up Tom's Land Rover

We also ran into our first Himba people along this road.  Below is a couple of young women in traditional dress as well as some shots of their housing.

Abandoned Himba dwelling

Our first encounter with Himba

Hair braided with a mixture of mud (often red ochre) and animal fat

At around 4:30 we pulled into the Kunene River Lodge, a beautiful spot on the river with 8 air conditioned rooms, 4 chalets, and a very nice river view campground.  It is owned and run by Hillary and Pete Morgan, both lovely people with interesting backgrounds.  We quickly settled in for the night.  Salome cooked curried chicken and I made vegetable stir-fry.

Nico setting up camp among the beautiful trees along the river

Salome and Leon before our riverside dinner

Blogger's woes...

Hello all! I apologize for being behind...not in my writing or picture taking but in publishing.  Turns out that after Kamanjab, we only got a cell connection in Epupa Falls...thanks to the Omarunga management team of Sean and Benita Braine, who are letting me use the lodge connection.  My cell "stick" was inadvertently washed with my shirt after arriving and we haven't been able to revive it.

The pictures are taking awhile to upload so it is slow.  I may not be able to publish anything until returning to Henties around Sept 26...will do my best but don't expect much! 

We are all doing well and enjoying the trip...
Paula

Day 1, September 9 – Departure to Kamanjab

We all met at the road out of town at 10 o’clock in the morning.  This was the first time I met Tom, who is a lovely gentleman.  As you can see below, it was a gray, overcast and somewhat cold in Henties Bay but we were in excellent spirits and headed for the sun!  Here’s a picture of our motely group…ages 54 to 80!

Ready to leave cold Henties Bay!

We travelled on the C 35 towards Uis, below is a picture of our first stop.  The topography is still quite flat although the rolling desert hills are starting to build towards the Brandberg mountain.  Unfortunately this time of year there is a lot of haze (dust).  This is winter in Namibia and the summer rains, which start in December will clear the air.  The grass now is yellow but with the first rains new green shoots will sprout and the landscape will look much more green.

The entire convoy at first stop

Near the Brandberg there are many local shops beside the road selling rocks and crystals.  There are quartz and amethyst crystals and many different varieties of stones which come from the Brandberg.

Brandberg in the distance through the haze

"local shop"

The first road sign warning of elephants was spotted before the Ugab river, where we stopped for lunch. We didn’t see any other elephant signs, other than one pile of dung on the road so we were quite comfortable having lunch in the mostly dry Ugab river.  Namibia received a lot of rain last summer and many of the normally dry rivers still have spots containing water.  This is a wonderful thing for a country that is mostly arid.

Sign warning of desert elephants that travel the Ugab

Lunch spot along the Ugab

After lunch we started passing roadside shops run by the Herero people, below is a picture of an Herero woman.  The clothing style you see was adopted from the early Victorian woman missionaries.  The cloth they use is very colorful and they are always a pleasure to see.  I think their head dress looks like cow horns…but who knows why they developed that style? 

Herero woman at local shop

Namibia set aside land for local tribes back in the  1960’s: the Herero live in Herero land, the Damara in Damaraland, the Ovambo in Ovamboland, etc.  Kaokoland is mainly comprised of the Herero tribe, which is a big tribe comprised of many smaller tribes.  The Himba are Herero, that is they speak the same language…but other than that…they appear to have little in common.  After traveling a few hours we reached Kamanjab…a small town on the edge of the frontier.  Just beyond Kamanjab, Bertie Botha’s son’s farm starts.  Bertie and Dawn lived on and ran this farm for 12 or so years before turning it over to their son.  It is 8,000 hectar…which I think is about 16,000 acres…and there are about 800 head of cattle here.  There are also 55 or so giraffe…minus a couple…and plus a couple of new babies.  Here are some photos of giraffe we spotted on the way to the farm.

Friend of Bertie

The farmhouse

Sunset at Bertie's

After arriving at Bertie’s farm, we unloaded for the evening and prepared to braai!  What a lovely and peaceful place it was…thanks to Bertie and Dawn for our first evening’s accommodation.

Relaxing before the braai!

Trip Planning...what's all the fuss!!??

Before launching into the actual blog of events, it’s informative to consider the actual amount of planning that goes into a trip like this.  As I said, there will be times where petrol (gasoline or diesel) is not available and you can’t exactly call triple A if a breakdown should occur.

The team started planning well in advance of the trip.  Three group meetings were held were the route was planned, meals and equipment discussed.  Because there were 6 vehicles, it was decided to work together so certain equipment wouldn’t be duplicated and group meals were planned so not everyone would have to cook every night. I attended only the last meeting, where we discussed the final route and meal responsibilities as well as doing a final review of “important things to take”.   It was agreed each car would cook dinner 3 nights, all would be responsible for their own lunch and we would have 5 group breakfasts at locations where we spent 2 nights.  Food is always important.  Other things to consider (and this is NOT all inclusive…just enough to give and idea but not bore to death):

Rykie and Roelof at the last planning session

Items for the car (it helps that there were 3 Toyota Land cruisers, age 1995, 1996, and 1997):

·         at least 2 spare tires

·         spare fan belt, air filters, oil filters, fuses, water pump, and complete tool kit

·         extra diesel (we brought 4 – 20 liter Jerry cans) and extra oil

·         extra battery for help running the freezer when the car isn’t running

·         straps and cable ties…and wet ones J

Camping equipment:

·         tent…preferably tall enough to stand up in

·         stretchers…for sleeping off the ground

·         sleeping bag and pillow

·         large pots for cooking group meals (cast iron number 2,3,6 and 7)

·         gas bottles and stove tops for heating water

·         all utensils and racks for cooking over wood fires, roasters for holding the meat

·         wood…because nearly all cooking will be on wood fire

·         freezers which run on the vehicle battery

·         cool boxes for items that can be refrigerated with ice

·         I took an inverter which plugs into the cigarette lighter and allows me to recharge my computer and camera batteries

·         extension cords for when power is available to run the freezers

·         extension ladder for climbing on top of the Landcruisers

Food and clothing:

·         food for Salome and I to cook 3 group meals (she did most of the cooking)

·         all food for breakfast and lunch

·         spices, extra containers

·         condiments, condiments, condiments!!!

·         Beverages, beverages, beverages!!!

·         plates, cups, forks, etc.

·         toiletries

·         clothing and laundry detergent

·         sugar, grain meal and paper/pens to give to the Himba

Safety and security:

·         Two doctors, one nurse and a satellite phone,…OK, one doctor is a retired gynecologist and what’s he going to do with all the women over 50 and up except prescribe Estrogen and Prozac?  The gynecologist, Roelof, however, turned out to have many more needed and valuable skills…more on that later… Bertie Botha said the older we get the more we like to travel with our doctors!!

Richard Fryer (not on trip) packing the last items on top of Salome's Land cruiser

So you can see there was a lot of planning and preparations that needed to occur.  We prepared for more than a week in advance although the last week the pressure built daily.  Finally, the morning of Sept 9, I said good bye to the hair dryer and with great relief threw all my lists of things to do into the trash bin.

The Amerikaner Boermeisie...

A direct translation is the american farm girl...that's me!!!  And just when I thought I'd seen everything Bertie Botha invited Salome and I over to make skilpadtjies.  A skilpadtjies is a small tortoise in the Afrikaans language and what we were making is named after the skilpadtjie.  It is liver wrapped in the fat which lines the outside of the stomach.  To quote Bertie, it isn't exactly low cholesterol!  Upon arriving, Bertie proudly displayed the contents of a cast iron pot cooking on a wood fire...it was the biggest tongue I'd ever seen.

First little background on Bertie...he owned and lived on a farm for years.  His son runs the farm now and we will spend the first night of our trip at Bertie's farm.  Farms in Namibia are different from the farms in the US.  Most of them are very large in terms of acerage and they have animals...typically cows and/or sheep...but also game.  By game I mean different types of buck such as oryx (gemsbok), springbok, red hartebeest, elan, etc.  They also sometimes have giraffe, leopard, zebra, and a myriad of other animals depending on where the farm is located.

Sooo...back to the tongue...it was from a giraffe and they have really big tongues...just look at their neck!!  Apparently there was a helicopter animal count done at Bertie's farm a few months back and 58 giraffe were counted.  That's alot.  Practicing good animal management technique, one of the giraffe was culled.  It weighed 7,000 kilograms (dressed) and was sold for 7,000 Namibian dollars, which is about 1,300 US dollars.  That's how Bertie ended up with the tongue.  I asked how long you need to cook a giraffe tongue and Bertie said until tender...I think it takes awhile.  I asked Salome how to eat it and she said, "like normal tongue...you slice it and eat it as cold meat!"  So at least I now know how to eat all kinds of tongue.

Now back to the skilpadtjies...after getting a good look at the simmering giraffe tongue, we went inside and I saw the biggest liver I'd ever seen...it was enormous!  Of course my first thoughts were it must be from the giraffe!  It wasn't, however, it was from an oryx!  For those who haven't actually seen an oryx, here's a picture of one on the dunes at Soussus Vlei:

We will see oryx on our trip.  If we are lucky, we will see large herds...maybe a hunderd or so.

Before making our skilpadtjies, Bertie shared with me another culinary treat...one that was a first for me...curried lamb tripe!  This isn't something I would ever order at a restaurant, but I must say, for tripe it wasn't bad!!!

List of camping locations by day....

Sept 9 - Outside Kamanjab at Bertie Botha's farm now run by his son.  Bertie is arranging a lamb on the spit for dinner.  This won't be "roughing it".  That will come later.

Sept 10 & 11 - Kunene River Lodge Campground.  Two nights along the Kunene river near Ruacana Falls.

Ruacana Falls - Salome's photo

Sept 12 & 13 - Omarunga Campground. Another two nights along the Kunene river at Epupa Falls.

Epupa Falls - Salome's photo

Sept 14 - Camp in the "bush" between Etenga and Otjitanda

Sept 15 - Camp in the bush near Rooidrom (Red drum).  The route taken here will allow us to avoid the dreaded "Van Zyl's" pass.

Salome at Red Drum...seems like an appropriate name...

Sept 16 & 17 - Another 2 nights along the Kunene River.  There is a campground here at Otjinhungwe although we do not have reservations. We will stay at the campground if they have room.  If not then we will make another "bush" camp.  The route taken here is through the "Marienfluss" valley.  A large beautiful valley with wonderful scenery.  We also expect to see the Himba people here.

Sept 18 - Camp in bush near Blue Drum.  We will work our way back through the Marienfluss and then on the 19th drive into the Hartmann valley along the Hartmann mountains before heading South towards Orupembe.

Sept 19 & 20 - Two nights in a bush camp in the dry Hoarusib river.  Here is where we hope to encounter the "desert" elephants.  These elephants are adapted to survive in the desert.  They roam large areas following dry riverbeds where there are trees and other vegetation for food.  Their legs are longer than bush elephants legs because of all the walking they do.

Sept 21 & 22 - Two nights at the campground in Purros.  This is where a Spanish tourist was killed by an elephant sometime the middle of August.  We will get the full story while there.

Sept 23 - Bush camp along the Hoanib river (dry) west of Sesfontein.

Sept 24 - Campsite in Ongongo, east of Sesfontein.  Here there is a natural fountain (spring) with a small waterfall and pool.

Sept 25 - Abadi Campground in Damaraland near Twyfelfontein.  Damarland is the home of the Damara people.  It has some interesting rock formations, rock engravings and a petrified forest.  It is on the way back to Henties Bay and the following night we will be back in Henties!