Leaving the Best Until Last?

The last few days had become incredibly exciting as the prospect of buying land and getting residency in Namibia became so close we could taste it. But a combination of the wrong property and feet which were still far too itchy to settle down, had veered us away from making a huge decision and pushed us back on course towards the rest of the world.

The estate we were staying on when this decision was made was in the Erongo Mountains, a stunning part of the country. We settled back into travelling mode and drove in torrential rain to the Elephant Head

And the Bull Party

And the next day took a sweltering walk in the scorching sun up to Philips Cave to see the San rock art

But we also spent a great deal of time just relaxing at the campsite!

But whilst James was slowly getting rid of all his health issues, Henry was not doing so well. On our last evening in this beautiful place I went to open the back door and found that the door handle wouldn´t work. James came to see what was wrong and discovered that the new, genuine Landrover door lock – brought back with us from the UK and fitted only 10 days ago – was broken. Was there anything left on Henry to go wrong??

The next morning, before the sun got too hot, James donned his overalls yet again and set about taking the back door apart

He discovered that the ´quality´ welding on the new lock had snapped and now the outside handle wasn´t connected to the inside handle. We wouldn´t be able to open the back door from the outside until the lock set was replaced or repaired.

Until then we would either have to open the door by diving in through the front seats and reaching through to the back, or leave the whole door handle off. Leaving the handle off seemed like a much better idea but that meant each night when we went to bed we would have to tie the door up to stop it swinging open and letting all the bugs in.

We were getting quite used to Henry and his regular hiccups by now so nothing as boring as a broken lock was going to keep us from our day! We were planning to head for the town of Omaruru. There had been other properties we were hoping to view there but house-hunting had been cancelled for the foreseeable future. All that remained of our plans was to visit two vineyards and do some wine tasting.

As we drove along the endless dirt roads we came across an aerie of Eagles which flew up, startled, in front of us and one of them dropped a small rock onto the windscreen causing a deep nick. But not even that was going to dampen our mood today, let life throw what it may at us, we were going to drink wine!

We arrived at the Erongo Mountain Winery to find a very slick operation

The service was impecible, the food delicious and the brandy and whiskey surprisingly good. But the wine was dreadful! I had bought a bottle of Erongo Mountain Chenin Blanc a couple of weeks before but when I tried to drink it I thought it was maybe corked. This tasting confirmed that the bottle hadn´t been corked!

The waiter told us they got their grapes from Stellenbosch. What on earth did they do with them to make them taste like this??

Next stop was the Kristall Kellerei vineyard and a very different experience

Another beautiful location but just one woman managing our tasting experience in a low key and quiet affair. She spent hours chatting to us, talking a small amount about wine and a large amount about her love life and how much she disliked her job!

But here the wine was very drinkable although most of the offerings were gin and liquors – which were so good I bought a bottle of pomegranate gin.

After two consecutive days of wine tasting I was a little tired and weary. So we spent an afternoon relaxing on the Omaruru campsite where we had constant company

But were bitten to shreds by thousands of mosquitoes buzzing around day and night. Apparently there is a species of mosquito which is silent when it flies and is out as often in daylight as at dusk – what a wonderful improvement over the old sort!

The next morning was Monday and everywhere was open after the week-end so we set off into the town to meet up with a mechanic and engineer who had offered to help us fix the broken door lock. It took all morning to make a new brass bush and weld all the bits back together but by lunchtime it was as good as new.

Pleased with our day so far, we set off for the Mount Etjo Lodge – a bit of a luxury experience with an expensive camp site giving us access to game drives and other wildlife-related activities – something we had been sorely lacking recently.

As we pulled up we saw what appeared to be a very upmarket lodge with beautiful grounds

There was coffee and cake on the veranda and a bar with luxurious seats. We spent a few minutes lounging around pretending we were rich before heading off to the sister campsite 3km away!

The next morning we tried to do what we thought was a 2km hike to see some 200 million year old dinosaur tracks. But the details in the information booklet had been misleading – it was 2km to the start of the trail and another 1.5km from there. On a normal day it would have been fine but it was very hot and James´ foot was still not in a good way, the antibiotics were taking an age to finish off the infection.

As we passed the sign towards the trail it looked exciting

But 2km later James was worn out and his foot was pounding so before we even found the trail he decided to turn back. I pressed on, following the smallest, rockiest trail I´d seen in a long time but regular signs kept telling me how well I was doing and motivating me onwards.

I have to admit, I didn´t expect a great deal from 200 million year old dinosaur tracks, for me the point was more the journey than the arrival. And it´s lucky my expectations were low as I could enjoy the footprints for what they were and smile to myself

On the way back I managed to photograph some of the lovely butterflies that had been fluttering around me all morning and enjoyed the quiet and solitude

I needed a couple of hours to shower, cool down and rest my weary legs after the walk and by 3pm the heavens opened with yet another torrential downpour. I had booked a game drive at the lodge for 4pm and the guide came round to pick us up at 3:30pm just as the rain was in full flow. James was planning to sit at the lodge using their wifi and chilling out whilst I did my game drive and he was very pleased with his decision as I clambered into the back of a Land Cruiser with six other hardly souls in the pouring rain wearing waterproofs and blankets provided by the guide!

The challenge of driving in the wet mud was more interesting than the game as everyone was hiding from the downpour, but we did manage to see a few soggy animals

By the time I returned to James he was a little damp himself as the posh lodge was not quite as posh as it had seemed and the rain was pouring in through the roof. We headed off to the dining room for a lovely dinner to warm ourselves up and then jumped into one of the lodge´s Land Cruisers to be taken to the highlight of the day….lion feeding!

We settled ourselves into a hide looking out over a hunk of giraffe leg tied to the ground. The guides told us to brace ourselves then opened the gate between the hide and the park itself. The lions are wild, not in any way habituated or domesticated but they could smell the meat and had been trying to get to it for some time. As soon as the gates were opened, five huge lions charged towards us.

They were magnificent! It´s amazing how much larger these animals look when they are so close – and when you´re sitting low down on a bench rather than in a Landrover. Even I flinched slightly when they first rushed in.

These five are all members of the same pride but there is a hierarchy. The matriarch and the male are unquestioningly at the top and eat first. One, younger female is the matriarch´s daughter and was tolerated but had to wait

Once the male had had his fill, the matriarch allowed her daughter to join her in the feast

There was a bit of growling and grumbling but no actual violence erupted

But even when the alpha female had finished, the other two females were still not allowed to join. These two were not blood relatives so were at the bottom of the pecking order. One left altogether but the other waited patiently for what scraps might be left

She was still waiting by the time we departed back to our campsite

We were on a roll so decided to make the most of it and head straight to Okonjima, the home of the Africat Foundation. Africat is where it all started for me, I joined as a member after my first visit in 1999 and worked as a volunteer in 2009 helping remediate the land. We visited again on our honeymoon in 2014 to find a far larger and more commercial organisation, but one which still embodied everything I believe in – looking after the environment, caring for the animals, providing education and offering farmers alternatives to shooting dangerous animals.

They also have extremely high standards for the service they offer to their guests. But this comes at a very high price! Even the campsite cost more than we would normally consider spending on an occasional hotel and the game activities were eye-wateringly expensive. We had been unsure whether to splash out or not but in the end were very, very glad we did.

For the sake of the budget we only stayed one night but we both agreed we could have moved in for a year. We were welcomed to have lunch with them, drink as much tea and cakes as we wanted and use the wifi at the lodge for as long as we wanted, even after we had officially checked out.

But for all the great service and facilities, the animals were the reason we were there.

Okonjima was established as a game reserve and the home of Africat in 1992, nearly 30 years ago. In those 30 years the family has looked after the animals as well as it takes care of its visitors. Entirely wild and free to roam wherever they wish, the whole estate was full of beautiful, relaxed and contented creatures of all shapes and sizes

But we were on a mission – we were leopard tracking! Okonjima is home to a large concentration of leopard and, as part of ongoing research, some of them are collared. The collars aren´t GPS so you can´t just look on a computer and see where they are – instead they emit a beep which can be picked up by a device rather similar to a coat hanger which you have to hold in the air whilst you drive around, trying to work out where the beep is coming from.

It´s fun and exciting and there are no guarantees. This afternoon the guide had asked us to start earlier than planned as the rain was coming in and he wasn´t at all hopeful. But what did he know??

Almost immediately we heard a faint beep. We drove quickly across the mountain, listening as the beep got louder and louder. A few wrong turns but finally we saw a streak of spots in the undergrowth.

She was gorgeous! A mum with an older cub who the guide said might be around somewhere.

We watched, transfixed, as she carried on her day as though we simply weren´t there. I have never in my life seen a leopard as relaxed as this, happily going about her day.

First thing she did was mark her territory

Then wandered slowly up the road, trying to sniff something out – whether prey, hyeana or another leopard no-one will ever know.

The Oryx kept a close eye on her

And she on them!

Eventually her path took her away from us into the deep undergrowth and we set off back to the lodge, already thrilled and excited by our afternoon. But things were about to get even more exciting.

We had driven barely a kilometer when the cub suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

He is about 10 months old so old enough for his Mum to leave him unattended and even to hunt for himself. But it will be a few months yet before she can leave him entirely to his own devices. Even so young, as a male he already rivals her for size. Just look at his paws!

In reality, he was completely unconcerned by us, almost to the point that he was barely aware we were there. But when he jumped into a nearby tree and did the archetypal ´leopard in a tree´ pose it seemed for all the world as though he was playing to his audience

He sat, surveying his world for a few minutes

Then scratched his claws

And finally jumped down

It had started to rain and as cats famously hate water he decided to hide under a bush

James managed to capture what looked like a real complaint about getting wet but in reality was just the tail end of a big yawn

He turned out to be quite good at yawning

When he finally stood up and padded off back into the bush our heads were spinning with excitement, two leopards in one afternoon – and far more than the usual fleeting glimpse of eyes and spots in the trees.

I am never sure whether leopards or lions are my favourite cat in general but what I can say is that this cub is my favourite in particular!

That evening we relaxed in our expensive but rather plush campsite and wondered all over again how we could create our own Okonjima right here in Namibia

On the basis that there is no way to top an experience like Africat we decided not to even try and instead decided to drown ourselves in the fourth and final Namibian vineyard – Otavi. Probably either the best or second best of the country´s winemakers, Otavi is a small but very lush estate with a rustic campsite.

As we pulled up I marvelled again at how unlike Namibia, Namibia was looking. Long gone were the dry, desert plains, we were so far north and so deep into the wet season that everywhere was green and somewhat overgrown

After all the excitement of the last few days we were both very tired so decided against the vineyard tour or wine tasting and instead just relaxed on the campsite. The next morning we treated ourselves to an amazingly good cooked breakfast at the main house then set off to visit the only two permanent lakes in Namibia.

Considering that two permanent lakes are a real curiousity in such an arid country, you would think they would make more of them.

The first, Lake Otjikoto, was open to tourists at the grand price of €25 – just like the Petrified Forest back in Damaraland but this time instead of taking fifteen minutes the guided tour took less than five! The poor guide didn´t really know what to say or do, we tried to ask intelligent questions to make it seem worth the entrance fee but even we struggled! It was pretty though, as these things go!

With some interesting German military history

Undettered we pressed on to Lake Guinea, the larger of the two lakes where we expected to be fleeced in the same way. But this one was very different. For a start we struggled to find it and when we parked up next to a ramshackle sign pointing down an overgrown path we were unsure what to make of it. James decided to stay with Henry whilst I ventured down the path.

I found the Lake, but only after I´d scrambled over some industrial pipes and across a few ditches

These photos are carefully angled to avoid the industrialisation of the lake – it seemed such a shame.

I quickly headed back to James and Henry and we sped off back to the campsite.

We had intended to do the wine tasting the next day but I had a migraine in the morning and we had run out of things to do in the area for another day so, after buying a bottle of champagne from the owner to make up for it we headed off, aiming for the large town of Grootfontein.

We were nearing the end of our time in Namibia and at some level I think we were ready to go. Living in a country is one thing, we would build a home, settle down, fall into the rhythm of life here. But we had made the decision to remain as nomads and travellers and that is a very different way to be.

Between the delays caused by shipping and the accident, we had ended up staying in South Africa for 5 months. We had now spent almost 4 months in Namibia, for no other reason than because we loved it. But now it was time to start speeding up and seeing more of Africa and the wider world beyond.

We had a few more days left to finish off our extensive Namibian itinerary but we were already champing at the bit to move on and start exploring the next place. Botswana was calling….and we were ready to answer