Cape Town, South Africa

January 29^th, 2025

Today’s the day! We are off on safari again.

When our request to leave the ship in Zanzibar, Tanzania and return in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania was rescinded, I expected that our request to leave the ship in Cape Town, South Africa and return in Walvis Bay, Namibia would go the same way. But no, we were given full permission to do so. Sometimes inconsistencies are good.

We had booked to fly from Cape Town to Windhoek, Namibia, and then take a little charter plane to Mokuti near Etosha National Park in Namibia. We would then spend 3 nights at the Onguma Tented Camp in the Onguma private reserve adjacent to Etosha. From there we would fly from Mokuti to Walvis Bay by private charter to join the ship again.

I was so excited when our friends asked if they could  join us, safaris are so much better when they are shared with good friends.

Packing for the safari was a real challenge as we were limited to 6 kgs of luggage each for the charter flights. When our camera equipment alone weighed over 5 kgs, we knew it would be a problem, so my trusty video camera was discarded in favor of sunscreen.

We took a taxi from the port to Cape Town airport, and it was a short flight to Windhoek

At the airport we were met by Jan our pilot and the 4 of us plus Jan squeezed into the little plane. It’s the one on the far left.

We sat squashed in the plane at the airport for about an hour waiting for permission to take off while sundry commercial jets landed and took off. We were definitely feeling like no one really cared about us, and even though the windows were open, it was certainly getting hot and stuffy.

Then finally we got the go ahead to take off, and we hurled down the runway and into the blue Namibian skies.

I had always thought that Namibia was mostly desert, and things would look very dry below due to the recent drought. But no, when I looked outside, it was very green and surprisingly hilly. Not at all what I had expected.

I didn’t know whether I should be concerned that my friends seemed to be studying the emergency instructions very carefully.

I had also not expected it to be quite so bumpy. For 2 hours we flew though the turbulence until finally we saw the Mokuti airstrip in the distance. Phew, the ordeal is about to end.

We landed on the dirt runway, and Victor our guide was there to greet us. We offloaded our meager luggage, bade farewell to Jan, and climbed up into the safari vehicle. We are here! We are in the bush! I am in my happy place.

It was a 20 minute ride along a smooth dirt road to the camp.

It was certainly much greener than I had thought it would be.

After being welcomed with delicious, cold, lemon juice, we were shown to our tents. We have stayed in many tented camps, some luxurious, some not so much, but this has to be my favorite.

The tents are situated around the water hole

And have wide decks

And a wood fired hot tub

And outdoor shower.

Inside the room was luxurious

With a very acceptable bathroom.

Yes, this is going to be good.

After a brief break, it was time for our first game drive in the Onguma private park. What a pleasure. Apart from a couple of other safari vehicles from the nearby camps, there were very few other vehicles on the roads. This was not at all like Ngorongoro.

It was also not like Ngorongoro in that although we saw some great animal sightings, it wasn’t like there was an animal everywhere you looked.

We saw leopard tracks, but no leopards.

Still we had several great zebra sightings.

As well as giraffes

And timid impalas.

There were birds everywhere.

There are termite mounds all over the place and Victor took a long time explaining the workings of termite mounds to us. These are not the same termites that tried to eat our kitchen cabinets, they can’t digest cellulose and live on a fungus that they grow in the mound. Sort if like little farmers. All very interesting. The tip of the mounds always faces north, that helps with temperature control for fungus production. and that is what the original San people would use to help with their navigation.

So all in all it was a most successful game drive.

One of the highlights of every afternoon game drive is when you stop to have sundowners.

Our vehicle was well provisioned with snacks and fluids

And I really enjoyed sipping my wine and munching on biltong watching the sun slip below the horizon. Our first sunset in the bush.

After dark we returned to the camp for dinner. The food was good, but we were invaded by large moths which made things rather unpleasant, so we ended up retreating to the safety of our tent which looked lovely in the candlelight and was almost moth free.

It had been a wonderful day. As we fought our way through the mosquito net and settled down under the covers Brian heard a hyena. I did not, all I could hear were the very noisy crickets and birds that were still chirping long past their bedtime. It’s going to be a noisy night in the bush.