To Waterberg Plateau Rest Camp
Trip Start
Jul 09, 2008
1
3
20
Trip End
Jul 30, 2008
Where I stayed
Waterberg Plateau Rest Camp
Waterberg Plateau Park,
Namibia
Friday, July 11, 2008
On the way we stopped off at Otjiwarongo a popular stopping place en-route to the Waterberg Plateau
Unpacking the Landrover
. It is a nice little town and we had a lovely toastie and cup of tea in the bakery. There is also a very good curio shop here selling all kinds of Namibian souvenirs and a 'Mr Price' a South African chain store that sells reasonably priced clothes - a big hit with the boys.The Waterberg Plateau is the 'narrow gate' between the Kleine and Grosse Waterberg and is Namibia's only mountain game park. The plateau itself rises over 200 metres and is striking in appearance with its distinctive red sandstone cliffs that look particularly amazing in the early morning and evening light.
We were to be staying at Waterberg Plateau Rest Camp (It was originally known as the Bernabe de la Bat Restcamp) and is situated at the base of the plateau. As part of the 100th anniversary of Etosha National Park, most of the camps and resorts run by 'Namibia Wildlife Resorts' have undergone extensive upgrading, and these include Waterberg Camp - which was one of the first to be changed, in early 2007. As a result of this the facilities were very good and included a swimming pool, spotless showers, bar, restaurant, shop and fuel station.
There are a number of short walking trails around the camp that you can explore by yourself and we took the opportunity to go for a stroll
Our first time camping
. You can pick up a map of these at reception and if you feel fit enough you can hike up to the top of the plateau. Unfortunately we didn't have the time as it was quite late, plus it did look a long way, so we took one of the shorter walks. There was no game but the views were magnificent.I wasn't quite sure how I would feel about sleeping in a small tent perched on top of a Land Rover. It was a little claustrophobic at first and I had to have the window flaps open both for air and light. However it was amazing how comfortable and warm it was. The ground tent was a little more problematic to put up needing all four of us to each hold a corner, although erecting it was infinitesimally easier than putting it down and rolling it up small enough so that you could fit it back into the tiny bag it came in!
Comments
Hello
Hello Jo, Kathy Dalboth here, really brilliant blog postings you've put up here, and looks like a dream trip with the combination of Namibia. You went to Waterberg Rest Camp I see, where Ed and I had spent our first ever night camping on African soil, a few years before we adventured into Botswana. I loved Namibia very much, we did a full self-drive trip around from Waterberg through Etosha, Damaraland, and down into the dunes of the Namib desert and Sossusvlei. Even then we felt we'd only covered half the territory and there was plenty more to go back to. Thank you for your lovely comments in your blog, and I'm so glad that writing it helped you make the most out of your experience - that was the whole point, and it's really brilliant to see. Any more adventures, I'd love to hear about them.
All the best,
Kathy