Botswana and Namibia so far
Trip Start
Jan 24, 2009
1
5
22
Trip End
Ongoing
Swakopmund, Namibia
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
OK, since last time we've had some cool shizzle going down. After Livingstone we pingponged in and out of Botswana and Namibia. First on the agenda was Chobe National Park, we did a game drive and river cruise here and saw plenty of animals, mainly elephants and Hippos but also one lioness which was stalking an Impala for a while and I smelt blood but was sorely disappointed that it lost interest and sat it's lazy ass down for a kip. One of thew nights here was at this wicked campsite that had a 'Toilet of Eden', which was an outdoor toilet built into a tree!!! I also was convinced a croc was outside our tent that night and spent most of the night not daring to move and sweating like a madman, awful business!!!
We then headed back to Namibia to go to the Okavango Delta, which is a vast swamp land home to many hippos and crocs. We were punted around here in makoro's (hollowed out canoes) by local guides, which was hard graft for them, though I feel we were ok in the hands of our guide, named of all things, 'Man Power', though I almost didn't get in as he had gooner trackie b's on! The first day we punted out to a remote island in the swamp to set up camp. From here we went out in the afternoon to find a pod of hippo's. This let me tell you was the single most terrifying moment of my life and we got pretty damn close to these huge animals, as we sat there in silence all crapping ourselves Man Power sneezed, this led to me calling him a very rude word indeed! Still we survived, though I think the guys were determined to kill us as the next day we went on a game walk, this was very cool as we got close to some elephants, baboons, zebra etc, though all the while praying to all hell that we didn't stumble across a group of lions!
From here we went to spend the night at the camp of the San Bushmen. An ancient tribe still living their traditional life. In fact you can imagine my shock when our truck got stuck in the sand a dozen fella's in loincloths appearred out of the bush's. However all was not well in Roberts town at this time and those of a weak stomach should not read on....this was our first campsite without any toilets and involved digging a hole, so naturally this was the place my stomach decided that it was not quite right, so just after dinner I had Kelly stood holding a torch whilst was projectile from both ends!!!! This obviously left the poor girl more than a little traumatised and we no longer mention the incident but I feel it is only right to share this info with you lucky people! I gave the walk the next day a wide berth, though Kelly tells me it was very good and brought me back some bark to chew that the bushmen said was for stomach complaints, I politely declined as eating a tree ain't my bag yo.
Stomach back in working order we left for Etosha National Park, which due to it being the rainy season was a bit rubbish as we saw lots of giraffes, zegra and Gazelles but very little else which was a shame. Though the really cool thing here was thery had floodlit water holes so at night you could watch the animals come down to drink, very cool. Oh and at the campsite we found a baby black mamba next to the tree our tents!
Next on the journey we went to a place to Spitzkoppe. This is up in the mountains and has amazing rock formations, contained within these are ancient drawing from early man, really amazing. Our guide who smelt like he'd had a few beers reliably told us they were between 200 and 5,00 years old, i'm not sure he was vague enough on this point! Our time here however was soured by the fact that I was desperate to watch or even just listen on the radio to the Carling Cup Final and threw a bit of a strop when I found out I couldn't. Eventually I got one of girls to lend me their phone a few text messages to Stumpy later was informed that the Manc twats had robbed us on pens.
We decided to leave Spitzkoppe a day early so we could get to Swakopmund sooner. This is the adrenaline junkie capital of Africa and also has loads of bars, etc. Last night we got pretty pissed up and the guys got to see Kelly bust some of her moves on the dancefloor, which have already become the thing of legend, with most of the group now doing a move that involves jumping in the air and landing crouched down, ass out to the side and giving two thumbs up!!! A really awesome night and with more to follow tonight. Today we'll be doing a skydive (in about an hour actually!) and tomorrow we're sandboarding down the big dunes in the desert, so all in all a pretty damn good place to be.
Well that it in a nutshell. Still haven't been able to put any pictures up but hope to sort this soon. Also for those who were hoping for the combover i'm sorry to say that I folded and cut my hair. Though having cut my hair I started on my beard but the batteries started to run out so I quickly fashioned a goatee beard, this in fact made me look like Stone Cold Steve Austin, "can I get a hell yeah!". I toyed with keeping it but in the end it went too!
Right, i'm off to throw myself out of a plane, until next time, see ya.
Comments
miss ya
Oh you guys crack me up. I'm lovin' the blog, thanks for the mention. Wish I was still there with you. How did Kel manage with no facilities? I'm feelin' for you, I was crook when I got back but had the luxury of my own toot and bucket.
Miss you guys heaps, have heaps of fun
Love Ya
Grottbags
xx