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The Adventures - Etosha

It’s early April and it’s a long way from New York to Tsumeb.  You’re up with the dawn to catch your Air Namibia 10-seater commuter plane from Windhoek to Tsumeb, way in the northeastern part of Namibia near the Angola border.  Your personable travel agent greets you with your rental car and with directions to Etosha National Park an hour away, mostly on an excellent paved road.  You drive along incredibly empty roads, but don’t drive too quickly for along the way you are likely to see the odd giraffe poking their heads above the trees.  You arrive at Mokuti Lodge a first world game lodge situated on the eastern border right at the gates of the mythical game park Etosha.  Grab a quick bite to eat, take a swim in the pool and head on out to self-drive into the park.

Within minutes, you see animals.  The zebras are munching grass  and flowers right by the side of the road.  There are few crowds here so they are remarkably unafraid and curious about motor cars. The springbok are everywhere, prancing across the road, sniffing the air for predators or chewing the grass.  Giraffes wander about eating the tops of the trees.   It is hot and dry but not too hot.  There are surprisingly so few other cars.  It is so quiet!

No pain no gain.  It’s 48 hours since you left New York.  The discomfort of the interminable flight is behind you now.  Your impatience is receding.  You know why you came here.  You are a long way from your daily routine and it feels awfully good.

You keep driving on the well-kept dirt roads.  In the comfort of your vehicle, you snack, you drink, and you stop to take photos.  You drive until you see an animal.  Then you stop to observe.  You switch off your engine and you just sit, watch and listen.  You marvel at the big blue sky and watch the rainstorms in the distance.   

As the day cools and the sun dips, many more animals make their appearance.  In the cool of the day, the animal kingdom awakes and renews itself and you are there as a silent observer.  Impala, springbok, tortoises, ostriches and an amazing variety of large birds go about their routines.

You drive by a waterhole and stop to watch a lone wildebeest acting stroppy as he tries to prevent zebras from drinking at his waterhole.  Eventually, they come down anyway and perhaps through sheer force of numbers and noisy neighing, they drive the old guy off.  Giraffes make their appearance from the distance and suddenly a wild dog, then another, dart from the underbrush and head for the other side of the water hole.  The giraffes and zebras eye them suspiciously.  The  jackals drink their fill and leave.  Somewhere in the distance, a lion roars.  As the sun starts to fade over the water a hyena runs from the woods and the other animals scatter.  The giraffes try to mock-charge her but she’ll have none of it.  The hyena drinks her fill and gives herself a nice mud bath.  The tension is palpable, the cycle of nature is never-ending.  Finally, she has had her fill and she leaves.  After 2 hours of patient waiting, the giraffes get to drink.

 The sky turns red, then purple.  A herd of storks head homeward.  That evening at Mokuti is bliss.  A barbecue, African-style is held in Mokuti’s outdoor boma (traditional circular open air dining room).  The other guests are mainly Germans and South Africans.  Namibia was once a German colony, early in the 20th Century and it has imposed its own discipline and efficiency on Africa in a rather excellent blend of old world formality and emerging Africa.  The buffet of meat, wonderful vegetables and salads is as good as you will get anywhere.  It’s hard to believe you are in Africa, but yes, you are and it’s a unique and very special feeling.  You experience a peace, a serenity rarely achieved. 

Next day, you are up at 5AM as an incredible dawn lights up the east.  You grab a quick breakfast and head out of the camp into the animal kingdom.  My God, on the left, they are everywhere.  Yet, to the right, out on the vast and utterly desolate Etosha Pan (old salt lake) not a living thing moves – except for 3 ostriches running from nowhere to nowhere.  Bizarre.  A few giraffes dot the horizon as the pan gives way to a vast plain filled with clumps of grass and a big, big sky.  The grass is amazingly green; it is the end of the rainy season.  Suddenly across the plain stalks a lone lioness.  She is headed right for you.  You stop, grab the camera and start shooting as she stalks towards you.  Incredibly, she acts as if you are not even there.  She walks right up onto the road and takes off at a leisurely swagger down the road.  You are driving after her and then alongside her.  She looks at you with utter disdain.  You think to yourself that you have never met a human who can swagger in quite the same way as a lion.  Eventually, she tires of the game and walks off into the long grass.  You are exhilarated by your close encounter with royalty.

An elephant suddenly makes itself known by shaking the trees as he rips branches off and stuffs them in his mouth.  Funny warthogs run away in line with their comic tails pointed straight upward.  Gemsbok (Oryx) and Kudu prowl the plain.  In your drive across the length of the reserve today, you see virtually every species.  You are covered in dust and exhausted but it's a good tired.

Experiencing animals in their natural state leads to a satisfying feeling of being connected with them in an ancient ritual of survival.  It feels good to be reminded of where we came from.

It's time to see what the rest of Namibia looks like.

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