Meerkat Travels

Day 1 – Suricate Town Lodge

Christine Greybe — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 15:00:01 +0000

We have arrived, just in time for sundowners – Windhoek beer and bubbly with Andy, Michaela, Dana and Melissa. This was followed by a lovely 3 course meal at our B&B and an early night. Our adventure begins…

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Day 2 – Suricate Town Lodge

Christine Greybe — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 15:13:03 +0000

A big day of discovery – had our 4 hour briefing. They scared the “living daylights” out of us with a video starting with speeding kills… Safety and knowledge were paramount in the briefing and we were very impressed with the process. The final part was the route and some education around the roads and places to go by our hosts. This was done back at the B&B while we enjoyed a coffee sitting out in the garden surrounded by birds, squirrels and Guinea fowl. Already getting the feeling that we are in Africa and nature is close by. We all ran around buying supplies and the 4×4’s are packed and ready. Tonight off to Stellenbosch Wine Bar in Windhoek for dinner, tomorrow the driving starts.

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Day 3 – Sesriem CampSite

Christine Greybe — Mon, 18 Jul 2016 20:39:19 +0000

We started our drive today. It was 6/7 hour drive from Windhoek to Sesreim, only about 330km’s. no speeding allowed so have to stick to the speed limits and the limits imposed by the rental company on dirt roads, probably best as makes the drive scenic and safe and encourages you to stop and enjoy the journey. The start was gentle and gave us time to get used to our vehicles. We did opt for the more challenging of the two routes and headed over the Spreetshoogte Pass. The camp site is in Namib Naukluft Park and this was our first occasion to set up our roof tents. Everything worked perfectly so no complaints. Dinner was a lovely braai of chicken sosaties, boerwors and Onyx (otherwise know as Gemsbok).

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Day 4 Sesriem Camp Site

Christine Greybe — Mon, 18 Jul 2016 20:44:20 +0000

We headed out at 6am to experience sunrise on the dunes. Our final destination was Sossusvlei and Deadvlei. What an amazing experience… I have never seen light in that way. I think I may have enough photographs of sand dunes to last a lifetime. We watched the sunset from the top of a dune and marveled at the changing light. Then we headed to our final destination where we climed up the largest sand dune “Big Daddy” and then ran down and crossed Deadvlei. This should be on everyone’s bucket list. Now back at our campsite we are getting ready for another dinner under the stars. Andy is preparing oxtail potjie and I am making “roaster broad”. Of course the bubbly is in the fridge and the red wine breathing!

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Day 5 – Swakopmund, Pension Rapmund

Christine Greybe — Sat, 23 Jul 2016 18:16:42 +0000

We started our day with a 10km+ run to Elim Dune, route our campsite and back. Andy estimated it was 3km round trip… I think he got it wrong… After that was a long day of travel to get to the ocean, but worth it. The landscape was amazing. We crossed the Namib from West to East stopping for apple crumble in Solitaire, a must if your ever pass through this pit stop. We had some challenging driving through the Kuiseb Canyon and the Gaub Canyon. We stopped at Vogelfederberg, a granite Inselberg and had some fun exploring, also great photographic moments. Much to our surprise Swakpomund was clear and warm, after a quick check in at Pension Rapmund we headed down to the beach to watch the sun set. We took a break from cooking and dinned at The Tug. Sundowners were enjoyed on the deck together with some star gazing – our waitress joined in and a good time was had by all.

Sorry internet too slow for photos will upload when I can…

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Day 6 – Brandberg White Lady

Christine Greybe — Sat, 23 Jul 2016 19:39:45 +0000

Today after a couple of hours of work (had some good internet access and had to service my clients, candidates and keep my colleagues happy) we headed out for fresh supplies. I took the wheel today and drove us to White Lady. We only had one stop along the way, a shipwreck on Skeleton Coast. Looked a bit desolate, would hate to be stranded there. We have set up camp and are enjoying beer and bubbly as the sun sets and then its off to dinner in the lodge. They allow campers to dine at the lodge, that saved another day of cooking. The weather is incredible and tonight will be full moon so we will come back for a nightcap around the fire. What more could one ask for… Unfortunately Dana was not too well so we decided on no nightcap and an early start, plan to hike to the White Lady.

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Day 7 – Twyfelfontein, Molweni

Christine Greybe — Sat, 23 Jul 2016 19:43:34 +0000

A 6am wake up call by our iPhone and the Franklin’s, Andy had the kettle on and it was not long before we were sipping a lovely instant coffee and watching the sunrise from our camp site. Mornings are so peaceful in the bush. Was not long (all relative lots to pack up each day and fit in a 4×4) before we were packed and heading to our first activity for the day – the walk to the White Lady. The White Lady is a bushman rock painting near the highest mountain in Namibia. We hired a guide and Andy, Michaela, Glenn and I did the walk, about 2 hour round trip. Melissa stayed back with Dana and “looked after her”, well that was her excuse! The interesting thing is the White Lady is neither White nor a Lady, probably controversy adds to its fame. Soon after that we arrived at Moweni Camp Site. A truly breath taking camp site built into the natural vegetation. Only 7 campsites, each with its own ablution facilities and kitchenette. Also we had our own “donkey” that was stoked at 4pm and 6am, abundant hot water for our showers. What more could one ask for, a perfect place to camp. This evening I was chef and Melissa my sous-chef. We served a gourmet meal of sautéed potatoes with fresh rosemary (no thyme available at SPAR), gem squash with creamed corn and ostrich fillets. Of course sundowners included bubbly and we had a lovely Springfield Work of Time to accompany our meal. After the girls went to bed we sat around the fire with a bottle of Chocolate Block and studied the stars – helps having two astronomers and Glenn’s app on hand.

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Day 8 – Etosha, Halali

Christine Greybe — Sat, 23 Jul 2016 19:46:12 +0000

Up early to fit in a coffee before our morning run and then packing up to hit the road for Etosha National Park. A 20,000 sq km park, the 6^th largest in Africa. This was a long day of driving and Glenn and I shared the load. Made two stops on the road, first at a Damara Village for a tour of daily life. Very informative and interesting to see how they use the plant life for medicinal purposes and understand bit more of their culture. The tour ended with traditional signing and dancing and Melissa was adopted by some of the young children. Around lunchtime we reached Khorixas and stopped for a leisurely lunch. Then a quick stop at OK supermarket for supplies then hit the road again. Realized we may be a bit tight on time to reach the park gate before the gate closes, maybe lunch was too leisurely… We made it with 5 minutes to spare, set up our tents and headed down to the water hole to see what we could find. Our luck was in and had a beautiful viewing of Rhino under the full moon – perfect reflections from the moon and the flood lite water hole. We opted for dinner in the restaurant and had a scrumptious meal which included kudu steak and malva pudding. Yummy…

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Day 9 – Etosha, Namutoni

Christine Greybe — Sat, 23 Jul 2016 19:49:36 +0000

We started out early, gates open 6:30am and we were out by 7am – an achievement, we had to pack up camp, load the cars and get 6 people ready and in their seats to head out. Our plan was a self drive safari across Etosha National Park from Halali to Namutoni taking routes to various water holes along the way and a visit to Etosha Pan – a 5,000 sq km dry lake bed. Brunch was enjoyed at the pan with a much-needed second cup of coffee. And I must report that my portable toilet from REI came in handy!!! Sightings for the day included:

Thousands of springbok
Thousands of herds of zebra, even watched a large herd gather at the water hole and drink then wander off, steady flow
A couple journeys of giraffe
Hundreds of wildebeest
Several herds of gemsbok (otherwise known as oryx)
Herd of 14 elephants crossing the plain, watched them for about 20 minutes anticipating them crossing our path and they did – a perfect sighting and very unexpected given it was close to 1pm and we were on the maid road when we saw them in the distance
Various species of bird life, from Namaqua sand grouse to pale chanting goshawk
A family of 20+ banded mongoose

About 5km’s from Namutoni gate we came across fellow adventurers in need of help. This group had a puncture and did not have a good jack. Andy and Glenn decided to be good Samaritans and together with the driver of the grader in the area, helped change the tire. When we got to the gate we decided to hire a land rover and guide for a morning game drive and relax and spend our afternoon njoying the lovely campsite . It was also very dusty and the shower was calling. Dinner was another gourmet meal cooked by Andy, with the help of the girls. We had a traditional SA chicken potjie with roaster brood and a good bottle of syrah.

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Day 10 – Runda, Hakusemba River Lodge

Christine Greybe — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 16:17:12 +0000

It was up at 5am, a quick coffee and then walked over to reception from our campsite to meet Martin our guide for the next 3 hours. Of course it is winter and it was freezing on the land rover but we managed… Game viewing made up for it…

Hyena at a water hole after a night of feeding on kudu
Lion and lioness, watched then pace around eying the springbok looking a little ravenous, very happy to see cats active and so close, light was perfect
Herd of 9 kudu, females and babies, watched them wander down to the water hole and drink, awesome sight
Bird life, springbok, zebra and gemsbok were abundant

The game drive finished back at reception with coffee and a traditional breakfast of eggs, bacon and boerewors. Just what we needed to warm up. We packed up and confirmed we had our first challenge for the trip – the fridge in our car packed up!!! Fortunately the company we hired the cars from – Asco – is sending someone to meet us at our campsite to repair the fridge. Otherwise no cold bubbly or Windhoek draft!!! Once again we hit the road and today passed 2,000 km’s on our journey. Had lunch at one of the many picnic spots along the road and arrived around 5pm. The lodge was beautiful and situated on the Kavango River, just perfect. It was later than expected and given the setting and time, we opted for dinner in the lodge. Enjoyed sundowners on the deck watching sunset and attempted to post on my blog with very slow internet. Enjoyed a dinner buffet and some local wine. Best dish was kudu lasagne!

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