Delta and Desert week

Our last ten days, and you couldn’t have a greater contrast of landscapes, wildlife and days.

First we had to leave Zambia, drive along the Capri Strip of Namibia to get to the Western side of the Okavango Delta.  What looked like a relatively tough 500km drive became famous as our worst drive of the trip as the Zambian road disintegrated into car breaking potholes and then disappeared completely leaving corrugated dirt and rock. Trucks limped along at 30-40km/h and we got up to 60km on the better sections. The first 200km took 4 hours, and we were well rattled when we stopped for our usual road lunch of bread, fresh tomatoes, sometimes cheese, always chippies crushed in for some texture. Happily we then crossed the border into Namibia and reaped the benefits of Namibian road building, driving the last few kms down a sand track to ngepi camp on the banks of the Kavango River that feeds the delta.

We love Ngepi for its riverbank campsites. It still boasts the ‘world’s only hippo and croc cage diving’ – an ingenious floating steel cage in the river that allows us to swim in the river, watching the hippos and crocs swim past. We stayed two nights and sat up late under a near-full moon, next to the fire, listening to the hippos and other wildlife crashing around in the river and surrounding bush. The wildlife highlight though had to be the highly venomous Boomslang snake Leanne and the girls spotted hiding underneath the outdoor bathroom hand basin. Apparently it had worked out to come there for a drink. We’re pretty happy we spotted it rather than gave it a fright that might have ended very very badly. We took lots of careful photos before we identified it from our snake book. We might have been more careful if we had identified it first!

From there we crossed South back into Botswana and stayed a couple of days at Guma Lagoon Camp on the Western edge of the Okavango Delta. The world’s largest swamp, and a World Heritage site, its narrow waterways are teeming with bird and animal life. From the tiny Malakite Kingfisher, to the elephant we surprised as we rounded a bend, and the 2 ton hippo who thought it was a dolphin as it leapt athletically out of the water and charged at us. Boat driver Tops hit the throttle and we scraped past him and off around the bend. If hippos ever work out teamwork we’re in serious trouble!  The now completely full moon was a big treat, as we headed into the same waterways in what would have been the pitch black of a nighttime boat trip, but instead was almost like daylight. Incredibly beautiful, and hugely exciting.

Two nights there and we were ready for some Namibian desert. We crossed the border and stayed at another old favorite – Kalahari Bush Breaks, where our campsite looked out as a waterhole dimly lit by an orangey light that meant we could sit and watch everything come and go until late in the evening. 

From there we blasted several hundred kms across stunning Namibian desert and mountain ranges over the next couple of days to get to Swakopmund on the coast. Every time we stopped for a drink and a stretch we poked around and found life in the most incredible environments. Even large Gemsbok antelope, zebra and ostriches all adapted to living in these hostile environments.

We’ve spent the last few days in that coastal desert environment and went into the dunes of the desert with expert guides who had the incredible ability to find and show us the creatures adapted to living in and under the sand. From the stunning chameleon who lumbered out of the dunes towards our rest stop, to the sidewinder snake the guys tracked (zoom in and find his eyes peeking out of the sand and you’ll never walk barefoot again), to the beautiful jeweled gecko and shovel snouted lizard who they excavated from their holes beneath the burning sand. After all the big mammals we’d been focused on, it was awesome to be guided by two guys who had a great understanding of the tiny creatures. 

Our last day on the coast we headed out on a boat into the super-rich sea life of the Benguela current that runs up Namibia’s coast. We expected the seals and dolphins to be the highlight, but the Pelicans trying to land on our heads to get the fishy treats the guys threw for them were both beautiful and hilarious!

That was the end of our month on the road. 4,500kms of dirt, mud, deep sand and occasional potholed tar and it was time to head back to Windhoek and surrender the keys to our trusty (and pretty badly beaten up) Toyota workhorses. It was sad to see them go, and Matt and Doug confessed to being very insecure not having the car keys around their necks where they’d been for a month.

Last night we celebrated with pizzas, beers and milkshakes at the Sicilian restaurant on Independence Avenue, then turned in early to get ready for the 29 hour journey home through Johannesburg and Sydney.

Emma has four new sisters and a brother. Doug has a new daughter (Leni, who set up her nest in the back seat of their ute for the month). We’re sitting in joburg airport waiting to board the long flight home, and starting to dream of Xmas with families, and the rhythms of life at Riversdale. 

See you all soon!!