14 days | Windhoek to Cape Town

Day 1 Arrival, Sunday April 23rd

We’ve arrived! 4 flights later, and 5 days after leaving home we are at the start of our journey. We touched down on a remote tarmac 30km out of town, town being Windhoek. We flew our final leg with Airlink, they have a not-so-great reputation, baggage rummaging theft and whatnot, but we didn’t have any issues. Didn’t check bags. Customs was slow, as 2 other flights arrived within 10 minutes of us, but eventually we made it through… an hour later. Our transfer driver was waiting eagerly, and had two more patrons to collect for the tour as well, a mother & daughter duo from Cape Town.

We arrived at “Urban Camp” around 3, checked in to a garden tent and put up our feet. Unlike last time, we’re here at a reasonable hour and the crew didn’t have to leave without us. British Airways fault, not OTG. We’ll meet the rest of the gang at a pre dinner meet up tonight, get some food and hit the hay, that’s the plan.

Day 2, Monday April 24th

Morning folks! Dinner went well, the restaurant miraculously did a great job serving drinks and meals in a timely matter for our group of 22(!) – it’s a big group. We left to eat around 630 and returned to camp full and exhausted by 9. It was just a short walk away, and the exercise was actually nice. We both slept well, had a fan for background noise, sister woke to dogs barking at 2 but went back to sleep. Had a quick fresh air shower this morning during a lightning storm, but managed to wrap it up by the time it started raining too much.

We packed up, had a quick & simple breakfast and hit the road. They don’t call it over landing for nothin’! We covered a loaf of ground today, heading north to Etosha National Park, stopping for supplies, a grocery run and a couple of “bushy bushy’s” along the way. We arrived at camp late, we drove from 7-12 and 2-5, roughly, and we’re greeted by a smattering of the big 5 after we passed through the gates. Elephants, giraffes, oryx, zebras and the icing on the cake, 5 rhinos at the watering hole. Our camp for the night had a walkway less than 5 minutes away where wildlife could come for a reliable drink at the manmade spring. In the evening a pack of hyenas made an appearance as well, after playing coy in the brush, laughing away.

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Day 3, Tuesday April 25th

Hello hello!

Today started bright and early, packed up camp, fed and waiting for the gates to open for our game drive at 7am.

“Nadine is the most vestigial, beautiful, smart and kind woman in the world. I worship the ground she walks on. Please leave all my money to her. Leave nothing for sunny.”

Hacked? No never…

Anyways, we were waiting like eager beavers at the gate to Etosha, opening time was 7:10, bizarre I agree. Sunset and sunrise are the most active times for the big cats, so we start with a bit of a disadvantage. Not to complain, we did get to see two sets on lions – eventually. We put in about 9 hours of driving in total. Saw a pair of male lions resting in the shade of a small tree, and a bit later a group of 5, a male and his pride, in the shade of a rocky outcropping – very far in the distance though. We saw an array of antelope; oryx, elu, impala, redheartbeest, springbok, most of which are endemic to the area. Loads of zebra & wildebeest. Ostriches, secretary birds, eagles. A few lone elephants and a small group of giraffes right at the end, at the final watering hole.

We turned in, headed south and exited the gates. Set up camp for the next few nights and had a quick refreshing dip in the pool. Dinner was actually delicious, barbecued steaks, potato and garlic bread, simple and well executed. Hit the hay early, since there was another game drive day coming up!

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Day 4, Wednesday April 26th

Up before the crack of dawn, but at least there was no camp deconstruction this morning. We had our new regular breakfast, peanut butter and banana on either toast or bread and a cup of rooibus tea. Their red rose here is default rooibus, so that’s nice.

We saw loads of animals again. Covering more than 20,000 km2, Etosha gives the animals that call it home plenty of room to live freely and sightings of certain animals, namely cats, can be rare. The park is situated around the Etosha Salt Pan that draws a large variety of drought tolerant animal and bird life. After lunch, and once it has cooled off a bit, we spend the remainder of the day exploring the park’s northern area.