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Etosha
and a 500km detour-
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Since our last update two weeks ago we
have been travelling in the Etosha National Park - a flat area of
dried out scraggly grass and sad looking trees that surround Etosha
Pan; a vast space of grey-white powdery sand and absolutely nothing
else!! It is a strange place that one cannot conceive could
sustain life, but sustain life it does with herds of hundreds of
zebra and springbok being an everyday sight. Giraffe,
elephant, rhino, lion, jackal, gemsbok (oryx), black-faced impala,
amongst others, were part of the landscape that we enjoyed each time
we went out for a drive.
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The main campsite in the park,
Okaukuejo, has a large waterhole which is floodlight at
night. On our second night, the roaring of lions alerted us that they were in
vicinity, so we abandoned our cooking of dinner and ran to the
waterhole. Wow!! Fourteen lions could be made out in
the murky light where the power of the floodlights was overwhelmed
by the darkness. Then, to our left, our attention was
diverted to three black rhinos that emerged out of the
night. They had not come as a group, but they now joined
ranks and stood shoulder to shoulder looking at the lions.
And so started a standoff of amazing proportions. The lions
would move towards the water and the rhino would back away, then
the rhino would boldly move forward and the lions would
scamper. Neither side was getting anything to drink, merely
gaining and losing ground. The situation was eventually
resolved some forty minutes later, when, by sheer size and
numbers, fifty elephant, without any regard for either of the
warring parties, simply walked straight between the lions and the
rhinos and established their dominance at the waterhole.
They drank their fill, idled around for a while and then slowly
moved off, allowing the rhinos the chance to have a quick drink
before they too left, melting into the night and leaving the
deserted waterhole to the lions. It was all so incredible! We ate dinner very late
that night!
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Alan has definitely
established himself as our "spokesman" as he spends much
of his time in camp talking; some people come to visit us, but many
he seems to "find" all by himself. The roles have
been reversed as it used to be Alan whispering "we have to go
now!!" while I jabbered on and on, but now it is the other way
round! We have had
a number of really exciting sightings all of which I would love to
describe in detail, but two in particular have left a lasting
impression - both involve raptors.
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The first was of a female Pygmy Goshawk
who liked to sit in the tree above our Mog. One day, as we
watched her fly, she disappeared into the tree behind us - we went
to investigate and found her sitting with a large lizard hanging
from her beak. Then, oblivious to our crazily clicking camera,
she enthusiastically devoured her prey. They following day she
again sat above our Mog, this time consuming a large locust..
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Our other sensational
birding moment was when a Bateleur, dropped down beside our vehicle
as we drove along the road. Alan saw the bird in the side
mirrors as it dropped to earth, wings spread wide, not more than
half a metre away from a wide-eyed Sandy! We drove on a little
so as not to frighten it off, before turning around and watching him
as he attempted, and then succeeded, to swallow a blood and flesh
covered bone. After a fluff of his wings, he effortlessly
lifted off the ground and soared into the blue.
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Although Etosha is not our favourite
National Park, it is certainly a very different and unique place
which offers the visitor an experience that can probably not be
realised anywhere else in the world. We had the privilege of
seeing some awesome animal behaviour and watching species
interaction. Our ten days in Etosha has left us with
wonderful memories and a whole bunch of photographs!
While at our Rotary meeting in
Otjiwarango (try pronouce that after a glass or two of wine!), we
were told of a Unimog expert who lives in Kamanjab, Lars Falkenberg.
Of course Alan jumps at any chance to talk "Mogs", and so
here we are in Kamanjab, 500kms out of intended route. It has
been a very worthwhile detour as everything has been checked over by
Lars who knows Unimogs very, very well. After some tweeking,
checking, tightening and upgrading, the most important is that
he says we are in very good shape and that we can head to Cairo!
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Duelling zebra at
the edge of Etosha Pan.
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Elephant bath-time
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Highlights
of the week:
Best meal: Homemade fire-baked cheese and onion bread
Best moment: That's not a fair question!! Pygmy
Goshawk? Bateleur? Duelling zebra? Rhino/Lion standoff? I just
can't decide!!
Worst moment: When we discovered that it was the start of
the South African school holidays and instead of being the only
people in the campsite (which we mostly have been up to now), we
were two of zillions!!
Interesting people
we've met:
Dirk, Cathy, Karleigh & Kelton Driedger: a Canadian
family who are exploring Southern Africa for three months.
What a great family!!
Juanita & Lars Falkenberg: if it's got wheels, these
folks know how to make it move!
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