Our trip via Germany was ‘fine’. ie cramped, frustrating and generally grim. Hey ho. The fun of flying today. BUT: we got here! (Namibia!) in the morning and managed to get through the scrum which is called customs. Prepurchase of the visa was great. Probably saved 2-3 hours. And the folk at ATI were there to meet us. All good!

We picked up our Toyota Hilux, 14K miles on the clock and new tyres, yea! Many thanks to all the team at ATI holidays based in Windhoek, who booked our trip. So far everthing is just so smooth! The support had been great, thanks Monica! And a shout out to John Spence who put us in touch.

We drove to Otijwa Eagles rest 200km north of Windhoek, via a supermarket for a beer or two. Maybe 3. Easy tarmack road, with the occasional police stop. But we so look like tourists all is fine. We arrived in good time at Eagles rest, and decided on the night drive. Just Glorious. 20.30 til 23.00, which was extraordinary:

African Giant Owl. Bat Eared Fox.

But the most exciting, by ten million percent was:

What a few hours. The guides were so happy. One hadn’t seen a leopard for over a year. The other twice in 2025. How lucky!? And this was our first night!

We did meet the owner of one of Namibias few wineries, Tamara Boshoff, and even sampled some of the wine. Yummy! She is Namibian with an Afrikaans husband. And also a Russian intern. Very multi!

The next day we decided to do a 6:30 am MTB ‘safari’ which I thight would be a gentle trip around a park. From a cycle it was, but from an animals POV, amazing.

We saw rhino, giraffe, ostrich and loads of great deer based stuff – bambi type things!

And then our first Rhino. On a MTB. A bit ‘blimey’! Hope they think we are nice!

Day 3 To Hakusembe River Lodge.

On our way up to the Zambezi strip we stop at Hakusembe Lodge, ust for one night. But will return for another night in 9 days time.

The drive to Hakusembe, 500 Km mainly on tarmac roads, was OK. Lots of ‘not much’ but when you look there are loads of small towns, people just ‘hanging’ and big farms. But it gives you the idea of how big Namibia is. We went via the biggest known metiorite in the world, the Hoba meteorite. Maybe 30Km of dirt road, but worth it. Odd that such a lump of iron and nickel fell onto the Earth maybe 80,000 years ago, and did’nt do much damage. And you can walk on it! It makes a very odd metalic sound when you speak on it, and its a bit like a bell when you knock it. And it feels cool. We were the only ones there.

One big meteorite!

Once we arrived in Hakusembe, we saw the mighty Okavango river for the first time. We were warned that our phones would randomly go from our ‘real time’ to an hour behind, because on the northern bank of the Okavango is Angola, and their time is an hour behind Namibia. Odd. And the river is known as the Kavango in Namibia.

Hakusembe was only a ‘stop over’ but great. On our trip so far most other guests have been either German or Afrikaaners. A smattering of other countries but as yet no English. Ah well.

Early start for Jackalberry tomorrow.

Day 4 Jackalberry Lodge,

Wow. Just 4 ‘tents’ in the Nkasa Rupara National Park, miles from anywhere. Jackalberry Tented Camp isn’t ‘luxury’, but it is so close! We are the only people here, which is sad for the staff. The drive is proper 4×4, sandy, wet, mud. And we were very glad we were following Justin our guide. So many bends, turns, bogs. We would have been lost! JUst the drive to the camp is a safari in its own right. Glad the car is good. It was suggested that we left the car in the nearest ‘town’, Sangwali but Justin reconed we could do it! Phew. We could!!

We started with a night drive, not seeing as much as in Otijwa Eagles rest, but the peace, and actually the noise of the night, is glorious. Hippo making ‘bowel’ noises and munching on grass, loads of frogs but most memorably the roar of Lions. And don’t forget the smells! Wild sage mixed in with various poos! We spend 2 1/2 hours tracking the lions. We heard them loads. We saw their paw prints. But we didn’t see them. But no luck. But that was to change tomorrow…

Day 5-6 Jackalberry Lodge

The first morning of our time in Jackalberry. 5.30 start for coffee and the game drive starts at 5.50, ish. It is cool, maybe 17-18 c and refreshing. Dawn is just breaking. Justin our guide is keen and happy. We hear lions, again. But more frustration. Loads of birds, Impala, Kudu and warthog. Still no lions. But then: around a corner…

The most beautiful male, hunting and trying to find his mates. We just watch and ponder…

Photos of the antelope to follow!