Namibia to Botswana

February 2006
Sand boarding in Namibia was so cool! We kakked ourselves whizzing belly down 120m high sand dunes over distances of 400m on a piece of plywood! I was clocked at 72km/h with a speed radar gun, though on other runs I definatetly exceeded that speed! The comedy stunt/injury award went to me at the end of the day, for not putting the breaks on (digging my toes into the sand) hard enough at the right place on my second run, zooming over a load of rocks and then smashing face first into a near vertical sand dune in front of me and doing a mega wipeout in style. It actually really hurt and the burn on my neck looked like someone had tried to cut my throat! My mouth was actually FULL of sand!

We left Swakupmund after that and went to a cheetah park en route to camp. We went out on little open backed landrover pickups into a huge paddock and were surrounded by 17 hungry cheetah and watched them being fed, it was amazing. We even got to play with a couple of tame adult cheetahs that lived up at the farm house. They are the only big cat that can purr, and purr they did, whenever we stroked them and it was the most wonderful sound that has ever graced my ears. That night in the bar I had my first experience with a wild snake. I spotted it crawling along one of the roof beams. Unfortunately my exciting discovery was not well recieved, and dispite me telling the barmen and guests it wasn't poisonous, they bashed it and killed it. I was really upset, more than I expected, and had to excuse myself to hide on the floor in the dark at the back of the truck and get it all out of my system before returning to skin and disect it on the bar by lantern light to identify it and demonstrate that it wasn't venomous. The bars clientel suddenly became an audience watching me and it turned into quite a lesson, and there was one overlander who happenned to be a vet so he joined in and gave me a hand which was great fun. (inside it's belly we found a skink (lizard)!! The next day we arrived at Atosha national park where we camped and did a few game drives, spotting pretty much every animal you could imagine... tons of giraffes, elephants...zebras... lions...

and all kinds of antelope and gazelle, warthogs, and amazing birdlife. And everything had irrisistable tiny babies!!!

At the campsite me and Fyf walked among a troop of mongooses without them batting so much as an eyelid while they scraped away in the soil after lizards and bugs to eat. After Atosha we went to the Okovango Delta where we were driven in mocoros (dug out wooden canoes propelled with a pole, like punting or a gondala) by some locals through hippo and croc and motorboat made narrow channels through the reeds, the water inches from spilling into the mocorrows that we lay snugly inside, surrounded by water lilies on clear water that you could drink (infact, it was the only drinking water available, and it was lovely- soft, fresh and earthy tasting, flitered superbly by the reeds), while eagles soared overhead. It was so gorgeous and peaceful. Above, Jen being a hippy child!

We camped in the delta and while lightening filled the sky and the clouds threatened us with rain, we were lucky and stayed dry. Above, Emma, one of our truckmates, ready for sleep, christening her new mosquito net. She had to get Fyf to hold it down by dumping a huge buffalo skull on the end!!

Were up ridiculously early (our guide had already boiled the kettle on the campfire for coffee though!) and went on a couple of walks to track elephants, feeling like extras from a jurassic park movie as we stepped in their huge footprints as our guide told us all about the different animals signs and the trees and plants. We found the elephants in the end and watched from just 50m away! the night before we stood and watched hippos in the water too, which was very cool.

Now we are in Botswana. Today we did a game drive round the Chobe national park and saw all kinds of things... amazing birds (such as these BRILLIANT GUINEA FOWL!!!!), including 3 types of hornbill (above), impalas and... kudu so close you could almost touch them(above, a female of the species. I think these are the most hansome of the antelopes and they are one of my favourites for sure. The males are magnificent beasts, and have huge spiralling horns), and my first wild crocodile!! When we came back for breakfast that our tour leader and driver (Sue and James) had prepared, we found a warthog family trotting between our tents, and James chasing off endless harassment by vervet monkeys that were all over the truck and stealing our food, while he threw limes at them!

Below, the three warthogs crash out on full bellies after consuming our entire supply of bread. What a spectacle it was to see the mother suddenly snatch the carrier bag and run off with it in her mouth, trotting briskly with the other 2 in tow, tails erect like car aerials!!So this afternoon we have some free time. I have to buy some new flip flops as my last ones got nicked at a campsite a couple of days ago and so I've been barefoot ever since!!! The mosquitos are unbelievable evil. We all look like we have the plague we are so badly bitten and are trying our best not to scratch our legs off!! This evening we are going on a river cruise so will see more hippos and hopefully crocs and elephants too, while we pretend to be upper class safari goers with pimms cocktails. Cheers darlings!! (Below, some pictures from said cruise, which was brill. Elephants were swimming across the Zambezi river right in front of us! It was amazing!! We also got very close to crocodiles, hippos, a Nile monitor lizard... awesome!!)