Namibian Coast

After being delayed in the capital Windhoek for a number of days getting some Larry repairs (appears like the lions Larry didn't like the puddles in the Kalahari too much either - fried the starter motor) we have got back on our way heading to the coast of Namibia to Swakopmund and Walvis Bay where the desert meets the sea.

We have just spent the most magical morning aboard Catermaran Charters meeting the wildlife in the bay.  First up were a flock of beautiful pelicans that come when you whistle - they have a pink tinge from the food they eat (similar to flamingos). After being frustratingly stuck on a number of safaris with bird fanatics that make you stop to take photos of tiny brown birds when there are lions just up ahead these were birds that were definately worthy of a photo. Check out the wingspan on these guys - pretty impressive.

We then got introduced to some resident sea lions who are so lazy they jump on board the boats as they head out of the harbour for a free feed and a lift out to the seal colonies. I definately fell in love with these guys along with the meerakats, cheetahs, lions, gorillas, chimps etc etc ....

After dropping off our hitch hiking seal friends we then got to see some baby seal colonies - it makes Underwater World seem pretty lame when you get to see them play in their natural habitat. There are tens of thousands of these guys in the bay - too cold for great whites and definately too cold for me to swim (the water temp is about 15 degrees).

Some pods of dolphins also joined us on the trip out but they were a little more interested in catching fish than us - who can blame them. They were beautiful to watch but a bit challenging to photograph.

 



Crossing the Kalahari

We had seen the movie, 'The Gods Must be Crazy' and on the basis of that, and little else, we decided to drive across the Central Kalahari. We spent a few days preparing the car, and getting as much information on the tracks through the area as we could...which was confusing at best.

The track in was punctuated by huge mud holes that ranged from a foot deep to over a metre deep. After a few hours of mud and then deep sand, we bumbled into a spectacular Kalahari black mained lion, who decided to stand in our path and roar for a while...which was really quite impressive.

We decided to push on and hit a really deep pothole/pond... which turned out to be very deep! Whilst in the middle of the pond, with water flowing in through all of the vents and doors, the exhaust blew off the turbo....wich sounded like a bomb going off. Larry instantly sounded like the type of tank that would bring a tear of joy to any Panzer Commander.

We crawled out of the hole, but having only just left a large male lion behind us, I decided to drive on until the grass was clear enough from the track for me to get out and inspect the damage.....that was 80km of sand and mud. Whist I can't account for it, we didn't see any wildlife for that whole period....nor could I hear anything except a ringing in my ears.

We stayed in the desert for three nights at Tau Pan (which means Lion Pan). Whilst I would love to say we camped under the stars amongst the lions, Tanya lined up a luxury lodge to stay at (Tau Pan Lodge). All of the other guests fly in...so we were quite the novelty! The lodge overlooked the pan, and was just divine. We hid Larry in the workshop, and joined all of the wealthy guests, enjoying safari drives and evening G & T's out on the pan....it really was pure luxury. In addition to the luxury which was hard to take the pan was home to a pride of lions that could be heard roaring each night and actually used the chalets as shade during the heat of the day... pretty cool.

I spent a day with the famous San Kalahari bush men, learning how to get water from tubas, setting traps and general survival....I was Bear Grills.

After three days of luxury, we had to hit the bush and finish our crossing. The track out was not used very often, and we had the lodge staff radio the anti-poaching patrols to get some feed back on if we could make it out....they said it was fine. Whilst parts of the track were grown over...our GPS kept us on route, and the drive out West proved to be much easier than the trip in.

We rested up a few days and have crossed into Namibia, and hit the capital Windhoek on Independence Day...which is a real bummer, as our starter motor has been through one too many water crossings to work anymore....so we are stuck here for a few days for parts. However, just when I was feeling Larry was letting us down, we met six poms who had been on the road for a few months in a Landy they paid 30K for, which had broken down continuously, and was sitting in a backpackers parking lot with a blown motor.....go Larry! (he is still NOT coming home with us Dave!!!)

Top Gear meets Meerakat Manor

We are in the very North of the Kalahari Basin and are getting ready to head South into the Central Kalahari. We hooked up with a local operator who took us out to meet a Meerakat family, and then a quad bike trip out onto the salt pan (the one they used on Top Gear Botswana).

The Meerakats were lovely little chaps. We sat near their burrow (which they stole from an ardvark). After just a few seconds, they came over to say hello and set up around us. Before the young one came over to play the adults set up 'watches' to ensure safety for us all. Whilst one intrepid fellow thought Tanya's head was the best point to set up watch, he gave up after a few minutes and took to a termite mound instead. 

The whole family played around us for as long as we were interested. The juveniles set a wrestling match under Tanyas legs, and the adults seemed quite happy chatting to me.... it really was very nice.

The crew from Top Gear headed out from the same spot we did...but they did it in the dry season...when the salt pan is nice and hard. Whilst on the show they made it look like no one had done it before, the truth is there is a well worn trail out to Kebu Island which is easily driven in the dry. The pan had been closed to vehicles for a few months due to the wet, but we convinced an operator that the last few days of sun would have baked the pan enough to let us get out on the bikes....and he suprisingly agreed.

The salt pan was really amazing...it didn't take long for there to be nothing on any horizon... it felt like being on the moon. We went out to some of the smaller islands, but the 100km round trip to Kebu island would have been pushing our luck....especially as the skies cracked after we got off the salt and a deluge came down.

I know there are places in America they call 'big sky country'.... well this is Africa's version.

Chobe National Park Botswana

We have left Zambia behind and crossed into Botswana. The border crossing consisted of a ferry ride across the Zambezi River which was flowing at about 8knots.... after we ploughed through a reed bed full of local fishermen sleeping in their canoes, we hit the landing ramp and rolled on into Botswana.

I must say I am glad to be out of the reach of the Zambian Police.... they add a whole new chapter to the book of corruption and extortion. A shop owner told us that an officer came into buy some shoes, but didn't have enough money, so he set a road block up outside, and shortly there after came in and paid for his new shoes!

We visited Chobe National Park in what is called the 'low season' as there is too much rain... which causes the grass to be high and means the animals don't have to come to the river for water (making them hard to find). All I can say is, if this is Chobe on a bad day...... it must be insane in the high season!

This friendly little chap was very interested in the fruit roll I was eating at the time.... which was pretty cool, except his mum (who was huge) did not approve of junior consorting witht the muzungus.

We didn't expect to see cats, let alone a pride of four cruising along the river bank. We stalked them for half an hour and they put on a pretty good show. I was surprised that they did not not look as well fed as the cats we saw in the Serengetti... but they didn't look skinny either! They were also a little bigger than the ones we played with in Zambia.

I saw this lion licking a thorn in her foot, and recalled there was some bible story about a chap pulling a thorn out of a lions foot... and living happily ever after. Whilst I was tempted to have a crack at it, our last mash with jesus at the helm ended in disaster (when we followed the landcruiser full of nuns in Tanzania)... so I left her alone.

We keep on being told that the buffalo here are real killers, and they are seriously dangerous... there may be some truth to it, but they really do just look like nice cows with trendy horns.

This is a shot of one of many giraffes that were taking it in turns to lick the dirt at that spot. Apparently it's rich in salt.

Victoria Falls

Zambia has this thing of calling all its waterfalls national monuments however when it comes to Victoria Falls it is no overstatement. Victoria Falls in the wet season is an amazing sight - you can see the spray from the falls kilometres away.

Unfortunately our photos don't really do the falls justice - in addition to the huge amount of spray coming off the falls we also managed to get caught in a rainstorm  although it was hard to tell the difference at some points between what was rain and what was the falls.

With all the rain it meant that it wasn't possible to do any rafting (I was particularly disappointed given our last 2 rafting experiences resulted in a boat landing on my head and us getting stuck in the middle of a river with our raft caught under a weir) however it was pretty spectacular just walking around the falls.

Livingstone is an amazing place where you can do all sorts of cool things. This morning we spent walking with rhinos. We were fortunate enough to follow rhino tracks up a gully to come across 4 white rhinos and a baby(normally rhinos are pretty solitary animals so we were definately privledged).  Over the morning we ended up seeing the whole rhino population of the park.
Africa's wildlife is truely amazing - an annual pass to Australia Zoo is just not going to cut it when I get home!!

Up close with Lions

After lots of long miles we have finally reached Livingstone in Zambia and it has surpassed all expectations. Today we spent the morning playing with lions and cheetahs at the Ultimate African Experience which is breeding lions and cheetahs for eventual release back into the national parks of Zambia.

First up we got to play with two white lion cubs who are just a few months old. Hard to think that these guys are going to grow up to be apex preditors.

We then went for a walk with two 8 month old brothers that are growing into lions fast. Although it was still hard to think of these guys as anything but cute big kittens.

We got to play lion trainers for an hour as we walked through the bush. The sticks in our hands are for the lions to play with when they took a little too much lion interest in us.

These guys are going to be released into a fenced protected area once they are 2 and a half years old to breed and then their offspring will be released back into the National Parks of Zambia.

This really does seem like a worthwhile cause to help succeed - once again I have got contact details if you are interested in finding out more about the good work these guys are doing.

Whilst we had a fantastic time with the lions, the real highlight was getting to hang out with 3 beautiful cheetahs who seemed to enjoy the interaction nearly as much as we did, purring when we scratched them, sitting on our laps and licking our arms and heads!!! They even seemed to take a liking to Dave who is definatley not a cat person. Below are some of our favourite photos however it was really hard to choose.