A return to Tutume

I’d been looking forward to returning to Tutume for some time.  It has been the place of many happy memories for a number of years.  I had lived there from the age of 2 till 6.  My memories were vague in some respects and strongly linked to feelings and emotions rather than organised visual ones.  I was intrigued to see how much of the village I would recognise.  We had driven from the airport in Kasane down to Nata the day before.  We had a relaxed afternoon and leisurely morning before heading off at 8:30 to Tutume.

We approached the village from the west on a road under construction.  I didn’t recognise anything... we drove for several minutes and I realised that either Tutume had grown tremendously or my memories were insufficient.  We drove right through what was now clearly a town and I didn’t recognise a thing.  I was a little disappointed but thought we should turn around and drive through once more.  This is the direction we would have entered Tutume in the past and as a result I started to get familiar feelings.  I first spotted my old primary school, got out and looked around.  Then with the help of the head found our old house.  It took a bit of hunting as there were more than twice as many buildings in the compound, 30 years on.  Lastly I tried to track down some old family friends, who I had heard were still about town.  We had lost touch, so I wasn’t sure I was going to be successful.  I did, however find them, and they remembered me and the family.  They took me to see, Habana, who was Will and my old nanny.  We shared photos from the past and recently, and it was great fun.  Unfortunately our trip down memory lane had to be cut short as we still had quite a drive ahead of us.  We exchanged contact details before we set off back to Pretoria for our last few days in southern Africa.  Despite our restful evening the night before I was really shattered by the end of the day.. it had been quite an emotional experience!

 

 

Day 13 & 14 - Okavango Delta

We had to catch a small flight into the delta as our camp was on an Island inaccessible by road. It was my first time in a small plane and I was a little anxious as not being the biggest fan of flying. Soon after take-off I relaxed as it was actually a very enjoyable experience. We seemed to skim just above the tree line and the view over the Chobe park and later the delta was brilliant and diverted me from my fears as I scanned the ground for animals.

The planes are a bit like taxi’s in the delta. Matt and I were dropped off on an airstrip in the middle of nowhere to wait for our next ‘lift’. An even smaller and older plane arrived to collect us. The pilot took one look at Matt’s height and recommended he try the co-pilot’s seat. After 10 minutes of folding his limbs into a very small space they gave up and Matt took a seat in the back. The pilot shuffled his seat forward to create some room and we were off again for another pick-up.

After 2 hours of flying we arrived at Pom Pom. A luxury camp with 9 tents. We met our fellow guests who were to be our safari buddies for the next 2 days. We formed a friendly group of 6 who got on well and had a fun time bumping around in the Jeep on our many Game Drives. Once at the camp everything was included and organised for us and it was so relaxing and enjoyable. We seemed to be forced to have nice snacks and drinks every few hours...pretty tough.

Our first afternoon took us on a game drive where we encountered aggressive bull elephants (when the Jeep stalled at least 6 times in the sand trying to make a hasty exit!) and a pride of lions with cubs who then attempted a kill of an antelope before our eyes. At a safe distance from these predators our guide then pulled off the road and set out a table with beers and yes, more snacks for a sundowner. How civilised.

After a night in the bush, with the hippos from the nearby pool tramping around our tent we were woken early for a trip in a traditional Mokoro boat. A bit like a small punt with a poler who guides and steers from behind. A very peaceful way to explore the waterways of the delta. Luckily no close encounters with hippos or crocodiles were had, only giraffes, water antelope and tiny frogs. Phew. The water was fairly low in the delta despite it being the rainy season. The flood waters were yet to come. We followed small channels in amidst the lily pads which our guide called hippo-highways and I realised these plant-free tracks were what I had seen from the air as looking like a network of blood vessels going to and from small islands.

The rest of our 2 night stay in the Delta was taken up with game drives and enforced siestas (again...pretty tough going). Our guide Shaku must have thought we were the most demanding group as we all eagerly wanted to see leopards and when he delivered not 1 but 4 leopards we were then demanding hyena and lions....which he also delivered. It was fantastic. It had been part of our trip I was looking forward to most and it met all my expectations. Perhaps we will return some day...once the bank balance has recovered!

Day 11 & 12 - Chobe & Vic Falls

We rose early to get to the park gates for 5:30 as the sun was creeping over the horizon.  There was no queue at that hour which was great!  Our drive round the park lasted about 6 hours.  In that time we saw plenty of wildlife: hippos wallowing in pools, numerous antelope grazing, and birds galore.  For the first 3 hours we didn’t see a single elephant and were getting a little disappointed.  We turned away from the river and headed inland into the thick bush.  Eventually we came across a small herd on the track.  The big bull elephant was a little perturbed by our presence, and his behaviour did cause a little anxiety in the car.  We sat with the engine off, quietly watched him and all three of us were starting to feel a little relaxed, when suddenly a dung beetle flew in through the open window and landed on Kit.  There was a bit of scream, and Kit almost opened the door and ran out!  Eventually calm returned and we continued our drive.

 

We relaxed after our long morning until 3pm when we joined a river cruise organised by the lodge.  It was a sizable boat with an upper viewing deck and a bar... we were in for an enjoyable afternoon!  The cruise was spectacular, with us seeing many hippos and crocs up close.  There were many water birds of all shapes and sizes.  The highlight was when a herd of 40 or so elephants were spotted coming out of the bush towards the river.  We watched them drink, wash and frolic in the water... lovely.

The following day we put aside for a day trip to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.  There was a little bit of anxiety about crossing the border, but everything went very smoothly.  Kit had to pay almost double for her visa having a British passport.  It was just under a 2 hour journey in total when we arrived at the Vic  Falls Hotel.  I had been there as a youngster and was getting feelings of familiarity.  We walked down to the falls themselves where we encouraged to hire raincoats.  I was worried that it might be a bit of a waste as it wasn’t high water at this time of year.  Nonetheless we did get the coats and started the stroll to the viewing points.  Once again I started to remember my previous visit 3 decades ago... I remember hearing the roar of the water and the moisture in the air.  The falls were impressive, and I was most pleased with our raincoats as it was extremely wet at the viewing points!  We managed to take a few photos without getting the camera too wet before we turned back up to the main road.  We then strolled across the bridge over the Zambezi, touched Zambian soil and then made our way back to the Vic Falls Hotel for lunch.  The hotel was very grand and oozed British colonialism.  There was lots to keep us entertained after lunch before we commenced on our return journey to our lodge in Botswana.  We managed with a cup-a-soup for dinner that night and packed up for our flight into the Okavango delta the following morning!

Days 9 & 10 - Caprivi and onto Botswana

The drive from central Namibia to the start of the Caprivi strip was once again long and straight.  We were at least back onto tarmac.  The surrounds changed significantly: it was far greener which allowed for some agriculture and therefore many settlements along the way.  We arrived at our camp for the night shortly after lunch.  Our “room” was a hut on stilts overlooking the Okavango river.  It had wicker walls which rolled up – a little like blinds.  From our bed we could see birds and hippos in and around the river.  We were one with nature, which was nice... until we tried to sleep!!

The following morning we drove along the Caprivi strip to the most westerly outpost of Namibia.  Here we spent the remainder of our Namibian dollars on petrol before heading into Botswana.  It had been a long absence... I was last in Botswana in 1982... almost 30 years ago.  After the border formalities, which went very smoothly, we were immediately in the Chobe National Park.  We had a short drive to our lodge and within 5 minutes we encountered our first elephant.  It was huge and stood by the road side.  We got a flavour of what was in store... Botswana is the country with the greatest number of elephants in Africa.  In the Chobe park alone there are some 90,000!  We stayed in the Chobe Safari Lodge, which was a lovely and rather luxurious lodge on the banks of the Chobe River.  There was a bar perched on the river bank were Kit and I enjoyed a hot chocolate!  It had been raining all afternoon and we felt the need for a little warmth.  After dinner out, we returned to our rooms and tucked ourselves under the mosquito nets excited by the prospects of lots of elephants!

Days 7 & 8 - Etosha

I am sat overlooking the Okavango River on the deck of our tree house (lovely!) in the North of Namibia’s Caprivi strip reflecting on the previous two days of safari in Etosha National Park.  So I have put the binoculars down to take a break from hippo and croc-watching to write a short blog.

Etosha Park is a vast protected area around a salt pan where amongst many other animals the “big 5”can be found. The summer rainy season is not the best time for safari so we tried to keep our expectations realistic, but still we were excited.  Our first 4 hour stint explored the first section of the park and despite it being during the heat of the day we still saw ostrich, buck, giraffe and birds a plenty.

We stayed at a camp in the centre and from here we booked a 3 hour night safari with an expert guide. As we sat to dinner the rain clouds came and just as we set off at 8pm the rain began. We were dished out some fetching ponchos to protect us from the wet and set off.  Using a red light to shine into the bush the guide spotted owls, bat eared foxes, aard wolves, wild African cats, jackals and plenty more of the smaller variety of animals which rarely get a look-in.  No big animals but we went to bed content having enjoyed a unique experience.

Matt and I rose early for a pre-breakfast stint in the park.  Matt is certainly becoming a skilled tracker as he can even be negotiating Jeepy through rough terrain whilst pointing a chameleon which was practically on my head. I was not so observant, only spotting animals that actually came out onto the road! Our morning drive was not a disappointment as after a couple of hours we rounded a bend and saw 5 lionesses drinking from a puddle in front of us.  They then backed off the road and collapsed in the grass metres away. Brilliant!

Breakfast was devoured and a final 4 hour drive took us out of the Eastern gate and onto our night stay before heading up to the Caprivi strip by the Angolan border.

Days 5 & 6 - Swakopmund and the Skeleton Coast

The drive to Swakopmund was predominantly straight dirt roads in a rocky portion of the Namib desert.  Fortunately it was somewhat overcast and not too hot.  After several hours we arrived at the coast just north of Walvis Bay.  It was a most unusual sight: first a big harbour and industrial area, then beach side apartments and new developments in progress.  There was sand either side of the road with beach on one, and desert on the other.  Not much further and we arrived in Swakopmund.  Our guide book commented on the town as being more German then Germany... it had a point.  We found our guest house and finished the day off with a pleasant fish meal out in town.

The following day we had a long drive up the Skeleton Coast and eventually inland towards the Etosha National Park.  It started very bleak with the sea mist making it feel wet and cold.  This was a welcome change from the 45 degrees of recent days.  We drove on a salt road, which once the moisture dried, was an excellent surface.  Up to that point it caused a great deal of mischief to Jeepy’s exterior!  Our first stop was the seal colony at Cape Cross.  There were tens of thousands of seals on the beach with many many pups.  It was a fantastic sight; there was an amazing din of squaks and barks; and most impressive was the smell!  Kit had to resort to wearing a medical mask I still had lying about the car, as the smell was so nauseating!!  After our senses had been saturated we headed further up the coast.  We drove several hundred kilometres without seeing another person, the land was dry and barren spotted with the occasional shipwreck and even a washed up old oil rig... it was a truly desolate place!  

We eventually arrived at our lodge for the night in Khorixas, where one of the “boys” eagerly approached me and offered to wash Jeepy.  It no longer looked like a car, more a block of dust on wheels!  We headed to bed early in anticipation of the next two days... spotting wildlife in Etosha National Park, and much less driving!!

Bird of the days: Flamingo

4 legged animal of the days: none!

Day 4 - The Namib Desert - Sossusvlei & Sesriem

A fantastic trip so far but today was definitely a high-light for Matt and I. We woke at 5am and were at the Sossusvlei park gate for opening at 6am keen to catch the desert colours at sunrise. It was not a disappointment or a wasted effort as we drove the 90km to the roads-end, deeper and deeper into the desert dunes. At 85 km the tarred road gave out and a sign welcomed Jeepy (and other brave 4x4’s) to venture on further into the sand/road. Matt was in Jeep-heaven as we skated over the sand to the final stop – Deadvlei, an area of immense dunes and dried up pans. It was breath-takingly beautiful and nothing like anything I had ever seen before. A bit how I would imagine the beginnings of the earth to look. Matt parked Jeepy under one of the few trees for shade...more like a twig really but anything was better than nothing as the temperatures were threatening to soar into the 40’s.

We set off with tripod and camera to a nearby towering dune. Matt ventured ahead, clambering up the side to reach the ridge. I was a bit tentative but soon discovered that the knack was to not be put off by the large landslide I was creating under my feet and to just keep going, and although it felt like I made no progress somehow I reached the top...very out of breath! The view was awesome, out across the pans and desert. MANY photos were taken and we spent a couple of hours just soaking it all up before heading back to the relative cool of our desert camp before we melted.

After a swim and rest we set off for an afternoon explore in the nearby Sesriem Canyon. Baboons were ready to greet us as we clambered down into the canyon depths before the heat got the better of us and we set off home. Matt was all up for pioneering new paths out of the gorge but I kept him on the straight and narrow much to his disappointment, voting for the man-made steps rather than negotiating the cliff faces in our flip-flops!

A final swim with a sundowner drink before a fun attempt at self-catering in our little outdoor kitchen...pasta alla tinned tomatoes. Yum?! Asleep by 9pm and ready for more adventures....