Tuesday, 3 June 2025
This morning Debbie and David were caught out by Angolan time. They were getting ready thinking it was almost time to head to breakfast when one of them looked at their watch and realised that it was 7.45am in Namibia and not 6.45am and almost time to leave … not almost time for breakfast. They did a great job to be ready to leave in 20 minutes flat with Deb even managing to grab a banana for breakfast as she raced through the dining room.
It was Bernie’s and my turn to double up in the bus today. There are only nine of us in a 14 seater (plus the co-pilot’s seat next to Wian) so not quite enough seats to have a pair of seats each. The seats are not generously sized, so even for us it’s bit squeezy when we have to share. Still, sharing every few days is not so bad.
We turned out onto the main road for a short distance and then turned left into Rundu with Wian telling us that the town has the dubious distinction of being known as Namibia’s dirtiest town. It was sort of a town of two parts, with the outskirts being only marginally better looking than a landfill tip, but the centre of town looking more clean and modern. I had to laugh at another shop with an aspirational name – Paradise Mini Mart – I guess you can dare to dream in Namibia’s dirtiest town?!
Our next stop was at Formula Courier Services Express Road Freight to collect Deb’s parcel. In a jet-lagged state Deb left a pair of pants and a couple of tops behind in the hotel in Windhoek. Actually that hotel was like a laundry black hole with Steve losing a shirt that he put in to be laundered. It never came back, it was substituted for a small lady’s shirt. With the laundry outsourced and the item not being in our laundry he was advised that it must have gone to another hotel, never to be seen again. Deb was luckier with the hotel finding her clothes and Wian arranging for them to be couriered to Rundu. The parcel arrived in time to be collected on our way through this morning and for just N$175 (AUS$15.00) Deb was reunited with her favourite blue pants and a couple of tops.
Today we motored eastwards on the B8 venturing into the Kavango region to Mahango National Park, an area home to diverse wildlife. The Caprivi Strip is affectionately known as Namibia’s panhandle and came about when German chancellor, Leo von Caprivi, negotiated the acquisition of the land in 1890. It is said that he believed it would provide access to the Indian Ocean for trade via the Zambezi River, however, the 355-foot drop of the world’s largest waterfall got in the way, just 65 kilometres east of Caprivi. Despite the fact that the land acquisition did not provide the trade opportunity as planned, Namibia retains this thin stretch of land bordered by Angola and Zambia to the north and Botswana to the south.
Finally, we were on our way out of Rundu and Wian was able to crank the truck up to warp speed until we had to stop for yet another police checkpoint. After that, this morning’s drive was … much the same as yesterday with more stick-fenced compounds, fields of maize and livestock in the long paddock. With nothing new to see, we dozed A LOT!
We crossed the Kavango River, passed through yet another police checkpoint before arriving at the Khwe Living Museum that is working to preserve the San culture of Northern Namibia. Our guide, Salek, took us on another interesting excursion, this time learning about the ancient hunter-gatherer culture of the San. The museum village consists of some traditional grass huts around which the way of life and pre-colonial culture of the Khwe is illustrated through story-telling and demonstration. The visit concluded with some stories told in music and dance and a traditional healing ceremony.
After our visit, we doubled back, passing through the police checkpoint and over the river again before purchasing fuel in Divundu. With diesel in the tank, we turned south on the C48 to continue to the Ndhovu Safari Lodge which will be our home for the next two nights. The lodge is situated on the bank of the Kavango River and, when we arrived, there were two elephants on the opposite bank which was exciting. OK, on the opposite side and down river … a bit, BUT still visible from our lodge.
Rooms were allocated and we found ourselves with the keys to the Lion Suite. We were taken along a path and shown to our AMAZING suite. It really was a luxuriously appointed suite with a lounge area, a bed under a mosquito net, a huge bathroom, separate toilet and second bedroom with twin beds … on the inside. Outside on our deck we had a table and chairs, a single day bed, a double, swinging day bed AND … an outdoor bath. We were not going to be in residence long enough to enjoy many of these amenities!
We returned to the restaurant for some toasted sandwiches for lunch and then we were able to enjoy a couple of hours to ourselves. Bernie took the laptop to the restaurant area where the wi-fi was available to process some photos, while I set myself up on the swinging day bed to write my travel diary. I had barely started when I heard grunting that I thought might be a hippo. I tried to lock up with the multitude of keys on our key ring, then raced up to the restaurant decking where there were indeed hippos frolicking in the water a short distance from the deck. Cool.
Gosh, another afternoon, another river cruise. This time we were taken out by our guide, Mikel. As befitted our status as the occupants of the Lion Suite, we took the seats on the roof of our boat, ha, ha. We may have missed a little bit of Mikel’s commentary but the extra elevation may have afforded us with a slightly better perspective of the wildlife? Birds and reptiles aplenty AND a trio of hippos grazing out of the water with a cattle egret perched on one’s back. The hippos inhabit this part of the river because the bottom is sandy and soft underfoot.
With sunset approaching we motored back along the river and past the lodge to take up tonight’s river sunset viewing position. Once again we were treated to a beautiful red-tinged sky as the sun sank below the horizon. As we returned to the dock a hippo opened its mouth wide just beside us. Unfortunately the light was low and it all happened far too quickly for there to be any photos. Classic hippo yawn though, which was exciting!
In the few minutes that we had back in the suite, between the cruise and dinner, we experienced a short power outage. Luckily the generator kicked in within a couple of minutes for us to find our way back to the restaurant for dinner. Most importantly, the kitchen was still able to cook dinner! Tonight’s menu was a set meal that consisted of pumpkin soup, followed by butter chicken. We finished with desert, but I didn’t make a note and cannot remember what it was? Maybe that was the night we had orange brûlée??
Steps: 6,934 (4.74kms)
