Adventures in Namibia: Etosha and our Trip Home

     Early to rise=more animals that hide to see...well, at least we thought. Due to the huge size of Etosha National Park, there are never any guarantees as to what we will see on our drive through. The park is over 22,000 sq kms and has about 150 different species of animals and over 400 different species of birds. That being said, although there is no guarantee of what animals you will see, there pretty much is that you will see at least one in your drive across the park.

     Entering through the East gate, we were hoping we would spot a leopard as this is the area that most of the roam and live. However, we had no such luck. We did see various types of antelope, zebras, giraffes, and a hyena, though.

     We then started heading west, as we had quite a ways to go to get to our lodging for the night, which was inside the park on a watering hole.

     Throughout the drive we saw many different types of animals and birds, and we all took as many pictures as possible. There were times where we would not see animals at all for dozens of kilometers, then all of a sudden there are herds of various animals. Although this could be frustrating and tiresome at times, it meant so much more to see an animal in its natural habitat instead of a zoo.

     There were three animals that we all seem to agree that we are bummed we never saw--leopards, cheetahs and elephants. The closest we got to an elephant was finding elephant poop. However, the one animal the majority of the group wanted to see the most was a lion...and boy, oh, boy did we get to see lionS.

     We had stopped for lunch in the middle of the park. Jan and Paula had walked down to the watering hole that this lodge overlooked and were told by another traveler that they had seen an elephant 5 minutes west from here, and lions 10 minutes west from here. To this news, we all piled back into the van quickly to hopefully see both.

     However, our van had other plans...or should I say the trailer. Our luggage trailer had gotten a flat tire. This meant stopping over at the gas station, attempting to change it out, and eventually having to repair it as the replacement did not fit. This time consuming process got us all slightly down in the dumps as we figured we would not see either animal now that so much time had passed. But we forgot one thing...Uanee was our driver.

     Throughout the entire trip Uanee seemed to know everyone, and this was not an exception. A game warden stopped and talked to Uanee at the gas station, and through gifting a PLU pin, a pen and a deck of cards, he agreed to show us to the lions. Although our elephant chances had passed, this got us all excited once more.

     Once it was fixed, we hit the road, now following the game warden. Little did we know, Uanee had yet another trick up his sleeve. Pulling up next to the game warden and chatting with him for a bit, the warden agreed to let us all pile into his covered truck bed and get an even more upclose and personal experience with the lions. As the rules at the park clearly state no exiting your vehicle and no going off the roads, even if the animals are not directly next to them, this was definitely an experience that rarely, if ever, occurs.

     As we quickly and quietly began to file out of our van and pile into the truck bed, the elephant poop sitting in the truck bed was giving us fabulous scents, and taking up the last seat space--mine. The warden kindley removed the poop, and Uanee grabbed the vans rubber foot mat so that I did not have to sit on the bed with poop residue.

     So there we were, 9 students and 2 professors sitting in a covered truck bed (many on each other's laps), clenching our cameres and video recorders in silence. The warden drove forward and a minute or so later we saw the lions about a football field out from the road in the field--7 of them. A truck was already pulled to the side of the road full of other tourists. The warden pulled up next to them and told them we were investigating something and they could not follow. Just as quickly as the conversation occurred, we were turning off the road and onto the field, right towards the lions.

     As our vehicle slowly moved through the field, we all became nervous, excited and overwhelmed as we peered out the windows and saw the pride of lions coming closer and closer. The warden then stopped the truck directly between the lead male lion and the 5 lionesses, baby lion cub and teen male lion. We all began quickly snapping pictures and taking video as at first the lions stared and seemed intrigued by our presence. A few minutes in, however, the male lost interest and rolled over for a nap, and the rest of the pride did the same.

     The warden, apparently, was not satisfied by this experience, so he began to pull the truck around the pride, circling them. To this, the teen male lion stood and began following the vehicle. Bri cowered next to me, as the realization that only a shaking latch and a thin piece of glass seperated us from these amazing, wild animals. However, the lion was just curious and eventually laid back down with the pride.

     It was now the warden's goal to get the lead male lion to stand for it to be a true, great experience. He, therefore, revved up the truck some and made it go forward and stop quickly several times. This got the male to stand to his feet, walk a bit, let out a huge yawn, and move closer to his pride. We all sat in amazement.

     Although the warden was successful in getting the male to stand, he also was successful in alerting the lioness with the lion cub. She swiftly changed positions as if she was preparing to pounce on us. That being said, we began to leave the field, after having spent about 10 minutes of sitting amongst of pride of lions.

     We drove several kilometers in the truck bed away from the field before transferring back over to the van, as the lioness reaction and now movement of the pride made it unsafe for us to transfer vehicles close by. On exiting the bed, we thanked and thanked the warden for the experience, followed by doing the same to Uanee in the van. To this he responded, "You can only get an experience like this in Namibia with yours truly." We all laughed, and then began showing each other the various photos and videos we had captured. By far, this is one of the coolest experiences I have had in my life.

     We continued on for a few more hours, during which we saw more animals, including one that I was told I wouldn't see--a crow. Although not like our black crows, this was a pied crow whose only difference was a white ring around its neck. Uanee, having previously telling him of y fear, stopped the van immediately and joked about me going out for a photo shoot with it. I responded calmly by telling him that the thought of that terrifies me more than if I would have exited the truck in the center of the lion pride. We all got a good laugh, the continued on.

     After a 10 hour drive throughout Etosha, we arrived at our lodging within the camp for the night. Here, we walked down to the waterhole our lodge overlooked. Here we found huge weaver bird nests. We had seen weaver birds throughout our time in Namibia, but never nests like these, they were built on branches and branches of a tree, contained dozens of birds, and had dozens of entry and exit holes proving so.

     We then went to dinner where we had gembstock, which is Oryx, and a buffet full of salads, potatoes, rice, veggies and an amazing ice cream, cake and custard dessert. We once again had a great evening chatting and sharing stories.

     Uanee once again began to share various cultures and traditions in Namibia. One of these was the importance of respecting elders and how you show it. For example, eye contact is never made with an elder. Rather, you look at your feet while an elder is talking to you. This is very different from my own culture as I was raised to look at those who were speaking to me in the eye. Uanee then discussed with us how difficult it was for him to teach himself to look people in the eye when doing his job, as he grew up Himba. I had never noticed that it was difficult for him to do so, however, he explained that it took him 13 years to finally train himself and feel comfortable with it.

     Afterwards, Janelle, Katie, Jill and I ventured down to the watering hole to see if there were any animals out. Although there were none around the watering hole, we did discover the many huge beetles, spiders and other creepy-crawlies that do come out in the park at night fall. This caused some quick walking, and possible jogging, to and from the water hole. We also spotted several jackals.

     The next morning, Uanee kindly took most of us on a 2 hr morning drive, as we were hoping to spot an elephant in the early morn. Although we did not, we did experience a mother and baby black rhino crossing the road, curiously moving closer to us, and then re-crossing the road. We also saw a fabulous herd of giraffes and other various animals. All in all, still another great experience.

     We then headed back home to Casa Blanca in Windhoek. On the way, we stopped in Outjo to pick up some souveniers and in Okahandja to barter and buy gifts for friends and family back home. We had previoulsy gone to the upper market to observe what they had, and we all came prepared with money and lists of gifts we needed to purchase. With Jill at my side, we successfully purchased most of our gift lists. The experience was overwhelming at points, but we felt victorious and like professional barterers in the end.