The first thing I saw when I fell through the front door was a cashpoint. I whipped out my card and made a beeline for it, shoved the card into the slot and went through the motions. Was I relieved when it accepted my card and coughed out a wad of Namibian dollars. It’s always embarrassing when your card is refused.
Namibia is only the second country I have visited that runs on two currencies: the South African Rand and the Namibian Dollar so that you can pay in either currency. The other country where this happens is Lebanon, where they have two parallel currencies in circulation – the US Dollar and the Lebanese Pound and you can choose which one you wish to pay in and which one you would like your change in.
The country club is a splendid establishment with beautiful grounds, a swimming pool, outside bars, an artificial lake and a golf course. The dining room is magnificent, set lower down from the lobby so you can look down and see the tables, chairs and buffet counters (and see who from our group is already there).
We did appreciate our room as we had been travelling for over 24 hours and it was nice to be able to shower and relax for a while. We logged into the Wi-Fi, checked our emails, glanced at the online newspapers and generally goofed off for a couple of hours.
Around 6 we went along to the bar for a pre-dinner drink. As we sat there several more people from our group came along and joined us. It was reassuring to see that they appeared to be a decent bunch. It can change the entire dynamics of a group when you have a couple of members of the awkward squad along.
The staff in the dining room was an affable group of people, ready to advise us on our questions or point us in the right direction at the buffet. And that is how we found most of the Namibians we met – cheerful, friendly and delighted that we had come to see the wonders of their country.
The dinner itself was the type of buffet where you chose the meat you wanted and the chefs cooked it to your liking. Most of it was bush meat with kudu, antelope, gemsbok and zebra among the selection. They also had sausages made from wild boar and venison. Needless to say, all of it was delicious and we tried most of the dishes on offer.
One of the nice things about flying from London to Southern Africa is that you remain in the same time zone as the route takes you due south. The benefit is that you don’t suffer from jet lag and all it takes is one night’s sleep to get you over the hectic 24 hours prior to your arrival. This was just as well as we had an early(ish) start the next day to get us to Erindi Game Reserve.
We were a group of 9 travellers plus Roger, our tour manager. Our minibus was not exactly a luxury vehicle and was a little on the small side. On top of that our luggage was stacked up in the rear of the bus, restrained only by a cord passed backwards and forwards between two handholds . None of us liked the look of that arrangement as any abrupt braking would see suitcases hurtling through the cabin, doling out injuries at random.
We travelled along paved roads out of Windhoek and for a while after that, but there came a point where the paving ended and we were bouncing along dirt roads. The landscape was harsh, yet the red sand and rocks had a beauty of their own. Most of the vegetation was low growing thorn bushes and scrub with the occasional acacia tree to break the monotony.
Just after we drove into the Erindi Game Reserve our driver stopped the bus and looked long and hard at something lying in the road. It looked like a rather large snake which wasn’t moving at all, despite the nearness of our bus. Our driver, a Zimbabwean named David, got down and approached the snake, well and truly dead by the look of it. David came back to the bus and told us it was a black mamba, fast moving and very venomous when alive. I was among those who got down to have a closer look. It had clearly been run over by an earlier vehicle which had killed it. It appeared to have eaten something before its fatal encounter as the bulge in its body where its prey had lodged was clearly visible. David told us that the black mamba, though highly dangerous was not aggressive. He also advised against trying to run one over while driving as they have a habit of getting into the engine compartment if you don’t kill them outright and giving you a nasty, maybe even a deadly, surprise the next time you check the oil.
Further on we encountered some giraffe at the side of the road. David stopped the bus to allow us to take some photos, while the giraffes regarded us curiously. Many of the animals have grown accustomed to buses and cars, accepting them as harmless: however, their demeanour changes if you should be foolish enough to get out as their experience of man is mostly as a predator.
These giraffes went back to chewing the top branches of trees, though there was always one keeping an eye on us.
A few more miles’ drive and David stopped once more to point out a red earthen tower that stood about 10 feet high. David explained this was a termite nest and went on to tell us about the life cycle of these insects. A colony can exist for up to 10 years but their life cycle is finite and you can see as many derelict termite nests as active ones.
At our game lodge we checked in, freshened up in our bungalow, waited until our cases were delivered to our room and then went to the dining room for a quick lunch. The food once again was excellent, but all of us were distracted by the view outside. There was an extensive waterhole just a few yards away. On the banks crocodiles lounged in the sun, further away some hippos were taking it easy, and we even saw one with a baby which was paddling alongside its mother quite happily. Crocs and hippos live quitecontentedly in close proximity, as the hippo is too large for a croc to kill.
A Secretary Bird came striding down to the water for a quick drink, but it kept a wary eye out for any sign of the crocs.
We were due to leave on a game drive later in the afternoon. The animals are always more active at dawn and at dusk, so these are the best times for game viewing. The water hole certainly kept us entertained until it was time to join our safari vehicle.
Our driver was a white Namibian named Louis, a jovial young man who kept us informed of animals and their habits. The drivers always exchange information amongst themselves, so when one spots a particularly interesting animal – lion, for instance, or elephant, he will call the others with the news and give them the location.
During the course of that late afternoon drive we saw a multitude of impala and gemsbok, as well as mongoose, a black-backed jackal and then, after receiving a call from one of his colleagues, Louis drove us to a spot where he stopped, whipped out his binoculars and began sweeping the forest edge, about 50 meters away. He put the binoculars down and told us, very quietly, that a lioness with cubs was lying just inside the shadow of the forest. I got out my own binoculars, found the lioness, then passed them to Jackie, after which I got my camera out with the longest zoom lens and got some satisfying shots
It was getting close to sunset now so Louis promised us a sundowner. He drove across the plain, then began to ascend a rocky escarpment, emerging at the top into a grassy clearing. In front of us the great plain stretched as far as the eye could see. The sun approached the horizon and Louis was true to his word. He got out a folding table, bottles of booze, ice, mixers and a selection of snacks. I took a whisky the way I always drink it – neat – while Jackie pronounced the gin and tonic that Louis mixed for her as excellent. He had even brought along lemon slices.
We all stood, watching the night creep across the plain below, the blue sky gradually turning to purple, savouring our drinks and the sheer magical beauty of the moment.
Too soon, we found ourselves in the gathering twilight and it was time to give our glasses back, climb into our jeep and head back down the escarpment. Before long we were back on the familiar dirt road, making our way towards the lodge. Louis drove with one hand while he controlled a spotlight mounted on a swivel with the other. This was a useful piece of equipment as he picked out another jackal and several Namibian Spring Hares, which resemble miniature kangaroos.
We were driving through an area of forest when suddenly a deafening trumpeting shocked us all into alertness. Louis swivelled his spotlight and picked out a large matriarchal elephant just a few yards to our left. It trumpeted again and its ears flared out, the elephant’s final warning. Louis drove us rapidly away from this rather annoyed pachyderm, only to meet another elephant, just as large as the first, but this time to our right. This one also was flaring its ears and trumpeting loudly at us. It seems that we had driven through the line of march of this herd and the elephants were not happy about it. Luckily, we encountered no more elephants on our way back to the lodge. In fact all we saw was a couple of Namibian Spring Hares who rapidly bounced off into the bush. Louis quickly got onto the radio to warn all the other drivers and shortly after we arrived back at the lodge that stretch of road was closed to all traffic in order to keep the elephants calm. What a day it had been!
