Africa – 16th Sept 2008 – Day 15

We woke up at 7am, dressed, at a little breakfast and packed and left ASAP. On the way out, the hostess again spoke to us in German!!

We drove out of the main lodge up to the reception area to settle our bill. The chap who took the game drive on the previous afternoon was at the desk.

He asked John if he had enjoyed his stay, so John gave a polite but honest answer. He found it quite amusing, agreeing that this was not really set up for any other nationality but Germans. He apologized for no English, literature, menu’s etc. and then told John that a couple from Manchester had visited a month ago and also hated the place. John asked him why his boss seemed happy to run the lodge in such a manner, He just shrugged and said “have a nice day”.

We left feeling angry and ripped off. They are happy to take our money but not to make us feel in any way, shape or form welcome. What a hell hole!!

We began our drive to Ongava Tented Camp, opposite the Etosha Game Reserve.

The drive was long and very, very easy, due to the Roman like, straight roads in Namibia. We saw lots of wart hogs on the way and stopped at the town of GoJoe to fill up with petrol. We felt that our car had allowed us to escape from Colditz, so we have named it Winston!!

We arrived at Ongava at 12.30, to be met by Cameron, one of the resort managers. What a relief. Back to the normal welcome and friendliness we have been used to in Africa. We had a quick lunch and then were shown to our lovely tent. It is spacious, new and fitted with both an indoor and outdoor shower. We look onto the waterhole where lots of Zebra, Acoodo, bush back etc. hang out.

After a rest, we joined the rest of the group for a 3.30pm cup of tea and coffee and then headed out for the afternoon game drive with our guide John, Mary and Sheradon (From Toronto) and Cedrick and Sabella from Paris, although Sabella is originally from Spain.

We drove around chatting, how nice to be able to chat with fellow guests again!! We came across a group of 9 White Rhino. They were all huge and we have never seen so many in one pod before.

John asked us to all get out of the Land Rover. He loaded his rife, checked the direction of the wind and then marched us quietly towards the pod. Rhino have very poor vision, but a good sense of smell and keen hearing to compensate. We had to watch were we were trading in order to minimize our noise. We got within 30 ft of the beasts. What a fantastic experience. At one time they became a tad edgy. John and his fellow guide were fantastic. They had already told us not to run, what ever happens. We stayed with the pod for about 20 minutes before making our way back to the Rover.

Later on, we came across a couple of Lions, who did not want to be hassled. As we moved away towards the watering hole, a pride of five arrived for a good drink. We were so close to them. We just looked at each other. They look so relaxed and cute. You really feel like you want to get out and stroke them!!

We had our G&T’s with the lions in the evening twilight. Great.

We had a quick turn around before sitting with the other guests and enjoying a good evening meal. We went to bed, escorted by one of the staff, just in case if lions in the camp, our faith restored in Namibia.

As lay in bed, we heard the lions raw in the distance and the sound of a few lizards scampering over the tent roof.