Namibian Safari

We got the name and phone number of the man who assigns the moorings for Walvis Bay Yacht Club from a hotel manager in Luderitz, so we called ahead of our arrival.  Just as described, we found two mooring floats to the west side of the anchorage and picked up our 50 Ton mooring.  We were told the mooring was private, but that the boat was elsewhere and we were fine to use it (no charge) during our stay…very nice.  We thankfully had no problems during our stay since Moonbeam’s mooring broke during a 25 knot blow and some stainless damage was done to his and another cruising boat that he hit before he could gain control and re-anchor.

Early one morning we gathered up our duffle bags and headed in to meet the rental car that was to take us to the Okonjati Game Sanctuary and the Mount Etjo Safari Lodge.  The car rental company recommended by a travel agent was a little too relaxed for this American.  They were 1 ½ hours late, forgot to take my credit card number and the car overheat light came on as we made our way across the Kalahari Desert.  We kept on driving, enjoying the road signs and local traffic and somehow we made it to the lodge.

 

 

The Game Sanctuary and lodge were created by Jan Oelofse, a world-renowned conservationist.  It took him 30 years to build up the Okonjati Game Sanctuary and create an environment for hundreds of different species of wildlife and birds. The Okonjati Wildlife Sanctuary is home to about 6,000 wild animals which freely roam an area of 60 000 acres.  In this area we expected to see animals typical to Namibian landscapes, such as the Kudu, Springbuck, Gemsbuck and Impala as well as animals indigenous to Namibia, such as the Hartmann Zebra and the minute Damaraland Dik-Dik. Rare species including the Black Rhino, the Sable, the Roan, Lechwe and Nyala are also within the sanctuary.  Elephants were introduced during 1985.

 

Our room was really nice with a bathroom half as big as our boat that included a 4 person Jacuzzi and bidet.  There were thick, fluffy bathrobes in the closet, a refrigerator and unlimited hot water…..Whoopee!

 

Breakfast and dinner were included and at 2:00PM they set out coffee, teas and an assortment of cakes, pies and cookies for us.  The grounds were really well kept with benches looking across the watering hole at grazing impala and other game.  There was even a pool that we all enjoyed although it felt best just warming in the sun since the air temperature is still in the 70s (F).  The meals were well done and included much of the game we were seeing including Impala, Oryx, Springbok and Kudu.

 

There were several German and African guests the first night, but we had the resort to ourselves the second evening.  We joined about 10 of the other guests at 9 PM after dinner to a lion feeding.  The staff had chained a dead Kudu about 2 meters from our protected viewing area.  After our arrival, the lions were let in from the reserve into the courtyard and devoured the meal.  It was interesting to see the hierarchy of the animals where the dominant female had the pick of the meat while the others approached timidly.  Even the big male had to wait his turn and he seemed more interested in mating with the female than eating…some behavior is common across species!

The next morning our guide Eddie was ready for us right after our 6:30 AM breakfast of eggs, bacon, and fruit since we were his only guests today.  That proved to be nice since he stopped whenever we wanted to take a picture or movie and he searched for the animals that we asked about.  He was quite knowledgeable and knew the names of any birds or animals that we questioned.  Rather than list the animals that we saw…enjoy the video.  Without Emily taking notes during the game drive, I would never have been able to add the captions.

A little added water to the radiator solved our overheating car problem and we enjoyed the drive back a little more. We stopped to see some wood carvers and found the solar panels kept the frig and freezers icy cold on Emily Grace.  It was nice to see the unique African animals one more time and the nice stay at the lodge made the memories even sweeter.

Tom