Thur. 6th June ‘24
Whilst we are now at the northern border of Namibia, we are not yet in the Caprivi Strip. As we head east today, we’ll enter the strip at some point. Caprivi is such an odd feature when looked at on the map of Namibia – it’s an odd shape, only 20km across in places, it doesn’t follow a major river and it sandwiches a bit of Nambia between Angola & Zambia to the north and Botswana to the south. To save you an Internet search, a summary of the history is as follows:
Back in the late 19th century, the colonial German government wanted access to the Zambezi River and so did a deal with the colonial British government to trade a piece of Botswana for Zanzibar. The Caprivi Strip is named after the German chancellor of the time. Ultimately, it didn’t do the Germans much good as Victoria Falls gets in the way. In the 20th century there was a legal tussle between Namibia and Botswana, but an international court ruled in favour of Namibia. Anyway, that’s what we’re crossing over the next few days to get to Botswana.
Our itinerary has split Caprivi into 3 sections and the first one today is about 250km. Surprisingly (to us) is not only is this northern part of Namibia much more populous than the southern part but also the roads have been much better. Not only did we have tarmac all day yesterday, but also for the bulk of today too. No complaining on this front. Our plan (don’t laugh) is to load up with coffee in Hakusembe whilst we finish our admin, and then cover off the drive to Ndhovu, tonight’s camping destination stopping off at Popa Falls and Mahango National Park.
All goes reasonably to plan until we get close to Ndhovu and we realise that we’re on the wrong side of the river to visit Popa Falls and that Mahango is not far past the entrance to Ndhovu. It’s past the official Hornsey lunchtime so we decide to check in, suss out the campsite, grab a bite to eat and then head off to the park. However, on checking in, we get the hard sell from Ralf the owner for their sundown boat cruise – and it is clear that we can’t do both the game park and the boat cruise. Since Ndhovu also sells itself to us being right on the river bank where we can see elephants and hippos on the far bank (and the game park gets mixed reviews), we go for the cruise.
This means we can spend the afternoon relaxing, enjoying the views – and sorting out what of the gazillion photos we’ve taken need to go in the blog. All the while we are taking more photos, like the one of this beautiful owl perched high up in one of the trees. Like yesterday, the boat cruise is on a small aluminium-hulled boat with two columns of seats allowing Janet & I to take a side each for maximum viewing opportunities. Unlike yesterday, however, whilst we are still on the Kavango river, it has turned south-east and no longer forms the border with Angola, so it is Namibia on both banks.
We’re soon pottering downstream, keen to see some hippos but captivated by the antics and the variety of birds. We took so many photos, it is hard to select just a few for this post, but I have included some here. My favourite are probably the two photos of different species of Bee-Eater – I’m really pleased with the one of the white-throated bee-eater coming into land. Equally, the colours and blurred background in the picture of the posing pair of little bee-eaters in the light of the setting sun is just lovely. The likes of the grey heron or pied kingfisher struggle to compete.
Then, at last, we round a bend and the hippos come into view. A family of perhaps 10 – 20 some already in the water and some just heading that way. Looking back at our photos, I see that neither of us bothered with a picture of the whole bloat (yes, really) as we tried for an effective composition of just one or two of the beasts. It’s hard to reconcile their bulbous physique with their position as the leading animal killer of humans in Africa. Apparently, they are bad-tempered, vicious and surprisingly quick.
Just past the hippos – possibly also keeping a respectful distance – are a herd, or possibly two or three herds, of elephants. We thought we’d seen a lot of elephants in Etosha, especially on that last day as we crossed the park, but that was nothing compared to the numbers here. All sizes and ages, from old bulls with battle shortened tusks, to the matriarchs and then down through the ages all the way to a tiny elephant that our guide said was only a few days old. I chose this family group leaving the water as my pic for this post, but I nearly went for one of the bulls throwing mud all over his body.
It’s unsurprising after all this, that we are late back to the campsite. It normally wouldn’t matter too much but after 5 or 6 nights of eating in restaurants, we’d decided that it was time that we cooked for ourselves. The menu tonight is biltong (which we are developing a distinct taste for) followed by cold, day-old sausage roll, then breaded chicken schnitzel and baked beans. All washed down with a beer and the remnants of a bottle of Pinotage (also developing a taste for). Ah, the glamourous life we lead. Still, it is a beautiful spot to camp and the evening is much warmer than it was further south. I think we’ll manage.