Stories From Our Suitcase

Wednesday, August 31st:   We left Sesrium at 7:00am and headed down the gravel road (C19?) to the paved section (Maltahoe) before Mariental.  The gravel roads weren't too bad, but we were glad that we weren't going all the way to Fish River.  We passed by the Mariental split at 10:45am, but we didn't get gas because there were two other places on the map within the next 200km.  The first place with gas was 5km off the road, so we decided to try our luck for the second place.  Well, that was a bad idea, because that gas station was not in operation.  We kept driving until the gas light came on and then put in our 5 liter gas reserve with about 90 km to go.  There was a lot of praying going on, so that we would make it to a gas station in Keetmanshoop.  To save on gas, we didn't turn the A/C on or open the windows (I guess that makes the car less wind resistant and uses gas. Not my idea! ;)  Luckily, we made it to a gas station in time.  A...

Tuesday, August 30th:   We were woken at 5:00am to the overland trucks heading out of the campground towards the sand dunes to catch the sunrise.  Unfortunately, I was not aware that watching the sunrise from the sand dunes was a thing to do; therefore, I refused to get up at 5:00am when Jeff tried to get me going.  Sorry, Jeff!  We ended up headed for the dunes around 7:00am.  It was about 45 minutes from the Sesriem campground to the parking lot for the dunes.  Once at the parking lot, you have to either walk, drive your own 4WD vehicle back or pay for a ride.  It was $15/person round trip, but worth it to not have to walk 5km (3.1 miles).  The first drop off was Soussesvlei.  We hiked up to the top of the dunes.  It is weird because you end up walking where the two sides come to a peak.  It is kind of freaking going back down.  Jeff joined the trend of taking your shoes off and just running down as fast as you can go.  ...

Sunday, August 28th:   Today we left Etosha National Park and saw our last lions before heading to Swakopmund.  We took all paved roads and went through Outijo and Karibib then to Swakopmund.  It is a German town by the ocean with bright colored buildings.  It has a strange feel to it, because the sand dunes are off in the distance.  When we arrived it was cold and foggy.  We didn't have a hotel booked, so we went in search of accommodation.  We found a hotel called Hotel Prinzessin Rupprecht.  It is an old hospital converted into a hotel.  The rooms were recently updated and very nice, clean and awesome showers.  They had complimentary breakfast, which was really good and had eggs, meats and cheeses, cereal, toast, tea and coffee.  The had secured parking and the owners were very very nice.  Once we were checked in, we walked around town.  Since in was Sunday, most shops and restaurants were closed.  The hotel...

Wednesday, August 24th:   After making it safely out of Ngepi Camp, we had about 6 1/2 hours of driving ahead of us.  All of which were on the same straight road.  We arrived at Etosha National Park at about 2pm at Namatoni Camp.  This is where a German camp used to be and they have a big white fort.  We walked the camp and found the watering hole.  We went for a drive in the afternoon and saw a large elephant herd.  We saw our first black rhino, springbok and darma dik dik, as well as some sable.  We returned to our camp before the gate closed.  Jeff watched the sunset at the watering hole and saw a rhino, elephant, and a jackel.  This was the night we had our first TRAGEDY!  Our air-mattress had a hole!! We ended up on the ground by morning and were very sad about this.  After looking for it for quite awhile, we were unable to find the leak (stay tuned...).  Animal Sightings:   Black Rhino, Springbok, Darma Dik Dik...

Monday, August 22nd:   We caught our transfer at 10:00am back to the Chobe Safari Lodge in Botswana.  Once we arrived, we secured a campsite and went in search of someone to book a game drive in Chobe National Park.  Since Chobe is strictly 4WD, we had to book a game drive with a private company with a game truck.  There were several places in town that organized game drives in Chobe that were more affordable than booking something through one of the hotels.  Even though we booked a game drive from a guy in a tin shed (seriously), our game drive left out of one of the large hotels.  It was from 3p-6:30p and there was only one other couple on the truck.  Once we started talking to the couple, we learned that the woman was an attorney in Dubai and grew up in England, as well as lived in London for a few years.  Her husband was an American.  We had a good time chatting with them during our game drive.  Since Chobe is all 4WD, it was in...