After three days of rain, the sun came out, and we drove into Etosha National Park. We found out that our destination camp – Halali – was closed because of flooding and no clean water (an inherent contradiction and also a real problem here in the north, to have so much rain but not have water to drink or flush away sewage). So we spent the morning driving from the eastern gate all the way to the southernmost camp – Okakuejo, an Oshiwambo word meaning “a prolific woman” or “a woman who has one baby after another”. Many of the campsites were washed out here too, and with ominous clouds on the horizon, we decided to splurge on a room. The National Park system has gone through a complete upgrade since we were last here in 2003; our simple room had an “Out of Africa” charm to it, as well as the best shower we’ve had in a long time.
Zebras, springbok, impala, wildebeest, and oryx all got second looks as they were the only players on the field. Gone were the elephants and other large game which we never failed to see here in the past; there was so much water they did not need to travel far to drink. In fact, we had never seen this amount of water in the pans or the park so green. That in itself was amazing to see. I also found myself gazing off into the big puffy clouds as the sky seemed to go on forever.
Three things more than made up for the scarcity of animals. First, the sunset and the backlight at dusk showed a spectacular spectrum of oranges, reds, violets, and blue shades. It was a magical forty minute sky show that took our breath away. Second, we heard traditional singing and drumming from our room after dinner. We went down to the restaurant to find a choir of school kids from the local village (which is inside the park, just outside the camp) to see what was going on. It has been one of our enduring memories of Namibia – the harmony, rhythm and clarity of the voices we have heard so many times over the years. It seems to be an inherent trait – people can sing quite well here. One dance I enjoyed in particular was the memorizing traditional Ovambo stomp dance, which while quite provocative, is only performed by pre-pubescent girls to rapid drumming. Once they mature, they are not allowed to do it anymore. Third, the breakfast this morning was the standard Namibian fare which we have waited so long to have again – fried eggs with boerewors, sliced tomatoes, cheese, toast, fruit and yogurt. The long thin sausage with the coriander and cinnamon seasoning here is unique to Namibia; we have not been able to find it elsewhere in Africa. We indulged and did not have to eat again until dinner.
After two long days in driving in Namibia (Kasane to Divundu and Divundu to Tsumeb), the next few weeks will have much shorter distances (nothing more than two hours a day) traveling to places such as Otjiwarongo, Hochveld, Okahandja, Windhoek, and Mariental. Let’s face it – Namibia is one huge country, about the size of Texas. The roads are fantastic though and the driving is easy, which is a good thing because I am still doing most of the driving. One fun thing to do while on the road is to tune into National Radio which is heard all over the country. This is a far cry from NPR. People will post ads, say “I am looking for a ride to Ondangwa this weekend” and then other people will respond to that. At times, several different languages can be spoken, but it’s mostly in English. They play cheesy music and read the horoscopes. We have listed to a whole hour on farming advice and another on cricket rules. It’s an absolute riot to listen to.
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