Yep, we did it. We visited Sesriem canyon and Dune 45 and Dead vlei. Another one of those been there, done that experiences.
We didn’t really want to go to this tourist trap but as we are here…. and we dont have anywhere else to be…. and… etc we decided to drive the few extra kilometers and go form our own opinion. We even joined the 5:45 traffic jam at the entrance gate to see the beautiful sunrise within the dunes.
Due to the rainy season we had lots and lots of big puddles on the road to Sesriem. Instead of carefully treading our way around we decided to have some fun!
YIHAAA! Our car looks awful, but we enjoyed the trip very much!
Pfffft.
After being offline for 3 weeks our first goal after leaving the Kgalagadi NP was to find an internet connection. Mariental seemed the closest location possible so we started asking around immediately and there seemed to be two options.
1) The telecom shop
2) A newly opened independent internet café that everybody had heard about, but nobody really knew where it exactly was
Always in for a challenge, we decided to look for the independent shop first. And after asking around in town (at our accommodation, at the filling station, at the spar supermarket, at Mariental’s top range hotel and even the butchery) we finally found the right courtyard, only to stand in front of the closed doors!
Next we decided to try out the Telecom shop. This was a whole lot easier to find and the lady at the counter happily sold us a 50N$ voucher for their Wi-Fi. After 30 minutes of trying we still couldn’t connect to the internet and our list of possible solutions ran out.
When we asked to use the other available pc that was connected to the landline we realized that the Telecom network itself had a problem and the Telecom employees started calling in their IT support. It then turned out that the whole network was down and they were working on a solution.
Hmmm. As our two available options in Mariental were not working we decided to drive to the next town en-route. This was Maltahöhe, approximately 120 km away.
We arrived in Maltahöhe around 2 pm and first tried the local Telecom shop again. But due to renovations they did not have their internet set up at the moment. Next stop was the local hotel that had a big sign promising free Wi-Fi but also here there was no connection available. New owners had taken over and were still waiting for Telecom to setup their connection….
But the hotel manager knew of one other place that offered internet. The Woestijnkombuis, a filling station café on the main road, a place we would never have looked at twice for a Wi-Fi. We got back in the car and drove up to the Woestijnkombuis and were finally able to download our emails! Yippie!
From Maltahöhe we continued towards Sesriem as our overnight destination was the Betesda Lodge. A Christian retreat that advertises with their free Wi-Fi. But with our internet luck we happened to arrive in the middle of a powerful thunderstorm. At the moment there is no power and therefore…… no internet! So we are currently sitting in the lobby, writing this text as a preparation for the next connection opportunity =D
This is Africa!
WOW!
We absolutely love Kgalagadi NP. In our opinion this is definitely one of the best game parks in Southern Africa.
As our South African visitor permit has expired again we decided to enter the park via the Namibian gate Mata Mata. This way, as long as we leave the park again via Mata Mata, we do not need to do the immigration procedure. In and out via the back door so to say.
We have stayed for a total of 17 days during which we tried out all three South African camps and have done a 5 day trip to Mabuasehube on the Botswanan side. The South African camps are like little holiday resorts. They have a reception, shop, filling station, chalets and even a small pool.
The camps on the Botswanan side are something completely different. They are wild . As is normal in Botswanan National Parks there are no fences between the roaming wildlife and yourself. You have to be vigilant and keep your eyes open as especially lions are often curious and like to come take a closer look at the tourists. On most sites there are no facilities. If there are any they consist of a A-shelter for a bit of shade, a long drop toilet and if you are lucky a tap or maybe even a shower. Although that doesn’t necessarily mean there is water…
We liked the Botswanan camps a lot and would have stayed there much, much longer if we had the possibility to stock up on more water and diesel at the gate. The round trip from Nossob to Mabuasehube and back (including daily game drives) was approximately 600 km long. But due to the soft sand our diesel consumption increased so much that we were running on the last diesel fumes by the time we returned to Nossob.
Additionally to loving the scenery we also had some really special animal encounters and even found some species we hadn’t seen before! The African wild cat walked in front of the car four times and we even saw a curious Aardwolf family. And we also enjoyed the many sightings of lions. We even got to know the alarm behavior of Hartebeest, Wildebeest and Springbok so well that we found some well hidden lions sleeping in the bushes.
But now we really have to go back to Namibia to stock up on some fresh food. We completely ate our way through our provisions and only have a can of mushrooms left. HONGER! =D
Sometimes waiting next to sleeping Hyena’s does pay off!
En route to Mata Mata we spotted a group of six spotted Hyena’s. They were all lying around in the shade with big round bellies. Apparently they killed something during the night and were all sleeping off a satisfied food coma. Because two of the six were still youngsters who were a bit reluctant to have a lie down we decided to watch them for a bit longer. After a few minutes one of the grownups got up and disappeared on a nearby ledge. When she came into view again she had this tiny little pup in her mouth. Sooooo cute.
We watched her nurture and tenderly play with her cub. After she put it back in the den she came up with another one and repeated the cleaning, feeding and cuddling. Amazing how gently she holds her pup in those strong jaws.
Another special moment in Kgalagadi!
While looking through our pictures made over the last months we stumbled upon a black Rhino. Apparently we met in August 2011 in Etosha.
And we thought this was one of the animals still missing in our mamal-must-see list. =)
Normally we spend very little time outside our tent at night. When it gets dark we like to retreat to the safe environment of the rooftop tent where we don’t need to keep an eye on every movement. And what a good idea that has proven to be!
We were sitting around the fire with Jörg and Inge, the two Germans who joined us on the wilderness trail. It was getting late (9pm) and the fire had died almost completely. While we were sitting in the dark, chatting cozily under the beautiful starry sky, Sandra suddenly saw movement at the edge of her vision and switched on her headlight. And what a fright we all got then.
A puffadder, one of the deadliest snakes in southern Africa, had silently sneaked up on us and joined our circle.
I don’t know who was more afraid, the snake or us four Europeans. Blinded by all the torches we could find the puffadder retreated into a hole and waited for us to disappear. Which we did. Quickly, we called it a night and climbed up our ladders.
One of the two routes back from Mabuasehube to Nossob is a wilderness trail where you not only need a 4×4, but also a second vehicle. We had already given up on finding somebody to do the wilderness trail with when we met Jörg and Inge. Lucky for us they were still actively looking for a second car and asked us if we were interested. YES, we were!
The next morning we drove to the gate to get the permits sorted and off we went.
After hearing other people tell stories of getting stuck in pans and digging their cars out of the dunes we were expecting at least some technical challenges but encountered no real difficult parts at all. Our two Toyota’s easily conquered every sand dune and arrived safely back on the South African side of the Nossob river bed.
While trying to track down the elusive leopard we stumbled on some relatively fresh cat prints. Due to the size of the prints we thought it might even be a leopard and we quickly followed them.
After a couple of km another pair of prints appeared on the right side of the road. This second pair of prints looked even fresher than the others. As we had heard that there were two leopards who hung out together we thought we were finally going to find our first leopards all by ourselves. We speeded up a bit and took up pursuit.
And after a couple of bends we finally saw who was running in front of us…
I think we need some more training before we are ever going to pass as tracking experts! =D
Travelling Patsy 