Short hair Francis

I agree LH4116, Air Namibia was alot better than what I expected.
The plane I flew apparently was previously flown by Air Berlin, either way it was in great shape.
I think the longest flight outside of FRA which is on their 332 is their ACC flight.
Food was ok for a 2 hr flight, no clue on Y food, didn't check on that front sorry
I imagine Southwest will have to pay a pretty penny to land the SW IATA code


Forrest Bump, I loved Namibia, I did couple hours here and there for Windhoek, 1 1/2 days in Etosha, and another day or so out at Swakopmund.
I put over 2000 km on that brand new Corella, sure Europcar really loved that.
I was lucky in the temp respect since it was August, we had -2C - 25C in Windhoek, 10C - 29C in Etosha, and 12-16C in Swakopmund.
Weather was by far perfect during our trip


Haha quirrow, wouldn't be me otherwise.
Yes the Air Namibia 319 J is great

Calchas, you are right on that, former South Africa Colony!


I'm sorry for the delay on the next part, it's taking me awhile to sort/upload all those Safari photos

jjangoo

Oh man LH isn't giving out Rimowas anymore? Bummer!

Short hair Francis

Not too sure, they weren't for July but I'm sure others will have more recent LH F reports than mine.
Never been a big fan of the Rimowas kits though, kinda useless for me

Should have the Safari part up either later today or tomorrow

Short hair Francis

Part 52 – Who said a Corolla isn’t a Safari Vehicle, First Safari to Etosha Nat’l Park


A sad reality about growing up in North America, I never learned how to drive a stick, so auto transmission car would have to do on this trip.
And there are reasoning why people don’t plan safari trips within T-14 days, because it takes a lot of time in getting the details to work.
There said, here goes the start of 4 Days in Namibia.

With little advance prep time, we were stuck with a Toyota Corolla

*Photo taken at Swakopmund after 3 days on the trip

A brand new one car with 7 clicks

*It won’t be returned with 7 obviously

With the immigration delay and mandatory rental car video by Europcar; Yes It is Mandatory. We were out of the rental lot by 10am, and ended up touring Windhoek, grabbing lunch and some supplies for about 2 hrs prior to heading off towards Etosha.
I’ve combined all the Windhoek details in 1 section for clarity later on.

After 3 1/2 hours drive later, we arrived at the our hotel, the Toshari Lodge.

As Etosha National Park is designed in a Horseshoe manner (outside of Dolomite Camp which you need a special permit for), I’ve decided to split hotel for each night to make things easier, one night near Anderson Gate and the other night near Von Lindequist Gate

Toshari Lodge, about 30 minutes away from the Anderson Gate





Main Reception







Tonight’s Dinner Menu


Pool Area


Another headache for this entire trip has been rooms, hotel rooms around the area really weren’t designed for 3 people.

In the end, I had the regular room





Luxury Suite for the Parents




Part 52 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

Welcome Drink


Finally an afternoon to relax on this trip, read a book and have a drink

In the meanwhile, the resident banded mongoose is looking for worms to eat


*He was so friendly with the owner’s family, the daughter just picked him up

A couple photos of dinner, we were lucky to get our pick of the table by being there early



*The entire place was packed by 6:45pm

We retreated rather early that night as we were starting our day very early tomorrow, another African reality check, everything goes on during the day-time.
5:15am wake-up, 6am breakfast, 7am departure, 7:30am into Etosha.

Etosha National Park




Beware of Sunrise/Sunset Hours in the Park


Firstly, one of the many Springboks we will see in the park


Okaukuejo, one of the 3 major camps inside the park



Nature is Your Playground


The Flag of Namibia


First of many waterholes to tour today, 1st one was around the corner at Okaukuejo Camp
Having come here during the dry season allows for easier sighting since it forced all animal to go to the waterhole for a drink at some time.

Both Burchell’s and Hartmann’s Mountain Zebras




Part 52 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

If I’m not mistaken, Kudu’s

*Aka yesterday’s dinner…

After 20 minutes here, we decided to head up to another Waterhole, Okondeka for other sighting

One Lonely African Elephant


Ostrich


*Our best Ostrich sighting were at Okondeka

Blue Wildebeest




After some Ostrich and Blue Wildebeest sighting, we head back south to Gembokvlakte

Mainly Springboks, the odd Zebra and Ostrich here




Oryx Antelopes


Zebra Crossing



Just driving by to the next waterhole, Olifantbad






Part 52 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

One of only 2 Lion sightings for the day






Plus 2 Jackals lying around


A quick trip to the Aus Waterhole


More Kudu?




Red Hartebeest?


Definitely Kudu


Yellowbilled Hornbill


From the more interior of the park to right back to the Etosha Pan





Group of Giraffes climbing down from the hill





Part 52 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

A lonely female lion praying



And while resting at Rietfontein, the biggest surprise of the day came from over the horizon






While a lingering elephant at the back had more urgent needs


Ahh, that’s better lol


Now where were we, the drink






Older elephant



Everyone have a drink and have a dip






Part 52 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

Another Jackal



Popping its head up



More Elephant sighting at Goas









Elephant Stampede, keep an eye on the Audi SUV opposite



*Honey, put the car in reverse, Hurry!

Eager for a light meal




Part 52 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

And this is a Namibian traffic jam, we were going nowhere…

*Stuck for about 15 minutes total, elephant have the right of way

Then afterward, drove to the lowest driving point, right into the heart of the Etosha Pan



And a Great Sunset to finish the day


Von Lindequist Gate


After finishing the day at Von Lindequist Gate, it was a quick 10 minute drive to our accommodation of the night.
I was originally planning on something exotic for this trip, and yes I thought of a treehouse, but those were 600 bucks a night x 2 rooms, no thanks

Mushara Bush Camp











Welcome Drink


The Luggage Cart, and do allow the porters to help you, not fun lugging bags on pebble paths for a 5 minute walk


Time for our standard tent, the family tent was sold-out ages ago





Part 52 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

Dinner Time started at 7pm


Spinach Feta Parcel with Tomato Origanum Sauce


Moroccan Chicken with Prunes and Vegetables and Cous Cous

*They were able to swap out Cous Cous for rice

Tiramisu


After dinner, we retired for another early night, the hotel maid had placed a Hot Water Bag for our use for the night. That and a good hot shower in the morning were key as night time temps were 10C/50F.

Good Morning


This is how the tent looks from the outside, there are dual covers (1 outside/1 inside) for keeping out cold winds as well as a completely enclosed bug nets.

Breakfast Time


*Cold Buffet set-up with Egg/Pancakes made to order

As we has mostly completely our self-drive yesterday, we started out slowly and cover another 3 waterholes prior to heading back to Windhoek

Firstly the Namutoni Camp



Grey Lourie



And some Banded Mongoose




Ma, I’m off to the Waterhole, sadly no action there



Part 52 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

The Freaky Forktailed Drongo



Helmeted Guineafowl



Hide Hide



We also made a quick trip to Twee Palms, sadly you are supposed to come in the afternoon and not morning


Now this is a good photo of the Jackal


And we ended our trip at Etosha at the Klein Namutoni Waterhole


That should be the Black-Faced Impala


And the rest of the action








Take a Sip Young One


And a final farewell on the way exiting Etosha National Park


Drive from Tsumeb back to Windhoek took about 5 1/4 hrs including a gas and lunch break on the way

On the drive back to Windhoek, even in rural Namibia there are Spar


And just around the last hour of driving between Okahandja and Windhoek, we got this, Yes Very Abnormal Indeed





Next Part
Part 53 – A small Former German charm, Windhoek, Namibia

FlyinTigerSc

A lovely trip report Short Hair Francis.

Really glad you got through to see Bosnia; a really beautiful place that many people are sheepish about going to.

It's taken me a couple of days just to get through this TR and I must say well worth it to an aspiring miles hog like myself! Bravo.

jfkeze

First of all, great pics! ^

What on earth are those things, they look like parts of a huge mining pickup but no clue... I guess "abnormal" is the word hehe

SPAR is everywhere, I guess the German influence remains

I feel a bit sorry for the car, brand new Toyota sure got a rough first rental, versus life in a suburban rental fleet hehe

GmK

Little, unnecessary correction: SPAR is Dutch and not German