Sunday, April 3, 2011

Our last day of vacation - Okaukejo (camping in Etosha National Park)

I have been wanting to camp inside of Etosha National Park since we arrived in Namibia, and on our last day of vacation, we finally go to do so! First we had a bit of a drive to get there (from Palmwag) and we saw giraffe and springbok along the side of the road on our way there. It's always neat to see a giraffe walking down the road next to the car, and it's especially neat when there is no fenced in area.
While at Palmwag we met the manager of Andersson's Camp, a sister camp to Palmwag, and she invited us to visit on our way to Etosha. Andersson's Camp is located just outside of Etosha, situated in a private concession. So, before our entrance to Etosha, we accepted the offer and stopped by Andersson's Camp. When we pulled up there were two men waiting with drinks to serve to us. We tried to explain that we weren't guests, we were just stopping by to check out the camp and meet with the manager's husband. But, we were served drinks nonetheless, very nice! The camp itself is really neat. The main lodge is an old farmhouse that has been refurbished to house the dining area that overlooks a waterhole. There are comfy couches to sit on while taking in views of hartebeest and kudu, who happened to be at the waterhole while we were there. And they have 20 "tents" to accommodate guests. I use the term "tents" loosely because the accommodation is really, really nice and very fancy. The sinks basins are made out of buckets (I know that doesn't sound fancy, but it was a really neat design), the "tents" are canvas, but are quite large and have a porch off of the front that looks directly into the concession, and there is a unique open-air shower in every tent. After our tour of the camp and after finishing our drinks, we thought we would have a bite to eat at the camp, the dining area overlooks the waterhole. So, we were served a tasty meal while we watched three male kudu in the waterhole. While we were eating, the manager of the camp arrived and we had a nice chat with her. After our lunch, we went to pay our bill and the manager insisted that lunch was on her. What an amazing free lunch! The camp was very nice, the staff was very nice, and the food was great! If you ever find yourself in Namibia, I recommend a stay at Andersson's Camp, right outside of Etosha National Park, just before you get to Andersson's Gate. (We didn't take any pictures at the camp, we were too busy enjoying ourselves!)
After lunch we checked in to Okaukejo. (To this day there is still much debate between René and I about how to pronounce Okaukejo?!?) There are three public "camps" in Etosha, where you can camp overnight. Access the camps is through huge gates that are closed at night and the camp itself is fenced in with an electric fence. We opted to actually camp with our nice little tent, but there is hotel/condo style accommodation available at each of the camps. The bungalows at Okaukejo are the nicest (read most expensive) of the options. They are huge, two stories, with the second story overlooking the waterhole, as you can see here.

However, we were able to get a great view of the waterhole from the benches surrounding it.
This was our spot for the evening activities.
Since it was our last night of vacation, we had a few sundowners while watching the sunset over the waterhole. In the dry season René saw tons of animals at the waterhole, particularly in the evening. Unfortunately, in the rainy season, especially the weekend we were at Etosha, there was water everywhere so the animals did not need to come to the water hole to drink. The only animals we saw were inside the fence, inside the camp!! There were jackals everywhere, I freaked out because with our leaflet about camping they handed us an info sheet about rabid jackals in the camps. Also, once the sun went down there were little scurrying rats/mice around our feet, which I clearly did not like. AND on top of the rabid jackals and scurrying rats, the power at the camp went out. Therefore, the electric fence surrounding the camp was not functioning. Let your imagination run wild with that for a night! (René says, "Have you seen Jurassic Park?") Anyway, we both avoided any intimate encounters with rats, rabid jackals, lions, hyenas, leopards or any other predators that were out there, and we lived through the night. (Though it was touch and go for a while because you could hear things howling and barking from inside the tent. Very scary!)
Sunrise from our campsite. We survived the night camping in the park!

In the morning we headed out to the park quite early. We were able to see some neat things, including a goshawk involved in a fight with a jackal over a meal. We also saw some giraffe swinging their necks/heads around and bashing each other. We're still not sure if they were fighting or playing. And we saw a group of impala bashing heads and horns in a fight.
I realized I haven't posted enough pictures on our blog of René's favorite, the oryx.
The zebra in the middle with his head down was very upset for some reason. Probably because he and all of his friends and family had to move off of the road for us. But he was snorting and gesturing toward us like crazy!

Neat picture take by René.
Just buddies or lovers?
Hard to see, but these vultures are devouring a zebra carcass.
Secretary bird! I always joke that they are wearing jeggings.
Black faced impala mid-jump. We came around the corner in the truck and scared her!

Over all, it was an amazing vacation! What a great pre-wedding honeymoon:)

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