Rod's Big "7" Birthday Adventure

 

Yes, this blog is about 3 years late!  My only excuse is a combination of Covid and health issues for both of us, along with all the other rubbish that gets in one’s way!

We did however enjoy a fantastic 6500km trip which was planned around celebrating my 70^th in Etosha, where we would be meeting up with Simon & Bridget, who were flying in at Windhoek, and picking up a 4 x4 campervan. After Etosha, S & B planned a return route to Windhoek exploring the Western side of Okavango in Botswana.  We planned a return trip to Cape Town, which took in much of the less travelled parts of Namibia before re-entering RSA at Vioolsdrif .

View from top of Van Rhyns Pass

Klein Plasie camp

Our route up to Etosha from CT took us over the Van Rhyns Pass, through Niewoudsville, and Calvinia, where we camped at Klein Plasie. 

The next day we continued through Upington to the Kalagadi Lodge, just outside the Transfrontier Park.  Our first night in the Park was Rooiputs, on the Botswana side, then up to Nossob. We then took the 4 x4 track from Nossob to Bitterpan, exiting onto the crossroad between the two riverbed roads, on up the Mata Mata road to the Kalagadi Tented camp outside Mata Mata., before entering Namibia via the Mata Mata border post.

Rooiputs Camp

 Once through the border post, we made our way to Mariental, where we restocked, and headed for the Hardap Damn  Resort for the night. The less said about the facilities there, the better! The only saving grace was a beautiful African sunset over the dam!

 The next day saw us head on up to Windhoek, where we finished the restocking before joining up with Simon and Bridget at the Ombo Lodge, about 70km north of Windhoek. A very happy reunion, with a few celebratory beverages!

The next leg took us via the Waterberg Mountain, where we camped in lovely scenery & had a couple of unusual nocturnal visitors.  

Spotted Genet

Thereafter, we headed for Tsumeb, for another quick shop, before entering Etosha at Namutoni.  We spent a week in the park, with nights at each of the camps, ending up in Okaukueja, where we had a Birthday dinner in the restaurant. By this point “Priscilla”, our faithful Disco, was being very temperamental, with difficulty starting, and very little power! We had planned on continuing to the much more remote Olifantsrus Camp, before exiting the Park via Galton Gate.  S& B were scheduled to leave via the main Anderson gate, before making their way across to Botswana. Given “Priscilla” ailment, and the terrible state of the road to Olifantsrus, we swapped our booking to stay over at Okaukueja instead, before also exiting the main gate & trying to find mechanical help in Windhoek. So we said our sad farewells, after a fabulous time together, and headed our separate ways. The game viewing in Etosha was as special as ever, even if the roads and facilities left a lot to be desired!