Himba Village and Etosha National Park

Thursday was also a long drive to Etosha National Park where we stayed for 2 nights. Along the way we made a stop at a traditional Himba village which was one of the highlights of the trip so far for me. Naturally the chiefs offered me a seat at the table and we were treated to some dancing and a tour of the village by a Himba guide. We were given permission to take photos and we bought some bracelets too. While slightly uncomfortable about the cultural divide we were assured that visits from western travellers helped bring much needed wealth into the community. 

Our camp at Etosha was awesome – our rooms were adjacent to a floodlit watering hole frequented by elephants and zebra, giraffe springbok and incredibly after dinner we watched in silence as three white Rhino wandered cautiously in for a drink! 

The following morning (Friday for anyone who’s keeping track) Steffan knocked on our cabin door at 6.30 am to say there were 3 lions at the waterhole – one big golden maned male and two females – it was very dark so I didn’t manage to capture any decent pics, but an amazing memory. Later, on our game drive in our truck we spotted two cheetahs hunting sprinbok as well as seeing giraffes, zebras and a heap of big antelope – kudu, eland, springbok, impala, oryx, wildebeest plus banded mongoose, jackals, ground squirrels and many birds – my new favourite is the lilac breasted roller or LBR as we now call it! 

Our last few days in Namibia were spent driving through Etosha National Park via Halali exiting at the Montoni Gate then onto Divindu near the Angola border where we saw hippos and crocs for the first time. It was nice to finally be rid of the desert! Great resort on the Kavango River where we had a lovely breakfast boat cruise on Monday before hitting the road again and heading for the Botswana border crossing.