Halali, Etosha 29/9/11 (Day 25)

Had a lovely time at the waterhole last night with visits from black rhino, wild cat, jackal and hare. Luis sat in all sorts of peculiar and uncomfortable positions too obtain these shots under the sodium lights:

Slept well - slightly (but only slightly) cooler last night which probably helped.
Lovely morning drive, very fruitful.
Necking giraffe

Three of four hyena at a waterhole. Something was stressing the one in the foreground. Not sure if "she" was in labour or injured, although she seemed to walk ok after this pic.

First sighting of lion (4 of them which subsequently split into pairs)

A hop, a skip and a playful jump:

Surviving Etosha is thirsty work

Jackal seem to hang around lion in the hope of some tasty titbits. These two were playful.

Very good Shade impersonation (or is it the other way round?)

Pawleeze play with me!

More dignified pose:

Stealth mode:

These two are part of the original four

And this young male is a separate sighting:

All six lion were within 2 kms of each other so we're guessing that they make up the pride of 6 sighted yesterday.

Black Shouldered Kite

Pleasant afternoon relaxing at swimming pool and at waterhole for a while. Nothing much happens at waterhole during the day - all the action seems to be at night.

Halali, Etosha 28/9/11 (Day 24)

Went up to the waterhole last night. Black rhino, rabbits, brief guest appearance by lioness, owl, nightjar. Few sprinkles of rain, nothing major.
Woke to lion grunts (not roars!)
Had a lovely morning drive: hyena, jackal, lion, assorted birds. Back at camp at noon for boiled egg sandwiches and a refreshing swim.
Monochrome Zebra:

Lift off:

Airborne:

Most photographed tree in Etosha - it's always green!

Mum & Baby Double Banded Sand Grouse:

The endless pan:

Had an afternoon snooze, experimented with a wet sheet - worked for me, I dozed. Luis claims he got hot immediately as the sheet dried almost instantaneously!
Ah well, another beautiful day near it's end. Will go waterhole later and see what we can achieve with the D90's.

Halali, Etosha 27/9/11 (Day 23)

Stopped in Tsumeb to buy Luis a decent pair of sandals which will last, hopefully! Purchased a pair of R350 Crocs - they better last!!! Watched a very quiet, orderly demonstration (for better water supply) - such a contrast to our lot!
Arrived at Etosha, our first sighting was, aptly, a Damara dik dik:

Although there were major signs of "greening" on our approach, Etosha itself is extremely dry and ravaged by fires.
Kori Bustard against a burnt background:

Likewise, a Northern Black Korhaan:

Loved this little mongoose posing for us:

A giraffe against a dry background:

Pristine contrast:

View over the pan:

Currently, the sky is dark and threatening with thunder and lightning. Weve had 30 speckles of rain but we can smell rain in the air, particularly the pungent odour of wet, burnt bush. We've put the awning up which should guarantee no rain! Let's see.
Since preparing above, it's spitting a bit heavier ..... Update tomorrow!

Kharob Lodge, Otavi 26/9/11 (Day 22)

Saw the Southern White Faced Owl again but did not hang around long enough for a photo. Later that evening I heard alarmed "chirping" and went to investigate. It turned out to be the owl eyeballing little bush babies. Tried to get a photo but, man, they move quickly. After umpteen attempts, this was all I could manage:

Under a second after this shot was taken, he turned and looked directly at us but the flash needs time to recharge! Ah well, another fond memory!
Restocked provisions at Grootfontein on way here. I told Luis that Grootfontein is a big town with nice shops .... Oooops ..... Not the case! Having said that though, it's just as well we didn't stop in Rundu as we'd sort of discussed, as our meat was impounded (again!) at a vet gate south of Rundu. We only had 2 meat meals left but still! We are obviously not destined to have beef stroganoff as we have lost 3 portions of that and have yet to prepare the meal. We haven't found a decent looking butchery thus far and the supermarkets stock cheap cuts like brisket. When we do find nicish looking beef we lose it!!!!! (the meat, that is!)
Kharob lodge itself is lovely with grassy lawns, flowering gardens and fish ponds. The camp site is fair but nothing to write home about. We have our own 'blute and table under our own little thatch but it really is the back end of the lodge with scruffy disused equipment lying around, no toilet paper, next to a main road on one side (B1) and a railway track on the other. Fortunately it's only one night!

Subsequent to my whinging, staff arrived to clean the braai and we requested that they bring toilet paper! Small thing but it's how it should be!
Ah, now I've cooled down, had a lovely shower to the accompaniment of the first thunder rumbles we have ever heard in Namibia, one brandy and tab and, wow, I love this place. Serious now, it's really quite nice!
A very strong, cooling wind came up during the night. Lovely. One slight problem, a twig was touching the rad and, with the wind, it scraped and whined all night. Both of us lay there thinking we should poke our head out the end window and cut the offending twig but we never quite got that far!
Etosha here we come!

Sarasungu 25/9/11 (Day 21)

Another lazy day! Luis caught a nice bream which, with the help of a nice guy from SA, Mohammed, we've identified as a Niloticus Bream. Apparently not indigenous to the area but introduced some years ago.

Donated it to Alex. He was overjoyed so much so that most of our meal and booze tickets disappeared! Seriously though, I don't think Alex had anything to do with that. We spent a good half hour trying to remember what we'd drank - not easy and I think we got off with a few freebies.

Luis has been chatting up the birds again, with some success I might add. A Greenbul came and sat on his hand to peck at the sandwich he was holding. What monster have we created by introducing them to bread?!

So very sad to be leaving this place tomorrow. Have really enjoyed our stay here and met some phenomenal people, tourists and locals alike. A piece of my heart will remain here even though I'm looking forward to new adventures.
Luis nearly landed his trophy tiger - he has witnesses. (youngsters who are riding bicycles from Pretoria to Namibia and onwards, for rhino conservation: www.cycleafrica.co.za - eat your heart out, Susan!)

Sarasungu 24/9/11 (Day 20)

The morning started off with some creature screeching - suspect an owl took something as the screech vanished into the night very quickly. No sooner got our hearts back to beating normally when a drunken soul decided to hurl verbal abuse in our general direction. He was "walking" along the road next to us. Suspect the target of abuse was our security guard! Too dark to see much, but, man, he was not a happy camper!
Luis set off fishing as soon as light permitted and caught a large barbel.
I was hoping for a cooler day as there was quite a bit of cloud cover - it soon dissipated!
Have introduced the local bird life to bread. The bread is extremely stale and all our little feathered friends are flying around with white bits in their beaks! Babblers, Boubous, Green buls, Bulbuls, Spectacled weavers, Coucals, all want a piece of the action.
Yellow-Bellied Greenbul:

Got the royal whistle from Luis. Translated it means run like hell with the camera. Half way through the run, I got the royal wave. Translated: don't bother, you're too late! He'd caught a tiger but it jumped the hook before I got there. All I got was a huge thorn in my foot!!! Now whose not happy?
A really lazy day. Reading, fishing & swimming (and eating - lots!!!!)

Heard the banshee screeching again last night, I now suspect it IS the owl, rather than prey, but I'm alone in my opinion!
Guess we'll never know.

Sarasungu 23/9/11 (Day 19)

Had a lovely supper at the lodge and a couple of drinks. Slept like a lamb! (dreams weren't so innocent, tho').
Another beautiful day in Africa! Currently 17 deg - forecast is 38 deg.

Luis' catch of the day. Remember, Luis has big hands so it was a fair specimen caught on lure. He subsequently caught a larger one but it had got too warm for me to trundle down (about 400m at a brisk trot!) with the camera.

Makoro man going about his business. He's either going up river to trade (an informal trading post exists where Namibians supply Angolans with much needed provisions), or he's going to lift his gill nets!

You can see the crop fields, so lovingly tended, in the background. We have learned that the crops are various veggie.
Getting back to the Makoro; we witnessed a German couple, all decked out in their orange life jackets, getting on to one of these. The Makoro teetered very precariously. With my incredible sense of balance, would definitely have ended up in the drink!!!! We watched them go upstream for a while, neither one so much as twitched. When they returned they were walking very stiffly! Decided I would not handle it!
Angolan ladies always seem to be hard at work. Haven't seen much evidence of the menfolk. Here's the womenfolk doing their wash load.

Luis was busy taking a photo of our "Good Luck" bird when a "small" (about 1.75m) green water snake came slithering past.

We steered him well clear of our camp site!

Nice sighting but has made us a bit jumpy when sitting under the trees, let alone walking! Even though we knew where this fella was, we battled to see him in the green grass!
Had a nice, lazy swimming session at the lodge, couple of drinks and a divine home-made patty hamburger.
Rest of day was pretty uneventful, just very hot, still. I'm sure we'll be begging for this heat when we reach the much cooler climes of Swakopmund.

Sarusungu, Rundu. 22/9/11 (Day 18)

This place is much nicer than Kaisosi. Flowing, grassy sites under large Camel Thorn trees. Still looking onto Angola. A few womenfolk are doing their laundry in the river. I cheated and did mine I the scullery! Luis has already sussed out his fishing spot. They do offer boat cruises (fishing or scenic, or both) as well.

A local taxi driver, & his fare of two young ladies, in his front wheel drive sedan, got stuck in the sand just outside the back gate (exit to the river). Luis to the rescue with his spade and some wood lying around, got them out successfully. Very appreciative.
Birdlife seen thus far: Cristed Bristeds, y.bellied greenbuls, ground scrapers, kurrichanes.
Watched two Angolan ladies toil all afternoon, carrying bucket after bucket from the river to their crop.

There are a few of those "allotments" across the river. Each one is tended by two ladies. I think we have life a little bit easier, what say you?
Sunset over the Kavango River - Angolan town in background. Think it's Calai.

Have already heard an owl (Spotted Eagle) - will probably be obsessively stalking it's whereabouts, again!
Luis gave fishing a good bash but nothing today. Still, there's always tomorrow.

Kaisosi Lodge, Rundu 21/9/11 (Day 17)

Finally managed eyeball contact (said loosely as his eyes were closed) with our elusive tree owl. He really knows how to hide himself:

He's a relatively large bird, around 34cm.

Straight road to Rundu. One thing that struck me was the tree "change". From Katima Mulilo to about 2kms before Divundu, we were seeing predominantly Rhodesian Teak (we think). Then the beautiful cream blossoms of the Knob thorn. For a while it was Baobab trees. Last leg of the journey, Umbrella thorns. And, of course, along the whole route, the ubiquitous Mopani.
We've no sooner got here and Luis is already chatting up the birds! This male peacock was giving him the "come hither" looker and then started displaying,

Kaisosi is on the banks of the Kavango with Angola just a spit away:

Had a refreshing swim in one of two small pools.
Blasted peacock was very verbose during the night. Nearly got up to murder him on numerous occasions. Should get off criminal proceedings lightly. Headlines: "Wife murders peacock in a jealous rage! Not guilty as "Crime of Passion!""
We won't be staying another day here as it is very regimented and we all seem to be on top of one another.

Not shown on above photo is another vehicle with a rooftop tent parked nose to our nose. Could have had a conversation with them from our respective beds last night!

Namwi Island 20/9/11 (Day 16)

Dusk over Zambezi:

Up early this am so that Luis could have a go at fishing - no luck!
Just missed the magnificent fish eagle landing (suspect he was after an otter) - managed to capture his take off:

A flock of "woodbills" were preening each other in the morning sun:

Little Bleating Warbler was "bleating away"!

The bird life here is incredible. Never a dull moment. During the night there are a number of species of owls hooting away. By call and the assistance of Sasol Birds, we have identified spotted eagle and african wood. Saw two flying over the river last night. (There is a floodlight). Cannot find them during the day, though. We have an extremely dense tree and creeper on our site and have heard one of them in there at dusk. Have yet to find him or see him leave the thicket to go hunting. (Sit with camera poised but no such luck!)
Went for a boat cruise this afternoon. Luis trawled for Tiger but to no avail. On the Zambian side there were some herdsman driving their cows through the river.

Nice hippo posed for us!

Not a particularly inspired photo but it does show the vast extent of the Zambezi River:

Had a really "dof" moment in the early evening. Was listening to birds bickering loudly directly above us. We figured it was a territorial spat. After about 5 minutes of this, we scanned the treetop more intently and there was the owl that we've been searching for, posed and looking at us. By the time it all registered, he took off! Ah well, had a nice visual of the African Tree Owl!