February 22, 2007
Today we leave the Guma Camp in the Okavango Delta and head out of Botswana back into Namibia along the Caprivi Strip. We awoke early and did our thing to get ready, break camp, eat, and hop in the cruiser.
First thing, we had the 13 km of soft sand to power through to get back on our way. And we almost made it! We were practically out of the sand when Martin was distracted by something and he let the cruiser bog. After a couple attempts at getting us unstuck, Martin announced we had to get out. I had a feeling this was going to happen! Not that I cared, really. I thought it was kinda fun. The feeling was not shared amidst the rest of the group. At first, Martin and Manilow tried digging sand out from around the tires and Martin tried to wrestle the cruiser out with horsepower. Then they let air out of the tires, which usually helps. That didn’t work, however, so then he asked us to help push. Now, I was skeptical at first. This Land Cruiser is huge and the trailer it’s towing probably weighs a ton by itself. And, he asked us to push up and forward on the back of the cruiser, which is where the trailer is attached. So, we pushed on the back of the cruiser, in front of the trailer, hoping we’d get out. And, at the same time hoping we wouldn’t get run over by the trailer! After a heave or two, we did get the cruiser to budge and we did not get run over, thankfully.
Very shortly, we got to the main village and hard-packed road. I mean shortly as in a hundred yards or so … I still think Martin got us stuck just so we could say we had the experience. I didn’t take a picture of the actual stuckage. I did take a picture of the nearby huts at sunrise, though.
We had quite a bit of driving to do today, which was the first thing we did. The Caprivi Strip is a narrow stretch of land extending from the northwest corner of Namibia across the northern part of Botswana and ends at the Zambezi river. Apparently, the land was given to or taken by Namibia so they had access to the river. Now it’s mostly a game reserve. The land is more like Botswana than Namibia and I’m not sure why they don’t just give it back! Alas, it’s not my decision to make.
We did see some cool animals. The usual suspects, of course, but we finally saw a water buffalo. He didn’t entertain us for long before he trotted off into the woods, not wanting to show off for the tourists.
Our only main stop was to see Popa Falls. Martin was sure not to pump up our expectations at the term. And, he as right to do so. It wasn’t so much of a waterfall as a very brief cascade of water. In this country, though, flat as it is, this constitutes a waterfall I guess. It was a neat place. They did have some nice, new bathrooms, which were being visited by a film crew capturing some sort of visit by the region’s governor or something like that? Probably the visit was to publicize the work done to the park. I think they were from NBS (Namibian Broadcasting Service, I think). They were nice, but they’re cars were blocking our progress to the falls. It was funny to see how men treat each other in Namibia. They can be really brash with each other, but not totally serious. This happened quite a lot from our guide Martin. He seemed to give a lot of people a hard time, but all in good fun as he seemed to know the people rather well in the end. When we needed the NBS people to move their cars, Martin was pretty demanding but he was almost laughing at the same time. To my eyes and ears, it bordered on being impolite and rude, but I think that’s just how they are in Namibia and southern Africa in general.
After a few more hours driving and avoiding donkeys crossing and standing the road, we finally headed off-road again. I can’t remember the name of the camp we were headed for. Martin and Manilow jumped out of the cruiser quickly to lock in the 4×4 before proceeding. There were a few steep hills and some soft sand. And, we were hungry! It was about 2 pm and we hadn’t had lunch yet. They had a plan though, and we were all glad they stuck to it. We had ascended somewhat of a hill to get to our lunch stop, and we had a great view of the bush that extended for miles below us. There was a small creek that was directly below us at the bottom of the hill, and we all kept wanting to see some hippos or something in it. The only wildlife we saw were a pair of impala feeding while crossing the plain in front of us. (and hoping a leopard would run out and attack them!)
With lunch over, the only place we had to be was at camp. A slow drive through the bush later, we arrived and checked in. The camp was empty. We had the place to ourselves! It was a great camp, too. The only problem was the relatively small size of the campsite. Like other camps before, there was enough concern for our safety from wild animals that guide Martin wanted Aussie Martin and my tent closer to the rest of the group. Our last night camping would be filled with snoring too! Oh well. We were right on the river, anyway, with a nicely sloped bank.
We set up camp, got a tour of the awesome bath-house and then set out on our final evening game drive. I’m not sure if I mentioned before that usually during these game drives, Manilow, and sometimes Martin, stayed behind to cook diner. More often than not diner was prepared and ready for us to sit right down and enjoy. Back to the game drive. We were all intently on the lookout for leopard. We’d seen 4 of the big 5 African wild animals. Leopard was the only animal missing. We never did see one, but the game drive was pretty exciting. It was a good place for birds, as there were a lot of scrubby-type of trees and bushes where birds would perch. There were taller trees with limbs that looked like they’d be perfect for a leopard, too. And, there were some excellent hippos in this place!
Martin spotted a group in the water and drove near it. We could just see them out of the top of the cruiser. Then Martin said “get out.” I know I asked him “really?” We ended up walking right down to the bank of the river, maybe 30 feet away from this gaggle of hippopotamus. It was awesome! Thrilling, too, because I thought for sure these beasts would jump out of the water and trample us. Why else had we been so afraid of them at previous camp sites? Now we’re walking right up to them? Martin was confident we could outrun them if they came out of the water for us. They are remarkable agile in the water, but apparently much less so on land.
They are not pretty. “Cute” might be a good word. But, when you do get up close, their eyes look funny, they’re so oddly shaped, and they sound funny, too. And, they have HUGE mouths! and big teeth … Martin was trying to call to them, and we all agreed his hippo noise was the best in his repertoire. One of the hippos started showing us his huge chompers and was signaling us he wasn’t so happy with us being there. So we stayed and watched for a while. Such strange behavior!
We saw one more group of hippos and then ventured down along the riverbank to see what else we could see. The sand was a little soft in places, and gravity was dragging the back end of the cruiser down the slight embankment in places making the ride seem a little sketchy. There were a few more hippo in the river here and there. We were all enjoying the ride until suddenly, the cruiser took an ominous tilt and pitched steeply towards the water! There were a few gasps and a slight scream and a little commotion behind me. Our 5-liter water jugs were sliding downhill. The suspension was creaking. I was afraid of being crushed by falling Australians if the tip went any further. When we stopped, we were still on four wheels. Everyone was stunned and surprised and Martin said something to the effect of “that wasn’t supposed to happen …”
It felt worse than it looks and worse than it was. The cruiser is a bit top-heavy. The commotion ended up being Jade fleeing for her life and putting ours in jeopardy at the same time. She essentially freaked out and crawled out the window. Her seat was on the high-side of the vehicle. Which, in a tippy situation, is where the most weight is needed. Any idiot could figure this out, and the rest of the group knew this. So, Ms Jade didn’t win any friends with her self-serving behavior. She got a deserved ribbing by Jason and several cross looks from the rest of us.
Martin left the passenger compartment door open to brace the cruiser from tilting any further. (though, I’m not sure this would have helped) He tried to motivate the cruiser forward then backward and finally drove it right out of the predicament. We had found a hidden, but slight, washout in the bank and it swallowed the cruiser. It was a surprise, but one that Martin handled with ease and confidence. It wasn’t his fault we got in the predicament, but he got us out well enough!
It was getting late. After we were out of danger, we drove around the curve in the river to check one more place for wildlife. We passed a couple rangers with AK-47s who checked our papers and asked Martin some questions. We drove on and passed a bunch of baboons. Having had enough excitement for one day, we headed back to camp.
I had bought a big bottle of Hansa beer. I can’t remember if it was a liter or not. I cracked it open when we got back to camp, partially thinking others would join me in a last nights drink. I was the only one that drank that night, but I did enjoy the Hansa and it went straight to my head on an empty stomach. Our last diner was as good as the first and we all enjoyed it. There was a little stargazing afterwards. And, as we sat there looking up, we saw at least six satellites whiz across the sky, completely parallel to the horizon. Something about the southern hemisphere must have put us in good satellite viewing territory. It was cool and yet another good day was over.