It was already the last week we spent with my parents, but a few more highlights were waiting for us. For the next night, we drove to the Hoada Camp, another campsite run by a local community. It was a nice place to chill; there was a small pool where we cooled off in the hot afternoon and met some fellow tourists. For sunset, we climbed up some hills and enjoyed the view before we returned to our cars to cook dinner. The next day, we wanted to leave very early to get to the entrance gate of the Etosha National Park before noon. The entrance gate was quite busy. While we filled in all the necessary forms and paid the entrance fees, we also prepared some coffee and a little breakfast before we were ready to go on a safari. The national park roads were surprisingly good, against everything we had heard. Unfortunately, this was only true for the first few kilometers, but at least that 😊 We spent our first night in the park at the Olifantrus Camp. When we called there to make reservations a few days earlier, they told us they were booked out. Still, after Tom played his Austrian charm and kindly asked if they had any space somewhere at the camp for us, they let us stay at the picnic site, which turned out to be an even a nicer spot than the actual campsite, which was very crowded. We had a very private place.
At the Olifantrus camp, there is a big waterhole with a hide, where the visitors can sit and enjoy the view. Since it was the dry season, many animals came to the waterhole, and we spotted a lot. We even saw a group of lions when we returned after dinner in the dark.
The next day, we had to make our way to the Okaukujejo Campsite, where we had made a booking for another two nights. The roads got worse and worse as we drove into the park. On the bright side, the rain still hadn’t started yet. It was like all the animals of the Lion King movie were meeting up at each waterhole. Never have we seen this many elephants, oryx, zebras, springboks, ostriches, jackals, giraffes, and lions in just one spot at the same time; it was spectacular! The roads, on the other hand, were very tiring, and our two cars were covered in sand inside and outside. When we finally arrived at the campsite, we had to clean our cars and then ourselves before we dared to drive inside the gate. We were delighted to get out of the car, opened a bottle of cold white wine, and sat by the waterhole to watch the animals who came to drink. None of us felt like driving around in the park again, so I suggested going on a game drive with one of the safari cars from the camp the following day. Everybody found this a good idea, so Tom and I quickly booked a tour for the next day. We cooked dinner and then went to bed because our tour was leaving very early the next morning.
Our safari guide picked us up at 6 o’clock and gave his best so we would see a lot of animals. We soon passed a pack of lions chilling right next to the road. We stayed with them for a while and learned much from our guide about these royal creatures. Unfortunately, we were not lucky to spot a leopard, but we also met some elephants, and on our way back to the camp, we came across a spotted hyena, which was very impressive as well.
After we returned to our campsite, we all felt like enjoying some time at the pool instead of driving around the park again. We got hold of four sunbeds in the shade and enjoyed our little siesta at the pool. While Tom edited a million pictures, we took on this trip, the rest of us planned how and where to spend our last couple of days together. We decided to drive to the Waterberg Lodge and campsite, a nice and historical place where my parents could return to Windhoek the day after. Tom and I would drive north towards the Angolan border, our next destination.
When we left the Etosha National Park, our cars were thoroughly checked. When we asked the guards what they were looking for, they explained that they were checking because of poaching. We would soon better understand that this is still a big issue here. We drove on the perfect tarmac road to Outjo, where we stopped at the bakery to get lunch. Tom and I tried to find a place to fill our gas bottle, which we were not able to do throughout all of Namibia. Luckily, we could use our parents’ gas bottle to cook, but since we were soon on our own again, this became an issue. We could refill our European gas bottle all over Africa, but no one seemed to have the necessary adapter in Namibia. We continued and tried our luck in the next town, Otjiwarongo. We stopped at the Afrox shop, and these guys were finally able to help us. They had the correct adapter and refilled our bottle in no time.
It was not much further to the Waterberg lodge. When we arrived, my parents booked a rhino trekking for the following day, the last highlight to end their Namibia adventure. Tom and I had already done such a trekking in Uganda and decided to go on the (cheaper) historic hiking trail instead of the rhino trekking. Unfortunately, the rangers had to inform my parents that they could not guarantee they could go on the trekking the following day. The reason was that poachers had killed one of the rhinos just a few days ago; therefore, the herd was still very upset. We couldn’t believe who would do such a thing just because of the horn. But unfortunately, people still pay lots of money for such “treasures.” What made the story even sadder was that the rhino they killed was pregnant. The rangers told us that they needed to check on the rhinos the next day to see how they behaved towards people and then would let us know if my parents could do the trekking.
We drove to the beautiful campsite with private ablutions. It was still a few kilometers to drive from the reception to the camping spots. We enjoyed a shower and started packing up our cars, my parents would give all the leftover food to us, and we gave them everything we wanted them to bring back home for us. It was unbelievable how quickly the past four weeks had passed. We wanted to enjoy dinner at the lodge restaurant for our last night. This was still a two kilometers-hike away from the campsite. We decided to walk there, and instead of walking along the street, we wanted to follow the hiking trail. This turned out to be an actual hiking trail over rocky terrain and through thick bushes; our Birkenstocks were not the well-chosen shoes for this, and by the time we reached the restaurant just before it got dark, we were all sweating again. Well, one last adventurous memory for my parents, we thought and ordered a nice bottle of wine. The restaurant was a bit more basic than we expected, and there was only one fixed menu, so there was nothing to choose from, but after our first slight disappointment about this, we had a surprisingly lovely dinner; they had a good chef.
After dinner, we still had to walk back through the dark. We followed along the road this time, which was a great idea. Trying not to think too much about the leopard that would sometimes visit the lodge, we walked back to our cars. Instead of a leopard, we spotted a few scorpions on the way, which was also worrying but at least nothing we had to run away from 😉 We made it back without being stung or eaten and fell asleep very soon.
The following day, we enjoyed breakfast altogether, and then my parents left for their rhino trekking, which took place. Tom and I packed up as well and went on the historic hiking trail, where we could read and learn a lot about the horrible battle which was fought here between the Germans and the local tribes that lived here before the German settlers arrived in Namibia. We all met again at the reception; my parents were fortunate and spotted a newborn rhino on their trekking, one which even the rangers hadn’t spotted before. They told us about their experience and showed us some pictures.
We couldn’t change anything about the fact that the time had come to say goodbye ☹ But we all spent four amazing weeks with lots of highlights and great memories to bring home and along the journey. After many hugs and kisses, we sat in our cars and drove back to the main road, where my parents continued to Windhoek, and Tom and I drove up north. Our destination was Tsumeb, a town before the border to Angola, where we also heard of a very good mechanic. It was time to recheck our car and get a service for our Defender; after all, we had driven more than 3000 kilometers in Namibia alone, and the roads were not always very smooth.
We arrived in Tsumeb and first had to bring our laundry for washing and then also had to wash our car. After everything was cleaned again, we drove to Kupferquelle, a campsite, lodge, and resort. We spent a few nights here to prepare for Angola, we had to apply for the visa, I had to catch up on a lot of writing before making new memories, and Tom wanted to work on a video from Namibia. We also could pass by Frank, the car mechanic, who was very friendly and could do a service the next day. We spent the day at a cafe next to a gym, and I joined a Cross Fit class in the afternoon. Tom couldn’t participate because he didn’t bring sneakers (some say it was on purpose). I could barely move for three days straight after this gym experience, but it was still fun.
After four nights at Kupferquelle, we had a clean car, clean laundry, a Defender that had been given all the necessary treatment, and two approved e-visas to go to Angola. Therefore, we drove to Oshikango, the border town, where we spent a night at a hotel to go straight to the border the following day. We slept at the Piscas Motel and were very surprised when we entered the gate. The place looked awful and shady from the outside, but inside the gate waited a little oasis with very friendly and helpful people. Martha, the receptionist, printed many documents we needed for the border crossing and even offered to help us if we would get stuck at the border the next day. The vibe was already very different here as well. Most people at the motel spoke Portuguese, and on the menu were many Angolan dishes we had never heard of. We were excited to cross the border and learn about a new country.