The Dunes of Soussusvlei

The Dunes of Soussusvlei

After a bit of a fitful sleep, waking up at odd hours to check the time on the iphone to make sure I don’t miss the wakeup call, hmm how dumb is that! Kelly and I are up and out looking at the stars at 5:15am when the phone rings. We quickly get dressed, grab all our gear, head for reception and a morning cup of coffee before we set out for our visit to the Dunes at Soussusvlei.

Solitaire on the road to Soussusvlei

Solitaire on the road to Soussusvlei

Once again we are going on the road and today’s a travelling day between Swakopmund and our next and final destination the Soussuvlei Desert Lodge at Soussuvlei. To get to the lodge we will be travelling a distance of about 350 kilometres, with all but 37 kilometres of it gravel. For us we manage a pretty early get away, we’ve packed the car, had breakfast, gassed up, checked the tire pressures and it’s only 9am! This is almost a record.

The Cape Cross Seal Colony

The Cape Cross Seal Colony

We were looking for a bit of a sleep in today, but the Primary School opposite seemed to start filling up at about 7am and then they announced classes were starting with a loud whistle about 7:30am. Even still we managed to go back to sleep and didn’t get up until after 8am. Ah the luxuries of town living, not having to shower outside!

Spotting Rock Dassies

Spotting Rock Dassies

It’s early in the morning, around 6:30am, on day two at Mowani and I had a bit of a restless night last night, I was quite feverish and I feel like I’m coming down with something. Kelly’s still asleep so I think I’m going to go out for a walk and see if I can catch the sunrise. I'm almost over to the main lodge and realise I should have brought my camera so I walk back to the suite and pick it up, I almost back to the main lodge again, and as I go to take a picture I realise that the battery is still in the charger back in the suite. Damn it, back I go again!

Mountains of Rock

Mountains of Rock

Today’s a travel day from the Ongava Lodge to the Mowani Mountain Camp and we were up early, woken this morning not by a 5am wakeup call but by the roar of a Lion out in the valley. We packed up our gear and headed up to the main lodge for a breakfast watching Zebra, Kudu and Guinea Fowl drinking down at the waterhole. It’s a bit cooler today, the past few days have been in the high 30’s but today its hovering around 34 C.

East to West across the Etosha Salt Pan

East to West across the Etosha Salt Pan

Oh oh, so much for our plan to get up early, we missed our wakeup call and by the time we’d got our act together, packed up all our gear, double checked the room to make sure we hadn’t left anything behind and were in the car ready to head out it was about 9:30 am. When we got to the main lodge, there was a safari vehicle parked outside with a couple of dogs in the front seat looking for all the world as though they were just waiting for some passengers for a morning game drive.

Exploring Etosha National Park

Exploring Etosha National Park

Etosha - The Fort

5am comes around so quickly, I wonder if I'll ever get to sleep in again, our wakeup call this time is for an early morning game drive in Etosha National Park. By 5:30 am we are ready for a pickup and the little golf cart is soon whisked us off to breakfast. Steve and Leslie will be joining us on the drive this morning, it’s their last day at the fort and they will be flying out later in the afternoon. Edward, the chef, gives us a big welcome and introduces us to the buffet table and offers eggs any style.

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