15th – 19th March 2011
Ngepi Camp, Namibia on the Okavango River in the Western
Caprivi.
The crossing of the border was easy – maybe because it was
5.35pm and close to knock off time. Our
arrival at Ngepi saw us driving over a dry causeway to enter the camp and with
water milling around this the main entrance.
The floods were coming! Mark
& Margie were there to offer us a cold beer.
The camp overlooks a very fast flowing Okavango – this water
will reach Maun in 4 months time in July and the worry for some is that a few
of the isolated (fly in) safari camps in the Delta may be forced to close! The treehouse overlooking the river and
facing the morning sun was special.
Naturally the hippos grunt all night and the birds wake you early. It was five days of fun and relaxation and
book reading! Ngepi is a mecca for
overseas travellers so it’s no surprise we met three very nice couples that
we’d like to see when in Europe.
Each day we were watching the floodwaters spilling around the
back at the entrance - so was monitoring the option of when to move the car
out. On Saturday we and another couple
from Holland drove our cars over the rising floodways past the village causing Mark grief, drove to
the main road and over to the other side of the river. We parked the two 4WD’s in the Caprivi Strip
on the site of the old army camp, now a game park with buffalo, elephants and
snakes to name a few. So the walk down
to the river to meet the boat from Ngepi was down with loud clapping and much
noise.
The buffalo……the next morning, Jim and I and Jan-Kees and Marja took our
gear on the boat across the river with Bonnie from Ngepi. As we pulled up to yesterday’s spot on the
bank a huge African Buffalo stood there eye balling us…frightening was the word!! So we quickly backed the boat back over the
reeds and headed downriver to another patch.
Marje and I decided to stay on the boat and let the guys race up the
track to the cars. Jim says Bonnie’s eyes
were as wide as saucers as he watchfully trekked up the track with them….we
brave lassies on the boat were really pleased to hear the cars turn up and
Bonnie sure looked happier when he jumped back on the boat. Just another reminder to be cautious in Africa……Up
on the main road, we said goodbye to the Dutch couple, agreeing that Africa is
a big adventure and that we’d meet for a wine somewhere in Holland. They headed to Botswana and we set off for
Livingstone and Vic Falls.
