Safari Sisters

Safari sisters take two - week 4

mekikepilala — Mon, 22 Oct 2018 21:58:00 GMT

Safari sisters 2 - week 4

So after surviving the sandstorm (barely) we made our way to find some solace at a resort on the shores of Lake Malawi at Kandee Bay. Not able to stay in our tents - as Lala no longer had one - we splurged on a beach Banda for the three of us. Lovely spot and the water looked amazing although none of us were game to dip even our toes in the water due to fear of the infamous Biharzia worms - microscopic worms that are in the water and burrow under your skin and make you very ill! Although seeing most of the shower water in Malawi is pumped from the lake we all probably have it anyway. The menu at the place was quite extensive and we lashed out and shared some pizzas....although Lala’s didn’t stay down for very long and she spent the night throwing up! The next day we ventured out for some shopping at the local markets, bartering our way through some choice purchases. We even commissioned a self designed Safari Sisters T-shirt each from Donald the local T-shirt man (who is also studying to be an accountant). Meki and Kepi enjoyed another fine night of dinner in the restaurant while Lala resigned herself to two minute noodles which she brought along from Oz just in case. After a good nights sleep we attempted to pay our bill via EFTPOS...which, after a walk along the beach to apparently get better reception, we were informed it wasn’t working, probably as the power was out! We then picked up Donald from the front gate, made our way to his place and picked up our designer T-shirts - which actually weren’t that bad, ignoring the spelling mistakes! After driving to the nearest big town to pay our bill at the local bank and to pick up some Biharzia medication from the chemist just in case - we headed started to make our way back towards Tanzania! Drove as far as we could and stayed at a hotel near the border in the same town as last time when we crossed over. Couldn’t get I. To the same place as last time, from what we could tell they couldn’t be bothered cleaning the rooms for us, so checked in to another place down the road which turned out to be the local sports bar as well. After another lost in translation meal of dried goat scraps and crucified fish , we tried to get some sleep, which was basically impossible with all the noise from the bar. Next morning it was off to do our border crossing back in to Tanzania, which was much easier this time round and only took about 45mins and back to Kisalanza lodge for a night of luxury at ‘The Stables’ before heading back in to Iringa to pick up a replacement tent for Lala and then making the trek to Ruhua National Park for some more animal sittings and fingers crossed a leopard!

So after arriving at the park and sorting out our entrance fees we arrived at our campsite happy to find we had it all to ourselves. After setting up and starting a fire we enjoyed a couple of cold beverages while watching elephants graze in the creek in front of our tents! After cooking ourselves some dinner and a few more drinks we headed to bed early ready for an early morning game drive tomorrow.

We awoke bright and early and headed out in search of animals in particular our elusive leopard! After getting up close and personal with a number of animals including elephants, buffalo, hippo, kudu, impala, zebra and giraffe we were just about to call it quits and head back to the camp for lunch when we ran in to another safari truck who told us about a leopard sitting and asked if we wanted to follow him. Of course we accepted and sped off after him. After quite a drive, we arrived to see a impala hanging from the branches of a tree. We followed the vehicle a small way off the road and came across a beautiful leopard sitting at the base of the tree recovering from its kill. What an amazingly beautiful creature it was. We sat and watched her for a while and then attempted to follow the other vehicle to get a little closer...not the best plan as our car wasn’t quite as big as there’s and we ended up bottoming out in a river bed and nearly rolling the car on top of the leopard. Luckily none of us fell out although Lala did lose her hat out the window! After a pretty hairy 5 mins when we thought we were stuck indefinitely we managed to get ourselves out although the leopard had walked of in disgust at this point. Lala did seriously consider for jumping out of the car to retrieve her hat but common sense prevailed and she let it go. With adrenaline levels still high we returned to camp for some lunch and to calm down before heading back out later in the afternoon. When arriving back at camp there was the cutest giraffe hanging out right beside our toilet block which was pretty amazing. He kept looking at us like ‘what are you doing at my campsite’....was pretty special. The afternoon game drive was good but couldn’t quite live up to the mornings excitement with the leopard. We did come across a hyena on the drive in to our campsite which was pretty cool though! After another very nice camp dinner we were joined at our camp fire by a family who were doing a self drive holiday through Africa with their two kids. I think the Dad - who was from Australia but lived in Zambia now - was a bit starved for conversation as he hung out this us till midnight when we eventually had to tell him to leave as we needed to go to bed.

We awoke the next day reading to head out on what would likely be our last game drive for this trip only to discover our trusty vehicle ‘Wilma’ had a flat battery. After calling the hire company and a local guy from the National Park turning up to jump start us, we were on our way. The highlight of this drive had to be the lion pride with baby cubs that we came across - after again getting some assistance from one of the other professional game drivers. The spot was conveniently marked by some toilet paper hanging from a tree. It was an incredible way to finish our stay in the park and we felt so privileged to get so close to these amazing animals. Really wanted to take one of the babies home with us they were just so cute! That brings us to the end of week 4 with two more weeks to go on the big adventure!

Safari sisters 2 - week 1

mekikepilala — Fri, 19 Oct 2018 17:22:00 GMT

Safari sisters take two, one week in! Meki (Margaret), Kepi (Deborah) and Lala (Leigh) survived our 36hr journey relatively in tact. Met at the airport and transferred to our luxurious apartment at the Pili Pili hotel in Kigali, Rwanda. Rounded out the evening with a side of beef and a bucket of fish washed down with a few bottles of wine. Miraculously our driver and vehicle appeared and after a tour of shanty town and a local lunch with a girl called Kevin we headed off to Musuanze and some less luxurious accomodation with some serious bathroom issues! It was a historic hotel (apparently Diane Fossey stayed there), the food was also historic, none of which our tummies seemed to appreciate! On the upside the next day was gorilla day. Early start and a bit of a trek with Francois and Francis (the two Franks) but once we saw them it was indescribable. So amazing, so close, Lala even got bowled over by one! After the gorillas couldn’t stomach any more hotel food so went out for dinner with our driver Maurice for something a bit more civilised. Next day back to Kigali...Kepi and Lala went on a motor ride...hilarious...everything was last in translation including our destination plus Lala’s bike ran out of petrol...coasted down the hill to fill up. Another awesome dinner at Pili Pili although nearly got fleeced by a bar man trying to take advantage of Lala’s credit card....lucky for us Jean Pierre picked it up and sacked the guy! Another early morning heading to the airport where we had multiple cavity searches and got felt up several times...much easier to arrive in Rwanda then to leave. Plane on dodgy Rwanda air stayed in the air and we arrived safely in Arusha Tanzania!

Safari sisters 2 - week 3

mekikepilala — Fri, 19 Oct 2018 17:02:00 GMT

Safari sisters - week 3

So now begins the mad dash across Tanzania and to the bottom of Malawi in time to attend the Lake of Stars music festival - the biggest music festival in Africa and one of the top ten in the world apparently. Although the headline act is Major Laser which is not what we were expecting nor the main attraction for any of us. We are more excited about experiencing some traditional Africa music, dancing and colour. So after packing up our lovely campsite in Lake Eyasi we headed off to drive as far as we can towards Malawi. As always we were over ambitious as to how far we could get in so many hours and after falling well short of our target landed in the very heavily Muslim influences town of Kondoa. After checking out the only two hotel options available we decided to stay at Abasa’s place (not the name of the hotel, the owners name) who quickly made our acquaintance, sussed our which of us was his potential new wife and also recommended Kondoa’s finest restaurant (which we later found out he also managed). So after getting all cleaned up and even slightly dressed up - for our standards - we made the short walk to the restaurant where we were greeted not so warmly by the staff who informed us we had two choices for dinner, chicken and chips or beef stew - we ordered one of each! Feeling very hungry after a day of driving and nothing but car nuts and chips we eagerly awaited the arrival of our food. Disappointed is an understatement! What arrived at the table was a leg of chips charcoaled to absolute death and offal (awful) stew. Meki managed to force down a little bit of dry chicken, having to have a mouthful of water between each piece and a few cold chips, Kepi devoured the offal stew, much to Meki and Lala’s relief, and Lala decide that a homemade cheese sandwich from the fridge back in the car was the only safe option for her. What was interesting though was that the locals at the restaurant seemed to be given a completely different menu selection to us...one that looked much more appealing but clearly not for Muzungu’s! After making the disappointed stroll back to the hotel and Lala having an equally disappointed stale cheese and vegimite sandwich, we headed to bed. The next day was another long drive to Kisilanza farm were Kepi and Lala shared a room in the stables and Meki got the princess suite all to herself. Dinner tonight made up for the previous night with a magnificent steak and vegetable dinner, enjoyed with some wine. We were then joined by another guest ‘RJ’ who lives in Dar Es Salaam now but is originally from the states. Conversation was good until he started recommending a private game park we should go to where you can hunt wild animals...there was no coming back from that no matter how much he tried to convince us that they use 98% of the kill and they only kill the older animals who would die anyway! After a good nights sleep we headed off again hoping to make it to the border crossing into Malawi. After a very long drive we made it to our border crossing on dusk hoping for a quick processing and then getting to some hotel before dark. Once again we were over ambitious and the border crossing took 2 and a half hours which invoked lots of different lines and a multitude of stamping of many many forms and documents! By this time it was pitch black and we had no idea of where we were going! Excited by the challenge we headed off in search of Karonga, which was the only town we knew that was possibly habitable and possible had accommodation. After an exciting (nerve racking) drive which included multiple obstacles including trucks, bikes, people - one particular very very drunk gentleman - goats, cows, dogs and every single vehicle flashing their high beam at us, we made it to Karonga and finally found a place to stay at about 8.45pm. After a dinner of dry crackers and cheese, we headed to bed hoping for a more scenic drive and place to stay along the coast of Malawi. While the drive was not as scenic as expected, with the costal road ‘broke’ (according to the locals) we decided to make a stop at Nkahata bay. The accommodation was basic but the food was good and the coastal scene was lovely, although Lala’s orange juice that included cells didn’t sit too well! Another day and another long drive this time to our pre arranged accommodation at Monkey bay. It is becoming a theme but once again what was meant to be a 5hr drive turned in to a 9 hr drive for us but after second guessing ourselves on where our accomodation was...seeing we were driving through a naval base, we arrived at beautiful Monkey bay to be greeted by our South African hosts - Frankie and Lukey - and regular drunk Jimbo! It was an awesome place to stay and we had a bit of a party night with good food, music and a number of drinks. The next day we discovered they had a washing machine so with much excitement we packed up all our very dirty washing and sent it off for a good clean. After chillin at the resort in the morning we decided to head out in the afternoon to check out the neighbouring resort which was meant to be owned and run by an Australian. After much searching it appeared the Australian was a myth and the resort was no where near as nice as ours. After returning to our place we saiid our goodbyes to Frankie and Lukey who were also headed off to the music festival but one day ahead of us. Tonight’s experience was much more chilled without Frankie and Lukey there to entertain us so we had an early low key night pumped for the music festival tomorrow. After a bit of a drive and our usual occurrence of getting lost we arrived at Leopard bay where the music festival was well and truly underway. Most of the crowd were well and truly into party mode and we had a lot of catching up to do! The campsite was a bit of a mess and the wind was out of control. Lala’s tent broke apart as we were putting it up and we had little faith that the other two would withstand the night either. Putting that aside we headed out to enjoy the music. Most of it was more modern techno music but we did find the traditional African stage and settled in for the afternoon and evening. The music, dancing, colour and celebration was fantastic! We also proved very popular with the locals, all receiving many offers of various levels of commitment from the local men. It also appears age is not important to most Africans! In varying degrees of intoxication, one by one we made our way back to our campsite where we were hit with the most awful sand storm. The wind must have been 50-60 klms, it was excruciating! We had sand in places sand should never be. No sleep was had by anyone and we were all feeling a bit worse for wear in the morning. So that brings us to the end of week three...half way through our adventure...week four (and hopefully some pictures coming soon).

Safari sisters 2 - week 2

mekikepilala — Thu, 11 Oct 2018 03:50:00 GMT

Safari sisters part 2 - week 2

So the blog was a good idea in theory but not so practical in reality, with patchy internet access and incredibly limited and unrealisable wifi, it has proven challenging to provide regular updates. At this stage I am guessing that everyone has lost interest or given up - which is understandable. Just in case anyone is still vaguely interested, here is our week two update. After a fantastic week in Rwanda, we boarded our Rwandan Air flight to Tanzania. Turns out Rwandan Air wasn’t as dodgy as we expected and we landed safely at Kilimanjaro airport and after getting photographed and fingerprinted, made it through customs where we caught a taxi in to Arusha.

After checking in to our hotel we ventured out to try and secure a Tanzanian SIM card for our devices. After 3 frustrating hours we left the phone store with only Lala’s phone working, Meki’s and Kepi’s were not....

The following morning we picked up our transport for the next 5 weeks, a Toyota landcruiser who we affectionately named ‘Wilma’. After stocking up on some supplies (mainly alcohol) and handing over a massive wod of cash - 10000 Tanzanian dollars is about 6 bucks - we headed out to our first camp spot at Zion camp in Tarangire National Park where we were greeted by Hilari the acting camp manager. Animal sightings in the park were prevalent including elephant, giraffe, warthog, zebra, klipspringer, ostrich, jackal, kudu, mongoose, turtle, vulture, wilder beast, impala, secretary bird, guinea fowl, bustard....and best of all two female lions, one even climbed a tree just for Meki. After two days in the park we headed on to Lake Manyara. Our accommodation at African Sunrise lodge and campsite had spectacular views overlooking the Rift Valley and we were waited on hand and foot by Melouw, our Masai friend! Game drive in the park included sightings of black giraffes as well as hundreds of baboons, one of which snuck in through the roof of our car and stole our bananas!

Melouw also escorted us to a local Masai village where unfortunately for us they insisted in dressing us up in traditional Masai attire while we watched them perform local dances, tried their home made brew made from honey and aloe Vera roots (not too bad actually) and then suffered the painful ritual of them trying to sell us trinkets and other assorted items. After de-robing and escaping the village, we attempted to go fishing but were unfortunately accosted by the local wildlife management authority who pointed out we needed a license to fish and also that water buffaloes have taken a likely to tourist meat so probably not the best idea to go out on the water.

After giving Melouw a lift in to the nearest town - Mtu Wa Mbu - and saying our goodbyes, we finally broke the shopping seal and all made some purchases at the local Masai markets.

Our next stop was the much anticipated Ngorogoro cater! Once we got to the top of the crater rim we were not disappointed with the most breathtaking views and scenery ever. Our campsite was on the crater rim where we had zebra grazing all around us. If it wasn’t for the very noisy, annoying and messy other tourists it would have perfect. The drive in to the cater the next morning was also spectacular including being greeted by two female lions on entrance. The animal population was amazing with an abundance of various boks, zebra, wilder beast and elephants. We also saw hippo and buffalo and then another lion pride to finish of the day!

After packing up our campsite the following morning we started making our way to Lake Eyasi. Our demented Nav Man who we have named Annabelle had a different idea though and took us through a obstacle course of hills and barely existent roads where we eventually ended up in someone’s coffee plantation, much to the amusement of the local village people. After retracing our steps and flagging down a local tour guide we were back on the right track and arrived at our destination. As required by the local management group, we were assigned a guide named Georgio who we quickly nicknamed Simba. The main purpose of our visit to Lake Eyasi was to meet the local Hadza or Hadzabe village. Simba met us bright and early the next morning to accompany us on the visit which turned out to be awesome and hilarious at the same time. When we turned up the young males of the tribe were sitting around a small fire and we were invited to join them. At first we thought they were smoking cigarettes but it turned out the were consuming copious amounts of gunja and were high as kits....although we gave them a few of our cigarettes there was no exchange back! After some time and many more joints by the boys we set off on a hunt with three of the young males. The main food source on the menu seemed to be these tiny little birds, probably finch size. We weren’t sure how the five small birds the boys caught were going to feed a village of about 40 people though....there was much excitement however when they came across a civet cat which the did manage to finally shoot after some help from Simba. They then returned triumphantly to the village where they promptly skinned the cat, the shooter adorned is head with its tail skin and the old men cooked and ate the cats gizzards. This time we were quite glad that they didn’t offer to share any with us! After meeting the chief and joining in on some celebratory dancing, Simba escorted us back to our campsite where we had a relaxing afternoon catching up on some washing and general reorganisation. That brings us to the end of week 2 so will sign off for now and attempt to get week 3 posted in the next little while.

Photos: Safari Sisters take 2

mekikepilala — Sat, 29 Sep 2018 18:56:00 GMT

Random shots

Here we go again....

mekikepilala — Fri, 7 Sep 2018 11:50:00 GMT

Well it is all about to happen again - Rwanda, Tanzania and Malawi this time. THe Safari Sisters are together again on another adventure full of gorillas, tree lions, pink flamingoes and a wild african music festival... see you onthe other side.

Sorry all, have been having trouble accessing our blog but after some delays here is our first week’s update..

Photos: Kodiak Bear

mekikepilala — Mon, 25 Dec 2017 20:19:00 GMT

Barrow

mekikepilala — Sun, 24 Dec 2017 15:10:00 GMT

Leave hotel and grab a taxi to airport (shuttle wrongly booked) hotel has cost us extra $50 in taxi fares... Full flight to Utqiagvik ( vik =place) 90% get off at Deadhorse/ Prudhoe Bay oil fields massive area full of rigs processing plants and accommodation...looks beautiful from the air in the dark...lights everywhere on the tundra....snow abounds.

Arrive Utqiagvik and there has been overnight snow and we're a bit excited. Inupiat Louis picks us up and we have a quick meal at hotel (midday) reindeer sausage & eggs Meki has French toast that is ridiculously ginormous!!

Tour around the area which is really interesting a true remote community ....inupiat are a tough bunch for sure .....snow is deep in some places up to my knees and in some places up to waist ( I don't test it!!) good photo opportunities, tour about 3 hours and we finish with some muktuk which is whale blubber with the skin attached... it has been boiled upon slaughter and is kept frozen until needed... kind of tasted like raw sea scallops very nice and oily. A staple of the Inuits ...Kepi quite liked it and Meki had a piece and kept it down!!!

No polar bears to see they are out on the point with the whale carcasses and the road is closed cut by storm erosion. Been a good day ...most northern city in USA has such a lot of services for the locals gyms, stores, schools, techs and super modern hospital...

interesting housing... some US army barracks converted to housing.

VERY cold ....temps -13 but actual -18 due to wind etc

Awake to snow .... the days are short. Sunrise is at 1013am and sets at 1808

8 hours of dim pale sun ...rises and sets in a small arc on horizon. We are very far north .....in fact most northerly town in USA. 71.2906 N so we are not many degrees from the pole.

We have a good sleep this morning iour days have been usually 4am to 5 am get up and keep going til about 11pm so this is a welcome treat.

Been about 3' snow overnight and it's like a blizzard outdoors ...so many layers 4 pairs pants and 5 layers on torso all merino or duck down. Visit the local inupiat museum and get some freebies. Hang around til 5pm wandering through the snow fall to the coffee hut ...-13 ❄️

Flight back Anchorage and our bags are totally searched by TSA. Back to the Aviator crap bed but it's somewhere to sleep.

Kodiak

mekikepilala — Sun, 24 Dec 2017 14:56:00 GMT

Still dark at 0800 . Grab our breakfast and head off to the Russian Orthodox Church for morning Liturgy at the Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church dedicated to Saint Herman who lies instate ...traditional Russian Onion dome church ...been on this ground since1795 ... beautiful singing /chanting of all prayers and sermons nothing is spoken ( except the children's scriptures). All a bit wasted on us but the people were lovely and it is a gorgeous old church.

Bright sunlight shining through the cathedral windows (Meki blinded by the light and Kepi received a blessing from Father Innocent)...

Wandered the waterfront and docks and got lucky spotting a huge stellar sea lion cruise past ....and a met a few drunk Inuit cooking their food courtesy of the power pole (has a socket!!) sure one of them wanted Mekis fur trappers hat.

Late afternoon head to the Kodiak brewery for a Sarah Palin Pale Ale ... Brewery will "can" any beer you like into a quart can roughly a litre. Had a run out to Walmart and Safeway !! Incredibly cheap shopping !! We are Walmart converts.

Back at hacienda now for a margarita or two and Chinese takeaway. Monday Q our driver picks us up and we head off in his 4WD to Pillars Creek a good deep hole by a culvert there are huge silver salmon in here about 60-70 cm they haven't been able to get up the culvert to spawn and are trapped here. Have a fish with Q and haul in a couple of beauties.

Drive a bit further to pillars creek beach a few seals around ...then to manuscha river another great hole of fighting salmon and reel in another one ...we kiss them all goodbye and return them to the water and drive back into town to check out Buskins river and just miss seeing momma bear and baby bear they scarper off from the bear hunting photographers. Meki meets here hero photographer Frank (from facebook fame) who turns out to be an arse wipe...

We pick up our car and try searching for bears. No luck so drive to near island where the sea lions have their own dock ...fisheries have a good little display of marine life and touchtank.

Tuesday sees us with an early morning start and driving all around Buskin river bear hunting ....meet up with Winona who is local amateur photographer and we end up with about hour of greatbear viewing ...a juvenile Kodiak about 3-5 years old he is so close at times , he can smell us .... We have good drive around the island down towards Fossil Beach , see quite a bit of the island . No northern lights we have rain most of the day.

Wednesday we leave Kodiak ...great 4 days ....scenery here has been spectacular from the fishing harbour to secret bays to deep clear running creeks ...people so friendly a real hunters paradise .... whether hunting fish bear deer or photos .arrive Anchorage head to the Aviator hotel where Mekis charm has nil effect in fact quite the reverse.

Wander around town some interesting shops with Inuit jewellery and artifacts. Head to 49th state brewery for dinner of yak-a-dilla and reindeer meatballs. Join a couple of boys drinking whiskey with pickle juice shooters which Kepi tries...not bad not good bit of a waste of good Irish whiskey I reckon ....supposedly no hangover follows.

Anchorage to Kodiak

mekikepilala — Sun, 24 Dec 2017 14:47:00 GMT

Dark morning with the sun coming up at around 0800. Shops don't open until 10 or 11 am some stay open til 11pm. We pack up and leave our accomodation and head to the airport on our free shuttle totally TAT. As we check in we are greeted to the sound of a big brass band and an array of Alaskans, veterans, a biker guard, families and little old us !! It's a welcome home for the "Honour Flight " about 30 vets WW2 , Korea and Vietnam , who have been honoured and flown VIP to visit Washington DC memorials....pretty impressive with USA flags handed out, veterans piped in by the local Celtic band ...very patriotic.

Aboard our flight plenty of hunters and fisherman ....loads of inupiat people too.

Great bunch of Americans who give us a few clues and a few laughs.

Amazing view of Alaskan ranges and the WHITEOUT. until we land on Kodiak Island what an amazingly beautiful island ...Q our driver is really friendly (gamon is thank you) he's a Vietnamese refugee with an interesting story.

Have a wander around - it's such an interesting town , tiny but full of character and characters !!! Cannery's, smokeries and bars along the water front all requiring our attention.

Everyone is soooo friendly. Meki buys a trappers hat HAHA which later proves to be a lifesaver at minus 26C.

Tried a Sara Palin pae ale & cider @ Henry's bar and a good feed of smoked salmon and halibut ...trek back. Lined up a fishing trip with our driver Q for Monday.

Photos: Hawaii

mekikepilala — Sun, 15 Oct 2017 18:22:00 GMT

Salmon sisters in Hawaii

mekikepilala — Sun, 15 Oct 2017 16:48:00 GMT

After a few celebratory drinks in the Sydney Qantas Club and a tolerable Jetstar flight we arrived in Hawaii. Balmy weather and a bonus early entry to our room were rather pleasant after losing a day and most of a nights sleep. A quick jaunt out to Ala Moana shopping centre cured us of any thoughts of shopping - it is massive. A wander to the beach and an early dinner at PF Changs and a saunter to the beach was the best we could manage.

Feeling a bit more adventurous and refreshed the following day we embarked on the public bus adventure. Five bucks well spent... Diamond Head, downtown Honolulu and Pearl Harbour. Very beautiful scenery but must admit Waikiki had a bit of a 1970's Surfers Paradise feel to it. Very pleasant wandering through of a night though with a lovely breeze and all the torches lighting the streets. We did enjoy a rather awsome pizza and a sunset cocktail at the Royal Hawaiian on the beach.

Ready to head to the colder temperatures in Alaska...

Photos: Salmon Sisters

mekikepilala — Sun, 24 Sep 2017 19:01:00 GMT

Trip map

Here we go again - The Salmon Sisters

mekikepilala — Sun, 24 Sep 2017 18:56:00 GMT

About to head off again (sans Lala this time...sigh). Tight arse tours have planned another of our legendary off the beaten path trips - feel free to follow and laugh at our misadventures.

Photos: Random Animals

mekikepilala — Thu, 24 Nov 2016 08:40:00 GMT

From the desert to the West Coast

mekikepilala — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 01:53:00 GMT

We left our sanctuary behind and headed off to the west coast of Namibia to the town of Swakopmund. The drive across was very scenic particularly watching the landscape change from desert to sandy coast dunes. After a brief drive by of the coast, we checked in to our lovely two bedroom apartment for the next three nights. After a number of days in the desert it was nice to enjoy some luxuries such as a bath, washing machine, full kitchen, fridge, tv, air conditioning, the works. We did also have to drop our car 'Road Runner' in for a service and clean which meant we were stuck with no transport for one day but we caught up on such much needed washing while we waited. Being on the coast we decided we should try the local seafood and drove up the road to Wallis bay. We all ordered a seafood basket with oysters, prawns, fish, muscles and calamari but were a bit surprised when it was served in a frypan covered in melted cheese - not what we were expecting. I think we are pretty spoilt for seafood in Australia and had high standards whiich this did not come anywhere close to. We left a tad disappointed by were sure to drown our sorrows in a few theraputic wines. The following day we went in hunt of some pink famingoes. We did spy some hanging out at the local poo factory (no not a typo) but according to Meki we needed to catch them in a more natural environment. We eventually found them hanging out at the beach however they weren't very pink, in fact the ones at the poo factory were much pinker. After taking a few snaps of them we headed back in to town and on the way passed some people out riding camels across the sand dunes. We thought that looked pretty cool so booked ourselves in for an afternoon ride. When we arrived at the place it became apparent that this was not the same place we had seen and our camel ride involved a ride around the ladies front yard between her house and the highway...not exactly what we had pictured....We made the most of it though and had a good laugh, particularly when she insisted in dressing us all up in Arabian head scarfs. The following day we headed off all a bit cleaner and refreshed but glad to be headed back to the desert and a bit more peace and tranquility.

Crossing the desert

mekikepilala — Thu, 27 Oct 2016 07:54:00 GMT

So after leaving our camp site and being thankful we don't have to use our tents again for a few nights, we set off in our trusty truck...road runner...who makes a 'beep beep' sound everytime you open or lock the doors, we made the drive across Etosha pan. What a dry and desolate place it is...hardly any water, desert sand and hot...apparently hunting killed all the animals out in the early 1900s...but mid to late 1900s they started to bring the animals back in....poor bloody things...they would have been better off wherever they were before here! Lots of wildlfe though...Oryx (or Gemsbok) everywhere, Girrafe, Elephants, Ostrich, Springboks, Wilderbeast....apparently Lions but they were very shy and loads of birds... (we have become twitchers). The poor elephants were dusty grey instead of there normal dark grey colour due to all the dust and sand. It was a great drive until we got to the other side of the National park and tried to get out only to be told by the 'lovely' police woman that we had not paid our park fees and she was sending us back - 'you don't get to see the animals for free, I send you back!'. So after driving back to pay our fees we finally arrived at Okutala sanctuary...it was beautiful with a resturant and pool overlooking the waterhole but a bit more like a zoo...animals are completely safe...the prdators are in a differnt part of the park and segregated, they are fed, watered and very happy...made us feel bad for the poor animals in Etosha pan desert! Meki got to see her beloved cats up close and personal, Kepi and Lala enjoyed the amazing game food including Kudu kebabs and Oryx stroganoff and we all got to relax for a couple of days...

Camping in the wild

mekikepilala — Thu, 27 Oct 2016 04:02:00 GMT

After escaping wolf creek, we headed to our next stop after stopping off in Tsumeb for some much needed data. Also stopped off at the post office to send some postcards. It must have been welfare day as there were people lined up everywhere handing over their ID and then being handed a wad of cash. Lala tried to hand her's over but no luck...After making sure everyone was connected we then drove to Tamboti bush camp to set up. The camp site was great with a kitchen area (sink), seperate toilet and shower, braii and an undercover area. After checking everything out we set up our $12 Kmart tents. They were meant to be one person tents but reality was they sized for a child. Our air mattresses barely fit and Meki and Lala did not fit unless there feet sticking out the end. After contemplating what was likely to be an uncomrtable nights sleep, we headed over to the restaurant for a drink and to check out the view. What a fantastic spot it was, overlooking a waterhole where a myriad of animals made there way down for a drink. We saw Zebra, Girrafe, Springbok and Common Dukka come and go throughout the evening. After a while we faced the inevitable and returned to our camp site, cooked a beautiful dinner on our braii and consumed as much alcohol as we could before braving our tents. Meki also saved a drunk French girl who couldnt find her camp site from being eaten by lions...Lala on the other hand wanted to see how the lions faired. Luckily we survived the night and woke the next morning to face another day, consumed a delicious breakfast, packed up our tents and headed off for our next adventure!

Wolf creek

mekikepilala — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 19:58:00 GMT

After leaving the beautiful Ngepi camp we headed off to Roy's rest camp for an overnight stop on the way through to Etosha. The accommodation was fine...especially for Lala who had her own room and bathroom...food was beautiful, local staff were sweet but it had a very weird vibe about it. The owners and managers were not very friendly to us or to their staff and the decor was a bit creepy. After dinner we were sitting around the fire enjoying a glass of wine when the lights were suddenly turned out on us by the owners who then continued themselves drinking but clearly did not want us to. Margaret then had an 'encounter' with a dead zebra before we headed off to bed. We were all glad to leave the next morning and that we weren't killed in our sleep!

On the banks of the Okavango

mekikepilala — Wed, 19 Oct 2016 22:23:00 GMT

We arrived at Ngepi camp and checked in to our beautiful open treehouse right on the banks of the Okavango! Best accommodation so far, got to sit out on our deck enjoying some sun downers while watching the hippos play and fight and appreciating the magnificent sunset. Went on a tour of the local village with our guide Gilbert who finished the visit by taking us to his family's home where we spied his two young nephews (Simon and Bad (short for the baddest one!)) kicking around a small ball made out of rolled up plastic bags and tape. It was the perfect place to give away one of the soccer balls we had taken with us. The two little fellas were beside themselves with delight, and I think uncle Gilbert was also just as excited, pointing out that he likes soccer too. Finished off our day by setting out on a boat on the river trying to catch the elusive tiger fish....after playing with our bait for an hour we left empty handed. Not that we minded as we got to see some more hippos and see one of the most beautiful sunsets any of us has seen. The pictures (which will come once we have decent wifi and some spare time) do not do it justice! Our last day saw us realising we had been sharing our accommodation with a rat and a bat...luckily we didn't find out until we were we leaving, then heading off on a game drive with our trusty guide Gilbert again, also joined by Godfrey where we saw Buffalo, Hippo, Elephants, Warthogs, Vultures and Maribu stalks eating something vaguely resembling some sort of brown antelope and spotted our firat Sable antelope. Finished our stay off with a lovely breakfast - with real coffee for Margaret - and if course the compulsory stop at the curio shop to pick up more crap we have no room for an don't really need!