drunken safari

we went on our first african road trip this weekend, up to the omaruru game lodge. brenda and i had been hunting around for places to check out that are relatively close by, and this place was recommended to us by the lady who runs our favourite cafe. the lodge is located about 2.5 hours drive north east of swakopmund.

it was good to be back on the road again! the landscape became greener as we headed inland, although its still very dry by non-namibian standards. we spotted a couple of wild ostrich and springbok along the way which whetted our appetites for the promise of more to come.

you don’t see signs like this very often!

we had booked online on friday night and headed up there without getting a confirmation or anything. a bit risky, but that’s how we roll. the ladies at reception were very german and none too pleased that we had showed up all willy-nilly. they huffed and puffed a little but eventually gave us the keys to our place. we had asked for a “self-catering bungalow” which is just a small hut with a kitchenette. the hut sits in a cluster of five others, all of which are built around a small swimming pool.

once we were settled in, the three of us went to sit by the pool and hang out. there were three other families already there and it didn’t take long before they invited us over. actually i think the first words they said to us was “would you like something to drink?”. foolishly we accepted and then our weekend away took on an unexpected twist. from those fateful words the group took it upon themselves to make sure we always had a drink in our hands, right up to the time we left the next day. they also were very generous with their food, even though we had to refuse most of it (it was all meat!).

it turns out that one of the guys is the son of the lady who runs the lodge, and we had the good fortune of going on a free game drive with them. brenda and my first drunken safari! it was a really fun drive, and we saw tons of animals. many of the animals have been raised on the lodge grounds and are very comfortable around humans. the elephants came so close you could reach out and touch them!

check out this huge termite mound. our guide told us it was about twenty years old.

our animal sightings continued into the night. the more expensive rooms at the lodge are built around a waterhole, and at dusk they put our grass for the animals to eat. the coolest part of the evening was seeing the rhinos. they are pretty spectacular beasts!

for the rest of the evening we hung out with our new friends and then passed out cold. thanks to nayou we were up early enough the next morning to go see the cheetah and leopards being fed. the guide didn’t have very kind words to say about the cheetah but i thought he was really cute. the leopard was awesome too. i’m glad there was a tall fence between us – his teeth are bad ass! both animals got to feast on some tasty giraffe meat for breakfast. mmm.

after the feedings it was time to pack up, hang out and head on home. we arrived back in swakopmund tired and happy. which is just about the best way to feel on a sunday evening!