Graptolite - Safari Day 4

Graptolite's Sailing Log
Martyn Pickup & Heike Richter
Mon 5 Apr 2010 18:36
Graptolite is at 36:49.20N 028:18.56E in Turkey and the skipper is in Namibia

Easter Sunday 4th April

At Halali Camp we roughed-it in our own chalet with a hot-tub on the
patio. At first light we were off bouncing along tracks in the park. Not
much wildlife though, just the occasional giraffe or kudu in the bush. We
spent most of the morning on an elephant hunt, following broken trees,
elephant tracks and fresh poo the size of footballs but no elephant came
in sight. We lunched on smoked biltong and South African wine.

Near the edge of the Etosha Pan we were checking out a waterhole and got
the 4WD bogged down up to the axles in what John Mills would have called
“mouldy rice pudding”. After an hour or two a German couple turned up
with a tow-rope but a muddy Heike had already been set to work packing
rocks and blankets under the wheels and we managed to escape unaided.
The wildlife got more plentiful after that with more herds of wildebeest,
giraffe, zebra and gemsbok. Our next overnight camp was at the old German
fort of Namutoni on the eastern side of the park. As nobody is allowed out
of these camps by themselves during the hours of darkness we booked a
night safari with a guide. The night air was cool with only a distant
flash and rumble of lightning. Above the stars were bright as we drove
along in a safari truck with a red searchlight looking for eyes looking
back at us. We mostly saw the same stuff as during the day but also some
spotted hyena mooching along in the dark.

After breakfast in the fort we left the park at the Von Lindquist Gate and
headed northeast to Rundu on the Okavango River at the Angolan border. As
it was Easter Monday, most of Namibia was closed and we missed out on
treats along the way such as the world`s largest meteorite.

M