We travel, you work

15:53

Day 43 to 44: Orange river/ Western cape

15:39

Day 40 to 41: Sesriem and Keetmanshoop

Amis Fracais, utiliser Google translation oú installer le navigateur Google chrome pour la traduction.

We are today leaving Swakopmund and have a all day drive to Sesriem. Nearly 500km on the desert. The morning is quiet ok as we still have the breeze from the Atlantic ocean. But soon we understand that we are making our way into land, and leave the sea side. We are going from 20-24 degrees to 45-50 degrees! We are crossing today the "Tropic of Capricorn". We will arrive at our campsite around 4 pm. Lucky for us: there is a swimming pool! Wouhou! Only problem...: the water is so green that you cannot see the bottom! I promise you that, when desperate, you jump on any water colour! The whole group went, unless... me of course! I preferred a cold shower!!
At 5 pm we went to see a small canyon and had diner with the sunset. We will rest well tonight as next day wake up call is 4am for the best morning of our trip!
It's 4h40 am. We are waiting at the gate of Namib-Naukluft National Park. We are so excited as we are entering on the oldest desert in the world and the highest sand dunes on earth. There is 65 dunes (dunes on this desert do not move) and we are climbing dune 45, bare feet for some, in socks for others, and with walking shoes for the ones that want to suffer (!!), for viewing the sunrise. Some will reach the first plateau, like Cyril (!), others will go up to the top, like me (!).
I have to say that at 5h30am, with not even a cup of coffee first, climbing a dune composed of sand, and thinking that if you don't hurry up you may miss the sunrise, is pretty challenging; I never felt my heart pumping so much! But when you arrive there and the sun start rising... Oh MY GOD! Tears come to your eyes! It's just magnificent... Then, some went back done carefully to get breakfast (like Cyril!!!), and some decided to run done the side dune (like me!!). You can only do that when you experienced previously sand boarding! After that you can do anything on dunes!

After full breakfast we jumped on a 4x4 direction Sossusvlei to meet Franz, an incredible local with a passion for the desert and what live in it. It was by far the best guide we ever had. We had the challenge to keep up with him on the desert. It's 9h30, we are, some of us bare feet, as we are exited to follow our guide dressing code, and speed! But then, after 10 minutes walk, he explained us that the sand is composed of iron and that at 10am the sand is around a nice and comfortable 20 degrees, and that around 12, when 50 degrees on the air, the sand will be around 80 degrees. My face went green! And the guide started to laugh like mad! What we didn't know, it's that he was going to explain us how and where to walk to keep cool! He taught us so many things that it would be very difficult to write them down. But we can now find our way on the desert (no stars, and no compass involve of course, as the sand is composed of iron; compass go crazy!), recognise animals, or insect print, find them; we know how to eat, drink, sleep (without sleeping bag) as well.

We taught at this moment very much at our dear Oncle Pierre, and how proud he would be!! We finalised the walk on one of the most incredible landscape ever seen. We were waiting for this moment with Cyril so badly. This was what Namibia mint for both of us before coming to Africa: "the dead Sossusvlei", with trees over 900 years old. It look like the end of the earth.

16:36

Day 37 to 39: Swakopmund

16:31

Day 36: Spitzkoppe

14:51

Day 34 to 35: Etosha National Park

Few hours to drive and we arrive at Etosha National Park. As in Serengeti and Chobe, we are hoping for a good game drive and the chance to see as much fauna as possible. We will be sleeping in 2 different camp site, which are enclosed...Wouhou!!! No hyenas tonight!!!!
One of them including one of the most amazing man made waterhole which give plenty to see at night time... Well unless for Cyril, who decided to fell asleep on the bench! He just missed few stuff, like a fight between 3 rhinos; giraffes, zebras and elephants coming to drink. It is so incredible to see the difference of organisation between each species! Zebras are the most disorganised, and scared animals. Anytime a bird would land near by one of them, it would be a panic moment where all zebras would start running out of the water, and then realising that it was just a bird, they would carefully go back to drink pushing each other even though they had all the space for themselves! Giraffes are very tactical. On a group of 8, one would come first to check out the sight, you could only distinguish a couple more at distance. If the area was clear a couple more would make their way to the waterhole, one standing and watching the right area, and the other the left. The one on the background would start showing themselves but still covering the back by checking out the area while eating. Only now the first one would start drinking, thanks to a very good stretching technics! Their legs would position themselves like a gymnast who would want to stretch their back legs! Sorry I think I will need to send a picture ( my explanations are pretty crap!). Then, when drench it thirst, it would stand back, check out the area and let another giraffe drink. Like that all giraffes would drink one by one, maximum by two, while the others would keep on safety. Elephants is quiet straight forward: no one want to mess up with them! They go, drink around 70 to 100 litter a day!
Well I think we had one of the must lucky game drive ever! We managed to spot 25 lions in one day, including babies! Incredible!!

And of course many more animals, like black rhino, black faced antelopes, dik dik... We went to the Pan where perspective do not exist anymore! Endless salty dry lake that occupy 25% of the park. Any animals trying to cross it, will finish dying of thirst.

And at last, but not least, what we can call: "the cherry on the cake", was the most breast caching sunset...
We could not ask for better for our last national park in Africa.

Cette dernière photos c'est pour toi ma Béné...

08:54

Day 31 to 33: meeting San Bushman tribe

12:45

Day 29 and 30: Okavango Delta

Well, today we are on our way back to Botswana, heading for Seronga. It's 10h30am when we finally arrived at our meeting point; after crossing the border, taking a ferry, and having an African massage for 2 hours (name given for bumpy road!)
We are now getting introduce to our Mokoro team, which will guide us and poll through the Okavango delta. That's just magical!

After the laugh of installing ourselves in the mokoro (2 persons per Mokoro, no brutal movement - pulling your head up to see a bird is consider as a 'brutal movement'), we start polling through meandering clear waterways. Our guide and poller is James, an amazing guide that already worked in many national parks, and that cannot stop speaking!!! He tells us many stories about himself and finally about the Delta! We are on direction of Goa Island where we will stay for bush camping away from civilisation. We are on the middle of so much life. This ecosystem is filled with a diversity of flora (reeds and lily pads) and fauna that includes hippo, croco, elephants and many birds species. It's such a peaceful world that get sometimes shattered by the deep grunting of hippos!
When arrived to Goa island, John, the tour leader, give us a walk around the island. A very slow pace tour as he explain us all about trees, plants, animal prints and poo!!! Well he even tried to make us eat elephant poo! We didn't but he actually did, that caused an hysterical group laugh! Well I can tell you that we learned so much that day. As westerners we have so much a-priories.
At night, our Mokoro team (local tribesman) start singing and dancing around the fire. What we didn't know, it's that we had to participate as well... By self-respect, we will not tell you more about this evening!
Next day, back again on mokoro boats in direction of another island for a walking safari. Then we head to Umvuvu camp, where we will spend the 2nd night. Our guides challenges us to poll ourselves their mokoro. It was the best fun ever, and we were very lucky not to finish on the water! We finished the day with a fantastic sunset.