Peeps! Gah! I’ve fallen so woefully behind that part of me just wants to toss the virtual journal and give up. But I’ll soldier on…Especially now that we’re in the UAE with fast wifi and not enough coin to do anything at night except hang at the (mediocre) hotel. Writing is infinitely more appealing than watching Emirati TV. True story.
Where were we? Once again…literally…where were we? Ah yes, Namibia. We’d left the Skeleton Coast and it’s eery, shipwreck-ed-ness behind. Like the urban warriors that we are, we stared the next 10 nights of camping in the face and laughed. And then cried.
After leaving Swakop, our first two nights were spent at Madisa Camp, deep in the far reaches of Where-Are-We-Again, Namibia. It was amazing. Tom was back to normal, Lucy wasn’t yet barfy, we were all well rested, and Greg-the-Toyota’s fridge was stocked with ice and beer and fresh food. Bring it, camping Gods!
This is Damaraland, home to the famous desert-adapted elephant. We were all on high alert as we drove over the rutted tracks before reaching camp, but nary an ellie crossed our paths. In fact, very little crossed our paths. A few villages scattered here and there, children running towards the truck hoping for water. It’s harsh country, stark in its beauty.
Unforgettable Madisa Camp is set among gorgeous kopjes (pronounced ‘koppies’ – outcroppings of unusual rocks) with a hand carved pool and small bar advertising drinks “when available”. There’s no electricity except for 2 hours in the morning and two hours at night, powered by generator.
We arrived, set up and settled in. The boys devised some game involving the kopjes, a ball and an elaborate point system, Mike and I took advantage of our still-cold beer and Lucy tried to nap. The light, once again, was surreal – ochre sand and sandstone kopjes setting everything alight.
Our campsite was also pretty cool – we had tons of space and our ablutions were raised and open. Thrilling for all of us to shower under the stars and brush our teeth while the agamas and other lizards scurried around. We had a little scops owl visit us each night, goats wandering around, and more stars than I could ever have imagined.
Once again, solid gold Africa magic.
We slept fairly well, despite the heat. When we awoke, however, poor Lucy was still feverish and couldn’t handle any food. So we decided, as good parents do, to drag her to Twyfelfontein to look at Bushman engravings. In 37 degree heat. Sorry, Luce. Such a super trooper.
The Twylfeltontein engravings are Namibia’s first UNESCO Heritage Site – one of the largest concentrations of rock petroglyphs in Africa. But the tour consisted of a fairly lengthy trek through the sandstone rocks in the unbearable heat and Lucy flatly refused to carry on after the first 20 minutes. She and her not-so-secretly-relieved mother turned back while the boys continued.
We got back to Madisa Camp and chatted a bit with the German manager, Jacob. We’d signed up for a camp dinner that night so I was off duty. We cooled off in the pool (which was in full algae bloom…my Dad would faint) while watching Jacob prepare the grill and the potjies.
And what’s a potjie, you ask? They’re the iconic three-legged cast iron cooking pots that are seen all over southern Africa and are used to cook stews and soups. When it came time to eat, it was hard to believe that Jacob had rustled up such an amazing meal of ribs, salads, beans, stew, rice and dessert with such a simple kitchen. Dee-lish.
After two nights at Madisa Camp, we said auf wiedersehen to Jacob and headed even further north, close to the eastern boundaries of Etosha National Park. By this point, little Lucy’s bug had developed into an outright stomach flu and we spent a lot of our time trying to convince her to eat or drink, only to have her throw up almost immediately. Not fun. Oh, and throw in a flat tire and, well, you can imagine…
But our super trooper soldiered on and our next night’s stop was a stay at the Otjitotongwe Cheetah Farm near Kamanjab. It’s a non-profit organization aimed at conserving cheetahs in a natural environment. The 7,000 hectare farm has both tame and wild cheetahs, many bought from farmers to prevent them from being killed. It was a really unique way to spend some time learning about these amazing cats. I also learned that my cat allergy is proportionate to the size of the cat. Big cats = big allergies.
The OCF has three ‘tame’ cheetahs, all of whom were rescued as tiny kittens and hand raised. They couldn’t be successfully released once grown and had become accustomed to their human caregivers. It was amazing to see them, touch them and watch them lope around their humans while hanging with the farm’s dogs. Mike was in heaven. Lucy preferred the dogs. And I was trying to figure out how to steal Benadryl from the Belgian girls’ knapsack next to us.
After spending some time with the ‘tame’ cheetahs, we all climbed into the back of a pick- up and drove off, hoping to spot the wild cats. We didn’t have to go far. They are so incredibly nimble, graceful and…well…spookily quick. We were lucky to spot some kittens with their momma and got some great shots.
After a night at the OCF campsite (very, very basic and very, very hot), we were on the road again. Lucy rallied a bit in the night and when we woke, her fever was down and she had a bit of breakfast. And kept it down. Victory!
We clambered back into Greg and headed north to Etosha National Park – one of my all-time bucket list locations and one of the greatest game reserves on the planet. Now, if only we could keep everyone healthy and/or recovering. Fingers crossed.