Namibia-Days 6 and 7

 I’m sure if you know me it will not come as a shock to you that I’m not what you would call a camper.  Sleeping in a tent, on the ground, outside, where I have get up and put shoes on to walk to a toilet (or bush) in the middle of the night is just not my favorite thing.  So when we originally started planning this trip, and the talk of camping came up, I had to have a hard stern talk with myself.  I had to accept that, while I was going on a trip of a lifetime, I was also going to have to put my Big Girl pants on and deal with the fact that I wouldn’t necessarily be sleeping in areas that have walls and indoor plumbing. 

Even after this talk with myself, I still slightly dreaded the time we would actually camp.  But I figured, hey, this is an adventurous trip, right?  So let’s go for it!

To be fair, our “camping” is not as hardcore as I remember it was when I was a kid.  In fact, a lot of camping these days is waaaay more luxurious than I ever knew.  Our tents are located on top of our Toyota Hilux 4x4.  And the tents actually have a padded mattress so it’s more cushioned.  And, they’re actually pretty spacious!  I mean, it’s no king-size bed, but Matt and I can sleep pretty comfortably without squishing ourselves.

Kwando Camp

So we headed out of Zambia on Friday the 5^th of September and headed into Namibia.  Our first stop was in the Caprivi Strip of the country (located in the panhandle) in an area called Mudumu Park.  Our camp location was called Kwando Camp, named after the Kwando River in the area (I know, original right?).  And this place was quite the fancy campsite!

Shower and Toilets in our Campsite

Our “exclusive” campsite included a campfire setting, a utility sink and counter, and 2 brick shelves in which to put firewood or other outdoor equipment on, and a private shower area and a private toilet area.

Now THIS is my kind of camping!

We arrived around 2pm, which gave us a while to walk around and explore the area.  The setting was absolutely gorgeous; located just off the Kwando River, it was a slow running river with tall marshy grass on either side.  Exactly how I imagined an African river should be. 

Kwando River

We spent the rest of the day lounging, reading, snoozing, etc., and close to sundown we headed to the lobby/bar area where they had a circular porch extending out toward the river.  We took our drinks over to the area and snapped pictures of the gorgeous sunset (I’m telling you, African sunsets are AMAZING) while enjoying the company and cool air.  After a while we made our way back to the campsite, where the boys cooked up some pork chops and veggies and us girls took turns spoiling ourselves in the gloriously HOT shower (they use a wood-fired incinerator, which Ron and Anya call a “donkey” to heat the water.  It definitely did the trick!).  I think it’s safe to say it was the best shower I’ve had since arriving into Africa.

Patio overlooking the Kwando River

The next morning, we woke up bright and early (okay, maybe I wasn’t so bright but you catch my drift) to go out on our first official game drive of the trip.  The Caprivi Strip is in an area where several rivers flow into each other, which means the kind of game you see here isn’t necessarily what you would see elsewhere (ie the kinds of African places you see on the Discovery channel).  We did see quite a few buffalo, some hippos, TONS of various antelope and deer (Impala, Kudu, Oryx, etc), baboons, warthogs, wildebeest, and tons of beautiful birds.  Sadly, no cats were in the viewing, but I suppose we just can’t always have it all.

African Buffalo

After our viewing we made our way back to camp, where Ron, Anya and I slept the afternoon away and Matt downloaded photos and relaxed.  We spent the evening, once again, sitting around the campfire and enjoying the silence.  I mean, you’ve never heard silence like you do in the wild.  It’s almost as if the oxygen has been removed and you’re in a padded room it is so still.  The occasional bird makes its noise, but even that isn’t intrusive.  It is so amazingly peaceful. 

While we were enjoying the sounds of silence and nature, we noticed a rustle in the tree above us.  Anya flashed the light upwards, and we caught sight of a bush baby!!  A bush baby is Africa’s smallest primates, and rarely ever seen as they are nocturnal and very shy.  But with a little luck we caught a glimpse of this cutie patootie, and began attempting to “follow” it with our light as he jumped to and fro trying to get away from us.  After a while we gave up, but then soon thereafter, we felt the tree shake again and sure enough, he was back!  This time, we used our black light so it wouldn’t scare this guy so much, and that did the trick!  It turned out there were two bush babies in the tree!  And in spite of how skittish he/they seemed earlier, they seemed to be as curious about us as we were about them.  The would scamper up the tree, then come back down a bit to look at us.  And they were so tiny.  You could easily fit one in the palm of your hand.

African Warthog

Looking at the bush babies that night was some of the best “nature’s television” I’d seen in a long time.  The only thing that could interrupt my interest in watching these little guys was the call for Africa’s Greatest Shower.  Since we were leaving the next morning, I knew I had to get one last awesome shower in since we had no idea what lay in store for us at the next place. 

But admittedly, shower notwithstanding, Kwando Camp was an awesome campsite; situated so beautifully off the river and with such clean and well-kept accommodations, not to mention the peace and tranquility of our surroundings, we were definitely satisfied with our first stop in Namibia.  It made the transition of my first camping experience in 20 some-odd years very easy.