Etosha Educational
Since I have been working at NTS, I have been extremely fortunate in participating in many educationals. This is when we get to experience exactly what the guests would experience.
In July 2007, I had my first experience. Robyn (Danie's daughter) and myself had the opportunity to visit Etosha, as we had heard they were upgrading all the Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) camps in Etosha, we wanted to see for ourselves what it is like and if it is worth the increase in price.
We departed Swakopmund very early Friday morning in my little Volkswagen Golf. It felt like the movie Thelma and Louise!
Our first stop was at Erongo Wilderness Lodge, we were given the grand tour, this is a stunning lodge and if you are a keen hiker this is a must. The birds here are great too and don’t forget the baboons. I had just broken my toe the week before and was not too happy at the prospect of all the walking, man those boardwalks never end and nor do the stairs, but it was all worth it, although Robyn needed earplugs to blot out the pain whoops.
We then popped in at the Sand Dragon, a quaint little coffee house in Omaruru, I highly suggest this as a great stop for tea and cake and while you there please check out the bathrooms, the décor is incredible.
We continued on our journey, and our next stop was at Ongava Lodges, well you can just leave me here I say to Robyn I think I am in heaven and that is all I need to say about this Lodge, I will be going back for my 10th wedding anniversary to stay at Little Ongava.
Eventually we made it to Okaukuejo!!! I think the entire journey took us 12 hours with all the stops. We had enough time to unpack and get showered and changed for dinner. As there was still working going on there was tiling still been done and I did not see the fishing line that keeps the tiling in a straight line and tripped and fell head over heals and landed with a thump on my backside in front of all the workmen, who were trying hard not to laugh but when I stood up laughing they all burst out too. As I was walking away they were trying to tell me that I had thorns stuck in my behind and Robyn had to help me pull them out!! On wards to dinner which was a fun affair with too much wine, we staggered off to the waterhole afterwards and were giggling non-stop at the gassy elephants!
The newly established bungalows are beautifully furnished, the beds very comfortable and after the long drive and day it was a welcome relief.
Early the next morning we raced through Etosha doing one continuous game drive, I would not suggest driving in a Golf on those roads to some of the waterholes, to this day my car still rattles. The highlight of the entire trip was seeing a leopard on the side of the road, I had kept on saying I have to see lions and far ahead in the road I had spotted a lion crossing, when we reached the spot where I had seen it crossing I was most upset as we could not see the lion, instead Robyn is nudging me and saying, look at the leopard, sitting posing next to the road. We continued on our journey, spotting many elephant and game, before stopping at Namutoni and visiting some of their rooms, which I now can say validate the increase in price. Onguma was our next stop, and WOW what a great place, except the road to the camp is a bit on the bumpy side. We had the opportunity to visit the newly built treetop which is stunning with its own waterhole, I love the rustic feel and look of this place and then we were taken to the tented camp where once again I want to come back and stay at.
We had an extremely long drive back to Okaukuejo and we had to race to make it back before the gate closed at sunset.
At dinner we had an amusing experience, I am a garlic fan and I was craving some garlic butter, so I had asked the waiter for some, he looked at me as if I was crazy, after 45 minutes he comes out of the kitchen with a house of garlic on a saucer and tells me no garlic butter, anyway I ended up making my own garlic butter from that house of garlic, boy did my meat taste great with all the garlic. (Robyn could not breathe in the car on the way back home). We had another fun filled night around the waterhole taking in all the animals, rhino, elephants, giraffe, and zebra.
I loved the upgraded rooms in Etosha; however am not too impressed with the food and that still needs a lot of improvement.
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