Life in Nam: Week 2

It’s spring here, and I’m loving the sun, wind, and lack of humidity. Given the three-day weekend, it was suggested I take advantage of the dry season and head up to Etosha National Park. I went with a tour group (renting a car by oneself is very expensive here) and we had incredible luck. Just a bit of what we saw: a herd of 20 elephants, a lion pride eating a dead kudu carcass (yuck, but also very cool to witness from about 20 feet away), a black rhino (endangered and typically very shy, that approached our vehicle), countless zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, springbok, gemsbok, spotted hyenas, vultures, etc.

Our group itself was a varied species: two German couples, a group of Scandinavian women, a Dutch guy, an older Italian gentleman, a Scottish medical student, and me, the American mutt.

Aside from the sunsets, the highlight was the Okaukuejo water hole, which at dusk was like a well-orchestrated theater. "Darwin: In Action!" First, the giraffes arrived, followed moments later by the elephants. Then lions, who scared off the giraffe, then much later, the rhino. Tough to pull yourself away from the scene, so I ended up watching for well over two hours. We went on a few “game drives” throughout each day and then camped in the park.

Note: springbok also taste very good as sausage.