Just like home

We left Northern Namibia after spending 3 nights in Etosha Nat'l Park, where we saw Black Rhinos, tons of Elephants and Giraffes, DikDiks, Steinboks, Springboks, Impala, Gemsboks (Oryx), Kudu, Red Hartebeests, Wildebeests, Warthogs, Banded Mongoose, Lions, Black-backed Jackals, Spotted Hyena, Scrub Hares, Ground Squirrels, Pearl-spotted owl, Bataleur, Tawny Eagle, Helmeted Gunea Fowl, Ostrich, Bustards, tortoise, and more that we can't remember. At one of the night-lit waterholes we watched a Jackal examining a Python that was waiting in the water on two seperate nights.

After Etosha, we went back to Tsumeb to spend one last evening with Stefan's 87+ year old Tante Dorle, and her son Klaus and his family. It was great to see Dorle in relatively good health, and Stefan believes she could live to 100 if she wanted to.

Klaus and his wife Wendy were very gracious arranging accomodation for us in Etosha and for the rest of our time in Namibia. If anyone decides to visit Southern Africa anytime soon, they should be sure to check out their travel reservation website at http://resafrica.net/.

After leaving Tsumeb yesterday morning, we drove across southern Damaraland and then across the desert to the Skeleton Coast town of Hentiesbai. We spent the night in a chalet with good facilities, and spent a short while on the beach yesterday afternoon. It's just like California with it's cold current offshore causing unswimmably cold conditions and cool fog. The only difference is that the beach doesn't really end right at the coast, instead the beach merges with the expanse of the Namib desert for at least 100+ km inland.

We have spent this morning in an internet cafe in the coastal city of Swakopmund, which almost everyone in Namibia has told us we should be sure to visit. Grease is playing over the radio and we are drinking coffee, a small bit of home for us. Speaking of home, Stefan has enjoyed missing 4 months of the eternal US presidential race, and the lack of 24 hour cable news is quite refreshing (although we do occaisionally get to watch BBC world, Deutsche Welle, or CNN international). Stefan thinks for profit cable news in the U.S. is a big downer and does as much harm to American society as good.

Anyway, tonight we stay just south of Swakopmund in the former South African enclave of Walvis Bay, then tomorrow we drive back into the interior bush of Namibia spending the night in a place called Solitaire, then the next day to the largest sand dunes in the world at Sossusvlei, then another night in the bush near Helmeringhausen, then a night on the southern Namib desert coast town of Luederitz, then a night at Ai Ais. After that, a few more nights in South Africa before heading to Mauritius!

Thanks to everyone for reading and posting comments!