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We now started to
head south, to Waterberg National Park, just 361 kilometres away, of which
only the last 16 where on gravel! However, as it was Sunday and we left
Etosha at 7:30am almost everything was closed at the two towns we stopped
at to try and do some laundry and check emails! Luckily the supermarket
in Otjiwarongo was open so at least we managed to get food for the
following couple of days!
Shortly after we
arrived we decided to have a braai (bbq) and as we started to cook the
food and then subsequently eat it we were invaded! We had been warned
about the baboons in the area, but we were in fact swamped by gorgeous
Dwarf Mongeese! They ran around us without a care in the world, scurrying
around the braai and the dustbin and generally trying to look cute enough
that we would feed them! Angela of course found it extremely hard to
resist!
We also saw
several Damara Dik-Diks wandering around the bushes minding their own
business. Then some idiot drove by and tried to get one to move by
blasting his car-horn, just so his wife could try and take a picture. She
then got out and proceeded to walk as close as she could until thankfully
the little fella ran off!
We really saw
some amazingly inconsiderate behaviour in Etosha, as we have all too often
around the world, when it comes to the environment and the animals in it!
People would get out of their cars to take photos, throw cigarette butts,
beer bottles and rubbish on the ground. Do smokers (most, not all) not
consider it to be littering when they throw their fag-ends on the ground?
They would shout and clap to try and get an animal to "pose" for a photo
and then at night bombard them with flashes! All they do is either scare
the animals away, or wreck their night vision! Do they not understand
that the night-lights they use at the waterholes are specially built and
do not interfere with their eyesight? Muppets! Right, time to get off my
soapbox now then!
We went on our
first organised game-drive in Waterberg, at 6:00am, up to the plateau.
The Waterberg Plateau is a bit like the lost world. Its steep cliffs rise
200 metres above the surrounding area, it is 50 kilometres long and up to
16 kilometres wide. It has evolved over the last 200 million years as the
sandstone around it has eroded away. The government thankfully have used
it wisely and put the endangered antelopes on it to breed safely without
the threat of all the predators, although they do have Cheetah and Leopard
up there!
We enjoyed the
drive, although it was obvious this was a government run reserve as the
staff, including our driver, all had that "don't give a toss" attitude
which you do not get at the private reserves! Luckily I had Angela, who
had read all about the history of the place, to tell me about it. Had it
not been for us, the three other people on the vehicle (it was their very
first "game" drive) would only have seen two Giraffes and a Sable, as they
were almost in the road. Our driver did not point out a single animal, or
tell us one thing about the plateau! Luckily, we managed to spot several
other types of Buck and a Jackal!
In the afternoon
we just relaxed around the camp watching the birds and also the Dik-Diks
came really close to us and didn't seem in the slightest concerned by us,
however when the Baboons invaded we all ran! The Dik-Diks and birds ran
into the bushes and we ran into the bungalow! Well, Angela did whilst I
was sent to recover the washing which we hung on the chairs in the sun to
dry! Look at the photo of the Alpha Male and you will see why we all
ran! Whilst I was grabbing the washing he casually walked round me to
inspect the contents of both next doors and our dustbins, he took the lids
off, checked the contents and actually put the lids back on! Amazing!
The second night
we had almost an identical scenario to that of the previous night! I was
cooking and a Mongoose invasion commenced, however this time it was Banded
Mongeese, but they were on a mission and rushed past us. About half an
hour later they reappeared from the direction they went in and swarmed
around the car, the braai and us! |