February4 and 5, 2010
Etosha National Park
Namibia
Here at Etosha National Park in Namibia, I have found the very best chalet in the entire country. In some mysterious way that has to do with the thatched roof, stone tiles and drapes, it is totally cool in the 100+ degree heat even with the air conditioning (air conditioning!) turned off. This lovely chalet is also, at 640 Namibian dollars (85 USD) the most expensive place I have stayed so far here in Africa. But it's so, so much better than a hot tent with the jackals sniffing around. My fellow overlanders were a little green with envy, so I tried not to boast overly much. But it's wonderful! Here is a picture of my beautiful bed with crisp white linens and fluffy towels. Unbeknownst to me, the chalet even came with pets. I was brushing my teeth late one night when into the bathroom sauntered a little mouse with bright black eyes, totally unafraid of me. In the morning I extracted a promise from reception that they would round it up and let it go (and not kill it!)
The campsite also has a nice restaurant, a swimming pool, a post office, and best of all, a floodlit waterhole where you can sit quietly with a bottle of wine and see who appears for a drink. During our time here, I saw a rhino, lots of zebra and even a lion come down for a sip of water.
At Etosha, we went on morning, afternoon and evening game drives. On one morning drive I saw a small pride of lions (one male, two females) seemingly deliberate whether or not it was worth the effort to chase a zebra. One lioness divided the zebra group into two, and drove one half of the herd towards the other lioness, who was lying in wait, but halfway through she seemed to lose interest and sauntered off. There was a dead zebra nearby, so maybe she just wasn't hungry enough for a chase.
And here is sunset at the waterhole. You know how I love sunset pictures!
Books read: A Good Fall: Stories by Ha Jin
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