Today I feel like we really began, we left the city and right now I’m sitting outside the car on a campsite (without internet) completely surrounded by wilderness and bush. The sun is setting over the huge cliffs of the plateau behind me, casting a golden aura over the horizon. Birds are chirping – sounds I’ve never heard before.
The campsite here is run by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and is very nice, there’s an electric plug and a tap and clean toilet block. We are left unprotected from wild animals as there is no fence; shortly after we arrived a troop of baboons began turning over trash cans about a hundred meters further on, and quite amazingly had figured out how to turn on a tap and drink from it.
This morning we woke up around 7 and had breakfast at the guesthouse in Windhoek, we talked to a pair of English students who had just returned from Zambia. After the loading the car we quickly returned to the Surveyor General and purchased one last map before finally heading out of the city. We were quickly surprised by a very large baboon running out onto the road, hesitating and about to turn back before deciding to risk it. The mountainous landscape quickly gave way to a flat sand punctuated by the occasional Kopje that stretched to the horizon. After a few hours we turned off the main road along a gravel track with the Waterberg plateau visible far in the distance. Along the route we spotted a couple of impressive birds and a family of Warthog at the side as well as some roadkill including a jackal and a honey badger.
After arriving we set up the tent and had a quick lunch before beginning the hike up the plateau. The views at the top were really quite amazing, and the path was busy with Rock Hyrax and the occasional scent of leopard urine.
So that’s about it –a nice relaxed introduction to the beautiful scents and skills needed in the bush before we head into the real wilds up north.
PS – Here is the evidence of Michael Scott St.:
awesome Emiel :) keep putting links on FB :)
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