I Like Straws
Damaraland, Namibia
November 25, 2013
Bill has been enjoying sipping his cool beverages from a straw lately. Later in the day elephants also illustrated a similar appreciation!
We woke up, packed our bags, then had some breakfast. We toured Swakopmund one last time and did some shopping. I bought a really lovely ink and water painting of Oryx from some artists in the alley. I also was delighted to buy a red tea latte at Village Cafe. I had been craving a tea latte in this cooler weather.
It was finally sunny, so we took advantage by taking some photos at the beach Last look on the Beach. We we lucky enough to get some photos of baby Cape Fur Seals who were sunning themselves.
We finished packing and checked out at 11:00. We had some time to kill before our pickup, so I was finally able to get some sun by the pool.
We had an hour wait at the very tiny airport, so we chatted with our plane mates from London before we took off. Our first touchdown was at the rhino camp and we were amazed to get our first glimpse of the desert elephants by the landing strip!
We were up and off again in very short order. The flight was another 20 minutes and was pretty bumpy. Maybe I should have taken Gravol??
When we arrived at Doro Nawas, our guide, Mwezi, picked us up and drove us the 3 minutes to the lodge. We were warmly greeted by many of the staff members The Jety one more Time. We quickly checked in and freshened up in our rooms, and then headed out for our evening drive to see the elephants.
Many of the staff here speak their native Darma language. They make the sounds of four clicks when speaking. It is a very unique language.
Before we departed, we had our afternoon tea and sweet and savory snacks. Shortly after we left the lodge with Mwezi we saw an ostrich, then a sheep, and then goats. This is not a test to see if you are paying attention. This is for real! The lodge is near some villages and people raise livestock here. It is hard to imagine when there is not an abundance of feed and water. The villages are made up of a few or many buildings, mostly constructed from branches and roots, although some are cinder block buildings.
We did also see some wild animals, some oryx, steenbok, springbok, then some desert elephants Back on Safari. We drove back to see the rest of the herd, then followed their progress to the watering hole. A few times we leapfrogged ahead to watch them approach. The desert elephants are smaller than the African elephants.
We witnessed the utter and complete mass destruction of the village watering hole and the bullying of young bull and cows. It would be alarming if this was all done by the hands of humans, but it was actually done by the elephants. Their behaviour reminds me of our pesky raccoons back home! At one point the baby elephant ripped a tube down from the water tower. It looked like he was sipping a drink through a straw!
During our drive we saw a few birds - a small female Mountain Wheatear Chat, a Black Eagle and Kuppell's Korhaan (it has three toes instead of four, so it stays on the ground and it sounds like a frog).
The dinner was great this evening. We had oryx, chicken, squash, spinach, mushroom and bacon soup and mocha dessert. The wine and Amarula was very good too!
Our room is spacious and very comfortable. It will be a pleasurable couple of days here!
Pictures & VideosSpotted!!The Big GuyMama And BabyLong reach for FoodElephants InvadeThe Destruction ContinuesCows Have to Wait
