Walvis Bay, Namibia

March 15, 2019

One thing I love is sand dunes and Walvis Bay has large dunes everywhere. Huge dunes with wild life. Of course we couldn't take the van out or up the dunes, so we took a tour with Ben at Sand Waves. It was a four hour tour to Sandwich Harbor. Driving along the coast and on top the dunes with fabulous views. It was wonderful.

Our vehicle for the trip into the dunes. It was just me, Bill, and our guide Ben.

Heading out from Walvis Bay.

Heading toward Sandwich Bay.

Remains of an old settlement buried in the sand. All you can see are a few roof tops and a dead tree.

The track we followed. Water on one side, dunes on the other.

View of the coast.

Sandwich Harbor

Views of the sand dunes.

Palmatogecko

Jackal tracks in the sand.

Jackals

Pelicans

Flamingos

Sea Lion

Etosha National Park, Namibia

March 7 - 9, 2019

We saw lots of animals in Etosha NP. Most sightings were at one of the numerous waterholes in the park. At the rest camps they have waterholes that are lighted at night. It is a great experience to watch the animals come in for a drink after dark. They have seating areas fairly close to the water with signs to please be silent. Everyone silently sits watching the animals. At Halali Rest Camp we saw black rhinos, hyenas, jackals, and elephants.

A large part of the park is the Etosha Pan - a very large salt pan.

Banded mongoose in our campsite at Namutomi Rest Camp.

Lion near Chudob waterhole.

Pair of giraffe at Chudob waterhole.

Giraffe have to work at getting a drink of water.

Plains zebra at Chudob waterhole.

Greater kudu and a black-faced impala

Zebra at Kalkheuel waterhole - there were hundreds of them.

More zebra at the waterhole. You should have heard all the noise they were making.

In come the elephants and the zebra scatter.

Elephants and zebra sharing the waterhole.

Greater kudu just trying to blend in with the zebra.

There were zebra every where in Etosha. It was hard to drive down the road at times. They are not in any rush to get out of your way.

Black-faced impala at Goas waterhole.

Giraffe at Goas waterhole.

South African oryx

I think this wildebeest had an encounter with a can of white paint.

Kori bustard - largest native flying bird in Africa.

Ostrich crossing the road.

Sunset at the Namutomi Rest Camp waterhole.

Zambia

February 22 - March 4, 2019

The countryside was beautiful. The people very friendly. We found lovely campsites every night, unlike Tanzania where we were lucky to find a campsite. The roads were horrible most of the time so it was slow going. We were having problems with the van before entering Zambia and they got worse as we drove on. We finally made it to the Mercedes dealership in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. The dealership was great, they worked on the van immediately and sent us on our way. The problem was we had more trouble within an hour after we left. It took four days to fix all the symptoms. The trouble was created by poor quality fuel and slow driving. We have been dealing with both since leaving South Africa. We ended our stay in Zambia with a visit to Victoria Falls. Luckily this time of year there is water, lots of water.

Main highway crossing into Zambia from Tanzania. The first 160 km was like this. Horrible!!!

The potholes were the size of a plastic kiddie pool.

On the second day we encountered a road washout. The road had been closed for over 24 hours. You should have seen the line up of trucks. We waited for about 10 minutes and they allowed us to drive on the temporary bridge and then through a field. Very lucky. The following day we started to see trucks on the road heading south.

Highway washout. I don't know how long it will take to make permanent repairs

Road to Kalwa Guest Farm, our campsite for the night.

Kalwa Guest Farm

Campsite at a working farm, Fringilla Farm.

Happy chickens at Fringilla.

Nesting chicken at Fringilla.

Dusty road through the city of Mazabuka.

Crocodile sculpture at campsite in Livingstone near Victoria Falls.

Elephant head - Sculptures are made from bottle caps.

Victoria Falls on the Zambian side of the river.

This is the rainy season so there is a water fall. Other times of the year the water on the Zambia side is diverted for hydroelectric power.

Knife bridge - There is so much mist it's like taking a shower when you walk across the bridge.

View of the falls on the Zambian side. The falls are much larger but you can only see the whole from Zimbabwe.

Crocodile on the Zambezi River bank.

Crocodile swimming in the Zambezi River.

Zambezi River

View of the Zambezi River

Sunset on the Zambezi River

Bill and I took a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River.

Flower at our campsite in Sesheke.

Flowers at our campsite in Sesheke.