The morning game drives here at Erindi leave at 6:30. So, they propose
a light breakfast at 6:00, and then you can come back and have a proper
breakfast after the drive typically just after 9:00. Given how excited we are
about doing this first drive here, we quickly have something to eat and coffee,
and then show up at the jeep a good five minutes early. This way we are the
first to arrive and so can choose the best seats.
We are told to go to car 3, and that our guide will be Ully. We go to
the car, and are advised to sit in the first row. Ully shows up together with a
trainee guide called Kenneth. We start chatting with them as a big group of
English finally show up and fill out the rest of the car. Ah well, we certainly will not be alone on
this drive, but then again that is not really a problem. The only thing that
bothers me is that we have to sit three per row, and so I end up in the middle.
Not ideal for taking photos. There is then a bit of confusion as a guide comes
up to ask us if we were not supposed to be on the cheetah walk. Back in January
when I had been doing all the bookings, I had seen that they offered to do a
morning walk to see cheetahs, and had asked to sign up for this. However, since
they had told me that it was impossible to confirm this, I had assumed that
nothing had been done about it. We had also decided that due to the heat as
well as the fact it would be a 4 hour walk, we would not do it and go on the
drive instead. Well, there was no problem in the end though, and we were able
to stay on the drive.
Before driving away, we are asked what animals we would like to see.
Obviously Myriam and I say “Cheetah and wild dogs!!”. A lady next to us then
says she also wants to see elephants, which strikes us as a bit curious given
that there are several elephants to be seen all around the camp. It is not like
you need to go on a game drive to see them here, but to each his own we figure.
We right away head to a place where there seems to have been a kill the
previous night. I think the guides have been tipped off that there might still
be lions or hyenas around, but it seems as if we have arrived a bit too late.
The place has been cleaned, and we search the area for a little bit with no
luck.
Instead we then head to pretty much the opposite side of the park in an
effort to find cheetahs. The cool thing about these private game parks is that
the various guides are obviously giving tips to each other over their CB
radios, and they can drive everywhere. Unlike national parks, they don’t need
to stick to the trails, and so when they catch the trace of an animal they can
get really close.
We keep driving and driving, but we do not see much. There is the
occasional nice bird, giraffe and perhaps a few waterbucks. Other than the
distinct ring they have on their rear, it really strikes me this time how much
they actually look like reindeer. Beautiful animals.
Finally it seems as though another car has found where a cheetah mom
and her two adolescents is resting, and we head right there. It is not long
until we find Iaccomina and her “babies” Shandy and Savannah taking it easy. It is such an
incredible sight, and we are lucky to get to spend quite some time with them,
and end up taking far too many pictures.
Eventually it really is time to head back to camp, and there is a bit
of a way to go. Our guide radios back to camp to ask that they wait for us to
arrive with the breakfast, and there is also one guest in our car who is to be
checking out this morning that will certainly need a late check-out! Luckily
they are also able to take some short-cuts so that we get back a bit before
9:30.
As soon as we get back to the camp, we all head for breakfast. It is
amazing how going on an early game drive can open your appetite, and we enjoy
having your typical English breakfast. Unfortunately arriving last to the buffet
means there are no more croissants…
Since we have some free time after lunch, we decide to give the inside
of our car a bit of a clean-up. Driving around on dusty roads for days with the
windows open has left it well covered with dust, and we want to try and avoid
any issues when we return it.
Having thought about what we want to do in the afternoon, we finally
decide to go on the regular game drive. We had been contemplating going on a
tracking tour. A tracking tour is one when you actually accompany a couple of
guides as they drive around to track certain animals. This means that there are
no comfort frills with this, and you can’t really ask to stop and look at other
animals. As they said they might track wild dogs we had figured this would work
for us, but they have also pretty much promised we will see wild dogs on the
regular drive.
The afternoon drive is set to leave at 16:30, and again we show up a
bit earlier. As we wait for the others to arrive, we chat a bit with Ully and
Kenneth. Time goes by, and I start to get a bit upset because the rest of the
group is obviously late. I always figure that for events like these you should
be on time if for nothing else then out of respect for the other participants.
Ully goes away for a bit, and then comes back to explain that the English group
has decided not to join the drive because the weather is looking as if it might
rain! Seriously, you come all the way here and then decide to sit in your cabin
because you might get a bit wet! That’s when he tells me that as a result we
will actually do a tracking drive, and I just need to go to the reception to
change my booking.
I go to do this, and am given an invoice for CHF 20 for this drive! It
turns out that these tracking drives are much cheaper because they do not
include any drinks and stuff, and basically you are just on a working ride
along. I figure that as long as we find the wild dogs, who cares!
I get back to our jeep, and we set off for what will turn out to be
the experience of a lifetime. As soon as
we pass the gates of the camp, they start to try and find a trace of the wild
dogs with their antenna. However, with the rain and thunder in the distance, it
is a bit difficult for them to get a good read. So, we drive around a bit
looking for tracks and testing the antenna from time to time.
There is another jeep on a regular game drive that is trailing us
hoping to benefit from what we find. We leave them for a bit and head off in a
different direction. Suddenly our guides point to where the pack of dogs is
resting! Finally, after twenty years we are there with the wild dogs!!
We drive up right next to them, and the cameras are growing hot. Emotions
run high, and we both shed some tears from the joy of just being there with
these wonderful animals. Ully explains that the group consists of 15 dogs
today. However, a number of years ago they had a pack of 18 dogs. One night
during a thunder storm, that pack had been taking shelter under a tree, and
lightning struck killing all but two of the pack. As luck would have it, it was
a male and a female that survived, and they are the two that have now created
this new pack of 15.
It turns out that unlike the cheetahs from the morning, they have not
given any names to the dogs. So, we decide to call the two “parents” Lucky One
(as the lucky one surviving the lightning) and Lucky Too! We will have to write
to them some day to see if they actually kept those names, but for us that is
what they are now called.
We get to spend quite some time alone observing the dogs, and then
eventually our guide radios the location to the other jeep that soon shows up.
We then head off to find some other animals, possibly some lions.
The drive continues until we suddenly come across a small group of
rhinos. When they see us they begin running away. Ully decides to follow them
as he wants to get a confirmed identification of which rhinos these are. So,
for a while we go on a high-speed pursuit of four rhinos through the savannah! The
rhinos win though, and it soon becomes obvious that we have lost them.
As we have determined that Ully and Kenneth are also interested in
birds, we happen to mention that we had seen a fish eagle the other day in
Etosha. Ully tells us he knows there is one here, and he sets off for a
waterhole nearby to try and find it. We are not lucky with the eagle, but we
get to see some more animals up close. It is all a bit surreal, and the
electricity in the air probably has something to do with the atmosphere being a
bit intense.
As the sun starts to get low in the sky, we head up to the top of a
hill in the middle of the game park. Up here we meet up with the other jeep,
and our guides tell us we are going to have some sun-downers as well. Since
they had all the drinks and snacks packed in the jeep anyway, we might as well
use it! So we pull up next to the other jeep, and get out to have something to
drink.
All around us you can see the rain pouring, and the light with the sun
setting is simply extraordinary. It feels like being in a dream, and for the
second time of the evening my eyes begin to well up. We stand around talking
casually with our guides, and Kenneth explains that he is a Himba and Ully, or
rather Ulrich, is a Herero who’s grandfather was German. It is a wonderful
moment as we get to learn a bit more about these two wonderful guys, and we ask
a member from the other car to take a picture of the four of us to remember
this moment by.
The sun eventually settles, and we start heading down from the hill
thinking that it is time to go back to camp. That’s when they ask us if we are
okay to keep going some more! We say something like we will kill them if they
don’t keep going! So, since it is full dark by now, Kenneth gets out two spot
lights so that we can continue spotting in the dark. We are soon on our way
again through the night, as the rain begins to fall on us as well. The whole
thing is just incredible, and we both sit there trying to spot animals in the
dark with huge grins on our faces. Ully turns around to ask if we are fine,
probably worrying that we might be uncomfortable, but is reassured by our
smiles.
Although we don’t end up seeing much more wildlife for the rest of the
drive, this is simply one of the absolute best moments of our lives. Given that
this is our last game drive of this vacation, it simply can’t end on a better
note. As we get back to camp, we don’t want it to end, but know that it has to.
We have this tingling feeling all over, and it is with great emotions that we
hug our guides goodbye.
After leaving our camera gear at our bungalow, we head over to the
restaurant for dinner. We still have these silly grins, and when we see the
English group at a table in the middle of the restaurant we are tempted to go
up and thank them for cancelling their drive! We don’t do it though, and when
Myriam sees a huge group of elephants arrive at the dam, she instead goes to
them to let them know their elephants are there. They are ecstatic, and Myriam and
I share a silent laugh as we think “if only they knew…”.
We end the evening by arranging our bags so as to be ready for the
departure tomorrow. Sleep comes quickly when we finally get to bed, and I can
imagine that we will be dreaming about this day for quite a number of nights in
the future. This night instead I sleep deeply, and really do not hear much of
the rainstorm outside.
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