We get to sleep an extra hour this morning since we are not planning
any sort of game drive today. There is ample time to get to the airport, but
since the road conditions can always be a bit of a surprise, and we are
expecting to spend some time with Avis when we return the car. So we have our
breakfast, and close up our bags.
It is difficult to leave here because of this really is an amazing game
park with very friendly and pleasant staff. Obviously the amazing experience
from the day before adds to it all, and so it is with heavy hearts that we go
to check out at the reception. I think that chances are pretty good that we
will be back here some day, and then for longer than two nights! I can
certainly imagine spending 5 days here relaxing and going on game drives and
walks.
For the last time on this trip we load up our car and are about to set
off. Myriam hears from another couple that there is some difficulty in getting
out of the park because the heavy rain from the night before has rendered part
of the road very muddy. They have an ordinary 2 wheel drive sedan, which does
seem a bit foolish out here, and I am confident that our car will get us out
without difficulty.
At first the trail is fine, and we can drive at a reasonable speed.
Seeing as we really have no hope of seeing anything spectacular this late
morning, I decide to push on. Suddenly Myriam tells me to stop, and it turns
out she has spotted a magnificent pygmy owl! This is the first time we have
ever seen one, and it certainly is not something you find regularly.
Soon after this, we come across an elephant in the middle of the road.
Not wanting to irritate it, I hold back and let the elephant slowly move away
from the road. I guess he was there to say bye to us…
Thinking that the concerns about the road condition had been
exaggerated, we suddenly come across a first difficulty. There is a major
puddle to be crossed, which does look fairly deep. So I switch the car to low
gear and lock the differential just to be sure that I don’t get stuck. We get
through easily, and continue on our way. Then we get to a second puddle, and
this one is more like a pond! Since I can see some tracks leading in to it,
that seem to emerge on the other side, I figure I am not the first one here,
and again switch to low gear and lock the diff.
We slowly go through with the water level creeping gradually higher.
Sure, it is not like we get water up to the hood, but it does get pretty
seriously deep in the middle. Our car has not trouble getting through this
either, but it is obvious that a regular car would never have been able to get
out. This incident alone confirms the fact that if you are to drive around
Namibia you need a proper jeep unless you want to risk missing your flight
home.
This does turn out to be the last difficulty that we are to encounter.
Having exited the Erindi Game Park, we soon reach the paved highway that will
take us all the way to Windhoek airport. It is a Monday, and so the closer we
get to Windhoek, the more traffic we see. This is a huge change from the rest of
the trip though, as over the last 10 days we have rarely encountered other
vehicles. Even though it is not like there is a traffic jam, I still miss the
lonely dirt roads of the rest of the trip.
Eventually we arrive at the airport, earlier than what we had planned
for. There has not been a single issue on the way here either on the road or
from the car, and so we will now be spending a few hours until our flight
leaves. The first thing is to return the car, which goes smoothly. The
attendant lets us know that everything is in order and we can proceed to the
Avis desk for the final invoice.
A rather lengthy discussion ensues at the counter as we do wish to get
to the bottom of the fact that not only was our car never replaced during the
trip, but we did not hear from Avis at all. Since it had seemed like such a
serious issue when picking it up that we would exceed the mileage for the
service, we figured an explanation was in order. Obviously one could not be
had, but we did manage to obtain a bit of a discount on the rental.
One thing is certain though; we had made the right choice in car. The
Toyota Fortuner is essentially a Toyota HiLux, one of the most solid cars ever
built, with an SUV body. This allows for extra comfort and space, while
obtaining proper ground clearance and a suspension to make the lengthy gravel
roads quite pleasant to drive on. The fact that it was a diesel with an extra
big gas tank giving it an autonomy of over 800km ensured that we never had to
worry about running out of gas, and even though we didn’t need it I felt
reassured to have chosen a second spare tire.
After having spent a few hours in the airport doing some last minute
shopping, it is finally time to board our plane to Johannesburg. After getting
settled in the plane, an imposing couple board together with what seems to be a
body guard and take the seats right behind us. As we overhear people addressing
them as “your excellency”, we obviously become curious as to who this couple
might be. Myriam is able to find out a bit later that it is a former president
of Ghana, and after checking the internet it turns out to be Jerry Rawlings and
his wife. He had initially led an unsuccessful coup d’état in Ghana in 1979,
and after having been in prison and actually sentenced to death, he was
released and eventually became elected as president in 1981. He remained
president until 2001, and he currently serves as the African Union envoy to
Somalia.
We then had a short stop-over in Joburg, where we ended up running
around a bit to find a suitable lounge, and then finally got to settle in for
the long flight home. Although this had been an amazing vacation, it certainly
was nice to get home to our cats the following morning.
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