Discovering the joys of camping in Namibia (page 18 of 30)

Indeed, the walk along the river is downstream. I even wrote that in my travel journal.😛

And yet, I’ve read your travel journal cover to cover... and somehow, I still missed that 😉.

Saturday, August 10: Epupa Falls / Hobatere Lodge

We don’t dawdle this morning because we need to pick up our wheel in Opuwo, and there are 330 km of road to Hobatere Lodge, our destination for tonight.

We break camp before 7 a.m. after spending a very warm night in the tent—no need for a sleeping bag. The sun rose behind us, lighting up the baobabs with its first rays.



As on the way there, it takes us three hours to cover the 180 km to Opuwo. The town is under a thick cloud of dust—it’s quite something. We really don’t feel at ease here.



We arrive at the garage as agreed at 10 a.m. Unfortunately, our tire still isn’t there. By 11 a.m. Okay, no problem—while we wait, we’ll fill up the tank and grab a few things at the Spar. When we get back, the tire still isn’t there. We have to wait again... how long? No answer—it’s really not reassuring.

After another hour, still no wheel. My husband starts to get annoyed, asks for a refund, and talks about going to the police. Suddenly, the manager springs into action and leaves by car to go get it. The wait drags on and on. A group of young people heading out for a weekend of partying helps lighten the mood and ease the tension a bit.



Phew! At 12:30 p.m., he finally comes back with our spare tire. The change is done quickly, and we hit the road again right away. In hindsight, we should’ve just kept going with only one spare.

As soon as we leave Opuwo on the C35, we’re happy to be driving on asphalt and no longer being jostled around like plums—or, more importantly, avoiding all that dust when we pass another car.

The road is *very* straight, and the landscapes are *very* monotonous. The termite mounds add a bit of relief. We stop for lunch at a highway rest area.





A few kilometers before Hobatere, we go through the veterinary checkpoint—no issues, the fridge is empty.



Watch out for elephants around the bend!



When we arrive at the gate, it’s almost 4 p.m., and we still have another half-hour of driving before reaching the reception. Hobatere is a private reserve located west of Etosha.

As soon as we enter the reserve, we spot animals, but we barely contain our urge to stop and take photos.



We still arrive early enough to do the 4:30 p.m. game drive we’d booked this morning. Luckily, because there are no spots left—two full vehicles are waiting ahead of us.

We don’t have time to check in, so we grab our cameras and climb into one of the two safari vehicles. It’s still hot today—32 degrees.

Off we go—elephants, giraffes, a magnificent kudu.

Wow! Four big cats—we’re over the moon! They’re young, two males and two females. On the reserve, there are nine lions in total: a female with three two-month-old cubs and a big male who apparently has another family in Etosha and travels between the two.

The lions have their territory, which is why our driver was pretty sure we’d find them there. We spend a good while watching them before they head off one by one into the bushes.









The driver moves a little further along the riverbed, and we find them again on a dead tree. It’s absolutely stunning—the last rays of the sun are lighting them up.









We spend another good while watching them before continuing on our way. A small group of about ten giraffes is nearby.





Next, we head out onto a vast plain full of termite mounds—what our driver calls "the termite city." It’s apéritif time, and the second vehicle is already there. Isn’t it nice to watch the sunset like this?









We’re thrilled to have finally seen lions—and up close, too! But there’s still something missing to make it perfect: the satisfaction of having found them on our own, not with a guide who knows their habits.

*Pff… never satisfied, these tourists! We bring them four lions on a silver platter, and they’re still not happy.*

The goal in coming here before heading to Etosha was to get a taste of a private reserve. It also gave us a break before the four nights of camping ahead in Etosha.

The lodge is nice—the rooms are very spacious, though the bathrooms are a bit less so and a little dated.







No animals at the waterhole this evening, but a good fire is waiting for us!



On the way to Etosha here

Isa, Before becoming an adult, a monitor lizard is small!!!

😂😂😂 So it’s a baby monitor lizard, that’s why I thought it was small 😲

Yes, it is indeed a monitor lizard.

Thanks everyone, I’ve updated the text 😉

Amazing, the lions on the tree trunk!😍

Well, here we go... 😉 Really cool those photos of lions on their log.

Well, here we go at last.....😉 Those lion photos on the trunk are amazing.

You’ve been there too—did you see them? And the mom with the cubs? 😉

Gorgeous, the lions on the tree trunk.😍

Yeah, we were so happy! 😊

Unfortunately no, we didn’t make it to Hobatere... Too bad. I’ll keep it in mind for my next trip to Namibia. Thanks for the tip! 🙂

Aahhh... 😕 For your first lion sighting, I get why you’re disappointed—they were in a huge zoo where the guide knew exactly where to look, even knew how many females there were, and maybe even gave them little nicknames...

Aahhh... 😕 For your first lion sighting, I get why you were disappointed to see them in a huge zoo where the guide knew exactly where to look, even knew how many females there were, and maybe even gave them little names...

No, I didn’t say I was disappointed... just a little letdown... we were still super happy 😆 By the way, I can’t wait to see your 28 lions in Kruger—but maybe that’s just a myth 😂😂😂

I had noted that there was free movement between this reserve and Etosha. Just like I understand the disappointment of people who go to Hlane and discover that the lions are only present in one section of the reserve (and it's paid access). Similarly, Addo NP let us down with that huge zoo vibe, even though we did see an amazing hunting scene there.

By the way, I’m still waiting to see your 28 lions from Kruger, but maybe that’s just a myth

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had to put my travel journal on hold due to some post-trip health issues—one of my kids picked up a nasty infection after our AFS trip. We’re finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, but I’ll admit those 28 lions feel like a distant, bittersweet memory now. Still, I don’t want to derail your amazing journal any further! 🙂

I had noted that there was free movement between this reserve and Etosha

That’s what I thought at first, but after checking a map, I’m not sure there’s free movement for animals

By the way, I’m still waiting to see your 28 lions from Kruger, but maybe it’s just a myth

Over the past few weeks, I’ve pretty much put the travel journal on hold due to some post-trip AFS health issues for one of my kids—a nasty infection. We’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I’ll admit the 28 lions are now just a distant, bitter memory. But I don’t want to hijack your amazing journal any further 🙂 !

Oh no! So sorry to hear that, Guillaume—I hope he won’t have any lasting effects 😢 As you know, I was just kidding, of course—nothing’s more important than taking care of your kids 😊

I had noted that there was free movement between this reserve and Etosha

That's what I thought at first, but after looking at a map, I'm not sure there's free movement of animals

Maybe we misunderstood what the guide told us? But the park isn't really far from the reserve, and along the road we saw fencing in some places that was really damaged, which left us perplexed 🤔

I get your slight disappointment. I also preferred our leopards in Uganda and KTP, and the cheetah mom with her cub in KTP, to the leopards and cheetahs we saw at Okonjima. But Okonjima was a good option for my parents. Anyway, these private reserves make it possible to see certain animals that can sometimes be hard to come across in the wild.

Carmen

I get your slight disappointment. I also preferred our leopards in Uganda and KTP and the cheetah mom with her cub in KTP to the leopards and cheetahs we saw at Okonjima. But Okonjima was a good option for my parents. Anyway, these private reserves make it possible to see certain animals that can sometimes be hard to come across in the wild.

Carmen

Yeah, it’s true that there’s something special about discovering animals on your own, but with our luck, imagine if we didn’t see a single lion in Etosha 😢. We’d be the laughingstock of all the Southern Africa section forumers, so we decided to play it safe 😄😄😄

Personally, I think you made the right call going to Hobatere. Not everyone sees lions in Etosha. For us in 2016, one lion very close and two very far away. Like, *really* far. Not the best memory.🤪 On the other hand, still in Etosha, lions every day in 2017, and KTP in 2018 was the absolute highlight. But in the end, that’s the charm of a safari—you never know what you’re going to see.😉

We had the exact same spot a week after you when we passed through Epupa🙂

Wow! What did you do for a whole week?? Just chilling...

We only had one real lazy day (at Grootberg where we stayed for 2 nights): no game drive, no hike, just pool time and reading while enjoying the view. For the rest, we took our time, but we were pretty busy: 2 days in the Erongo region between Spitzkoppe and Brandberg to visit the different Ameib sites and the San Living Museum (mostly for our daughter), one night near Twyfelfontein (Mowani), a day of self-drive in the Palmwag concession, 2 nights at Khowarib... there’s plenty to fill a week easily!

We loved it until we discovered a huge squatter in the toilet...

Who was the squatter? The mother of the baby monitor lizard? 😏

I would’ve preferred that 😉, but no... just a huge spider that reminded us of the huntsman spider (which doesn’t weave webs but pounces on its prey) we’d seen in the Malaysian jungle. Since everyone in the family hates those critters (even the web-weaving ones...), we didn’t even take a photo for identification by experts... I did take a picture of the snake we saw at Mowani campsite (I think it was a horned viper), but the spider... just no way! We waited for it to leave the next morning before daring to use the toilet again... makes you appreciate having private facilities 🙁