On our second day at Vinkerklip Lodge we set off on a nice little walk to see the famous ‘finger rock’ up close, then headed back to our waterhole vantage point on the balcony for more Namibian animal watching.

It has to be said that two days in a place where there isn’t much to do, resulted in a much bigger bar bill than anywhere else on our holiday! We did get to see couple of Zebras at the waterhole and we were visited by a furry little fella which we believe is a Dassie Rat. Much cuter than our rats!

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The next day it was time to move on again to start the safari part of the holiday. This time we had a fairly short drive, all on tarmac roads, to Etosha National Park, which includes a salt pan, so large, it can be seen from space. We were both really excited to finally be in an area where we knew we we might see the ‘Big 5’. As lovely as Springboks and Oryx are, we were ready to see some of the big boys and girls!

On arriving at the gateway to Etosha, every car must stop, fill in a permit and pay the entrance fees for the duration of your stay within the park. It’s 10 Namibian dollars (NAD) per vehicle per day and 80 NAD per adult per day, so in total it cost us 510 NAD, which is all of £27.00! Once you have paid your toll you are allowed to pass through into the wild, observing the sign with helpful visual advice about how not to become an amose bouche for the local wildlife! From the entrance we drove to Okaukuejo Rest Camp, Famous for its floodlit waterhole and the administrative centre of Etosha. 

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When you reach the rest camp, you go to reception, pick up your keys and book any safaris you want to go on. We decided not to mess about and booked the night safari for that evening and the early morning safari for the next day. The cost of the night safari was 750 NAD per person (approx £40) and 650 NAD for the morning safari ( approx £35). We also tried to book the afternoon one for the next day but the lady serving us suggested we may want to go on the first two and see how we felt! Bit odd we thought but we took her advice and as it turns out she was dead right!

It was at this point I noticed the posters up with the warning message ‘Jackals with Rabies’. On further reading, it transpired they’d had some problems in camp with rabid Jackals running about the place presumably frothing at the mouth! The advice was don’t approach them….like I needed to be told that….and call security. Not massively reassuring as the one shot we didn’t get was the one for Rabies! Needless to say, any walking around we did at night was brisk!!!

Safely back inside ‘The Beast’, we drove down to find our accommodation, which by the way turned out be nothing more than a thatched hovel, when suddenly Paul declared he thought he had seen some elephants legs! I just assumed that maybe the drive and heat had finally got to him! So we parked up, looked across to the waterhole and there, heading towards us were a group of young Bull Elephants. I nearly combusted with excitement and maybe shed a few girlie tears at this point and Paul was extremely smug as he apparently had seen some elephant legs after all!!!

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We both stood there mesmerised watching as more and more elephants came into view and headed towards the waterhole, including Mums with their cute playful calfs in tow. Paul decided he wanted to get the car unpacked but I just didn’t want to move in case we missed something. He popped off to unload and I sat there watching and taking endless photos and video. As more turned up he convinced to go to the room and at least get a hat on as I was turning a bright shade of red!!!

Sadly, getting to the room was a bit of a come down!!! When I booked the holiday, I wanted it it be properly amazing, so I paid extra at every place to book the top grade accommodation. Here, I had booked us into a Waterhole Chalet not realising there was also a Premium Waterhole Chalet. Although the name would suggest you can see the waterhole from you accommodation, you can’t! You have to book a Premium Waterhole Chalet for this privilege, so the accommodation wasn’t what I had hoped for. A small cramped room, squashed into one half of the thatched building pictured below. It was dark and enclosed with no view and you could hear everything the people in the other half said. The one upside was the fridge so we raided the camp shop and stocked up on booze!

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Disappointing accommodation aside, we dumped our stuff, grabbed our hats and headed back to the waterhole where we stayed until we had to get changed for dinner and the night safari. We were treated to an endless procession of Elephants, Zebras, Giraffes, Springbok, Oryx and Impala, we were very reluctant to move.

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We eventually dragged ourselves away from the waterhole and headed off for an early dinner before our safari adventure! Dinner at Okaukuejo is a bit of a canteen affair due to the sheer number of people staying at the camp. Drinks are table service but the food is self service. There was a decent choice of dishes with two different meats and a game pie made with Eland. I had the pie and it was absolutely lovely. Also treated ourselves to come ice-cream which, on reflection didn’t help warm us up ahead of the night safari!

As it neared 8pm we went to meet our safari vehicle and guide for the evening. We were there first so got the best seats at the back of the truck, which have the highest vantage point. It was a bit of a challenge getting up there at just 4ft 11ins, but I just about managed it albeit it might not have been pretty! There were only three others on the drive so it was a nice small group. As we set off it quickly became evident that a night safari is freezing bloody cold! We both had hooded tops but I think ski jackets mights have been more useful.

As we headed through the security gate into the national park, the driver turned on a red lamp to both light his way and spot the animals. They don’t use headlights or torches as they don’t want to blind any animals they come across. The drive lasted 3 hours and during that time we saw two of the ‘Big 5’, a Black Rhino at the waterhole and also two female lions in the distance in the grass. Night time safaris are not great for taking photos but we did get one of the Rhino bathed in the eerie red light .

We also saw a heard of Zebras running across the road in front of us which had obviously been spooked by something. We arrived back at camp at 11pm, frozen solid, exhausted but happy! We headed via the waterhole to bed, avoiding any rabid Jackals on the way ready for our 6am morning safari!