Early Green Season Caprivi
Compared to its neighbours, Namibia really is a true year round destination. The summer rains that make the roads of Zambia impassable and the foliage of the Okavango so thick it can easily hide a herd of elephants, have relatively little impact on Namibia. In fact by April, the rain has actually made the great empty spaces of Namibia even more colourful. So I was looking forward to spending some time post-WTM in the Caprivi Strip which is now a month into the new rainy season.
This finger of land bordered by perennial rivers is home to greater concentrations of people and wildlife than any other district in Namibia. Flying hassle free from Johannesburg - Livingstone - Impalila Island takes about 2 hours and 15 minutes in the air. The boat transfer to Ntwala Island Lodge takes 25 minutes, leaving the hustle of the Kasane riverfront behind and you've arrived in a waterworld which has nothing in common with the landmass further west, other than the citizenship of its inhabitants. It is a superb contrast to the vast empty Namib desert and the stunning basalt scenery of the Kunene Region.
The Caprivi has a unique soundtrack of nature mixed with the daily activity of human Africa. Hippos, frogs, birds, elephants, children, singing mekoro fishermen and the river running over shallow rapids all merge into one. Where the desert is largely a visual experience and the prevailing noise is silence, the Caprivi is as much about sounds as images. The evening is a staggering frog chorus and the morning (at Ntwala anyway) is all Trumpeter Hornbills and the water splash of Cape Clawless Otters and Pied Kingfishers.
The rainfall hasn't been heavy enough yet to entirely scatter the game, with the usual amazing elephant activity in the Chobe National Park, good sized buffalo herds, giraffe, puku, Red Lechwe, warthog pigglets and all seen up close from the comfort of a private guided Ntwala speedboat. In fact I had to make a concerted effort to get away from the usual wildlife suspects and explore the various permanent islands, waterways and sandbanks of the Zambezi, Chobe and the Kasai channel.
The birding here is always spectacular and I was happy to see literally hundreds of Openbilled Storks at work on the local snail population, Bluecheeked, Little and Carmine Bee-eaters, Black Crake, Diederik Cuckoo, Water Dikkop, Fish Eagle, Pygmy Geese, African Marsh Harrier, African Jacana, Malachite, Giant, Pied and Woodland Kingfishers, Paradise Flycatchers, Heuglin's Robin, African Skimmer, just about all the herons. That in just 24 hours and we weren't specifically birding but it's a huge selling point for the area.
And the lodges? Ntwala is magnificent, hidden away on a private island on the Zambezi with just 4 huge suites, each with a plunge pool, deck and swing chairs for watching the river life drift by. The suites are graced with every luxury you'll ever need without being over the top, it's carefully planned superiority for people who want their accommodation to be as special as the location.
Impalila is located a short distance away on the edge of the main island and overlooks the Mambova rapids, managed by the very capable Craig and Tinolla. Like its super luxury sister lodge, it runs like relaxed clockwork. The lodge is being renovated in early 2008 with upgrades to all rooms, soft furnishings and a pool relocation for increased privacy. The food at both lodges is unbelievably good and every guest has a private 'wow' experience at some point, either supper on their own deck or private sundowners on a sandbank. The lodges are staffed to make it easier to go the extra mile and private guided activities are standard at Ntwala and other than the busiest days, also at Impalila.
Being based on Impalila Island means you can take a guided botanical walk which also stops at various villages. The medicinal uses of trees aside, it was a real pleasure dropping in on both schools and the local clinic. The secondary school used to be a SADF military post and the classrooms still have gunslot windows! We also visited a fishing village early in the morning to watch the catch coming home, none of these activities are timed to regularity which means you aren't arriving at a village on parade, just seeing a little bit of local life in action. The guides employed by Islands in Africa are superb and were as confident leading walks as they were on the water. If you can't face leaving without catching a Tiger Fish, ask for Thadeus, the human fish-finder.
If you aren't flying to Susuwe, the road transfer begins in Kasane (Botswana), heads into the Chobe National Park to Ngoma Bridge (Botswana/Namibia border post) and finally you meet your Susuwe guide at Kongola Bridge checkpoint. Door to door it takes around 4 hours including a few photo stops in villages en-route. This can certainly be considered a scenic drive and there are plenty of wood carving markets along the way.
Susuwe Island Lodge is a classic Caprivi gem, hidden on another private island (there is a theme here), just six spacious rooms with private decks and plunge pools looking out over the papyrus. The thatched main area has a three tiered birding deck built under the branches of a Sausage Tree. It is a very different setting to the big rivers around Impalila Island with views across the narrow Kwando River.
Although the Kwando river provides hours of potential boating exploration (not in mekoros due to the hippo population) you also have the chance to drive and walk with the local wildlife. The Bwabwata National Park has a number of excellent wildlife hotspots including the easily reached Horseshoe (an oxbow lake and favourite Susuwe sundowner spot). I was lucky enough to see a pack of wild dogs here last year in November. This year Bevan the head guide used his 14 years of local experience to show me some of the smaller highlights of the area, including some very young Impala, some "should have been here 5 minutes ago" Sitatunga tracks and fresh flame lillies. Although we just took a short 2 hour walk before breakfast there is potential here for some serious game trailing.
The 4 hour road transfer back to Livingstone (via the Wenela border post into Zambia) is interesting for the colourful bottle stores and ramshackle villages that dot the road. Please note that the border facilities on the Namibian side are being rebuilt and upgraded for 2008.
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