Palmwag Travel Shop Educational, May 2007
Day 1.
The catchphrase for the trip was 'Happy Days!' and as ever, Namibia delivered 14 happy days in a row. The welcome extended by Roger and Lindy at the Olive Grove Guesthouse is always a fantastic way to start (or end) a safari. Whilst camera batteries charged, Savannah the dog dozed and Tafel lagers were sunk on a cool May evening, Roger outlined the plans for the Grove's latest development - Olive Exclusive. Put simply, this is destined to be the best room in Windhoek. A stylish designer suite with two en-suite bedrooms leading onto a private courtyard above the Olive Grove after which the guesthouse is named. This will provide the ideal Windhoek connection to the growing number of private villas and bush suites found throughout Namibia.
Day 2 -3.
After an excellent breakfast (for which the Olive Grove is justifiably famous) we made the four hour drive North to Okonjima and the absolute luxury of the Villa and Bush Suite. With guestbooks that read like a Hollywood who's who, the latest additions to the Okonjima collection show just how much time and passion Donna Hanssen put into the fine detail. There are mystic symbols stamped into door frames and even the front door itself is a hanging work of art. It would take days to explore the interior of each property and probably another day to play with the massive wine coolers. However, daylight hours at Okonjima are precious, filled with big cats and an overview of the conservation work carried out by the AfriCat Foundation. The welfare and education projects run parallel to the rescue and release programme. Fascinating as the bigger picture is, we were quickly being treated to classic leopard behaviour and filling memory cards with images of warthog stalks (unsuccessful), elegant tree ascents (highly successful) and the slow devouring of a jackal (enjoyed more by us than either the leopard or jackal). Supper was a lavish braai cooked across the biggest grill i've seen and later a family of porcupine arrived at the waterhole just to round the evening off.
Day 4.
Clive and Roma who manage the Villa sent us off with lunch packs that we were still eating days later. The tar road to Eastern Etosha is quick and easy, bringing us to Mushara Lodge in time for lunch. Marc and Mariza (with 2 children and several dachsunds) have made Mushara their home and the great location places you right on the edge of the Etosha National Park. Mushara offers a variety of accommodation from the original lodge, the 2 Villas which set the national standard for user friendly luxury and soon the Outpost which will be an eight room tented camp. The Outpost will offer very spacious raised accommodation, wide verandah's and views over a dry riverbed into the Tamboti bush. It will be great to have a small and secluded camp right on the doorstep of the park and the Outpost is set to open in December 2007.
Day 5.
As for Etosha itself, there is no doubt that for a purely game based photographic experience, the park is always going to be hard to beat. Even though we drove straight across the park with few waterhole diversions, we saw lion, elephant, hundreds of zebra, wildebeest, oryx, giraffe, a relaxed Marshall Eagle and a sunbathing Horned Adder. In fact the game viewing continued all the way out of the western park and into the Hobatere concession where we stayed at one of my favourite fixed campsites amongst the boulders and low hills. This was the start of three days mobile safari under the guidance of Caesar Zandberg and his support team who manage all mobile operations for the Palmwag Travel Shop. If you ever want to experience the best of unfenced Namibia then you can't go far wrong with Caesar. There are trails in the Kunene region that remain utterly unused except for the seasonal arrival of Caesar's landcruisers. If you have ever been in a busy ski resort only to see a powder covered individual pop out from the woods grinning from ear to ear about the private adventure he has just enjoyed, then you'll have an idea of what a safari with Caesar is like.
Day 6-8.
We made our way North West through the amazing rock formations of the Khowarib Schlucht, past the busy fort at Sesfonteine before heading back off piste in the Hoanib river. By the time we reached our camp, we had hours of savagely stunning scenery burned into our collective memory. Sand dunes stacked hundreds of feet high against walls of volcanic rock and Ana trees distorted by the seasonal flood. Strong winds in the afternoon had meant the local game kept a low profile and campfire talk centred around desert adapted elephant, rhino and the logistics of operating in the area.
We woke up to a totally still morning and hadn't driven more than a kilometre in the Hoanib before we picked up the tracks of a lone elephant bull heading east. When we found him half an hour later, it was clear he was on a mission, ignoring waterpoints and fat ana pods as he strode onwards. We left him to his travels and headed south into the Palmwag Concession to find our camp ready and waiting. With daylight to spare Caesar led a walk to the local spring and we had the priviledge of spotting a single cheetah relaxing in the shade of a Euphorbia bush. Big cat sightings in the concession area have risen dramatically over the last few years but cheetah are always tricky in Damaraland and it was a pleasure to see him. The arrival of the Berg wind at 2am the following morning brought an end to sleep and I was impressed to find the entire camp still standing at sunrise.
Day 9-10.
We retreated further south past herds of patient Springbok being sand blasted by the gusting winds. Through the beautiful flat-topped mountains of Damaraland, past the Brandberg and finally rolling into Erongo Wilderness Lodge for tea. Hidden behind a smooth granite mountain and offering days of walking trails, the lodge is a welcome break from the vehicle on any trip. The pace of life is unlike most stops on a safari itinerary which seems to draw time out even more.
Erongo and Olive Grove are sister properties and they share many of the same outstanding qualities, good staff, great food and a genuinely relaxed atmosphere. After two days we had hiked over mountains, explored Bushman paintings in a private cave, enjoyed sundowners at the top of rock towers and counted hundreds of dassies. In between hikes, the bird watching from camp was superb.
Day 11-12.
Swakopmund has placed itself somewhere between a beach resort and Victoria Falls on the activity scale. Anticipating cold weather (we were wrong), we based ourselves at Rossmund Lodge which is built alongside the golf course just outside the fog belt. After a welcome supper at the Tug restaurant (still the best option in Swakopmund) we headed to Walvis Bay where our skipper Billy (Mola Mola), delivered easily the best boat trip I have ever done in Walvis. He found us all the local favourites, Cape Fur Seal, pelican, flamingo, and then a few extras in the shape of Bottlenose and Heaviside dolphin. His cooler box had an endless supply of fresh Namibian oysters and sparkling wine. The afternoon was spent on quad bikes having Steve McQueen moments in the dunes. Palmwag Travel Shop had arranged a desert supper as a leaving surprise and pulled out all the stops. Hundreds of candles lit the pathway into the boma and a table set under a lantern strewn tree, a great farewell from the coast.
Day 13-14.
Our final destination was the NamibRand Nature Reserve south of Sossusvlei, a pristine desert region which has been protected from off road driving and uncontrolled development by the Bruckner family. Compared to the busy focal points of Sossusvlei and Sesriem, the NamibRand is like having a private door into the Namib desert. It is rare to find guides who when meeting another vehicle will reverse back to a passing point to avoid creating fresh tracks, but this is standard practise at Wolwedans. Our guide Eric had been at Wolwedans for seven years and was keen to get us discussing the origins of fairy circles, Sociable Weavers nests, Oryx temperature regulation and other desert discussion points.
We were roughing it at the Dunes Camp, easily the most luxurious dome tent in Namibia, complete with a double bed, mosquito net, bedside tables and electric lamps. A raised walkway leads to your private bathroom where lights and hot water are solar powered. Walking down to the cosy main area for drinks gives you the chance to watch the chefs at work, there is no wall between the kitchen and dining room. Cooking and eating are an important part of daily life at Wolwedans and as much an activity as the gamedrives. The camps themselves have perfected that casual elegance which can only be created over time. Well read books fill the shelves next to interesting photos archiving the history of the reserve and the people who work there.
The Wolwedans Collection is about to expand with the opening of Boulders Camp in July 2007. An exclusive four room camp located two hours drive south from the existing properties, with access via a private airfield or road transfer. Boulders is set to be the desert gem for 2007.
A final drive to the Olive Grove for a quick shower and lunch before we headed out to the airport which i'm pleased to say now has a biltong shop on site. I can't share the biltong but I would be very happy to discuss any of the properties mentioned above.