Botswannawanna: Road Trip Day Four: Namibia!

Nice, quiet night's sleep. I have to tell you, we whispered while in the campground. It's not like we were sitting next to other campers, we could see people through the trees, though. But we whispered. It was weird. I said to Phil, let's play some music while we set up the tent. What I didn't realize in direct opposition to camping most places in the US is that we are really, truly next to wild animals. We are in their habitat not the other way around. Quiet is natural, being able to hear the hippos in the water, natural. Blasting my playlist - not natural. Lesson learned and duly noted.

Now that the sun was up, I began the daily ritual of making the coffee. While waiting, Phil introduced the Hawkeye Cheerleader to the Okavango River. She has officially been all over southern Africa.

Once breakfast was finished, we packed up ready to hit the road. First though, we explored the campsite a bit, something we didn't have time for the night before. And, we showered in the "funky ablutions" that were all outdoors, and all open-sky. I almost walked in on someone using the Lav-a-Tree. He didn't put up the gate! Awkward.

The restaurant and bar were even cooler, if you can imagine! Plus they had riverside patios built right onto the banks of the Okavango where you could just sit and relax. There were numerous water activities, but we were just passing through. It's definitely a place where I could see hanging out for a few days, minimum.

Clever use of a makoro!

This my friends, is a swimming cage. Yes, get in, the water's fine!

Mokoros everywhere! It's like they were taunting me!

Hmmmm. This is interesting....not. But, now you see why I would like a makoro!

Alas, we had historic places to uncover! We hit the road after another cup of coffee while we explored the grounds.

We saw this strange three-legged creature on the way out.

Divundu is a town of about 5,000 people. Many tourists come through or stay for the safari drives into the Bwabwata National Park. It was a bit disconcerting to see an informal settlement right at the edge of town. Informal settlement means a settlement where people have placed temporary housing. Usually there isn't any running water or toilets; people have come to the "city" to look for work, or were employed maybe with an industry - like a mine - that has closed, and they were not retrenched. So, it's a sad part of town, and - Namibia and South Africa are the only two countries where I have seen these informal settlements. Botswana does not have them, but Botswana also delegates land to each of its citizens. Currently, both Namibia and South Africa are working to build permanent housing for these people to live in.

On Day Three, we passed this place on our way to Divundu. Remember when I was talking about the history of Namibia, and that South Africa had occupied it after Germany lost WWI, then a civil war came from 1966 until 1988? Well, the 32nd Battalion from South Africa had a base camp here, so we set out to investigate. Side note: they were known as "the Terrible Ones". The National Park now encompasses their base camp. All that's left is various crumbling structures and a lot of elephant dung; elephants who clearly don't care where they walk as long as it gets them to the banks of the Okavango.

Speaking of elephants...
We came up on this herd just as we were about to enter Bwabwata Park.

And now, entering the 32nd Battalion Base Camp.

In the 1960s, the South African Defense Force occupied the Bwabwata National Park. During that time, conservation officers were not allowed to enter or manage the park for any reason. The 32nd Battalion finally pulled out around 1990, after South African Defense Forces pulled completely out of Namibia. Here are some pictures of the abandoned base camp.

The 32nd Battalion and the "Border War" in Namibia is something that I am still learning about. Unfortunately, the remnants of Apartheid exists in Namibia, but government and citizens are working hard to overcome.

Imagine if Mexico just came into the United States one day and said, "We're taking over because Canada is a communist country, and you, United States rebels, are in cahoots with them - those Communists, and we Mexicans, we want this country for ourselves, you cannot have it." And then Cuba shows up. Thus begins a twenty year war fought on the border of Namibia and Angola by South Africans and Angolans against other Angolans and Namibians because of the perceived threat of Communism and because South Africa did not want to hand over Namibia to Namibians. And, then Cuba shows up, for real. The Border War ends after twenty-three years, ultimately South Africa gives the country back.

Now - this video is NSFW (NOT SUITABLE FOR WORK) - but it is a glimpse into a very tiny part of the war, and will lead to other links if you want to further learn more about the Border War.

OK - moving on to something a lot less depressing!

Our goal today was to reach Grootfontein. Approximately 4 hours (456 kilometers) from Divundu.

Reservation? Of course we didn't have one, but we did have this really nifty map that listed several campsites along the way. Neither of us could get our Botswana phones to roam in order to call these places to check availability and, like some sort of unseasoned travelers, we left our Namibia sim card at home.

See! I knew I was forgetting something!!

After our tour of the 32nd Battalion base camp, we headed toward Grootfontein. First stop Rundu. Rundu was a strong hold for the South African Defense Forces, it is situated on the Kavango River and borders Angola directly. I have to say, it was a weird little city. This is what it looked like as we drove in.

This truck is actually getting spray painted right out there on the side of the road in front of God and everyone. How do they prevent sand and dust? How much do they charge? Is there a waiting list?

So, some African shops have this weird policy that after you've swiped your Debit Card (and all of our debit cards have chips), and you put in your PIN number, the cashier STILL wants you to sign (what for?) and write your phone number on the receipt (again, what for?). This used to happen a lot to us in Botswana, but for the most part, they have finally abandoned the practice. I mean, if you're using a PIN, it's YOUR card, right? They would give us some flimsy excuse about Nigerians stealing PIN numbers. So, I gave up a long time ago trying to fight them and I write a fake name and number. But, Phil. Different story. Sigh. So, we almost did NOT get gas in Rundu because they wanted him to sign and write his phone number. I said, "Look, just make something up like I do!" But he was furious (it's the principle of the matter) and walked out of the store without the water. Our air conditioner had stopped working a long time ago and it was HOT and we were VERY thirsty. I just couldn't let him leave. So, he went back in, signed whatever and we carried on to another gas station to pick up some snacks and a pair of sunglasses. (Remember, mine flew out the window with the flat tire on Day One). This new gas station also asked us to sign. And put our phone number. He refused, and walked out. So I signed, "BARBIE DOLL", 123456789.

Next time, I'm going to start putting "Jenny" 8675309. Let that earworm get stuck in your head for awhile.

Onward to Grootfontein! We were ready to leave this strange little town.

As you can tell, there was not a lot to see along the way. Back to the map and no reservations. First place to check out was "Roy's". Sounds a little iffy, right? Maybe if it would have been "LeRoy's..." (shout out to Uncle LeRoy!) This is what it looked like on the way to "Roy's". Something out of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre is what I'm thinking...I know that I have my own collection of a cow skull and a couple of tortoise shells, but this is like creepy things purposely scaring people away. TripAdvisor reviewers call Roy's "quirky," "creative," "secluded," "rustic," "weird..." I call it darn right "bat-shit-crazy-Friday-the-13th-horror-flick-hair-raising-frightful-get-the-heck-out-of-here-before-Freddy-Kruger-shows-up."

Yeaaaaahhhhh. No. Bye bye bye Roy.
Heading down the highway to check out the next place on the map.

So, yeah, no. This place wasn't happening either. When we pulled in it looked like a bunch of garden club ladies having tea. Not a campground. Or much of a rest camp, for that matter.

Carrying on through Grootfontein. What we were discovering about these so-called "camps" were that people who owned land, a farm or farmhouse, were just cutting the grass and putting up a sign, "CAMP HERE." Seriously, who wants to camp in someone's front yard, and pay for it?

So now, it was starting to get a bit dark and we were for the first time striking out on finding a place. Until...we were driving out of town and we see a sign for a lodge called "Bush Baby", it was not on our list. And the sign was faded and tilted in an almost falling over way.

We decided to check it out.

What a GEM!

They had both: campsites and lodges. We decided to go for the lodge, again, setting up the tent, pumping up the air mattress...undesirable. We left reception and followed a manager up to the lodge site. Totally blown away by how gorgeous it was. Set on top of a hill, it overlooked a water hole where they had small game. And the sunset, spectacular. We grilled dinner, and just relaxed - we had the whole lodge to ourselves. Perfect!

So, I'll leave you with the stunning pics of Bush Baby Lodge, Grootfontein, Namibia. Good night!