Road Trip: Day Three, Namibia!

We got up early on day three, had coffee but skipped breakfast, loaded the car and headed out for Namibia. We traveled back toward Kasane in the direction of the Namibian border, crossing at Ngoma Bridge. Day three, approximately four hundred miles, we took the long way hoping for more wildlife and scenery. 

As we left Mwandi View, we turned left onto a dirt road and headed toward the Chobe River area where we had heard hippos the night before. Along the way, encountered the zebra herd that must have been the one the lions were following. And then, the hippos! 

 

After marveling over these magnificent creatures, we continued on our way.

First things first - crossing the border. The Botswana people were giving us a bit of a hassle. Phil is on his last page in his passport and his residence permit for Botswana is worn and frayed and has definitely seen better days. After much oohing and aahing and lecturing, she finally stamped his passport and we were on our way.

Namibia is a fairly simple border to cross. They do require a fee to register your vehicle, but other than that it was smooth sailing. These pictures were as we were approaching the Botswana border post at the top of the hill.

On closer inspection, the cows were grazing with zebras. Weird, I know.

We made it across the border and headed toward Katima Molilo, Namibia.

A little bit of history on Namibia: in 1884 Namibia became a German colony known then as "German South West Africa". From 1904 to 1907, the Namibian Herero and Namaqua tribes took up arms against the brutal German colonialism. The Germans, in what is known as the first genocide of the 20th Century, systematically killed over 50% of the Namaqua tribe (10,000 people) and 80% of the Herero tribe (85,000 people). They also placed the displaced men, women, and children in concentration camps, which became a blueprint for the concentration camps in World War II against the Jews. 

In 1915, after being defeated in World War I, German South West Africa (Namibia) was handed over to South Africa to govern, which they subsequently in later years refused to surrender. In the 1950s, a number of petitions were sent to the UN requesting independence for Namibia from Apartheid and the South African rule to no avail. In 1966 an armed struggle for independence against South Africa began. It wasn't until 1988 that South Africa agreed to end their occupation; and, it wasn't until Apartheid ended in South Africa in 1994, that South Africa ceded back to Namibia the port of Walvis Bay. 

As for the "Caprivi Strip", shown in the above map, it was named after German Chancellor Leo von Caprivi, who negotiated the strip of land in 1890 from the United Kingdom. German South West Africa wanted access to the Zambezi River, but they didn't take into account Victoria Falls making the passageway to the Indian Ocean impossible. In 1999, the inhabitants of the Caprivi Strip took up arms in an attempt at secession from Namibia. It was squashed by the government, and some of those rebels have been living in a refuge camp here in Botswana. 

So, that's an extremely short history of Namibia. As we traveled through the country, we realized how important it is to keep that history in context with the sites and places we were visiting and to educate ourselves further. More to come over Day 4 and Day 5 as we continue through Namibia. 

These are some of the sites we saw on the way to Katima Mulilo, the capital of the Zambezi Region.

For as long as I have lived here, I have never ever understood the passion for the fashion of short shorts worn by these Afrikaner men. Young and old. It's a phenomenon, I tell ya. Like they never outgrew the 70s. Or Sears catalog shopping.

Yes, yes this is a complete cow's leg intact with hoof. For sale. On the side of the road. Dinner anyone? Anyone? Ferris? Phil? 

And then, we struck gold! "Dr. Livingstone, I presume..." how many times did you say THAT as a kid?!

This is when the curator was about to get schooled by Professor Phil.

Even the curator's son didn't know what to think about this giant Zimbabwean Livingstone expert. 

It was a fascinating little museum. The curator, below, was quite knowledgeable also, but was keen on what Phil had to tell him. Also, we may have been his only visitor this year, that's how far off the road it was. Apparently, $30,000 USD was allocated to the curator to build this little museum explaining Livingstone's trek through Africa. It was a bit of a whitewashed history, unfortunately, but interesting all the same. We also have Livingstone markers in southern Botswana.

And then we arrived in Katima Mulilo. With all things modern, including pizza. So, while Phil looked for some special glue for the air mattress, I waited in the car for the pizza and people watched. My favorite pastime.

Let's rock and roll on to Divundu and Ngepi Camp! Shout out to Tate!

Some friends of ours recommended Ngepi Camp. We did not have a reservation, and I was getting a bit nervous because I wanted to arrive before the sun set with time to cook in the daylight. But you know us, we stop. And stop. And stop...

Stopped to have a look at this "mokoro" for sale on the side of the road. We have been searching for one, they are dugout canoes, but this one - she wanted like 800 Rand. About 80 dollars. Too much, it had some termite damage. Looking back now, I might have been able to do some bartering. My bra for her boat. You never know! She might have taken me up on that offer. This picture is funny though, I am like, "Not paying no 800 rand for this piece of crap." Or, more likely, "It's hotter than hell out here, let's go, how we gonna get this thing in the truck anyway?!"

 

Finally! Crossing the Okavango. You can see the sun is setting!!! We didn't even have a reservation. You might not know this, but I like to be an hour early to a movie theater! Am starting to sweat at this point.

The sun was just beginning to set.  We lucked out - they did have a camping space for us, yeah! But, this is Phil returning to the office because he couldn't remember if they said "21" or "27". It was the excitement of not having to continue to look for a place to stay, got his brain all convoluted.

Ngepi has what they call "funky ablutions" - and that they were. Ever tried to pee in a wide open space on a toilet? It's weird.

This one is called "Poop A Falls". It has regular plumbing, so the poop isn't falling from the outhouse like I originally thought. Duh, that would be gross! I did brave the rickety stairs to see what I could see and experience my own poop a falls.

It was quite a surreal experience to have the hippos immediately outside our tent. There was about a 12 foot embankment thank goodness, so no climbing up to visit campsite 21 or 27. Whichever. Either.

 

Nighty-night, moon. Until Day 4!