It seems like I hear not a whole lot about side trips to be done after the hunt . . . so here are a couple of mine. I enjoyed the week spent following the hunt screwing around in Nambia easily as much as the hunting. I find it hard to believe that a lot of guys skip that part.

Anyway, first stop after the hunt was Etosha. I only have a few photos handy, but you'll get the idea. Had a great time there for 2 and half days. Stayed at Okakuejo (spelling?). We got the luxury bungalow right next to the luxury bungalow where the Miss Namibia contestants were staying. The "scenery" was very nice. I thought the cost of accomodations wsa down right reasonable.







Then it was on to Swakopmund for a day and a half. First up was kayaking in Walvis Bay by the big fur seal colony there. This was one of the absolute highlights of the trip. Hopefully the photos will capture some of the excitment. By the way, the guide for this was superb. She took some of these photos for us and emailed them to us later.













The website for her is http://www.emkayak.iway.na/. Fantastic. I can't recommend this highly enough. If anyone is feeling weak, this isn't exactly high stress kayaking. There are motor boats that do these tours too, but they looked a lot less fun.

The next activity was sand boarding. Basically snow boarding down a big sand dune.







I'd never snowboarded before this and only been skiing a few times. Wayne, the proprietor, was a great teacher. Even better, he is of English decent. I was getting tired of hearing freaking German everywhere, so that was nice.

Website for wayne is http://www.duneseven.com/index.html. The really nice thing about going with Wayne was that he's got a 4-wheeler to run you to the top of the dune with. Some of the other companies make you walk to the top. Wayne was also great about driving us to and from Swakopmund and was real flexible. I had a great time with this.

After sandboarding, we went to the Namib-Naukluft Lodge and took a tour of the dunes at Sossusvlei. Absolutely beautiful. This part of the trip was more about big landscapes and not so much on wildlife. It was still an amazing part of the trip. Sorry, no pictures handy for this part of the trip. If your keeping score at home, the Sossusvlei part of the trip was the most expensive. If you're pinching pennies, start here. After the tour, it was off to the airport and post safari depression syndrome.

Those are some great photos. I really like the ele calf climbing over the bank as it reminds me of some memories around a Zim spring/water hole.

Also the seal photos are fantastic. I would love to do a side trip like that. What was the approximate costs of these side trips?

I'm guilty as charged and have not been able to spend time doing these side trips. I would like to change that next time.

I think I saw the same bull elephant 3 years ago in Etosha. He walked up on our VW van on his way to hang out with some cows and calves (who wanted nothing to do with him). His tusks were broomed back almost to the gumline. My PH told me the mineral composition in the area made ivory brittle. Bob

Same ele? That is interesting.

There may be something to that brittle ivory - we saw quite a few with broomed tusks.

Basically none that would be called a "trophy".

Very nice. Thanks for sharing them with us. Great ideas for side trips.

What a great trip, I'm thinking about trying to make the same arrangements so that my daughter can have a broader view than just accompanying me on a hunt. Thanks for ideas.

My suggestion, based on the experiences that I made two years ago and this year, is made a halt long enough to visit and see anything is interesting in the area.

Two examples
Etosha: I think that two nights and a day in Halali are absolutely necessary. my suggestion is organize to stay in a comfortable way all the day and a good part of the night at the waterhole.

To visit during the day also a waterhole at Tsumcor, but it is less comfortable but it seems to be preferred by many elephants. not organized, is necessary to remain on car.

Twyvelfontein:
there is a lot to see, desert elephants , graffitis engraved in the rocks, and much more.


I'll be back, as soon as possible with this program (stay long enough to), because this year, my travel buddy was the worst that was possible, on a long travel, while is near to perfect on a short one. He made me run from a stop to another histerically. And I could not enjoy the trip.

Wink asked me some relevant questions in a PM for anyone wanting to do these side trips, so I'll just post my reply to him for everyone to see.

To answer your questions . . .
1. We had everything prearranged before we left by Rita Rohrman, Dirk's wife. We hunted with them. Rita was our touring guide until we got to Swakopmund. If you haven't noticed Eland Slayer's thread about Etosha, it now seems like Rita is trying to get out of the business of being a tour guide and is farming that part out to third parties. Way more expensive (his quote is about what it cost me for my whole week of touring). Stay in the park - far cheaper and, in hindsite, easily done by yourself.
2. I spent 6 and a half days hunting. Then we spent basically a day traveling to Etosha. Then six full days of touring. That was followed by a travel day back to Windhoek. My wife had this all planned out on a calendar in Microsoft Word that I can email to you if you'll give me your email.
3. Rita gave us a quote for the whole thing, so I'm not sure what the individual pieces cost. I got basically two charges - one for $1,880 called "Etosha Safari" I believe that included having Rita as a guide, the vehicle, all accomodations at Etosha as well as everything in Swakopmund including meals, shuttles, kayaking and sand boarding. The second charge was $1,346 for the Sossusvlei tour. This is basically a package deal done by the Namib-Naukluft Lodge. This included getting picked up at the hotel in Swakopmund, being driven to the lodge (first day), all meals, a personal guide, and then the trip itself to Sossuslvei (second day). The third day it included a shuttle back to the airport in Windhoek. This was all for two people.

quote:

There may be something to that brittle ivory - we saw quite a few with broomed tusks.

Basically none that would be called a "trophy".

The fluoride contents in the water in and around Etosha is very high, making the elephant's tusks brittle and mostly broken/ broomed off. That is why I sell the elephant I have on quota close to Etosha for a very reasonable price, mostly to hunters just after the hunting experience of these huge body-sized ele's, not too worried about tusks size.

Here's something else that is a must in my opinion. The beach fishing trips are cheap and a lot of fun.



Notice the absence of people on the beach. We only saw one other vehicle all day.

Wow, that is cool. Wish I'd have had time to work that in.

Is there a guide you recommend?

Great pictures JVinAK and YES it is worth allowing for some extra days either after or before your hunt. Namibia is a beautiful country with diverse landscapes and a must see. You are in anyway coming all this way why not do some sightseeing.

Depending on how many days you have, I would say Etosha for 2 nights and then a visit to the Namibian coast for fishing or any of the other activities in and around the dune area.

I think it is great if hunters want to experience more of Namibia not just the hunt area. I am the PH for the hunt and the tour guide on the sightseeing trips. For me, the tourism is just an extension of the hunt and great to experience with my hunters and their families.

Etosha Park - Waterhole

Sossusvlei - morning and afternoon charter flights

Namib dune - 4 wheel bike rides

Ova Himba people village visits

Boat Fishing, Namibia coast

Bushman rock art sites