26 January 2017, 09:53
Bill CNamibia Family Holiday with Shona Adventures
DATE OF TRIP June 2016
OUTFITTER/HOST
Shona Hunting Adventures
Johann Veldsman
Website: http://conservation-hunting.co...a-hunting-adventures
Email: hunting@shona-adventures.com
LOCATION
Northwestern Namibia (Outju, Etosha) & Skeleton Coast
TRAVEL AGENT
Steve Turner: www.travelwithguns.com
Email: steve@travelwithguns.com
TRIP SUMMARY
After more than a few trips to Africa, including with my two sons, I was finally able to make this happen. Namibia is a wonderful destination for site seeing, with lots of activities and excitement to keep everybody happy. I have been plotting this for years, and per a report a few years ago called “The Honeymoon Safari”, I knew Johan Veldsman would be a great choice to help pull it all together.
While not a “hunting trip” I booked this “adventure vacation” with a hunting outfitter for multiple reasons, including my desire to give my wife and daughter the same sort of experience that I have been enjoying for all these years. It couldn’t have worked out any better, and Johann and the camp managers (Ilouwna and Joshua) were terrific hosts.
We flew Lufthansa, and our holiday started with a day’s layover in Munich to visit family. From the airport we hopped on the S8 and took the train into Marienplatz. I always marvel at the precision of the Germans, everything is so well thought out and easy to navigate. After a nice lunch and some catching up (and promises to return), we completed our voyage to Windhoek where Johann was waiting to meet us.
Rather than drive straight from Windhoek to Johann’s farm as was originally planned, we overnighted in a guest lodge (Etotongwe Lodge) along the way. This worked out good, and I would do this again, as we got a decent night’s sleep and arrived at the farm fresh and ready to go the next day. It was really great to watch the girls react to their first sightings of African game, including an oryx that was running alongside the truck and for some reason lost his footing and did an end-over-end roll (which Sophie got on her iPhone).
Johann’s farm (Tauluka), which is ~25,000 acres in size, served as home base. The accommodations are spectacular, as is the setting on the bank of a dry/seasonal river, huts nestled into granite boulders on the side of a scenic mountain. We spent the first few days “in the bush”, including game drives, safari walks, zebra tracking and enjoying the time around the lodge. There were quite a few critters, including a willing hunting companion (Savannah), a dachshund (Sophie), a tame rock rabbit, and a bird that walks around and talks which would otherwise have been the hit of the party had it not been for the other cool creatures.
The drive to Etosha is only a few hours, and leaving early in the morning we had the better part of the afternoon and evening to drive around the park. We stayed two nights at a very nice camp (Dolomite) set high on a granite mountain top. Our hut was second from the top and offered breathtaking views, including of the water hole below. Most people were just passing through staying only a night before visiting another lodge within the park. The guests were friendly, and all in good spirits.
Etosha is an amazing place with incredible amount of game...and very few visitors. We drove from water hole to water hole, spending time at each, most often being the only people there for as long as we wished to stay.
The girls loved watching the elephants, especially the babies playing in the water and with each other. The warthogs and baboons were also big hits, and we have lots of good video on the iPhones. I enjoyed watching the different species interact, especially when a herd of elephant showed up at the water, there is no doubt who is in charge, and even the babies get in on the action. Lion are also cool, as although they basically just lay around, it is fun to watch the other animals lock-up when they realize there are lion at the water hole. There was one excited and thirsty ostrich who got a bit too close, and froze in place, head swiveled around, for at least 10 minutes.
The elephant are very docile, except for one cow with a calf who put on quite a show for the girls complete with trumpeting, dust kicking, trunk waving and mock charging. It was good, and I think they can sort of understand the thrill I get out of it now.
There was also quite a few discussions during the trip and afterwards, about the roll that hunting plays in conservation. I have been preaching this for years, but I guess until you actually experience it, it cannot be fully understood or appreciated. Something else very interesting was the unsolicited comments from the girls that although Etosha was incredible, it felt like we were just visiting, whereas the time spent on foot walking and tracking zebra was far more engaging and exciting. Exactly.
From Etosha, we went back to Taluka and decided each evening what the activates would be for the following day. We took day trips to the local attractions, most of which are close enough (close being relative in Namibia!) to be combined in order to make the most out of the time available. The pictures and timeline below pretty much document what we did, and there is a ton of information available on the Internet (including TripAdvisor), just do a Google search.
Night drives were fun, albeit a bit cold on the back of the truck. We are still talking about the hilarious warthog that backed down his den, head sticking out, just a few feet from the truck. And the entertaining aardvark buzzing around in search of ants. Johann and the guys put together a few really nice bush dinners, complete with excessive amounts of food, mopane fires, calling jackals, cooling air, and the Southern Cross in all its glory. The night sky of the southern hemisphere is something else that needs to be experienced to be fully appreciated.
The two week holiday ended with a few days along the Skeleton Coast. The drive through the Namib Desert to the coast is surreal (Mad Max Fury Road like…which was filmed here), especially when approaching the coastline and going from desert sun into eerie thick fog. There is a lot to see and do, and all of it fun. Each of the three main towns has its own flair. If in Swakopmund, might I humbly suggest the calamari at the Anchors at the Jetty...it is amazing.
Quad riding is great, and the Afrikaans gentleman who took us on the tour did a wonderful job of describing the desert ecosystem, as well as spending a lot of time at "archeological finds” which is right up my alley. The shifting dunes cover and uncover ancient relics, with the most interesting being old tools and footprints. I don’t know the exact age of the site, but “2500-5000 years ago” was mentioned. The elephant footprint below was quite large. I think I followed some elephant spoor with Buzz that was this old haha!
Next time, I will spend another day shark fishing. What a bleeping blast! The power of these creatures is unreal, and I soon learned that I was not going to “muscle” them in to shore like I thought I could. There is technique involved, and some patience required. The first one was a bit of a fire drill, but the second shark I hooked, brought in, and released. As soon as he swam away, I couldn’t wait to get another bait in the water…it is that addicting!
The girls did great, and caught some nice eating fish. Something else that comes up often, per one of the pictures below, is my “battle” with what turned out to be a very small fish. It was the first one hooked, and having never fought the current before, I thought I had a whopper. They laughed until they cried when I pulled Moby out of the surf. It needs to be mentioned, however, that Moby was the bait that got us our first Spotted Gully Shark!
The flight home was long, and we found the airport in Frankfurt to pale in comparison to the one in Munich. But we made it back to Dulles, as did our luggage, without incident. The girls and I talk about this trip all the time, and I see now what a profound impact Africa has on a person, and why she keeps calling me back.
Munich, Germany
Tualuka Safari Lodge
Tracking Mountain Zebra
Travel to Etosha
Dolomite Camp, Etosha
Back to Tualuka Safari Lodge
Himba Village
Cheetah Farm
Petrified Forest (Damaraland)
Welwitschia Desert Plant
Twyfelfontein Rock Engravings
Namib Desert Gravel Plains & Mountain Outcrops
Surf Fishing Along the Skeleton Coast (Henties Bay) for Shark, Kob & Galjoen
Dune Riding & Desert Exploration (Swakopmund)
Ancient Human and Elephant Footprints
Burial Grounds
Ancient Stone Tool & Ivory Knife
Camel Ride & Touring Swakopmund
Zelia Shipwreck (Henties Bay)
CLOSING
I hope you enjoyed the pictures. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to post them or PM/email me. It was truly a wonderful experience, and the girls and I are actively making plans for a return visit in 2018, God willing! All my best, Bill
jc