A couple more days at Etendeka, mountain hikes in the mornings and game drives in the afternoon. We saw another larger pride of lions and the rare black rhino, albeit at quite a distance.
On from there we headed north east to Etosha. On the first evening in the lodge it was surprisingly cold, it has been the only time our fellow diners were in ski wear, including the ear warmers, they were obviously better prepared then us.  They all must have researched Namibia better, we just thought Africa it will be quite warm. Nice to be in the quieter, restricted western part of Etosha first, spent the second night in the middle closer to the pan. Saw masses of wild life, many elephants, the black rhino at the floodlit waterhole.  At one water hole literally hundreds, probably a thousand, zebra, although the big cats eluded us. It was warming up again too.

Leaving Etosha we headed east again towards the Botswanan border, a distance of 297 miles on roads that could be described as interesting. The border is close to the Kalahari and is the area the indigenous Bush people have been allowed to settle and live their lives in the traditional manner if they wish.. There has been some intermarriage but lovely to see the golden faces with high cheekbones, almost reminiscent of the Mongolians. We stayed on their land that evening in the shadow of an enormous Boab tree, no facilities but charming although pleased we didn't hear the hyena in the night when we were shown their tracks the following morning.

A short journey to the border, which was just a couple of huts, and then into Botswana, another long drive, 230 miles, where the already interesting gravel road became more of a cart track, it really feels as though we have got away from the tourist routes and the adventure steps up a notch.. Drove to the lodge by the Okavango river and this morning have been on a boat ride wonderful birds, bee eaters, kingfishers and fish eagles to mention only a few. And of course enormous crocodiles who all took to the water towards us as we passed.

 It is so different from Namibia, green and with water which means bugs too so the malarial tablets have to be started. Its also getting a lot hotter, a more humid heat than even the hot days in the desert.

Further north and inland we go through Damaraland. Very arid semi desert with enormous rock formations turning to blood red in the sunset. These formations also had  the early Bushman,s paintings and engravings. They date from 6000 to 2000 years old and are all most fascinating.

 Its also getting very hot now, well into the 30's and we camped for 4 nights through this area, the first site only had a toilet but in the next 3 we had our own basin, toilet and shower, the hot water  morning and evening being provided by a donkey boiler. All individual sites too, luxury camping!

Now in northern Damaraland and staying in an elegant tented lodge, all meals and drinks provided. The drive into the mountain camp itself took an hour but it was superb. Not only were we rewarded with immediate sightings of giraffe, mountain zebra,oryx, springbok and kudu but the 17 km track was a fantastic off-road route through fabulous scenery and at times quite challenging, off-roading doesn't get better than crawling down a rocky route into a drying river bed to discover a herd of zebra grazing at the bottom.

They are lucky here that they have some springs in the area so it attracts the wild animals and they remain. A game drive in the evening resulted in us seeing lots of the animals already mentioned plus 3 rare desert elephants (one being a young one), a pride of lions and 3 cheetahs, It was amazing.

This morning a dozen or more kudu clattered next to the tent and we heard lions during the night, it has become a real safari. We also took a long walk through the local mountains, seeing fascinating rock formations and mineral deposits everywhere.

Just like London buses, a long wait then two at once. This is the first decent wifi we have had so far so a bit more catching up.

From Fish River canyon we headed up to Aus. A one horse, one shop town but with a decent camp site where we stayed in a hobbit hut built into the rock face. The usual warnings about snakes and mice entering the hut but thankfully neither did, well not that we saw. We were woken in the night by something jumping on the roof and running across, don't know what but it was big and agile.

Aus was the base for the 60m trip in Luderitz. A quaint colonial town with German style houses painted in bright colours but the highlight was visiting Kolmanskoop, a deserted diamond mining town that is being buried beneath the encroaching sands. It was quite an experience to walk inside the houses, some still with coloured wall paper and seeing them half filled with sand and the signs of desert creatures.

From here we moved up to Namtib, a former farmstead now purporting to be a bioshpere reserve. Well we saw little wildlife here except some baboons but it was a splendid isolated desert camping experience. It is amazing how quickly one adapts to an environment, we both were surprised that we took a three hour walk in the desert and through a valley far from any other humans, and still felt totally safe.

From Namtib we again headed North and closer to the coast, staying just inside the gates of the National Park. This gave us the chance to be on the road at 06.20 to race to the dunes of  Sossusvlei to watch the sunrise change the dunes into a host of colours. Well that is what the guide books said, it was pretty cool but a tad short of the hype. We did, however, get to share this magical place with just one other couple and four ostriches.

We next headed further north to the coastal towns of Walvis Bay and Swakoptmund. On the way recrossing the Tropic of Capricorn,

The journey was long and not helped by the badly corrugated roads for most of the route. We did travel through some pretty impressive scenery on the way and on arrival were rewarded by a wildlife wonder. Walvis bay lagoon is home to hundreds of flamingoes and they strut their stuff just feet from the promenade.

Today, being Sue's birthday she opted for a boat trip to see pelicans, seals and dolphins. Two out of three isn't bad, no dolphins but unexpectedly to all two humpbacked whales pitched up and put on a show by the boat. A perfect birthday present for any girl.

Tomorrow we are heading up towards Damaraland, a more remote rugged part of the country so we expect to be far from wifi and mobile signals for a few days but we will be in touch when we can.

upon leaving Bagatelle game lodge we decided to take an alternate scenic route via Olliphant river (well beside a dry river bed and a lot of the time in the dried up river bed!). a good route and mid afternoon arrived at Mata Mata, a Transfrontier game reserve in South Africa. We were camping and I have never been so cold, it is dry here and the taste of dust is in your throat but the weather has mainly been the bright cold reminiscent of ski ing. Saw a lot of game, herds of springbok and wilder-beast, ostrich, jackals, kudo and oryx but unfortunately the black maned Kalahari lion escaped us.

PHOTO Kalahari bushmen taking us to their village.

Moved back to Namibia and camped overnight not as cold in a superb bush camp with only one loo and a shower activated by lighting a fire behind it but the scenery was stunning, quiver trees amid dolomire rocks resembling a lost city. Only one other couple in the camp.
The next day, the opposite accommodation, a luxury chalet room as part of a lodge overlooking the fish river canyon. Superb views and at dark (which is 6pm here) the stars can be seen from the room. A mixture of nationalities but the majority of the 6 couples here are South African. Had a walk along the ridge for a way and the following day took a Jeep into the canyon right down to the small water pools remaining with their cat fish. it hasn't rained here this year so everything very dry.

that is up to date as on the 3rd September and hoping for internet access soon.