After leaving Windhoek we start to zoom along the highway – the paved road is great the speed limit is 120 km/h (75 mph) and there are not that many cars going in our direction. However we learn relatively fast that we have to be careful with the wildlife as we see troops of baboons feeding near the highway in a burned area. As we will discover across our trip the burned area is part of a Namibian program to keep quite a large swath of the shoulder on both sides of paved roads clear of brush so animals cannot hide and in our experience it works great in two ways – first you see most animals far ahead so you can avoid them and second you see lots of animals that you wouldn’t otherwise. There are even a few bicyclists on the road possibly taking a tour of Namibia.
As we pass the first larger town after Windhoek, Okahandja, after about 70 km out of Windhoek we get a bit distracted by the fact that the fuel gauge does not seem to go down and as we go km after km nothing is happening. In the end we stop on a dirt road to check again the manual and identify how to change the trip indicator to distance remaining – this will be very useful given the long distances between fuel stations.
However the short stop turns almost in a mini safari for us with multiple termite hills that we investigate, a family of warthogs crossing the road and quite a few birds just flying around (and cows…everywhere we go there are cows). The views are also great with mountains in the distance. We also check the tires and notice one of them doesn’t seem to be filled up so we decide to check all tires and top them up at the next gas station if possible.
After returning to the main road we notice the distance remaining indicator going down and after ~150km away from our rental point the dial finally budges so we can forget that worry. Pretty soon we arrive at the turnoff for Waterberg NP where we will stay the night. Still we have quite some driving left to do first 42 km on a paved road and then an additional 17 km on a dirt road. As soon as we turn from the main road we notice wildlife everywhere especially warthogs and guinea fowl. The speed limit on dirt roads is 100 km/h but the road is corrugated in some places so we drive carefully until we arrive at the NP.
The visitor center looks quite nice and we notice the fuel station nearby where we intend to buy fuel the next day before leaving. Here for the first time we observe the Namibian bureaucracy in action as we have to complete a card with quite a bit of information to check in. Finally we receive the key and drive up through the park to the bungalow zone.
When we arrive we are quite impressed with the bungalow as we didn’t expect much from a government run camp but it is a back to back cabin with a covered garage a small veranda and grill area.
Inside we have a small kitchen with a refrigerator and we like the way the towels are folded in origami like fashion.
But what we like most is the wildlife, it seems to be everywhere. First there are baboons seemingly all around us and luckily they do not seem interested in us, yet. Then a troop of mongoose is passing through and they are interested in us especially the car jumping from underneath the car in the motor area. We try to shoo them away but they really do not care that much about us and finally leave on their own accord.
Then there are birds everywhere both larger ones like guinea fowl and red billed spurfowl and smaller ones. We decide to take a hike but first we check the pressure in the tire and now it looks even worse so we decide to go down to the gas station to see if the attendant can fill up the tire. After a bit of talking he proposes to actually check the tire for punctures which we accept and he comes back showing that it is punctured by a large nail. So we change to the spare tire (which now we notice is not full size) while he tries to fix the tire.
We go back to our cabin and eat some prepared sandwiches while enjoying the wildlife and then return to find the tire ready. The fix looks temporary and he mentions that it is about 85% safe so we should keep the spare tire on and then fix or buy a new tire in the closest town. As all this took almost 2h and the sunset will be coming soon we change our plans and decide to go to the historical cemetery today and do the hike in the morning.
The road to the cemetery is pretty bad so we stop a few hundred meters away from it and then walk the reminder of the way. We know that this cemetery has historical importance as on Waterberg was the last large battle between the Germans and the native Herero where the Germans after a day of fighting forced the Herero to retreat and cede their last reliable watersource. The cemetery was built by the Germans so almost all of the buried are Germans but there is a place inside the cemetery that was recently dedicated to the lost Herero warriors (a lot more died than Germans). On the road again we see lots of birds including “go away” birds that look like a cross between a gray parrot and a pigeon and a few Damara Dik Dik – a very cute small antelope. And then it is time to go to sleep as tomorrow we have both a hike and a long drive planned.
