Feeling Cheated

Did a final uneventful drive through Etosha (our last game drive for this trip) and onto Cheetah Park, an out-of-the-way place that was as its name states, a cheetah conservation park. Pretty basic campsite and really hot (above 30 degrees) but thankfully a small well-stocked bar to keep us cool… firstly we went to see the ‘tame’ Cheetahs that stayed with the family in their house (orphaned cubs that had been rescued when their mother had been shot by hunters) and all had our photos taken with them. Some even got a sandpaper lick from the cats as they wound through our legs. Cheetahs are so much like domestic cats in their mannerisms (much more so than lions) except of course their physique is much more streamlined and they are surprisingly tall with long legs (guess this is why they can move so fast!) and their eyes have a wicked golden gleam.

Afterward we went to watch the wild cheetahs being fed in a large enclosure – it was great watching them trot along behind the truck, then wait patiently (with occasional cat-fight thrown in) for the choice bits of goat meat to be thrown out for them. The lucky recipient of each bit of meat would run as only cheetahs can and devour it, the rest hungrily circling for the next hunk to be thrown in their midst. Was great except for the fact that my camera batteries took that moment to die so only got half as many of the million photos I had planned to take (digital cameras can be dangerous in the number of photos they allow you take in the quest for the perfect national geographic shot!). We also saw a few cute fluffy cheetah cubs delicately nibble their evening meal under the protective eye of their mother.

Cheetah park was followed by another bush camp in the middle of the desolate landscape of Namibia and we managed to get ourselves stuck in the sand… this took a good hour the following morning to dig out and get going. Thankfully there were a lot of rocks in the surrounding area so could build a little road to the road and out of the sand pit!!

The drive day was a normal day but really enjoyed the mesmerizing scenery of Namibia, all of which looks like it is textured fabric draped over a never ending strip of blue sky and the road a narrow ribbon that runs through it. Surprisingly the roads in Namibia are nearly all gravel and dust which meant that we had to have the sides of the truck up to keep out the dust – sometimes got so cold on the road (despite heat when we stopped moving!) that we had to huddle in our sleeping bags! On the way to the bush camp we stopped at the Brandberg (Fire) Mountain to go and visit the famous white lady cave paintings that date between 2000-5000 BC. Have to admit that it was a really hot climb to see them and they were a little disappointing in size and interest for me, really just a few scratchings on a rock in the middle of nowhere. Found the rock formations and surrounding mountains more impressive.