Namibia day 13 - Etosha

This morning we went on a bush walk. We were driven to a location, and on the way we had a fabulous sighting of a large female giraffe. We were told the safety rules and the ranger loaded his shot gun as an extreme measure of safety if needed. He told us fascinating facts about plants, the termite mounds and the general habitat. We found a plant that he called the ‘fish poison’ bush and explained how his people, the Ovambo, grind the leaves and then add it to cooked porridge which they use when fishing by giving it to the fish in lakes. The fish are temporarily stunned when they eat this and so float to the top of the water, and then they can easily scoop the fish up. Other tribes have no idea why the Ovambo can catch fish so easily! He also explained how elephant dung is very important to his tribe as it has many uses - it is set alight and the smoke kills off mosquitoes and acts as  a repellent. It is also used as a paste on newborn babies as an immunity barrier to prevent them from catching diseases from those they come in contact with. 

We returned back just after 9am for a delicious breakfast. I had gluten free pancakes with berries, and they were so fluffy and light. I also had a mango smoothie made with lactose free youghurt. 

After breakfast we set off with Toni to spend the day in Etosha. We all seem to get more excited about seeing unusual birds than the large mammals. Today we had some fabulous sightings - my top wish was to see a secretary bird, and we did. We also saw three blue cranes and there are only nineteen in the entire country so that was super exciting. We were watching black faced impala and springbok at a water hole when it started raining, and it was fun watching the way the impala behaved after the rain, spronking, playfully head butting and chasing each other. The first extra is of a mother and baby. In the afternoon we found a huge herd of elephant, at least 40 elephants with babies. My blip is of two younger elephants. We found many giraffe too. We saw the cutest mongoose, a leopard tortoise and many other interesting animals. Then on the way back to our lodge we saw a cheetah. It was another great day of excellent sightings.

Tonight is our last night here at Onguma, we leave after breakfast tomorrow to drive to Okonjima which will be our 8th location on this trip. It has been a bit of a whirlwind! And we checked, their wifi is working there! (Tommy needs to do a tutoring session so requires wifi to connect with his student)