Roxanne Reid's Blog, page 21

The rivers of Namibia – a different world

By Roxanne Reid
Most people have a picture of Namibia in their heads that’s all dry desert, strange-looking welwitschias and quiver trees. But if you venture northeast, above the veterinary cordon, you’ll find the rivers of Namibia –a different world. There’s nothing we enjoy more than getting off the beaten track. Up here, along the Kavango, Kwando, Zambezi and Chobe rivers in northeast Namibia, which make up the Four Rivers Route, there’s a chance to see a life lived differently. Here am...

12 things to do at West Coast National Park

Photo: West Coast Way SA By Roxanne Reid
Just over an hour’s drive from Cape Town along the West Coast Way SA, you'll find the West Coast National Park hugging the Langebaan lagoon. It's a perfect place for a weekend break from the city or even a day trip. Here’s my pick of 12 things to do at West Coast National Park. 1. Go birding At Abrahamskraal we saw coots diving for lunch, Cape shovelers sleeping and dabchicks giggling. Langebaan lagoon and the islands of Schaapen, Marcus, Malgas...

Etosha Safari Lodge: classic safari style

By Roxanne Reid
Tinkle, tinkle. After a day in Etosha National Park, listening to the low rumblings of elephants, the frenzied i-hah, i-hah of zebras and the loud klink, klink, klink of blacksmith lapwings, I turned, expecting to find a new bird. But it was the tinkling of the drinks trolley being wheeled out onto the sunset deck at Etosha Safari Lodge. The terrace at Etosha Safari Lodgewas enormous, bigger than an Olympic swimming pool I’m sure. But its finest feature was a wooden deck on...

Mamre sights and sounds on the West Coast

By Roxanne Reid
Mamre village lies about 30km north of Cape Town, between Darling and Atlantis in the Western Cape. As lovers of old buildings, we’d visited the historical centre of Mamre before, but this time we had a heritage map with us when we set off to experience the Mamre sights and sounds on the West Coast. We parked our car and stepped into the sunshine. The sound of singing wafted from the old Moravian mission church that’s the centre of the historical part of Mamre. At first we...

Tracking leopards at Okonjima Nature Reserve

By Roxanne Reid
We’ve tracked cheetahsin the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, lions near Mapungubwe National Park and desert-adapted rhino in Kunene. But this was our first time tracking leopards at Okonjima Nature Reserve in Namibia and our expectations were not high. First, rangers and guides often quip that you don’t see leopards, they allow you to see them. Second, the bush is fairly dense and there are mountains where the leopards can easily escape from us. Third, and most convincing, ou...

Etosha Safari Camp’s energetic township vibe

By Roxanne Reid
There aren’t many places in the world where you can shower with an elephant before enjoying dinner around a campfire while live music pulsates with energetic township vibe. Not unless you stay at Etosha Safari Camp 10km south of Etosha National Park’s Anderson Gate in Namibia. I have to confess I fell in love with Etosha Safari Campat first sight. Our ‘room’ was a free-standing chalet surrounded by mopane thicket and tall blonde grass so although there were lots of them, we...

Walking at Langebaan Lagoon on the West Coast

By Roxanne Reid
Goingwalking at Langebaan Lagoon on the West Coast with Eddie Papier is like having your own talking encyclopaedia. He’s lived here his whole life, first as a child, later as a ranger with the West Coast National Park.Now that he’s retired from the park, he keeps in touch by acting as a guide, and there’s not much he doesn’t remember or know about the area. Now in his mid-sixties, Eddie was born in a little house on the shores of the lagoon and went to sea at the age of 15....

Damara Mopane Lodge's edible gardens, Namibia

By Roxanne Reid
Damaraland (now renamed Kunene) in northwest Namibia is a land of dry red stones and natural wonders. But the parched landscape can produce unexpected richness, as we discovered just east of Khorixas in when we visitedDamara Mopane Lodge'sedible gardens.

The lodge had about 60 rooms but it didn’t seem overwhelming because they were laid out in concentric semi-circles of interlinking pathways, with the swimming pool at the centre. This, and the fact that each separate cha...

Duinepos chalets on the Cape West Coast

It was the end of July, a grey, wet and cold day. But we were as happy as clams, snugged up at the 3-star self-catering Duinepos chalets on the Cape West Coast, fire burning in the grate, warming wine in our glasses.

These privately run chalets are inside the West Coast National Park, about 15km from the town of Langebaan on the West Coast Way. It makes them a perfect place to stay while exploring the park (see5 things to do, below) and taking in the views of Langebaan Lagoon at Kraalba...

Climbing the dunes of Sossusvlei, Namibia

By Roxanne Reid
If you’ve never been to the Sossusvlei area in southwestern Namibia, you really need to make a plan. We’ve been four times in the past 20 years and it still knocks our socks off. Each time we try to do something a little different and this time it was climbing the dunes of Sossusvlei. We stayed at Little Kulalalodge, which lies in a wilderness reserve near the tall red dunes and white clay pans of Sossusvlei and Dead Vlei. Out at daybreak, we watched hot-air balloons infla...