And on to Namibia

Up at 5am...this will become a pattern in Africa. We haven't slept well. Anxious not to miss our shuttle for the airport we had set Hilary's cell phone alarm but somehow we had miss-set it and it had gone off four times in the night. A good breakfast and then off to the airport for our short flight to Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. An hour and a half and here we are on the tarmac at Windhoek.

 I am bubbling with excitement. The sky is a blue, blue and the golden sun bathes us in  a hot dry heat. I can't believe I'm in Africa and keep pinching myself. Our guide for the next two weeks, a 31 year old Namibian, named Ronney, meets us. He takes us to our truck, a purpose built safari vehicle with large panoramic windows and a pop up roof for animal viewing.

After a short briefing we head into Windhoek, about 30 minutes away. Our cook for this leg of the trip, Jonas, is buying supplies and we will meet him there. We have an hour to look around Windhoek...smart shops, a well stocked supermarket and affluent looking well dressed locals. I buy a sim card for my cell phone. Despite Vodafone's assurances in New Zealand my phone doesn't work here. At last, fully provisioned, we set off for our first camp, about an hour and a half's drive away. We all shriek with excitement when we see a troop of baboons on the local rubbish dump....our first view of wild life.
          

We stop at Melrose Safari Park, a small clearing adjoining an upmarket lodge. We pitch our tents for the first time, explore the camp's clean toilets and showers and climb the high tower overlooking a large, lake-like water hole. In the distance we can see baboons and springbok and there is a cheetah kept captive in a field beside the camp. We are excited to see the cheetah but, due to its captivity, don't count it as a true safari sighting. We see our first African sunset, a bright red ball slipping behind the hills.
We sit around the camp fire under the stars and feast on chicken cooked in ginger beer, rice, corn and marshmallows toasted over the fire on a stick. It is romantic and convivial and a great start to our adventure.

  

Photos: (1) Our safari vehicle  (2) Our first campsite, Melrose Safari Park