Weekly Update #4

Only 11 more days of voting.
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Thanks again to everyone who have been helping me get the word out though email, twitter and facebook. You guys are awesome and I have endless gratitude!

The support is paying off and I am still in first place. ☺

Feel free to leave a comment on my video entry place. There have been some interesting ones lately…

Ever thought about taking an African Safari? You don’t need to spend big bucks in South Africa or Tanzania. My favourite place for wildlife viewing is in Etosha National Park. The park is located in northwestern Namibia and is dominated by a salt pan desert. In the dry season a huge number of animals congregate around 50+ waterholes.

I booked a small tour with two British gals, a guide and a driver. We spent four days camping and driving around the park in a small jeep. The meals were delicious and I ate barbequed kudu, ostrich, oryx and beef. Namibians love their meat!

There are security fences around the campsite areas to keep dangerous animals out. Smaller animals can still get through like warthogs, honey badgers and jackals. Jackals are scavengers and hang around campfires looking for scraps. The campground gets quite dark at night and sometimes they pop out of nowhere howling at people. I was startled quite a few times!

Sleeping was challenging at first since animals like warthogs were constantly investigating my tent during the night. I also woke up numerous times by roaring lions right behind the campsite fence.

Campers need to be cautious of scorpions. Scorpions enjoy hiding in sleeping bags, shoes and underneath tents. I saw many scurrying about and stayed out of their way.

One camp was situated around a large waterhole. A huge viewing platform was constructed so campers could sit with a cold beverage watching the animals. Black Rhinoceros are endangered and difficult to see in the wild. I was lucky and saw a large family group of eight rhinos arrive at the waterhole. When big predators like lions visit all the other animals scatter. I felt bad for one skittish giraffe who’d been trying to work up the nerve to drink for 30+ minutes before being frightened away.

A very funny thing happened to our group while on a game drive. We spotted three cheetahs lazing in the grass 25 metres away from the road. The driver turned off the engine as not to frighten them. After some time observing them it was time for us to move on. The engine would not start! This had happened the day before at a gas station and we had to push start it.

So very carefully we got out of the jeep preparing to push. All of a sudden the Cheetahs stood up and started to move around. The guide frantically shouted "GET IN! GET IN!" and we all dove back into the jeep mission impossible style with out hearts pounding.

The Cheetahs were not interested in eating us for lunch and ran off in the other direction. It was an exhilarating moment.

We eventually got the jeep push started and carried on with the afternoon game drive.

I loved camping and I went shopping for a tent when the safari was over. It was cumbersome to carry a tent with my backpack for the next few months in Africa but worth it for my budget, privacy and a closer connection with nature.

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Oh and if you missed my Youtube support video from last week check it out here