Okay, so it has become obvious to me that as much as I mean to write updates on my blog, I am not. This week we actually DID something so I figured that since I have pictures I should write. Soon we will be leaving Namibia and heading off for our next adventure. We have been out and about in the area on some trips, but especially with the children still so young I wonder how much they remember. Taking an afternoon trip to Okapuka seemed like a good way to refresh their minds with some of the wonder and beauty Namibia has to offer.
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| Before our game drive we had a snack at the lodge cafe. Warthogs were running all around the area and Justin and Ryan wanted to get a closer look. At first they were hesitant and then they got bolder. I had to remind them not to chase after the poor animals. |
Before we even left on the 1 1/2 hour game drive, Ryan managed to fall into the pond. Yes, I had told him not to get too close. His shoes and socks were soaked and his pant legs and rear end were very soggy. In the car I did have some spare clothes, but not an appropriate replacement. It is the middle of winter here (thus the long sleeves in the pics) and all I had in the car were some shorts. I chose shorts because they easily fit either boy and we haven't really needed any spare clothes since summer anyway. I did not have spare shoes, but this is Namibia and shoes are optional pretty much anywhere. (It still weirds me out to see people running around barefoot in supermarkets and malls.) Not ideal, but we were still ready to go.
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| I enjoy the clear blue skies of Namibia. |
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| Warthogs are so ugly that they are cute. I love the way they get down on their little knees and stick their snouts in the ground to eat. One of the animals I least fear, but I am sure they could do some damage. |
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| The only thing I saw move on this guy were his eyes. They would slowly open a bit, roll around, and then close. |
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| Get out of the way, giraffe! |
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| I love seeing giraffes. They are just so interesting to watch. |
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| These trees have thorns that are nasty. Doesn't seem to bother the giraffes though. |
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| I could hear the bones snap. Justin noticed that meat has a lot of red. Most of us know that red as blood. |
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These rhinos really got into it with each other a couple of times. We were often close enough that we could touch one if we had wanted. The lighting didn't help me with getting good pictures, but you can see from the shadow just how close we were.
There were also, of course, about a million different kinds of antelope and other less known animals. I swear I could live here 100 years and never get them all straight. They included kudu, springbok, wildebeest (gnu), bush buck, oryx, and waterbuck.
We knew that Justin can get seasick, but this trip makes us think that his motion sickness is getting worse. He really enjoyed the first part of the drive, but by the end he was curled up in a little ball covered with a blanket. Luckily Ryan didn't need the blanket right then even though he had bare legs and feet.
It was a nice little trip and I hope that the boys have some nice memories of the animals we have seen here. It is definitely different than a zoo.
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