Day 8…. Swakopmund Today was a ‘free/rest’ day, but no rest was had by me, although I did have a little lie-in. Starting to get low on clean clothes, I headed into town to the laundrette. Within minutes I had upset the girl in there by just sticking my stuff into a washing machine without consulting her first ☹️. This is not the way things are done. When I realised my mistake, I tried to apologise but she wasn’t having any of it……if looks could kill, my blog would have got no further!!! Clothes all clean, I took them back to the hotel and then treated myself to an eyebrow wax ?. It had been a while since they had been done and I looked great afterwards…it’s the little things ?
Next was meeting up with some of my group for a bit of quad biking through the desert. David, my new BFF, 80 year old retired farmer, had a quad when he was farming. He was a bit put out to find he had to wear a crash helmet on the tour ??. I managed to get my GoPro to work and the company we went with had some crash helmets with mounts on.
We were out for an hour and a half altogether. Had a great time. Big grins all round.
David ?? 
That evening, most of the gang got back together for dinner at a really nice place called The Tug. It was right on the seafront with magnificent views and the food was great too. The restaurant also puts on minibuses to get you home safely ?
Day 9…….Swakopmund to Brandberg. As we left Swakopmund we drove along the Skelton Coast, so named because so many ships were wreaked here in the rough seas.
Look at those lovely eyebrows!!!
We turned away from the coast and headed east. The last time I am going to see the ocean for a while ?
Our next stop was to visit The Brandberg White Lady. This is a famous rock painting. We had been warned that it was a tough walk to see the painting and as it was nearing 40 degree heat, I opted out straight away. Quite a few of the others did to. Us ‘lazy’ lot sat in the shade (still steaming hot) played cards and dominos. It was actually a really nice time. When the others got back looking very red faced and hot, I knew I had definitely made the right decision. Another lovely lodge in the desert and a very welcome cooling swim in the pool when we arrived.
Day 10….. Brandberg to Kamanjab. The next morning only 5 of us got up to go to see the Twyfelfontein Rock Engravings. As I had missed the White Lady, I felt I must go. The walk to the rocks/engraving apparently wasn’t as hard as the day before and we were going early so not as hot. There was a degree of clambering over rocks/boulders etc, but with the odd helping hand, I managed ok. The engravings were fascinating. They are thought to be between 2000-6000 years old. They were a ‘map’ to show other bushman where animals were, or to teach the young men what footprint went with what animal.
Penguin (the bush people travelled long distances) 
The circles represent where the water holes are
After the walk we collected the rest of the group, who had had a hard morning by the pool and headed to our next destination. Really nice accommodation again that night.
Day 11…….Kamanjab to Etosha National Park Up and out early, as per and on our way to Etosha NP to see animals in the wild. Etosha was quite different from Kruger in that it had much more open spaces and very dry. I still got to see loads of animals, especially Black Rhino and elephants ?????
Day 12……..Etosha National Park Full day exploring the NP on the hunt for animals. More of the same, still no sign of the elusive leopard, but a lovely herd of elephants heading to the water hole.
My favourite bit of information concerning rhino, is on how to tell the difference between the black or white rhino. Black rhino are like black women, the calf is protected behind her, like black women carry their babies on their backs. White rhino are like white women, the calf is protected in front of them, the same as white women pushing their babies in prams in front of them ?? Of course there is much more scientific ways, shape of head/lips etc…but the baby analogy is perfect for me.
And finally if a forest is petrified would you go into it???? I didn’t ?
