We make our "usual" coffee/comfort stop at Okahandja. There is a nice cafe here. We try to keep the souvenir shop next door a secret, but everyone discovers it of course. Once we eventually continue our journey, we have a picnic stop in a community park near Windhoek, and then proceed directly to the airport. We are flying with South African Airways and have sent our seating requests in advance. Everything has been acknowledged and we're expecting a smooth check-in. However on arrival it becomes apparent that the airline staff have a problem checking us in. A system error?! Our booking is fine but the staff can't seem to issue boarding cards. More travellers turn up and time moves on. Richard and Dawn keep cool but continue to chat with the airline manager to ensure our guests all get on board just in time. Some other travellers were not so fortunate. Our first flight is from Windhoek to Johannesburg. Here we connect to our London flight. South African Airways have cancelled one of their two daily flights to London for some reason, so there is a bigger aircraft and seats have been assigned randomly. We sort it out and ensure couples and friends sit together. One of the reasons why you choose to travel with Furlongs .... an ability to sort out utter chaos!

Welcome home everyone. Hope you enjoyed Namibia - we are certain you will agree it is a great country.

Our activity this afternoon features cheetah tracking on foot. We leave the Main Camp by game viewer vehicle and use a radio tracker until we're fairly near by. We then disembark and walk through the bush with our guides, again using the radio tracker to get closer, one step at a time. And then we are within feet of a magnificent cheetah! Quite a privelige to say the least. Many photographs later we regroup and meet up at the Okonjima Dam where Richard and Dawn have secretly stashed champagne and snacks. Cheetah tracking - a great finale to our Okonjima visit.

Tonight we enjoy a final tour dinner. Wine is included and we toast our Namibian adventure with yet another glass of bubbly. Our coach driver Bruce and excellent guide Uanee are given many thanks (and some Toblerone!), and Tristan comes up trumps by finding some of those giraffes that should have been in the shop. Over 50 are purchased before the night comes to an end!

This morning is our introduction to the work of AfriCat. At the clinic we learn about large carnivore rehabilitation, the AfriCat environmental education programme, community support, research and the carnivore care centre. We’re also lucky to see both cheetah and caracal up close.

Back at Main Camp we enjoy an extensive brunch with a wide selection of hot and cold food, including a popular cooked-to-order “bushman omelette”. Time for a siesta now, although many guests choose to stroll the beautiful gardens instead of taking a snooze.

Afternoon tea and cakes are served at 2.45pm, before we join our local guides and game viewing vehicles to track leopard. We’re exploring one of Okonjima’s largest park areas this afternoon and there are only a few radio-collared leopards so this is challenging. However, by the end of the day everyone has seen a leopard or two, albeit this may have involved driving into the bush, along a dry river bed, through trees, and over boulders. Thank goodness our local guide drivers have done this before!

We planned to have some sundowner drinks at the end of our game drive, but due to our extended leopard tracking efforts, this turned into “sun-gone drinks”. In any case no one is concerned, and the gin and tonics taste really good.

By the way, last night's nocturnal hide viewing and this evening's nocturnal hide visit both delivered good results with sightings of porcupines and jackals.

On route south we make a couple of comfort stops. At one, Richard purchases 37 Magnum Ice Creams – which excites the shop keeper no end! Our clients seem quite pleased too!

Lunch is at Otjiwarongo, a busy town on the main road south to Windhoek. We’re phoned ahead and the Carstensen Bakery and Café has kindly reserved tables for us. Sandwiches, tea, coffee and tasty cakes are served.

Back on the road, we’re about an hour from our destination, Okonjima. Home of the AfriCat Foundation, we know Okonjima will be one of the highlight of the tour. We’re greeted by the friendly staff and soon enjoying more tea and cakes before retiring to settle into our accommodations. Dinner is served in the main lapa and around half of our guests visit the nocturnal hide. We’ll let you know tomorrow whether they see any action!
 

This evening we enjoy a private BBQ dinner at the camp’s Obama Bush Kraal. Dawn hosted the dinner drinks and Richard fears she may have gone over budget because the evening concluded with community singing around the camp fire!
 

Around 10am we loaded up the luggage and departed Okaukuejo. Not long after exiting the camp gates we spotted a Black Rhino - a magnificent animal. As he walked off into the bush we continued our journey and decided to include a stop at the Etosha Pan Lookout. The pan covers over 4,700 square kilometres and at its widest point is approximately 110 km by 60 km. It is mostly dry except after heavy rains when it floods mainly from the Ekuma and Oshigambo rivers in the north. Currently, it is certainly very dry! At the lookout we are permitted to disembark our bus and have a wander. It is an amazing landscape. Flat dry pan for as far as you can see.

Our next stop was the Halali Camp. This is situated about half way between Okaukuejo and Namutoni, and it is an ideal lunch stop. We order toasted sandwiches and cool drinks – and the Cape glossy starlings hang around for the crumbs.

After lunch we visited the Goas waterhole and discovered a lot of elephants. It was a wonderful experience, not least when the matriarch of the group decided to check us out! Quite exciting to say the least, but the bus and occupants survived!
 

Most guests are up early at Okaukuejo this morning, some joining the 5.30am game drive operated by the park authorities, and others joining our guide Uanee’s escorted drive (starting at 6.30am!). Bruce our driver had been unhappy with the coach we were using since Windhoek. The batteries hadn’t been charging properly and we didn’t want a problem while in Etosha, so Richard arranged a swap and we are using the new bus this morning.

One of our first stops was a visit to the waterhole where a lion kill had been noticed yesterday. Guests on the night drive yesterday evening had visited this waterhole. This morning the lions were still there – all with fat tummies and generally in a very lethargic state. A bit like us after one of our very comprehensive dinner buffets!

There was a queue of other wildlife waiting to access the waterhole but none were chancing their luck with the lions in situ. After further game viewing around the park we returned to the same waterhole to discover the lions had retired to shade provided by trees situated some distance from the water. This had allowed various animals to come and have a drink – including impala, springbok and kudu. After enjoying the views for some time, we decided to leave but the new bus wouldn’t start! After pushing various buttons and scratching our heads, we called for help. Ten minutes later a large number of elephants decided to arrive at the waterhole - a wonderful sight and one we would have missed if we had left as originally planned. Everyone was very happy we had broken down! When the engineer arrived all he had to do was press a button under the bonnet and we were off. Whoops!

We enjoyed some free time for lunch back at camp and time also viewing the Okaukuejo waterhole which is certainly delivering the goods - zebra, kudu, oyrx, springbok, guinea fowl, and more. This afternoon Uanee escorted another game drive. We saw lots of elephants and the highlight was probably a cheetah and her two cubs. The cheetah was stalking some springbok and the cubs were trying hard to keep up. The chase wasn’t successful but we were able to drive alongside and we enjoyed every minute.

Back at base, the Okaukuejo team had kindly set up a private BBQ dinner on the lawns near our accommodations. Marie, one of the camp managers, greeted us, and the chef and his team looked after us very well. Richard and Dawn hosted the drinks! Everyone seems very happy indeed.
 

This morning we plan a leisurely departure from Vingerklip Lodge. Perhaps 11am! We're heading for one of the highlights of the tour, Etosha National Park. On route we will stop in a small town called Outjo. Richard and Dawn will highly recommend the local bakery and cafe for a lunch snack. Dawn will no doubt recommend the gift and souvenir shop next door. At some stage Richard will no doubt start chasing guests out of the shop back onto our coach. Eventually we will be on our way north towards the Andersson Gate of Etosha. We'll complete some park entry formalities and then drive towards our accommodations at Okaukuejo. But we won't be in any rush. We will be looking for wildlife as we go and we're anticipating plenty to see.

We will let you know in the next report!

Thankfully we reached more comfortable tarmac road near Khorixas and then turned right towards Vingerklip Lodge. The lodge consists of comfortable bungalows linked by pathways surrounded by beautiful landscaping and gardens. A nice cool welcome drink greeted us and we were soon settling in and enjoying the magnificent views from our rooms. Dinner was served in the main lodge building but, by then, guests had already seen some elephants and giraffes!