We left Epupa Falls at a decent hour, first riding four to our vehicles before we picked up the new rental (an SUV). That meant that we had to switch some of our usual riding groups around, and I wound up driving with Shapa again, as well as V and N. There is not too much to report on this adventure except for the scenery. Almost all of the driving was on gravel roads, except when we arrived in Opuwo for another 2+ hour lunch. I got another toasted ham and cheese sandwich, but knew to expect the sit and wait this time, so the beer helped.
I think my favorite part of this whole trip was seeing the wildlife on the sides of the roads. And today we saw so much! Especially giraffes, which were just everywhere. And they were special each and every time. We saw giraffes, ostriches, springbok, a zebra in the road, and at the end of the day, an elephant. My group was quite fun and we sang I Will Always Love You a la Whitney Houston while chasing the zebra. We had a couple of other stops to view the scenery and catch some
typical views, including a couple of short climbs up barren hills. Our new SUV got a flat tire early into the trip.
Our final stop of the day was to be Palmwag Lodge. First, we stopped to take excessive photographs of the giraffes, two peacefully munching away at the left side of the road, while a solitary giraffe on the right seemed to be posing for us. He ambled around in our field of view for a good 15 minutes before we left, like he had done this before. So, I got some great sunset photos of him. Behind him, much further down the hill near a lodge, was an elephant chilling. We briefly drove up to him, but did not get any great photos. He seemed to be a regular at this lodge.
The lodge itself was absolutely incredible. It was only a stopover for the night, but it is typically used for people on holiday as it is located in a conservancy area. They even had game drives and a record of daily sightings of wildlife. We had the option of an early morning game drive (before our early scheduled departure), but only one woman took
them up on it. Since my roommate and I had been subtly screwed at Epupa Falls, we got the actual lodge villa on the hill rather than the tents (which I heard were also very nice). But our lodge and the view from it.... just beautiful. It felt like we were on a 5 star holiday! I poured us each some wine from a bottle I had purchased the first day and we stayed to watch the sunset with the lucky few neighbors before heading down to the dining pavilion with an open ended view of the preserve. Dinner was also fantastic - a buffet with a giant table set for us all. There were a few other guests staying there, but we definitely took up much of the room. It was just beautiful and the food was delicious again - more oryx, chicken, salad, and squash! And night sky was beautiful - it is amazing how black it was and how many stars you could see before the full moon rose.
The room the shower hot, though it was a weird open set up so the floor got soaked and there were a few mosquitos. But
we slept soundly. My roommate and I were punctual, packed our stuff and put by the entrance to our villa and checked out before going to breakfast. While there, the lead hotel staff member informed us that there was an elephant having his own breakfast down by the pool. The few of us early risers ran town to get a glimpse and get some photos. The elephant was entirely focused on his breakfast and didnt even look our way, but I actually loved the sound of hearing him eat - so peaceful. The late risers were actually able to get some good photos as he had moved along by then. Breakfast was also very good, then it was time to leave this beautiful place and continue onto our next stop: the Skeleton Coast.
