Christmas etc.

Gill and Eddie arrived on the 22nd and we had a great time with game drives, cheetah walk and finding one of Tasha's favourite leopards, Honey-thorn and her cub Ximenia.

We had Christmas dinner on the night of the 24th at Tasha and GP's house with roast turkey etc.  We all ate and drank too much but it was fun.  Vlasta and I drove to the lodge on Christmas afternoon to spend some time with Gill and Eddie and while sitting on the deck in front of the lodge we had 17mm of rain and the dam filled up about 2 metres.  We had to detour around a flowing river to get home that evening.

This morning we drove past Bull Frog Pan and all the bull frogs were out!

Rain coming!

Black Rhino

Cheetah on the walk

Viewing the cheetah resting

Watching a leopard

Honey-thorn and Ximenia

Zebra snake - part of the cobra family.

Double-banded Sand Grouse.

Swallow-tailed Bee-eater

Tawny Eagle

Some additional photos

Elephant Trunk

Lioness

Lion Pair

Grey Heron landing

Male Lion

Lion sheltering from the heat

Eland Bull

Elephant Trunk

Hippo

Rock Martins

Elephant Bull at the restaurant

Bull elephant at the retaurant

Stripe-bellied Sand Snake

Mountain Zebra on Dik Dik Pass

Rainbow

African Wild Dog

The wild dogs were around the lodge today and the Alpha Male walked past the restaurant today.

Rain

Had a lovely thunderstorm this evening and the dam at the lodge is filling!  Crocs and hippos are enjoying it with the wild dogs eating a wildebeest by the water.

Erindi has had 3 years of drought in the last 4 years. Keith was at Erindi when a previous drought broke 4 years ago so hopefully the rain will continue and the dams will fill completely.

Car and Roads

On Thursday we finally got the car licensed so we are now the legal registered owners of the car, well at least Tasha is.

Keith had spent some time on updating the Erindi road maps and has included contour lines to help create new roads that follow contours to prevent erosion.

We went to map some new roads today (Saturday) and found a big male lion lying in the shade of a tree in the midday heat. This lion had an injured foot from a recent fight with another lion but is still fat and is capable of hunting to feed himself.

Internet is still shocking so no photos as yet.

Back in Erindi

We eventually got the car on Tuesday afternoon and returned to Erindi. We still have to register the car on Omaruru on Thursday and then all will be done except the airbags which will only be done next year.

Just had lunch and the pack of wild dogs were here so we took some photos before eating.

There is rain around but only in patches but it is starting to look a little greener but still no grass for the animals.

Some photos will follow when we have developed them. The internet is slow but we will try our best. They are however putting a new system in so should improve but not sure when.

On our way home we found two lionesses who had just killed a large bull waterbuck.

Erindi, Windhoek and Parties

With the hot weather the diesel generator started overheating and turning off so we had intermittent power.  Still no rain but it started getting a little cooler.

Friday we left at 5:30 for Windhoek to drop the car for the last few repairs and then to be road-worthied and registered in Tasha's name on Monday. On the way out we saw a bat-eared fox and an aardwolf, both on the public road outside of the reserve. We dropped off the car and settled in to the backpackers again. The rest of the family arrived and we did some more shopping for presents for Kiara's birthday on Saturday. We had sushi and sashimi for dinner before heading to bed.

Kiara's fourth birthday was at 10:00 at a kiddies play area with play castles, carousels and other activities. Kiara had a fantastic time along with her cousin who also celebrated her fourth birthday. We all then headed to a restaurant for lunch.

Our Car

Lunchtime Visitor

This is who visited for lunch today!

First days at Erindi

This is our second day at Erindi and yesterday we drove to the lodge and spent time chatting to friends and viewing game at the dam with one huge elephant bull having fun in the water.

Last night Tasha got an sms from one of the cheetah GPS collars indicating the cheetah was dead. We went out this morning and found the cheetah was indeed dead and his hunting partner was nearby. GP scrutinised the area for tracks and all we could find was tracks of a large baboon male. Everything indicated the baboon had surprised the cheetah and had killed it with one bite to the shoulder which severed the spinal cord. We bagged the cheetah and dropped it off in a freezer room to be picked up by CCF for a necropsy.

Shopping, banking and cars

We spent Thursday 24th shopping and banking to enable us to pay for the car we have purchased. The money we sent to Namibia arrived but we had to go the bank to fill in forms to release the funds which will only happen on Friday. Everything works in slow motion in Africa but we are getting there.

It is now Friday and we are waiting for the money to appear in Tasha's account so we can transfer to the dealership for the car.  The car is having the last few things fixed so the money and the car should be ready about the same time. We will then pick up the car and do our last shopping before heading to Erindi.

We will post a pic when we have a chance.

Buying a Car

We spent the whole of Tuesday looking for a car and eventually decided on a Toyota Fortuner.  We had the car checked out by the AA and all was good except for a few minor things which the dealer agreed to fix before we purchase. On Tuesday we signed the deal and paid a deposit and transferred funds to Tasha's account so we could pay for the car. Hopefully all transfers happen before Friday when we are due to drive to Erindi.

Travel to Namibia

We left Perth on Sunday 20th November and arrived in Windhoek the next day after a stopover in Johannesburg for a few hours.  We plan to stay 4 nights in Windhoek to find a and purchase a second-hand car.