Nkasa Rupala

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While driving through a Namibian town, I saw a young boy, maybe 9 years old, with a little homemade car attached to a long stick so he could push it along while walking upright. I remember seeing the exact same thing in Morocco in 2019 at the opposite end of this huge continent, thousands of miles and hundreds of cultures away.

Game drives in safari parks are a rough affair. Everywhere the bumpy ride is referred to as an “African massage”. An ad hoc network of tracks generally consisting of two ruts through the bush, never maintained, made worse by traffic during the rainy season mud, treacherous if the soil is sandy.

Friday, Abel took us to a small game park that had very sandy roads. Several times we bogged down in the sand. He was able to engage the 4 wheel drive, back up 10 feet to take another shot and try again. But one time he failed. The sand was so deep that the chassis of the car was resting on sand and the wheels were not supporting the car, so they just spun.

Fortunately, two other vehicles were waiting for us to pass so they could go. The two couples walked down the track to offer assistance. Maria, being the smallest, took the wheel. One of the women stood by the open window and gave her detailed instructions in Afrikaans, the Dutch-based language of white South African Afrikaners. Recognizing Maria’s blank stare, the husband told her in English how to turn the little knob to put the car in 4 wheel drive low. We put sticks under the wheels, everyone pushed, Maria gently accelerated and the car was freed. Good thing, I couldn’t push much longer without gloves, the car was almost too hot to touch – the air temp was well over 100. This was Maria’s first time operating a right-hand drive vehicle.

We ended the day at Nkasa Rupara, a small game park just across the river from Botswana. This was the first tented camp on this trip, so no aircon! The main lodge is nice, open and breezy with a nice seating area around the bar and tables set up overlooking a waterhole. It still gets very hot, but with cold drinks from the bar, we’re doing fine.

Yesterday, we started with a walking safari. Dusty, our guide, started by loading his rifle, bolt action with three long bullets, all in the magazine, none in the chamber. There are dangerous animals like elephants, lions, leopards and baboons though he said that since it was a breezy day, they would smell us and stay away. 

Dusty showed us many interesting things, like an ant that was trying to break into a termite nest (not the tall structures that are all over the savannah, these were more like ant hills in your yard). The ant would remove a piece of dirt plugging the hole, then try to go in. The termites would push him out and block the hole. This repeated until we walked on, they are no doubt still enacting this tiny drama right now.

He showed us medicinal plants, a hole in a tree where a hornbill bird would lay eggs and hatch them. They seal the hole with buffalo poop to keep out snakes while they are out foraging. They bring insects for the chicks. After the young ones learn to fly, the mother goes in the hole and the kids bring her food.

We came upon a family of warthogs, mother with three nearly grown kids. They kept a wary eye on us, but continued to root around for food. 

At the end of the tour, Dusty unloaded the rifle.

In the afternoon, Dusty took a group of us, an Italian couple, an Australian couple and us on a game drive to a boat landing. Dusty, 65, drives a safari vehicle that is a real jalopy, an old Toyota Land Cruiser, faded, lots of rattles and squeaks, the driver’s door opens with a piece of rope tied to the inside opening mechanism, the outside handle doesn’t work, a red warning light constantly lit on the dashboard, suspension shot from delivering too many African massages on the bumpy tracks. At the boat landing, we boarded a shallow draft pontoon boat for a slow cruise up the river. We saw some crocodiles and hippos but mostly enjoyed the quiet ride on the water as the air cooled.

Afternoon game drives traditionally end with a sundowner. Cocktails and some light snacks like pretzels, chips and dried meats are served as we all watch the sun go down. The kitchen did Dusty a disservice, packing only some beers and sandwiches that got all discombobulated on the bouncy drive.

In the evening, Dusty took us in his rattletrap on a night drive. A spotter shined a spotlight on the surrounding bush and into the trees looking for the reflection of animal eyes. We spotted several little hares with long tails and short ears and a civet cat, a bunch of the ubiquitous impalas and some elephants. But mostly it was nice to be in the cool night air. At one point, Dusty’s heap got stuck in sand and Maria, traumatized from our previous sand trap adventure, started worrying that we were going to be stuck at night in the African bush. But Dusty just got out of the truck, locked the front hubs to engage the 4WD and the high clearance Land Cruiser just drove away. I told her that the old, abused Toyota was not going to break down this night and Dusty, the grizzled veteran of decades of game drives in this park, was certainly the one to be with in this situation.

This morning we had an early morning drive around the park. We found some zebras, different than the zebras at Etosha, which were white on the stomach and legs. These guys were striped all over, much better looking. We also stopped close to a herd of buffalo. All the ones at the edge of the herd closest to us just stared at us I guess in case we were going to cause trouble.

It’s so hot that Maria’s toenail polish bubbled up. Each nail covered in tiny pink bubbles. Fortunately, this place has a small pool, just a bit larger than a hot tub. It’s fed by well water so it’s cold, 70° or less, very refreshing. A quick dip and the breeze almost makes us shiver as the water quickly evaporates off our bodies in the dry air. No chlorine, it’s always circulating; an outflow sends the water out at the same rate the well water flows in, down to a waterhole that attracts elephants, baboons, warthogs and impalas. Some of the elephants have learned to go right up to the spot where the cold water flows out of the pool and get their drink there, cool and fresh. The dining area looks out over the waterhole, so we always get mealtime entertainment.