22 January 2013

Notes from the Road v.4 {... Except Not}

Hello friends!

I wanted to share the last of the instagram pics from our Namibia trip today, although I'm not so certain that it really qualifies as 'Notes from the Road' seeing that we arrived back in Johannesburg yesterday {cue heavy sigh}. Nevertheless, in keeping with the theme, 'Notes from the Road' it shall be.  This portion includes photos from the final leg of our trip through the artsy town of Omaruru and the breathtaking Etosha National Park.


My kind of road block! // African transportation at its finest // Our tent in Omaruru on Onduruquea Guestfarm - 'glamping' is my favorite! // Fossilised dinosaur tracks on the way to Etosha National Park


The road leading out to the massive Etosha Pan // Close up view of the Pan - miles and miles of nothingness // Paparazzi giraffes - how many heads can you count!? // Camp Namutoni - a pervious German Fort that has since been converted into a tourist camp inside Etosha National Park


Random cluster of palm trees in the park // A magnificent African sunset - you just can't beat them // The pool at Dolomite Camp - may just have been the most stunning pool view I've ever experienced // Enjoying sundowners on the deck at Dolomite Camp after a wonderful day of game viewing

This last leg of our road trip may actually have been my very favorite looking back.  From Swakop, we headed inland towards the small German town of Omaruru for 2 nights with no set itinerary outside of exploring town, reading our books, and stocking up at the local grocery store so that we would be able to braai and cook for ourselves in the evenings.  It turns out that doing 2 days of absolute nothing was the best idea ever.  

We checked in at Onduruquea Guestfarm and literally started doing a happy dance as soon as we discovered our furnished tent {and attached kitchen}.  The set-up was absolutely perfect for us and after having dined out constantly throughout the first portion of the trip it was great to be able to sit down together in the evenings for a home-cooked meal.  We were also able to spontaneously sign-up for an evening game drive on the farm and enjoyed tons of antelope, ostrich, warthog, and zebra sightings {but, more on this later}.  On the way out of Omaruru, we took a slight detour {Jurgen would argue with the word slight} to visit the fossilised dinosaur footprints just outside of Kalkfeld.  There's also more to come on this later, but what I will say is that the entire experience was equal parts awesome, interesting, and weird.

After said awesome, interesting and {very} weird dinosaur footprint excursion, we headed up north to Etosha National Park for a week of classic safari and game viewing time.  We spent the first three nights just outside of the park in Etosha Village {which had a similar set-up to Onduruquea and was incredible aside from the fact that I was eaten alive by mosquitoes} and then spoiled ourselves on the final two nights by booking into the new Dolomite Camp located on the restricted side of the park.  

During our time in Etosha we saw everything from giraffe to zebra to warthogs to flamingos to every antelope you can think of, and we were even charged by an angry herd of elephants after accidentally driving in-between a mother and her baby as they were trying to cross the road.  Aside from the actual game, the Pan itself was equally stunning and spans out like a huge ocean of nothingness on all sides.  At Dolomite we were in awe of their magnificent pool with an even more magnificent view and we also enjoyed refreshing sundowners at the bar in the evenings.  It was five days that won't be soon forgotten.  They were absolutely magical. 

And now, here we are back in Jo'burg and getting ready to face reality and tackle 2013 which will undoubtably prove to be one of our toughest, craziest, and busiest years yet!

Thanks so much for following along on our trip, the non-instalife recaps will commence soon :)

11 comments:

  1. Ah! I am so jealous that you got to dip your toe in that pool at Dolomite Camp! I am also SO happy that you are back in Jhb!

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  2. Welcome home Jenna!

    Looking forward to your photos and recaps!

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  3. Thanks for sharing your journey so extensively on Instagram, Jenna! I've been following along from the beginning and was always happy when I saw a new picture turn up in my feed! :)
    Hope you're glad to be home, nonetheless!

    xx
    Melanie

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  4. this looked like SUCH an amazing holiday! I'm glad you had a wonderful time :)

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  5. Your glamping experience was so much better than mine. LOVE the giraffe shot!!!

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  6. Welcome home Jen - good to have you back and so glad you had an awesome trip!! i have loved all the photo updates x

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  7. Have I told you how obsessed I am with your instagram yet! It is amazing! You get to see such great things in Africa that its making me incredibly jealous :)

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  8. i think you should submit these to national geographic....seriously you have skills and you travel the most beautiful places!

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  9. I had no idea there were fossilized dino prints and I'm sitting here just amazed, I cant get it off my mind lol. Like, it's officially on my bucket list, I have to see this before I die! Is it legit? Like.. am I being crazy for being so shocked? Or Am I being stupid for believing it? Im so conflicted!! lol

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  10. What an incredible experience! Your pictures are just gorgeous!

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Thanks for the love!