Asterix goes to Namibia
- Thread starter asterixsg
- Start date
carlogalliani
New Member
interesting travel and good shots
thanks for sharing
thanks for sharing
BrownBoots
New Member
Would love to go there for a self drive adventure someday..
How did you deal with drinking water supply during the self-drive trip? Load up the car with boxes of bottled water or purifying tablets?
Was there a risk of predators or elephants charging your vehicle while you were sleeping in the tent on top? The worst case of being eaten alive by a cheetah or something while asleep seems to be not impossible, no?
Thanks for sharing!
Justintime
New Member
Amazing photos, even more amazing is your determination to just do it ! Subscribing to this wonderful thread 
Hope Asterix goes to lots more places around the world
Hope Asterix goes to lots more places around the world
asterixsg
Senior Member
i got goosebumps from looking at all the awesome photos.
fantastic sharing!!!
thanks for your comments. glad that you liked the photos...
bro, where have you been ? and how are our old friends ? i hardly see zoossh posting any photos...Very nice photos!! thanks for sharing !!
asterixsg
Senior Member
Bro, you are back !!!
We need to catch up. Reading about adventures is one thing, hearing about it something else
Yeah, self-drive trips are amazing. But its a drain of my hard earned money, especially when I embark on such silly adventures alone...
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asterixsg
Senior Member
glad that these photos worked for you...
thanks. will be waiting for your Myanmar photos... all the best for your trip.
Would love to go there for a self drive adventure someday..
How did you deal with drinking water supply during the self-drive trip? Load up the car with boxes of bottled water or purifying tablets?
Was there a risk of predators or elephants charging your vehicle while you were sleeping in the tent on top? The worst case of being eaten alive by a cheetah or something while asleep seems to be not impossible, no?
Thanks for sharing!
Namibia is actually a great and easy introduction to Africa. If you have time, you can do a lot more and cover SA and Botswana as well. In fact, there are companies that do Cape Town to Nairobi in 30 days or so. Of course, it will be a bit rushed and may not be so ideal for photography...
In my case I loaded my car with bottled water. I took an average of 5 litres of water per day and stocked up as and when I found big supermarkets in towns. Used to buy those 5L bottles and then transfer to smaller bottles for personal consumption while driving...
No, there is no risk of predators or elephants charging your vehicle, so long as you stick to designated campsites eg NWR ones. Most of them have a fence around the campsite to keep wildlife away... Especially, at Etosha, there is a high fence with barbed wire etc. Of course, if you camp out in the wilderness (not recommended), there would be a genuine risk of wildlife coming close to your vehicle/tent...
I am petrified of snakes, so I didn't want to risk camping on ground. That's why I paid more for a vehicle with roof tent.
I don't wanna give you all a chance to laugh at me, so I won't go into the gory details. On my first night of camping at Kalahari Anib, I actually thought that there were elephants around my tent. After 2 hours of agony, I finally gathered enough courage to light my headlamp and get out of my roof tent to inspect what that rustling noise was all about. I finally discovered that I had forgotten to fasten the rain cover on top of the canvas tent properly and that was blowing in the wind, and at times rubbing the canvas tent and making rustling noises. Those 2 hours were the longest 2 hours of my life :sweat:
After that night, I didn't fear of any animals eating me up while I was sleeping, but I was afraid of leaving my cameras mounted on tripods at night and I not being around to monitor... I am sure there are smaller animals like porcupines and jackals, mongoose etc. that roam around freely in the campsites. These animals might trip the tripod and cause injury to my cameras - that thought alone prevented me from leaving the cameras out and shooting too long star trails.
asterixsg
Senior Member
Amazing photos, even more amazing is your determination to just do it ! Subscribing to this wonderful thread
Hope Asterix goes to lots more places around the world
Thanks for the encouragement.
Yeah, I am sure I will be going to lots more places around the world. But first, you have to setup an "Asterix Relief Fund" :bsmilie:
I have busted all my savings and more :cry::cry:
BrownBoots
New Member
Thanks for sharing the amusing experience.
I was similarly spooked by weird noises while wild camping once in the Swiss Alps especially after I was charged by 3 stupid german cows with those big ding dong bells on their necks, so I always had my tripod close to me while sleeping just in case.. :bsmilie:
asterixsg
Senior Member
39. Waterberg Plateau
I think this place has a lot of potential. There are several hiking trails. I went to this place towards the end of my journey and my mood had been ruined the previous night by some inconsiderate campers who had lit up the campsite. This is just a record shot, for memory sake...
40. Himba Wrath
During a visit to a Himba village, I chanced upon this girl giving someone a glare. If looks could kill, had she given me that glare, I would've been a pile of ashes...
I think this place has a lot of potential. There are several hiking trails. I went to this place towards the end of my journey and my mood had been ruined the previous night by some inconsiderate campers who had lit up the campsite. This is just a record shot, for memory sake...
40. Himba Wrath
During a visit to a Himba village, I chanced upon this girl giving someone a glare. If looks could kill, had she given me that glare, I would've been a pile of ashes...
asterixsg
Senior Member
Today is dedicated to lions at Etosha...
41. Lions at play...
I was told that lions are usually spotted at the Goas waterhole near Halali. So, I went there in the afternoon. At first glance, I couldn't find anything. Disappointed, I went around the other side of the waterhole for another look. Nothing there as well. Cursed my luck. I had to return to the other side on my way out of that place...
Just then, I noticed a bus load of German tourists approaching the waterhole. And the driver pointed frantically in the direction of the waterhole. From his height, he was able to spot lions in the tall grass.
I rounded up my vehicle for a better view. And for the next one hour, I witnessed mating lions, lazily, merrily, tiredly :bsmilie:
Unfortunately, the subjects were not in my control. So, I had to make do with whatever angles they provided :bsmilie:
42. Spot the lions...
Earlier that morning, after I had witnessed the aftermath of a kill at Nebroni, I had gone to Salvadora, checking out other waterholes along the way.
There were half a dozen vehicles parked there and I knew that there must be some wildlife.
I too parked at a distance and peered all around. Nothing. Zilch. Not even a springbok, no zebra either. What were all these people waiting for ? And what did they see that I couldn't see ?
After around 15 mins of impatiently looking at my watch and into the distance, I saw some movement. Oooo la la la. Lion waiting for its prey. And then another head moved. And another and another.
Almost all of us waited for the next 3 to 3-1/2 hours for a hunter vs prey scene to be enacted. I suppose the lions were just not interested in the hunt. Many animals - springboks, zebras, wildebeest - came and went, but the lions were unmoved. Even when a springbok walked gingerly within less than 40-50m from the lions, they simply sat there and didn't move an inch... We all could feel the tension in the air, but the lions were oblivious to it all....
Lazy lions.
41. Lions at play...
I was told that lions are usually spotted at the Goas waterhole near Halali. So, I went there in the afternoon. At first glance, I couldn't find anything. Disappointed, I went around the other side of the waterhole for another look. Nothing there as well. Cursed my luck. I had to return to the other side on my way out of that place...
Just then, I noticed a bus load of German tourists approaching the waterhole. And the driver pointed frantically in the direction of the waterhole. From his height, he was able to spot lions in the tall grass.
I rounded up my vehicle for a better view. And for the next one hour, I witnessed mating lions, lazily, merrily, tiredly :bsmilie:
Unfortunately, the subjects were not in my control. So, I had to make do with whatever angles they provided :bsmilie:
42. Spot the lions...
Earlier that morning, after I had witnessed the aftermath of a kill at Nebroni, I had gone to Salvadora, checking out other waterholes along the way.
There were half a dozen vehicles parked there and I knew that there must be some wildlife.
I too parked at a distance and peered all around. Nothing. Zilch. Not even a springbok, no zebra either. What were all these people waiting for ? And what did they see that I couldn't see ?
After around 15 mins of impatiently looking at my watch and into the distance, I saw some movement. Oooo la la la. Lion waiting for its prey. And then another head moved. And another and another.
Almost all of us waited for the next 3 to 3-1/2 hours for a hunter vs prey scene to be enacted. I suppose the lions were just not interested in the hunt. Many animals - springboks, zebras, wildebeest - came and went, but the lions were unmoved. Even when a springbok walked gingerly within less than 40-50m from the lions, they simply sat there and didn't move an inch... We all could feel the tension in the air, but the lions were oblivious to it all....
Lazy lions.
Today is dedicated to lions at Etosha...
41. Lions at play...
I was told that lions are usually spotted at the Goas waterhole near Halali. So, I went there in the afternoon. At first glance, I couldn't find anything. Disappointed, I went around the other side of the waterhole for another look. Nothing there as well. Cursed my luck. I had to return to the other side on my way out of that place...
Just then, I noticed a bus load of German tourists approaching the waterhole. And the driver pointed frantically in the direction of the waterhole. From his height, he was able to spot lions in the tall grass.
I rounded up my vehicle for a better view. And for the next one hour, I witnessed mating lions, lazily, merrily, tiredly :bsmilie:
Unfortunately, the subjects were not in my control. So, I had to make do with whatever angles they provided :bsmilie:
42. Spot the lions...
Earlier that morning, after I had witnessed the aftermath of a kill at Nebroni, I had gone to Salvadora, checking out other waterholes along the way.
There were half a dozen vehicles parked there and I knew that there must be some wildlife.
I too parked at a distance and peered all around. Nothing. Zilch. Not even a springbok, no zebra either. What were all these people waiting for ? And what did they see that I couldn't see ?
After around 15 mins of impatiently looking at my watch and into the distance, I saw some movement. Oooo la la la. Lion waiting for its prey. And then another head moved. And another and another.
Almost all of us waited for the next 3 to 3-1/2 hours for a hunter vs prey scene to be enacted. I suppose the lions were just not interested in the hunt. Many animals - springboks, zebras, wildebeest - came and went, but the lions were unmoved. Even when a springbok walked gingerly within less than 40-50m from the lions, they simply sat there and didn't move an inch... We all could feel the tension in the air, but the lions were oblivious to it all....
Lazy lions.
haha.. exasparating rite ? i experienced that alot of times too.. wait and wait.. but no luck..
asterixsg
Senior Member
Yeah. That's right. However, all I can say is that probably I wouldn't have had the strength to witness a kill, so probably I was lucky that way...
asterixsg
Senior Member
Its so interesting to observe the behaviour of different animals that come to the waterholes...
43. Orderly
The zebras would always be at their best behaviour. Come in queue and line up next to each other. Almost all of them would drink for the same amount of time and then leave in an orderly manner. No pushing, shoving etc...
44. Chaos
The wildebeest were the stark opposite.
The herd would come in a haphazard manner, pushing and shoving and they would almost always create a commotion...
45. Laborious
If there is one animal that has to go through a lot of pain just to drink water, then it must be the giraffe. I felt so sorry for the way, they would go about spreading their legs gingerly and then yet bend low to take a sip of water...
I was at Okaukuejo campsite for 2 nights. On both the evenings, just as the sun would set, I could see giraffes in the distance, slowly making their way to the waterhole. I would pray that they walk fast, so that I could get some decent shots in the fast fading light. On both the evenings, they took around an hour to walk (from the time I had spotted them at the horizon) to the waterhole...
And even after that, they would spend the next 10 minutes checking out the waterhole for any carnivores...
Slowly, one step at a time, they would move close to the waterhole, then agonizingly they would spread their legs and painfully bend low to reach the water... :cry:
Every time I pick a glass of water and bring it to my mouth to drink, I feel grateful that I am not a giraffe :sweat:
This one was shot at ISO5000, hate the way 7D handles noise and I have no skill to get rid of the noise in Photoshop.
43. Orderly
The zebras would always be at their best behaviour. Come in queue and line up next to each other. Almost all of them would drink for the same amount of time and then leave in an orderly manner. No pushing, shoving etc...
44. Chaos
The wildebeest were the stark opposite.
The herd would come in a haphazard manner, pushing and shoving and they would almost always create a commotion...
45. Laborious
If there is one animal that has to go through a lot of pain just to drink water, then it must be the giraffe. I felt so sorry for the way, they would go about spreading their legs gingerly and then yet bend low to take a sip of water...
I was at Okaukuejo campsite for 2 nights. On both the evenings, just as the sun would set, I could see giraffes in the distance, slowly making their way to the waterhole. I would pray that they walk fast, so that I could get some decent shots in the fast fading light. On both the evenings, they took around an hour to walk (from the time I had spotted them at the horizon) to the waterhole...
And even after that, they would spend the next 10 minutes checking out the waterhole for any carnivores...
Slowly, one step at a time, they would move close to the waterhole, then agonizingly they would spread their legs and painfully bend low to reach the water... :cry:
Every time I pick a glass of water and bring it to my mouth to drink, I feel grateful that I am not a giraffe :sweat:
This one was shot at ISO5000, hate the way 7D handles noise and I have no skill to get rid of the noise in Photoshop.
BrownBoots
New Member
I ever watched an episode on Natgeo wild that the lioness team like to lay ambush at the water hole and you see the way they deploy the positions super tactical one, literally 天罗地网 formation. Very impressive.
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