Simanya River Lodge and n’Kwazi

In my last blog I spoke of our decision not to travel to Epupa due to the road conditions. Well, Ray and Alvan did make the trip and said that the first 100 kilometers of the road were okay but the last 60 or so kilometers were dreadful. The road was badly corrugated and not very nice to drive. In fact, most of the time taken to make the journey was spent in the last part.

They were thrilled with the views of the falls, and said it was very beautiful. The major downside was the heat. Alvan told me that it was unbearably hot and it did not cool down in the evenings. She said it only started to cool in the early hours of the morning so for the three nights they were there they hardly slept as it was so hot. Compounding the heat was a lack of electricity so their fan wasn’t much help!

These photos were taken by Ray Mandy during their visit to Epupa.

They did get a chance to take a very early morning walk with a bird guide, and saw some birds that they would not normally have been able to see.

For us, Epupa is back on the bucket list and we’ll see in a couple of years.

Driving around northern Namibia is an experience in itself. When we drove in Oupuwo we hit the first of hundreds of traffic calming devices or as we know them speed-bumps. Very few are clearly marked either by signs on the side of the road or painted road markings. It seems the authorities dare you to take them on, and you do so at your peril in many cases. The first one into Opuwo rattled our teeth and Lizzie leapt over it! After that we were much more circumspect but still misjudged many. Every town, village and settlement has more than its fair share of speed-bumps. We became adept at watching the cars coming towards us. If they bounced, we slowed down!

Accompanying them are the standard riffles, that warn you of something ahead. In Namibia, most often, it was a school. Most of these riffles were just a “rrrrrrrr” under the wheels but every now and again, the authorities threw us a curved ball and you came across one where the individual lines were around 3 or 4 inches deep so you had to go very slowly, otherwise you shook car and caravan to pieces.

Where there were no speed-bumps to keep you on your toes, the cows, goats, donkeys and occasional dog did their best to calm the traffic. The animals in Namibia’s north take their job seriously and often we would see them quite far off the road, but as we drew closer, they made a mad, suicidal dash to the tar to fulfill their traffic calming duties! Alec swears blind that the engine note of the Ford has mystical animal calling properties!

When we left Opuwo, after Ray and Alvan had gone to Epupa, we made our way to Ondangwa. The drive was exciting as I’ve described and we had made arrangements to stay at the Fantasia Guesthouse in Ondangwa, as they advertise campsites. On arriving the campsite was not very nice, just two dusty stands against the back wall of the property.

We spoke to Pieta Potgieter, the proprietor at Fantasia, and asked if we could rather have a room and park the caravan under the shade cloth outside the room. She was very happy to do so and we were soon settled into a very nice room, with Lizzie and the Ford safely parked in the shade.

Fantasia was a nice place to stay with a restaurant on the premises where we enjoyed our supper. There is a lovely veranda where you can sit and chat to the other guests, while enjoying a drink and dinner. Breakfast was included in the tariff so next morning we enjoyed a breakfast before setting off for Simanya River Lodge.

Simanya River Lodge is on the banks of the Kunene River, approximately 140 kilometers west of Rundu. We arrived and were shown to a very pretty campsite. The story of this lodge is very sad. Apparently, it is owned by a wealthy Namibian family and the lodge was the pet project of the lady of the house. She started her project by building the campsite, and it is clear that no expense was spared. The sites each have their own ablutions, a concrete slab covered with shade cloth and an attractive grassed area, bordered with a garden. She then built the lodge, swimming pool and chalets. Sadly, she passed away before completing the project, and though all the furniture is there, the lodge was never opened. With her death, her husband froze all further development and he has now put the lodge on the market.

 Sadly, these sites were not designed with caravans in mind, as it was impossible to get a van onto the concrete slab as there was a step of a good couple of inches. No problem, there was lots of shade so we parked Lizzie on the grass and settled in to enjoy a few days downtime.

The swimming pool at the lodge is magnificent. It is an infinity pool that overlooks the Kunene. It’s just the place to lie on a hot evening, sipping a cool drink, gazing at the river, listening to the hippos grunting while the sky is painted in pinks and golds. Sometimes, it’s just so tough to live in Africa!

Being at Simanya gave us some time to clear up some housekeeping issues and try to get rid of some of the dust in the back of the Ford. Alec pulled most of the stuff out so it could be dusted down but it will still need a thorough clean when we get home. Namibia has some tenacious dust – it hangs on and doesn’t let go easily!

Leaving Simanya, we moved on through Rundu to our new home n’Kwazi Lodge about 15 kilometers east of Rundu, where we were to meet Alvan and Ray again.

While going through Rundu we took the opportunity to do a little shopping. We had been advised to go to the Woermann Brock Supermarket. That was excellent advice as this was a great place to shop with everything under one roof.

Before going into the supermarket, we stopped at a Shell garage opposite, for fuel. While cleaning the driver’s window, one of the attendants noticed the rear-view camera that Alec had installed on Lizzie. The camera is combined with a small screen for the driver and it works all the time so its useful to see what’s coming up behind as well as for reversing. The attendant was amazed to see one of his friends walking behind the van, and soon we were surrounded by attendants all wanting to see a friend on the camera!

We continued to n’Kwazi, which is on the banks of the Okavango River. We were following the GPS and when it told us to turn, we both looked dubious as the road looked little more than a track. We saw a little, faded sign that said n’Kwazi, so we turned and followed a track through a few homesteads until be arrived at a gate. Going through we found we had arrived at the right place, a lovely grassed, shady campsite where we had the pick of the sites. The ablutions are, I guess the word is rustic, but perhaps a little more rustic than just rustic, with half reed walls, wasps , frogs and very fat geckos as bathing companions! Our adventure continues….

Ray and Alvan arrived and it was great to catch up again with what they had been doing. After supper we all fell into bed, only to be awakened in the middle of the night by a frantic thunderstorm. Lightning flashed and the thunder was deafening but there wasn’t too much rain. Early in the morning I visited the loo, and coming back was amazed to see a magnificent starry sky – it was stunning. That lovely sky was soon enveloped in cloud again and another thunderstorm broke around six in the morning with drizzle on and off for the next few hours. No problem, bed and a book were my companions with a lovely cup of coffee made by my ever-patient, but slightly damp, hubby.

The weather cleared later in the morning and the dreaded laundry raised its ugly head, so that was a chore to be completed. After that we went for a walk to look for birds. There are lots of birds around but with the thick vegetation and tall trees it was impossible to get good photos. We enjoyed our walk and ended by sitting enjoying the view of the river, as the sun slowly set.

Tomorrow we are off once again to Mukolo Camp in Kongola. Hopefully there is WIFI so I can get this off to Helen. Take care everyone..

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