day 12

We had an early start, packing our luggage and tent while it was still dark. Despite having spent the previous two nights in a hotel, I felt this process went relatively smoothly by now.
We had lunch at some kind of cheetah reserve near Etosha NP. From what I understood, there is too much wildlife in Etosha and the cheetahs are losing the fight for territory and food from other predators, therefore people setup a reserve to save them (solving a problem caused by human interference with more interference). We had the option to join a game drive in this reserve, and although it would almost guarantee that we would see cheetahs, I did not feel like spending money on what was essentially a big zoo, when there was an entire national park literally around the corner. I preferred the ‘real thing’ or nothing at all. As the majority of our group did want to join, the few us remaining had a cold drink in the bar, which was a welcome treat in the heat of the day.
When everybody was back, we had lunch together and then moved on to Etosha NP for a game drive in our truck. It is indeed true that we got to see many animals. Also here I have to admit to being a bit spoiled already, as I would not get as excited by far from seeing a zebra as the Belgian girls did (although I have to admit that I never started screaming upon seeing one). Still there was enough to see to spark my interest, including some lions lying around in the distance, that we would later find out were only a meager sneak preview compared to what we would see later that week. One of the animals that I had never seen before this trip, but that I thought is very beautiful and impressive and popped up everywhere is the spiesbok and I had also forgotten how beautiful kudus are.
That evening I decided to not take camping trips like this anymore and herewith I make this an official note to myself. I can deal perfectly well with sleeping on a thin mat on the floor, sitting on uncomfortable chairs that wobble all the time, eating with a spoon or fork only from a plate that is on my knees (not much different from an average dinner for me anyway), needing a flashlight to see the food on my plate or to walk to the restroom in the evening (I avoided beer in the evening, to avoid having to make those trips in the night), or drinking my juice, tea and wine from the same cup (in fact I cannot understand why some people cannot seem do this). And I am perfectly happy to apply slightly lower standards when it comes to my personal hygiene. If everybody around me has come down to a lower level and I am not standing out like an ill-mannered smelly hobo, I can live with the constant dirty nails, limited access to matching or even clean outfits and the slight BO associated with the lack of washing, with the continuous exfoliation brought on by the adventure dust that is everywhere and a big bush of messed up hair on my head and some fluff in places where usually there’s none. In fact, I don’t care too much about my appearance anyway, so in some respects I find it even relaxing to find myself in a situation where I can let myself go without feeling too much like a miss-fit. But I figured life is too short to spent a lot of money on a trip where I have to wake up every single morning only to spend the first 45 minutes rushing to pack my bag while constantly being unable to find stuff and to tear down and pack up our heavy tent, without having the opportunity to quietly sit and drink some tea first. My hands were so dry that my skin would crack open and start bleeding upon the slightest brush against any type of surface despite the layers of good quality had cream I found in the store and that I would apply every chance I got. I got tired of the amount of zippers that I had to open and close every morning with those painful hands and of those few dozen nasty hooks that had to be torn off the tent poles every time, that made those first 45 minutes even less bearable. And on top of that was the endless loudness of some of the people around me, I mean really, if somebody is standing next to you, you don’t have to yell and if he is not standing next to you, you could consider walking over to him or wait for him to get back before you start TALKING. And all that would just be the start of the day. During the day I would continuously be unable to find things or have to expose my hands to painful situations, including putting them in water to do the dishes. So that evening when I had managed to remember to bring everything I needed for a shower the very first time I walked over there and when I was wondering why the fuck it is never possible to put your stuff in a dry spot and organize your things such that they don’t get wet while taking a freaking shower in semi-darkness, I promised myself not to do this anymore. Next time I am taking the trip with the lodges.