After Swakopmund we headed for Cape Cross, a small village at the seashore, known for its large colony of seals. It is estimated that between 80 and 100 thousand seals live there. We certainly believed this to be true, judging from the smell that hung around that place! It was very nice to see so many seals together, either constantly fighting for the ‘best spot on the rock', or sky-diving in the waves. It was stunning to see that many baby seals do not survive the first months of their live. An estimated 30% die very young. Either they are eaten by hyena or jackal, or crushed by parents fighting for ‘the best spot on the rock'. Everywhere you looked there were dead baby seals lying around, and our guess is that this contributed greatly to the smell.

We did not stay overnight in Cape Cross, but headed for Uis near Brandberg, where we had a very enjoyable stay. After Uis we went to Opuwo, the town of the Himba (see our account 'Comfort Zone, part II').

In the north of Nambia, from east to west through the entire country, runs an animal disease control border, with guarded checkpoints every time the road crosses this border. This animal disease control border was established in 1897 (!), after a great break-out of cattle-plague in the north that infected the white men's farms established in the southern region of Namibia.

Namibia has been under reign of South Africa for a long time and apartheid played a major role here too. White settlers established farms in the southern part of Namibia, while the northern regions were to be the homelands for the indigenous tribes. We believe that this animal disease control border and apartheid have had great interaction with each other. Even today, being north or south of this animal disease control border is very different. South is the land of the big (white) cattle-farms, which are fenced off and where animal movement is controlled through strategically switching off water supplies. Here you have (mostly) mixed towns, where white people live in wealth, and black people usually in poverty and/or townships. North of the disease control border you will find cattle running free along the highway, which are guarded by young black males that simply walk along with the animals in their search for food and water. No fences here. Another noticeable difference is the lack of townships in the north. People here mostly live in traditional huts, grouped together in a so-called 'kraal' for each family. Usually, a family consists of one man (the chief), his women (typically 3 to 6) and many children. There are, however, differences in how a kraal is built and organized, depending upon which tribe. Usually there is a hut for the chief, several huts, one for each wife, and huts for children, boys and girls separated. Usually some kind of shelter is provided for the animals that run free within the kraal. Every kraal has its own ‘holy fire', where the chief talks with the forefathers in case of need for dire advice.

One is not allowed to bring meat and/or dairy products when crossing the animal disease control border. One time, when passed it going south, we were checked. The officer noticed the meat in our fridge, looked at Peter and demanded an apple. Peter gave him two apples and we were allowed to pass, even with our meat in the fridge. This goes to show that change is slow.

Our next stop after Opuwo was Ondangwa, where we stayed just one night on our way to Etosha national park. We slept in traditional hut of the Ovambo tribe. These huts have a round base made from clay, about 3 meters in diameter, with a roof made from tall grass. The huts were again grouped in a kraal, and this kraal had division walls made from wood between every hut. We were told that this was done to make it more difficult for hostile tribes to come in and steel the cattle, women and children! Then, finally, we were on our way to our first wildlife game park: Etosha.

We arrived during the afternoon, pitched our tents and headed straight for the nearest waterhole of which we were told that it was usually visited by a lot of animals late in the afternoon. And they were right; we watched giraffes, antelope (impala and springbok), kudu and wildebeest drink in peace. The next day we got up at half past 5, quick breakfast and or our way. We saw again many animals at waterholes and were surprised by two lonely male elephants and even a rhino crossing the road right in front of our Disco. What a sight! We also met with the eldest elephant of the park; he was nearly blind and had a much wrinkled skin. On our way back to the camp - you had to be back before sunset - we wondered why a bus had stopped along the road. Lions! Wow, we were really lucky to see a group of lions on our first game park visit. A bit scary to have lions walking 2 meters past your car, with the windows open, but it made for some great pictures.

The next day we got up early again, and drove for more than one hours without seeing any animals. We thought our luck had gone and decided to try one more waterhole, before we would continue with our journey. On the way to the waterhole, we saw a lot of elephant shit and broken branches of trees. Our hearts started beating faster! There they were: two females with a couple of young elephants. We decided to head for the waterhole, as they would surely be on their way there. At the waterhole we found a group of around 80 elephants drinking and playing with each other. We were speechless and took photos and videos like madmen. We saw two adolescent bulls play-fighting with each other and in the end we were chased away by the one that lost the fight. We kept our cool (difficult!), but were sensible enough to start the engine and back the car a little, as the young elephant looked quite convincing!

After our encounter with the elephant herd, we had to move on again, as our next stop was some 400 km away. We were sorry to leave Etosha, but were charged with many exciting experiences, photos and videos.

Next stop: Ngepi camp at Divundu, north Namibia, along the Okavanka river.