Coffee & Rhinoceroses (Clarens to Graaf-Reinet, South Africa)

April 4^th, 2011 (January 2011) – Say rhinoceroses five times super fast. I f***ing dare you. After being forced to retreat from our Tugela Falls expedition and driving for most of the day we finally settled in the town of Clarens after passing through Golden Gate Highlands National Park. I’ve heard both are lovely. I wouldn’t really know myself. We passed through Golden Gate at night and left Clarens early the next morning. We’d planned on camping in the park for a couple of nights followed by a stay in Clarens. The weather was wholly uncooperative. The gentleman at the hostel pointed out it was the rainy season. Got it. I understood but started to wonder when the building of an ark would be justified. The phrase ‘cats and dogs’ came to mind.

So we saw Golden Gate at night and Clarens early in the morning when it and the exquisite scenery that surrounds it were ensconced in fog. Boo. We thought about waiting it out but so much rain had fallen that there would have been little hope of hiking or doing much of anything for that matter. So we moved on.

Another long day of driving landed us in Queenstown where we checked into a B&B and then quickly checked out. We just couldn’t bring ourselves to pay $70 for a room that was mediocre at best.  Have I mentioned my disenchantment with overpriced hotel rooms? We’d have to feel pretty strongly to unpack the car after a day of driving only to repack and take off. Luckily, we found a lovely B&B by the name of Peter B’s for around $40. It was much bigger and had a small kitchen. Sometimes persistence pays off. Sometimes it leads to bitter head-thrashing frustration. Thankfully, this was an example of the former. We needed it. We needed it bad.

Farting Rhino Grumpy Lion (Etosha National Park, Namibia)

May 7^th, 2011 (February 2011) – Etosha National Park is 20, 000 square km of wildlife viewing bliss….at least during the dry season. At other times the critters like to hide in the grass and sightings can be few and far between. This probably explains why the campsite at Halali Rest Camp was fairly empty. We made it there in the morning, set up the tent, and began patrolling the park for fauna

Animals or not the park is captivating, even more so without the crowds. I have to admit that the first day we did not see an abundance of wildlife but our time was most certainly not spent in vain. Just being there, looking out across the great Etosha Pan, drifting along the grass-lined dirt roads, and attempting (once again) to avoid getting Sparky stuck in the mud was exhilarating. Spotting the occasional giraffe and rhino didn’t hurt either.

Back at camp that night we ate dinner and made our way to the floodlit waterhole nearby to sip wine and hopefully spot some local denizens. We sat there for the better part of an hour but no one came to drink. However, both Leslie and I thought we heard something from a dark corner just on the other side of the protective fence facing away from the flood light. Using the flash of my camera while standing on a rock ledge I spotted Hornee the Rhino snoozing in the grass…..and farting incessantly. We quietly alerted the other folks staring fruitlessly at the water hole and soon a small crowed was ogling Hornee with the help of camera flash. We returned early the next morning but Hornee had moved on. Probably couldn’t stand the smell. Dirty.