Angola – rivers, hippos and no swimming!
Added on Tuesday, June 14th, 2011 by Carole Nash Editor
Angola – rivers, hippos and no swimming!
In the morning, as usual, we filled up the bikes to the brims and then continued our travels. Heading north east still to Nkwazi (Rundu).You do really get the sense that you’re on an adventure – just full with excitement as you see the landscape changing the more North you go – the people looking different, but always with a smile and a wave.
As the Garmin gave us the nod to turn left, we got another taste of sand from the main gravel road to the riverside lodge – just a few meters of it but enough to get you thinking – bum to the back and cruise through on the throttle – or 1st gear and waddle like a duck! Some riders liked it so much, and as it was just a short section, they went back for more – just honing in those skills! Glutens eh?
That evening we had a sunset cruise along the Kavango river – including over to Angola where we landed onto the shores ‘illegally’. Check out the boat! They took the chairs from the dining room and stuck em on the legless upended dining table – well it looked like that! Hey – crocs and hippos here we come! We walked about Angola for a short while, just to say we had been there… and then scooted back across the river for dinner.
There was some commotion on our return as the goat that was ‘selected’ for dinner, and tied to a tree near to the river was kidnapped. Unfortunately for the goat, his captive was about 12ft long with lots of teeth! A croc had grabbed it when it was having a quick drink from the river. Probably didn’t matter to the goat too much as his hours were numbered either way. However, the funny bit was that one of the kitchen staff seen it happen and ran out and pulled the goat back into land. We didn’t get the full story, and most of us didn’t really want the gory details just before tea – but needless to say, goat stew was the main menu item that night.
Again we had some local tribal dancers to entertain us which was fun, and they finished with the Namibian national anthem. These people were so genuine, so honest and so sincere; I think we all felt quite emotional when they sang their anthem. Yes, I think we were all a little moved by that evening.
