Anib lodge, near Mariental

Take Sam Nujoma Road west from the hotel and get on the B1 highway south. Remember to stay on the left side of the road. Never hard to find Nujoma Road, every town's got one, usually the main street. Named after Namibia's first president after independence in 1990.

At Mariental, turn east for 45 km of gravel road. Our first of many more km's of gravel to come. Got to the lodge about 15:30, just as the afternoon game drive was leaving. My companions were set on seeing lots of animals but we were too late so they had to be content with the springboks, warthogs and ostriches we had seen along the road. The lodge is not much to look at, a motel looking place with a few trees and grass. But that bit of green is a welcome relief from the parched surroundings of dry grass and a few scattered bushes. That's the swimming pool where the lounge chairs are. Really cold water. View is from our room. This is winter in the desert and nights were cool to quite chilly. Afternoon temps in the mid 20's C. Very pleasant.

If you want to look at a map you can click that link. Not very detailed but may be helpful. We had brought two paper maps. They both had mistakes so it was useful to cross check. Only once did we take a major wrong turn. After that at every intersection I would just stop in the middle of the road and we would look at the map. After Mariental we were seeing only a few cars a day so no need to worry about stopping, but then no one to ask either. Not much good asking at the gas stations either, I got the feeling the attendants had never left home, and they probably hadn't.

Map

Note to self: If you want good roads be sure to be a German colony. But the names are unpronounceable and have you seen the similarity between German tourists at the buffet and the elephants and the watering hole? Something to see.

Note from "home": Pouring rain since 06:00 this morning. Seems kind of cozy to sleep in with the rain, but gets less enjoyable by 13:00 when it's still pouring. Suspect flooding will make it sensible to stay at home. Probably no friday fat boy run today. That beach bar is going to go broke without us obruni beer drinkers.