We got up on October 6th, 2023 before the sun, which shortly afterwards rose glowing red over the Savannah. A large herd of roan antelopes and a few elephants could be seen at the waterhole. At around 20°C it was still pleasantly cool; this is appreciated when the daytime temperature rises to around 40 °C.

At 7 a.m. I started the engine after checking the oil level and tire pressure the day before. So, we were well prepared to tackle the sandy track to the B8, which leads to the Caprivi Strip. However, we had made the calculation without the host or the young elephant bull! As we rounded the first bend, he stood in front of us, his ears cocked and his trunk swinging. That was an impressive stop sign! In the deep sand we came to a stop in no time without braking.

After we examined each other for a while and the elephant saw that we weren’t ignoring his stop signal, he disappeared into the bush. The path to the park exit was now clear, where we arrived almost an hour later. The ranger opened the barrier for us and three hours later we were standing on the asphalted B8, where – in the shade of a tree – we pumped the tires to 2.5 bar.

The drive continued to the River Dance Lodge, where we paid a visit to Pascale and Chris and drank a rock shandy before driving on to Mobala Lodge, where we camped for two nights.

PS: If you want to know more about Rock Shandy, read here.