Early in the morning, we left Desert Rhino Camp and travelled with our Land Rovers through the fascinating landscape of the Namibdesert. After lunch, we reached Ongava Tented Camp, a true oasis with tents overlooking a waterhole. The lodge is located in the private game reserve Ongava, bordering the renowned Etosha National Park. We were welcomed with a 3-course lunch in the open dining room from where we had excellent view of the lodge's waterhole and could see antelopes and zebras come and go. A truly unique lunch experience!
It was then time for our first game drive! Our guides told us that they should focus on the cats as we most likely would see the larger mammals in Etosha National Park the following day. Excited, we climbed into our open safari jeeps. We travelled on the sandy roads surrounded by bushes and trees, home to lions, black and white rhinos, elephants, giraffe and several species of antelope. Suddenly, the landscape changed and in front us a group of lions, both male and females, were resting from the heat. What a wonderful and close encounter with the king of the savannah! As this wasn't enough, we also encounter a rhino with her adorable calf on our way back.
It should turn out that this was our great lion day. At Ongava Tented Camp you are not allowed to walk to or from your tent in the darkness without a guide. This because of the wild animals that occasionally walk through the lodge. We had just started with our dinner when the guides asked for our attention. They had spotted a big male lion spying in the darkness close to the lodge’s waterhole. They told us that the lion didn’t belonged to Ongava, it had escaped from Etosha Nationalpark. Thrilled, we sat and waited around the dinner table and suddenly we could watch him slowly walk towards the waterhole. In silence we watched him drinking from the waterhole and disappear into the darkness again. This is what we call a true safari adventure!
