The morning was unhurried. We met Venessa and the girls at a favorite coffee shop at the mall for a coffee date, while Tim had a meeting at the Polytechnic. (Yes, this was a working trip for him.)
At noon we headed to the train station to start another adventure. We went on the Desert Express to Swapokmund on the coast. It does cross the desert, but it's not much of an express, taking almost 24 hours to make the trip. The journey is as important as the destination.
After checking in and parking the cars on the platform, we wandered around the station and visited the museum. When it was time to board, Tim and I first had to drive our cars onto a flatbed train car for the trip to Swapok. We had decided that one way on the train was enough adventure and we would drive back. There was one other car on the train. After watching the crew securely tie the cars to the flatbed, we found our way to our car and overnight compartments. We had never had a bed on a train before.
We joined the other passengers, about 35 of them, for a welcome reception in the Bar Car. And we were off! Heading north from Windhoek toward Okahandja, we saw some wildlife that was new to us, dik dik or duiker and hartebeest. It's a bit hard to tell for sure sometimes from a moving train. The rivers we were by or crossed had water in them from all the rain. They are usually dry.
The train turned west at Okahandja, heading for the coast. We were still in green bush with some interesting mountains breaking the horizon. We stopped at a siding out in the middle of nowhere and disembarked the train. Waiting were two very large safari style trucks to take us on a game drive. We drove many kilometers into the bush, across several fence lines, to a game reserve lodge, Orapoko. The lodge is at the peak of one of the hills with impressive views all around.
After a welcome iced tea, we once again took off in the trucks for a game viewing drive. There were more giraffe, springbok, wildebeest, and warthog. Also we added to the sightings list, waterbok, white rhinoceros, damara dik dik and rock dassie. Tim & Venessa said they had not seen waterbok on previous trips. This antelope looks like it sat on a toilet seat with wet paint because of the marking on its rear. And the dassie made up for no elephants—its DNA is nearly identical, but it's a small furry animal about the size of large cat. Go figure!
Back at the lodge, we had sundowners and starters (drinks at sunset and appetizers). Then it was back to the train and off on the next leg of the express. At the next siding we stopped for dinner.
Dinner was elegant in the dining car, with crystal and china. And with the train not moving, was no challenge. The menu was what you would expect for a first class dining car, and the food was very good. (Namibians really know how to cook.) After dinner, we thought we were able to take a walk off the train, but not at this siding. We misunderstood the schedule at that point. So we went to bed, and found out later only Tim & Venessa got off for a little walk when the train made its overnight stop on the siding in Karibib. Early in the morning the train starting moving again on the final leg to the coast.
But I'm already at the next day.
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