Hi.This time I bring you greetings from Windhoek, the capital city of Namibia.Like South Africa, Namibia has many of the comforts of home.It was once a German colony and the cities are still very German.It is a vast country with a small population, largely due to the fact that much of it is desert.This year has been a freaky year and they have had more rain than they usually get in ten years.And so everything is looking rather green.This also means the animals don't have to go in search of water and are harder to see.But still we have done well.After 1 ½ days in Etosha National Park, we have gotten quite close to lions, black rhinos, giraffes, zebras, wildebeasts, oryx, impalas, ostrich and various other small creatures.It is always exciting to spot an animal, no matter how big or small, and we will always stop the truck for anything that moves!But it is tiring driving around all day staring at the bush.As much as you want to see animals, the slow moving vehicle lulls you to sleep.Especially since we are up very early every day. We usually leave our campsite by 6am.By then we have eaten breakfast and taken down our tents and packed up the truck.We are always packing up in the dark as the sun isn't even up yet!This camping business isn't all that glamorous.Last night it poured rain and not all tents were waterproof.But we had a nice day at Waterberg Plateau.After a somewhat brief, but very steep hike we reached the top of the plateau and had a look for miles around.It was flat and green as far as the eye could see.Then I had the swimming pool all to myself for an hour of gliding through the water - and what a pool it was - the nicest and biggest yet!

Now we are enjoying the luxury of beautiful hotel rooms.And this is the second time since we last chatted.Before Etosha National Park, we stayed in the city of Swakopmond and found ourselves residing in chalets.There we went out to dinner and I got to try local game in the form of Springbok.They are very plentiful around here.And we had drinks at a nice beach bar.It was gloriously cold here with wind blowing in off the ocean!And so we have enjoyed some city living.But our guide is a great cook and we are eating well out in the bush.I also got the chance to do some quad biking through the sand dunes while we were in Swakopmond.Pretty wild.I don't know how the guides don't get lost out there.Nothing but sand hills for 1 ½ hours and then all of a sudden you round a dune and there's the ocean.Beautiful!

And so now, after 11 days in Namibia we find ourselves heading for Botswana and the Okavango Delta.Lots more animals to come and so many we have yet to see!Hope all is well in Canada.I've sent a package of sun and heat your way.Hope it gets there soon!

Debbie