Day 11: Etosha National Park East - Kavango Region

8 September 2025

Today we leave Etosha National Park and have a long drive north to the Kavango region, an area considerably greener than the rest of Namibia due to its larger than average rainfall.

There is a lot of underground water in the area near the park. We pass a bore that was dug in the 1970s and it is still continuously pushing water out under pressure.

Thankfully we are back on sealed roads and pass through Ovamboland, a more populated area home to the Ovambo tribe, who make up most of Namibia’s population. The roads are long, flat and straight with speed limits up to 120kph but regularly changing 100, 80, 60 as pass through towns so we don’t get to travel at speed for any length of time. Wian has to be very wary of cars just stopping in the road or pulling out without warning.

There are towns with street markets selling everything you could ever want. There are some covered market places. Shops and pubs built of concrete block and with some very interesting names. It becomes quite a game as to who can see the most outrangeous one:

Onethindi Sports Bar
Come Happy Bar
Seven Seas Bar
Ostrich Bar
Light-Sense Bar
Monte Carlo Entertainment Bar

And my personal favourite: Trust Me Bar Part 4

There schools (some private), colleges (including agricultural) and academies but they are on holidays at the moment.

We see small holdings of corrugated iron homes very neat and tidy with stick fences all around. Some houses of concrete block. Some corrugated iron fences. Some thatched roofs. There are lots of livestock (cows, goats, donkeys, chickens), some being walked along edge of road, and some towering termite mounds. There are many donkey carts.

Some women are dressed in traditional colourful smock dresses with turban headdresses. Others are very smartly dressed with skirt jacket and hat or tailored dresses and hats. Some men also with suit jackets and smart shirts.

Makalani palms line the road, male palms bear fruit and female palms have pollen sticks.

We pull into the petrol station for a break, and it is absolute chaos. It doubles as a store, market, bar and more; there are people in all directions on foot and in cars with absolutely no regard for anyone else, just stopping where they feel like, backing out without looking while talking on phone.

There are often goats wandering out on the road. They have good hearing so Wian sounds the horn and they move. Apparently sheep just turn and look at the bus.

Then we have a long stretch of very straight boring road with trees along the sides so we can’t see into the distance and there are only a few goats to keep us amused. We cross into Kavango region where our lodge for the night is.

As we drive further we see the land drop away to the left – it is the Kavango River (that becomes the Okavango River in Botswana) and all the lower land we see on the other side of the river is Angola.

In this area there are more of the traditional villages here with stick huts, thatched roofs and several huts within a village compound surrounded by stick fences. Corrals for the animals too.

We reach the amazing Simanya River Lodge that is right on the river looking out to Angola. Our rooms have balconies looking out over the river. Anne and I have a room each because they only had double beds.

We have our first river cruise this evening. It is a very serene environment but unfortunately this evening there is no wildlife at all. There are a lot of people around in this area, particularly on the Angolan side which scares off wildlife. Wian says they saw a crocodile last time he was here and we are told we might hear hippo at night when the river is quieter.

The river banks are certainly busy at this time of day with people washing and bathing. Others are out in little dugout boats fishing (or crossing the river). We see lots of people fishing, with stick spears and baskets or nets.

The Kavango River forms the border between Angola and Namibia but it is a very fluid border, acknowledging that people might have family or livestock on the other side. Our phones have decided that we are in Angola and changed our time zone. When we cruise on the river and get closer to the other side we are technically in Angola.

Namibia has a stable government and stable currency so is doing much better than Angola that has had long periods of unrest and still not a stable government. We learn that there is no power or running water on the Angolan side of the river. Angolans joined with Namibia in fighting for independence from South Africa.

This is the first time that a Bunnik group has stayed at this lodge and it seems that they aren’t sure how to deal with a larger group. There are delays getting meals especially and although it is a buffet, the staff seem to want to serve us which is a bit awkward. But is such a lovely setting that it doesn’t really matter – and we watch the blood moon come up over Angola.