Namibia - Immanuelle Lodge

We departed Heathrow at 1905hrs and flew with Lufthansa to Frankfurt and then onto Johannesburg where we arrived on time at 0850hrs. We had a couple of hours to kill so we had a meal and watched goings on outside and beginning our list with Sacred Ibis, Black-winged Kite, Grey-headed Gull, Cape Wagtail and Cape Sparrow. We then flew with SAS arriving in Windhoek at 1520hrs.

Passport control was slow but painless and we eventually picked up our hire car, a VW Golf. We had originally picked one with air conditioning and this proved the right option. We had problems with getting cash as the hole in the wall was not working and the Bureau de Change would not take our cards! The easiest places to get cash seemed to be at the major garages which often had an ATM with clear signs to this effect.

Whilst loading the car and filling out final paperwork we saw Augur Buzzard, Bradfield’s Swift, African Cliff Swallow, Burchell’s Starling and Familiar Chat.

We then headed for our accommodation at Immanuel Lodge north of Windhoek but managed a couple of roadside stops and a longer stop at Avis Dam staying there until dusk.

Black-winged Kite and Desert Cisticola were seen from the roadside and our stop at Avis Dam produced Blacksmith’s Plover, Three-banded Plover, Greenshank, Common Sandpiper, Purple Roller, Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, African Palm Swift, Little Swift, African Pipit, Kalahari Scrub-robin, Short-toed Rock-thrush, Pririt Batis and Green-winged Pytilia.

A most beautiful introduction to a new country.