One country many landscapes
Leaving Etosha behind
On the morning of 10th day of our trip, we started from Namutoni after breakfast, for a six hundred thirty odd kilometres drive to the Shametu River Lodge located at the edge of the Caprivi strip.
We left the gates of the Namutoni camp by 9 o’clock, travelled about 100 kilometres, stopped to fill up petrol and buy food at an accompanying surprisingly well stocked deli; then drove south-east for nearly 200 kilometres to reach the town of Grootfontein. From there we veered north-east towards Rundu which was another 250 kilometres away. It was a metalled road all the way and we had a very nice smooth drive.
Rundu has the second largest population in the whole of Namibia. We saw more people and felt a general business around us as we approached the town. The highway seemed to be the main artery for settlements and economic activities. Stalls lined the sides of the road and people walked along the edges carrying bric-a-brac on their shoulders. The road led us to what seemed like the centre of the town where we came upon a surprisingly crowded petrol station. We stopped by to refuel ourselves with drinks and snacks before taking to the roads again. The metalled road continued all the way till Duvundu which is the nearest town to Shametu River Lodge. We turned into a dirt track from the road at Duvundu to reach our destination.
Afternoon boat trip
Shametu River Lodge is a beautiful place set up on the banks of the Kavango river. In this part of the world the local people call the river Kavango; but the river which starts in Angola and ends in an inland delta in Botswana is more famously called Okavango. We dumped our luggage in our chalet and embarked on a boat ride in the serene river. Our friendly guide cum boatman hailed from a nearby village and worked at the lodge, he guided the boat effortlessly while telling us stories about their day to day lives. We had not eaten lunch on the way, so we dug into the snacks provided on the boat with relish.
It was about 4pm in the afternoon, we found hippos taking their afternoon nap amongst the reeds on the river bank; baby crocodiles perched themselves on rocks to enjoy the sun on their backs while the adults hid themselves in the marshy edge of the river. Birds took a free ride on a hippo as he woke up and sauntered down to the water. Once in a while a lone boatman passed us by.
Popa Falls
After a while, our boatman offloaded us to go exploring on a sand bar in the middle of the river. We started with a lot of gusto but as we advanced inland we found ourselves swarmed with insects. These and fear of hippos dampened our adventurous spirit and we traced our steps back to the boat. As the afternoon progressed towards evening, the boat took us to the Popa Falls. It is a series of rapids cascading over ledges along the river bed. The boat stopped at a small island again, we got off and walked up to where the water made its way by gurgling through the stones. It was a beautiful sight in the dying rays of the sun. We hopped from stone to stone trying to avoid wetting our shoes.
Popa Falls in the dying rays of the sun 
A different look as evening sets in
Dinner was a wonderful affair on a semi open terrace. The warmers and blankets kept the cold at bay while we had a leisurely meal; the cosy feel was prolonged as we sat savouring our after-dinner drinks in the warmth of the last embers of the fire that had been lit in one corner of the terrace.
Lazy Morning
We began the next day by having our morning tea sitting blanket wrapped in front of our chalet, watching otters and hippos in the river while the Popa Falls sprayed water in the background. That was followed by breakfast on the same terrace as dinner the night before, but this time we had company – two German ladies who were on a Namibia trip now and wanted to visit Singapore next We compared notes on our current trip and gave them some tips for their next one. The rest of the cool sunny morning was spent lazing around chalets.
Our Chalet 
Popa Falls from our chalet
Buffalo National Park
The afternoon was taken up by a safari to the Buffalo National Park where we caught a glimpse of the elusive sable of the coat fame and came across buffaloes for the first time in this trip. We also watched the tusker having a drink when we stopped for drinks and afternoon snacks.
We made our way back to the lodge along the dusty roads of Duvundu as the sun set on the horizon beyond the meandering river. On our return, we sprayed ourselves with insect repellents, got a some drinks from the bar and settled down on the deck overlooking the river to watch the darkness engulf the surroundings.
Beautiful pictures and sublime descriptions – I can see the Okavango delta clearly from your descriptions!
This post is about the Okavango in the Caprivi streep, the Okavango delta is described more in detail in the post ‘Walking in the delta’