Waterberg

 I have been getting up for our 7:00 a.m. departures at 5:30, but always feel rushed.  Today, I got up at 5:00 a.m. and everything went much smoother, lots of time to get ready for our 7:00 a.m. departure.

Waterberg Plateau in the Background

On Top of Waterberg Plateau

Our trip to Waterberg Plateau Park was uneventful.  We had paved roads for most of the way.  We are now in a little more civilized area of Namibia.  It was one of our shortest drive days.  We arrived at the park in early afternoon, had lunch and just vegged for a couple of hours before hiking up to the top of the plateau.  Myself and five other younger members hiked up the short route which was the most difficult but shorter.  I had no problem keeping up, so it would appear that my working out paid off.  I figure I am the third or fourth oldest in the group.  Fred and Sheila from New York and Tony and Jacqueline from Vancouver are likely older than me.  Eric and Rhonda from California will be slightly younger than myself.  All the rest of the members are younger people.

The plateau is a spectacular sight with flat top and  with what looked to be impenetrable stone ramparts.  I got some nice pictures from the top.

Mercedes, the girl that I sit with on the bus and a fellow Canadian from Toronto, got up from supper tonight and collapsed.  She seems okay now, but no one knows what her problem is/was.  She is quite conscious of her health and does a lot of hiking.  She just completed a hike up Kilimanjaro before joining our tour.  Luckily, we have a paramedic (Debbie) and a retired nurse (Jacqueline) among our group members and they responded quickly.  The other members stood away from the situation until everything was under control.  Mercedes is quite fine now and believes one of her water bottles from the Kilimanjaro hike may have gotten infected with bacteria.

Termite Mound

In case some of you don’t know, the overland tour I am on is participatory camping.  Every day a duty roster is posted.  Yesterday was my day off.  Today, I was on truck duty which entails loading the truck and cleaning it at the end of the day.  There are five or six people assigned to each of the daily duties.  The system works great and is just a great way to get to know other members of the group.  We have a lot of fun and laughs.
We are told to be very conscious of our cleanliness and must, must wash our hands before every meal.  Those on kitchen duty must wash their hands before getting involved in any food prep.

I must go now and check my duties for tomorrow.  Talk to you later.

Overland Vehicle

P.S.  Occasionally, I will include a Google Earth link to our location.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with Google Earth, you must manipulate the bar on the left side to zoom in/out, etc.

Waterberg Location