Adventures with Julia

Friday, March 27, 2026

This was a travel day. We left Shipwreck Lodge at 8:30 and spent 12 hours getting to Base Camp called Cuatir, which is a 60,000 acre conservancy in SE Angola. To start, we enjoyed 3 flights. The first flight got us out of Namibia. The second and short flight got us across the border and into Angola and the third flight got us to our rendevou with our Angola contact, Stephan van Wyk, who escorted us to our camp destination. We drove 8 hours over 95 kilometers of potholed roads full of water and mud.

We stopped at a couple of villages to meet some local people and shortly before dark we got stuck in tall, wet grass trying to get to a barge to cross the Cubango river.

We succeeded, but it was dark by the time we got on the barge and 8:30 pm by the time we got to camp.We were all utterly exhausted. Dinner was excellently prepared Oryx. We happily fell into bed at 10:30.

Saturday, March 28, 2026

We were met by Stephan’s chef, Stallin, who made us the best breakfast that we have had yet, in spite of the fact that we are so remote and the accommodations are so simple.

After breakfast we went in search of wildlife. The animals are scarce but we saw a few

Kudu, Roan, Reedbuck, giraffe and duiker. A little later on we rushed off to see a group of 15 elephant at a watering hole with a highly desirable salt lick.

We stayed for over an hour watching this wonderful sight and the elephants were so close that we were able to take in their every move, including their eyelashes, so close were they. They were very curious and spent time sniffing and nearly touching us with their trunks. Back at camp we had a delicious lunch and a relaxing afternoon.

At about 4pm we went out again to see what was around and gradually headed for Stephan’s tree house restaurant, up on a hill with a super view.

The “restaurant” was a cabin in the woods that contained a full kitchen. He had stocked it with a full bar and snacks and we happily sipped drinks and enjoyed the view. The ride back to camp was only 12 minutes, unlike the hour long ride up the hill.

Dinner was an excellently prepared springbok and we enjoyed every bite of the rare and tender meat. Later, when we stepped outdoors to head for our cabin we saw in the shadows, a group of elephants.

That got our attention. Eventually, the Elles wandered off and Stephan walked us to our cabin, just to be safe. We were in bed by 9:30.

Sunday, March 29, 2026

Up at 6:30 for a 7:30 adventure, we walked to the water hole, about 2 kilometers away, and back. We saw no animals, but had a lovely breakfast when we returned. Then we went for a short drive in search of more elephants, and found 6 new ones at the water hole.

One was very curious and checked us out, thoroughly. The others were not interested.

After lunch we enjoyed a big lightening and thunder storm followed by more than enough rain. I stayed in the camp kitchen with the crew, while the group went searching for animals. They returned with some good sightings to report. Two saddle billed storks, two fish eagles, a herd of impala, and a wart hog on the run. I was glad they had a good outing, but still happy I stayed in. Mark got no photos.

Dinner was another delicious meal of roasted chicken with couscous and green salad.

Monday, March 30, 2026

Another travel day back down the horrible road we came up a few days ago.

We hit the road at 7am and drove 41 kilometers back to the barge and crossed the river. Then we proceeded to get stuck in the tall grass again.

Stephan decided we should get back on the barge and motor up river until we came to a dryer path with no grass. Going up river took more than an hour, but we sat on the barge with our feet in the pleasantly cool river. Once off the river, we had to repeat the 10 kilometers we had just lost going up river. Stephan drove us as fast as he could manage over the potted and water logged road, but the 95 kilometers still took 4 hours of bouncing and bumping.

We arrived at the Caila airport at 3:30, packed the plane and flew to the town of Namib. The weather caused many changes. We had expected to drive to a mobile tented camp for 2 nights, but ended up staying in a hotel in Namib instead. No complaints. We had an ok meal in a 3 star hotel and a cozy bed. Meanwhile, the road to our camp was flooding and becoming impassible. All this rain in the desert is distressing everyone. Stephan is calling it the “year of water in Angola”.

Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Namib is a town of a million people in SW Angola. It sits on the edge of the Southern Atlantic Ocean and is normally a relaxed desert town. In the morning we went back to the airport to fly to an island called Isla dos Tigres. It was part of our planned program, but a bit out of sequence. Like us, our pilot, Matthius, had not been there before either. All we knew was that the place had been in existence from 1850 to 1970 as a town supporting a fish packing plant. The Main Street was built to support a concrete runway.

Sometime during the 60’s the town had been cut off from the mainland by wind and rain storms and become an island. Fresh water that had flowed from a nearby river was cut off as well. A desalination plant was installed, but gradually people left the town and it was abandoned by 1970. Today it is a ghost town with a runway. The perfect spot for pilots like us to want to visit. We took lots of photos on the way and while there. My favorite building was the Portuguese Catholic Church called Saint San Martinho. Unfortunately, a bunch of Angolan military have taken up residence and are even using the church as a kitchen and storage facility. They have been in residence only a week, but Stephan thinks they will be permanent residents and destroy the place.

We flew along the coastline on the return and spotted 2 shipwrecks. We also noticed walls of sand with dark stripes along part of the beach and were told that is how the island was named “Isle dos Tigres”.

Back at the airport, we said good bye to Matthius, who was flying the plane back to Windhoek. We were back to ground pounding.

Stephen, Claire, Mark and I went to a very casual restaurant on the beach for dinner and happily munched on juicy, fresh crab. That was followed by some local fish and lots of beer. We have agreed to be up by 5am for tomorrow’s adventure so to bed early it is.

Friday, March 20, 2026

A man named Moses picked us up at the Windhoek airport and drove us 35 minutes through the city to a lodge called The Olive Exclusive. Claire Jones, our guide extraordinaire, was waiting to welcome us to our Namibia and Angola adventure with her. The accommodations are quite fine with 2 queen beds, lots of room and a large garden with a private pool.

Too bad we will not be around long enough to enjoy the setting. We were soon in bed. Breakfast with Claire at 8am, then back in the car with Moses taking us to the local airstrip, for a flight northwest to Damaraland, to a place called Twyfelfontein, where we will see famous rock art and, of coarse, animals.

Although Namibia is not a small country physically, it has the smallest population of any country in Africa. There are only 3 million inhabitants. The capital, Windhoek, has about half a million people and is a very modern city with paved roads, many high rise buildings and lots of successful looking shops.

Flying over the country on the way to Damaraland, north and west of Windhoek, we saw thousands of acres of vacant, gentle rolling landscape in shades of green, pink and tan with trees and shrubs growing along the drainage beds. Low hills interrupted the scene.

The only mountain we passed was a small range called Brandberg. At the airstrip we were met by our driver/guide, Francois, who drove us 20 minutes to Onduli Ridge, a lodge in the middle of nowhere. A great place to be. The word Onduli means giraffe in the local language, but we did not see any giraffe. We did see some interesting plants along the way.

One was a spiky shrub with pretty purple pods called termanalia.

Another was a yellow flower called mouse whiskers and Devil’s Thorn, and another was a pink, snapdragon-like plant called Wild Sesame.

Francois told us about a small plant called Ostrich Salad that even tasted good.

And a plant called commiphera. It looked to me like a manzanita, but he told us it was one of 30 different species that rarely die. When dry, they loose their leaves and look dead, but are not. At the moment they are still green. Can’t find a photo.

The most interesting plant he showed us was a Welwitchia Mirabilis. There are separate male and female plants that grow near each other and are pollinated by a bug that travels from one to the other. It is a prehistoric, old world plant. We saw a few of them as we drove.

We arrived at the lodge in time to quickly check into our room and get to lunch. The place is delightful in spite of the extreme heat and the desert setting.

Lunch was served like a ladies tea service, a tower on three round plates of different sizes with a wide variety of foods presented. We could take or leave what we wanted and had more than enough to eat.

After lunch we had an hour to relax before our first game drive, which proved to be very unusual. At 3pm Francois drove us a hour through the desert to a spot on the road where we joined a pair of veterinarians and 20 travelers, including ourselves, waiting to participate in the process of tagging and collaring a young male cheetah.

We were just in time to receive a talk about what would be happening and what we could and should do while the cat was anesthetized. Mainly we were to be very quiet and still. The vet picked individuals in the group to do various tasks. Mark was picked to help carry the anesthetized cat to the table where it would receive medical attention.

I was picked to apply pressure to the cheetah’s leg muscles while the vet drew blood. Mark was also chosen for an addition task, taking the cheetah’s temperature, using a rectal thermometer. Something Mark had no previous experience doing but he caught on quickly. Other people did various tasks until the animal was carried back to the cage it had been caught in and left to recover and walk out of the cage by itself. It was an extraordinary experience that just happened to be taking place on a day we could participate. Later we learned that the cheetah recovered very slowly and bolted out of the cage at 7:30 that evening.

We drove back to camp feeling pleased with the experience and happy to have a late dinner. While away, the staff rolled our bed outside, about 15 feet from its indoor position, so we could sleep under the stars. As there is only a thin crescent moon, the stars were very bright and we laid awake awhile enjoying the view from our comfy bed.

Saturday,March 21, 2026

On the road at 7am, Francois drove us to see elephants. But first we stopped at a cluster of large stones that displayed centuries old carvings of different animals.

The carvings had been done between 2000 and 6000 years ago and accurately displayed zebra, rhino, kudu, giraffe, oryx, antelope and human foot signatures. No people in any form. It is believed that the purpose of the art was to communicate with other tribes or across other generations.

It was at least 2 hours to reach the first Eli because we stopped many time to enjoy the art and scenery and identify birds and plants. The road is very rough and bumpy, but we ignored the discomfort. Francois called the road an African massage.

It was lovely to finally see an elephant up close after only seeing two distant elephants in the Huab river earlier on this trip. It was drinking from a pipe intended to provide water to the neighboring village.

Driving further on we encountered a half dozen animals and several minutes later we saw another dozen interacting with each other. I counted 20 for sure and there may have been a couple more. The group included 2 babies and several young animals as well as several adults.

After watching them a half hour or so, we headed back o the lodge. This return drive took 2 full hours. After a late lunch, we did find time to have a dip in the pool to cool off. We cleaned up for dinner but stopped for sundowners first, where we had a wonderful conversation with a lodge staff member, Jake’s, a member of the Nama tribe, who we learned will be getting married in November.

We properly quizzed him for details of his bride and also learned he spoke a language with 4 clicks, which he willingly shared with us in the form of a story about his family. He told us the clicks give meaning to what is being said. Then it was time for another late dinner, after which we headed for bed. The sky was partially overcast so there were fewer stars, but we enjoyed sleeping outdoors anyway. No chance of rain.

Sunday, March 22, 2026

Another 7am departure. This time we are hoping to find rhino. We have been told there are only black rhino in the national conservancy. Francois has been in touch with the rhino trackers and knows where to find them. It is another long drive in a different direction.

Along the way we spotted a few dozen Springbok, a troop of ostriches, a Ludwig’s bustard, several other birds and numerous plants. The most memorable was the Welwitchia Mirabilis with each plant being one sex or the other as earlier described. The most interesting tree is the Mopane. A hardwood tree with leaves that have a butterfly-like shape.

This tree is popular with elephants, and a grove of them indicates there is an aquifer underneath. Francois pointed out a Sandpaper bush with very sticky leaves.

Finally we met up with the rhino trackers and walked a short distance from where we could see a black rhino sleeping in the shade of a bush. Not very exciting, but the best the trackers could do. Ten minutes of a sleeping 2.8 ton animal was adequate for us.

Returning to the lodge we were met with another delicious, tea service lunch served by Esther, a Damara tribe member, who described in her click language what it was that we were eating.

It was charming to hear her tongue, despite not knowing what she was saying. It was melodious and fascinating to listen to the use of the clicks that give meaning to what she was telling us.

Tuesday, 24th of March, 2026

Rain, Lots of rain. Drive to airport. Plane cannot get off the ground. Stop flight. Wait for rain to let up. It doesn’t. Pilot flys away in light plane. We drive an hour to another airstrip where the pilot has been waiting for us. This time there is less rain, a firm surface and longer runway. We were off easily. Relief.

We head for the Skeleton Coast over miles and miles of sand.

Sunday, March 15, 2026

This is the house where all the activities begin and end for people working at the hospital and now at the Dental Clinic too. Everyone gathers here, meals are served and housing is doled out according to prearranged bookings.

On our last to Bwindi we stayed here in a room called Blackie’s shack. This trip we are staying in the Buhoma Lodge, which is just inside the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Mimi Simmons and Rick Kalb have their own rooms above us.

The 8 dentists and other volunteers are scattered around the area in various Monkey House accommodations. It is a lively group with everyone working together enthusiastically. After 2 days of intense dentistry, everyone attended the Sunday service in the BCH church. The service lasted 2 and a half hours including much singing and dancing, speeches, and a chicken auction.

Everyone got involved in the joyous occasion. Julianah, our god daughter, and Anivious, the Batwa girl we sponsor, arrived during the service to join us. What a treat that was.

During the rest of the day, we did a variety of things; including giving Julianah and Anivious clothing I had brought for them, which they were both happy to receive. Julianah is about my size and fits into everything. Anivious is so small, nothing I have fits. Nevertheless she took shoes, scarves and a jacket.

Then we met up with Barnabas, the hospital operations manager, who took us on a walking tour of the staff housing. Existing housing is woefully inadequate. Housing is needed for at least 150 more people. We learned there is some existing housing available for purchase that is currently being rented by the hospital for staff as well as land that is available to be built on for about 24 units total. Each unit will cost about $12,500 to build. Some existing housing needs to be refurbished. In all, we are thinking $300 thousand is needed to improve current staff housing and we are wondering how to interest the group in our assessment of the need,

Back at Monkey House, we spent the afternoon hanging out, chatting with other guests and enjoying the sunshine.

We returned to Buhoma Lodge with Scott, Julianah and Anivious for dinner. Shortly after arriving, the sky opened up and we had a deluge of rain. Fortunately, we were under cover and had huge umbrellas to get to the room when needed.

Monday, March 16, 2026

Today is the day the whole dental staff went gorilla tracking. Mark and I were happy to see them off, as we have seen the gorillas 4 different times and did not need another trek.

While everyone else trekked, we played cards with Julianah and Anivious. The games were rather inane, but the 4 of us had a good time together. After a couple of hours, they both departed to visit their other friends and we relaxed.

At 5:30 the dentist group convened at what is called the Lower Monkey House for drinks, popcorn and chatter. The gorilla trek was a supper success for all concerned. After a time Mark and I made a pitch to the entire group for funds for the staff housing need. The group was very receptive and we believe the Kellermann Foundation will receive a fair amount of money as a result of our presentation. We are hoping to raise $300,000 to build and refurbish 24 staff units. We shall see.

At 7:30 a group of 8 of us walked to nearby Bohemia Lodge for dinner. The conversation continued lively until 9:30.

Tuesday, March 17, 2026

Up and out at 8:30 for a drive to a large grammar school about an hour’s drive away to provide dental supplies, educate the students about dental hygiene, and apply fluoride to everyone’s teeth. The littlest ones were hardest to do as they were afraid and unsure what we were doing. Older kids were much more receptive and willing.

Friday, March 6, 2026

After 36 hours of traveling, we finally arrived in Entebbe and were taken directly to our near by accommodations for the night. Called The Boma, it was our first time in the place and we instantly liked it. It had only 14 rooms and was located in the middle of a fully grown tropical garden. After settling in we wandered around the garden admiring the pretty, blooming plants and ate an early, light meal. The bed felt wonderful and we were more than ready for it.

Saturday, March 7, 2026

But, wide awake at 4am, we packed and got ready for another long, but different sort of day. By 8am, we were in a 210 Cessna headed for Bungungu, a dirt strip at Murchison Falls an hour North of Entebbe. The pilot very happily flew us over and around the falls.

A few minutes later we were met by Thomas, a driver and guide who we know from years past. He works for our long time friend Jonathan Wright, who is now the proud owner of 7 lodges in Uganda. In fact, we are on our way to meet Jonathan at his newest lodge, Kulu Ora on the banks of the Nile, 20 miles north of the falls. But first, Thomas organized a boat ride down river to the falls with much critter watching on the way.

We saw dozens of hippo and crocodiles, 2 large elephants, 2 Rothchild giraffes, hundreds of Kob, several Oribi, Hartebeast, water buck, warthogs, baboons, Cape Buffalo and a multitude of birds.

Then we arrived at the falls and fought the current as close as we could get. Took a bunch of photos and then scooted with the current back to the starting point.

After the boat ride, we drove an hour and a half, some on dirt roads, through beautiful forest and Savannah to Kulu Ora. The Nile surprisingly appeared just as we reached camp.

The afternoon was quite warm and it felt good to stay cool. The staff told us we were at the beginning of the rainy season, but there are still many days without rain and this was one of them.

Dinner was at 7pm and there were 8 of us including a photography crew who were creating a photo brochure to promote the new lodge. It so happened that we are the first guests in the lodge and became helpers in the lodge shake down activities. I learned that Kulu means “running river” and Ora means “dry river bed”. Kulu refers to the Nile and Ora refers to a side stream next to the lodge called Kisangani, that is often completely dry.

The food was delicious as the chef, who is here creating a menu and training the kitchen staff, created and prepared our meal. The conversation was lively and fun, but Mark and I were ready to end the day by 9pm and could not wait to slip into bed.

Sunday, March 8, 2026

Up and out at 5:15 for our first game drive of the trip. No problem getting up early as we were still suffering from jet lag. A quick coffee, into the stadium-seating Land Rover, and off we went to see scenery, animals, birds and termite hills.

Jonathan joined us with high hopes for spotting lions. It was still dark and cold when we started out. With spotlights scanning the scene, we saw many pair of Kob eyes in the distance and night jars on the road. Gradually the sky lightened and the air warmed. I got a nice sunrise shot. We began to see more animals, especially Kob, but lions eluded us until almost coffee time when we spotted two one year olds.

Jonathan recognized them as brother and sister hanging out waiting for their mother. We spent a good bit of time looking for the mother, but gave up when it was time to go back to camp for breakfast.

The food is so good, it is hard to turn down the tasty choices, but I am trying to eat less. After breakfast, Mark and I spent several hours relaxing in our tent dipping in our pool. Lunch was at 2pm followed by another game drive at 5pm.

Driving along the dirt roads we saw a few giraffe, oribi, hartebeest, waterbuck and several worthogs. The scenery consisted of gentle rolling hills of forest and Savannah, all very green and pretty and loaded with Kob .

We had better luck finding lions on this drive. First we found a big male with 3 females. We watched them long enough to witness him copulating with the females 2-3 times each. Jonathan believes the girls have been taken over by this male, Nelson, because their previous dominant male, Tony, was killed or pushed out of the pride for lack of strength. Tony had been injured in a poaching snare and not recovered. After 3 weeks go by, a new male will take over, as Nelson is doing. Meanwhile, the two one year olds we had seen earlier waiting for mom, appear to have been abandoned by one of the ladies rather than allow them to be killed by Nelson, who would not permit Tony’s offspring to live.

After a good amount of time, we left Nelson and ladies to look for more game. Soon we found another group of lions with a handsome male, too young to be a father but showing lots of potential.

There were 5 other lions lounging around. No one looked hungry. There are literally thousands of Kob in Murchison National Park to choose from for an easy meal. We watched this group for awhile, but nothing much was happening as they were all sleeping.

We found a spot for a sundowner, had a drink watching the sun make an uninteresting departure and drive home in the dark. After another very nice dinner, Mark and I went to bed.

Monday, March 9, 2026

Out again at 5:30, we looked for Nelson and his ladies and found them finishing a breakfast Kob and continuing to copulate. One of the girls looked like she was trying to leave the group. We wondered if she might be the mother of the abandoned one year olds. She did not get far before Nelson retrieved her. Later we found the orphans looking hungry and forlorn, but apparently unable find some food on their own. Jonathan thought it would be good to have them captured and taken to a lion shelter.

We left the four behind and relocated the second group of 6. They too were finishing off a Kob. Otherwise there was not much action.

Back at camp, we rested and enjoyed our dipping pool until lunch. Feasted again and leisurely absorbed the afternoon on the edge of the Nile from our tent.

At 5pm we were off again driving around the park. We did not see any lions this time, but enjoyed the drive and scenery,

Dinner was at 8pm with lots of good conversation and bed at 9:30.

Tuesday, March 10 2026

Off again at 5:30 along the same track as other days. Encountered two female lion from the group of six just laying around. Carried on and found Nelson and the three ladies finishing another Kob and making more babies.

We spent some time helping Jonathan decide where to build an airstrip to improve access to Kulu Ora. Mark spent some time casting for Nile perch while Jonathan and I had breakfast on the river bank. The hotel staff had prepared a dish called “rolex” for us and cooked them on a small BBQ. It turned out to be an omelet rolled up and cooked in a tortilla. It was tasty, if a bit greasy.

The day was mixed with hot sun in the morning and cool rain in the late afternoon.

For a change, we have dinner at 7:30pm and head out for a game drive at night.