Kaokoland : new "Etosha Roadside" camp 1.5km to Galton Gate W entrance to Etosha, & at Olifantsrus

[Dave Raulstone]

Some people may have missed this info in Bruce T's Kaokoland thread about this well-placed new camp, & with lots of its own game
From Glen Roberts who's very involved:

We are directly opposite Galton Gate on the Western Side of Etosha (The old Hobatere Camp site).  Hobatere Lodge is about 18km from us.  There were never any camp sites at Hobatere Lodge.
Inside Etosha on the Western Side, Namibia Wildlife Resorts has a tented camp (no camp sites).  They also now have a few camp sites at Olifantsrus water hole inside Etosha, about 60km from Galton Gate on the way to Okaukuejo.

Although our camp sites are only 1,5 km from the C35 Tar road and Galton Gate into Etosha, it is definitely "in the bush".  (Do Lions sleeping in the camp make it "bush" enough?)  Our concession extends 10 km away from the tar road, and all the way from Etosha's Galton Gate up to the Werda VET fence (also about 10km).  We have Hartman's Mountain Zebra, Giraffe (Angolensis species), Kudu, Eland, Gensbok, Elephants, Black Faced Impala, Hyena's (Brown and Spotted), the occasional Leopard, and plenty of Lions.  Even a Black Rhino visits our waterhole from time to time. Also the usual porcupines, Dassies and other small animals such as the Kaokoveld Slender Mongoose (Black Mongoose).
The reason we kept the "Roadside" name is because the concession name is "Hobatere Roadside", as the concession is in the Hobatere concession area and runs along the C35 main road.  We dropped "Hobatere" from the name to avoid any confusion with Hobatere Lodge, which now falls within the "Hobatere North" concession.  "Roadside" basically means "along the C35" and "next to Etosha".  We already receive a large number of bookings of foreign (German, Swiss, Austrian) tourists, mostly by word of mouth and through a travel guide that is published in Germany but written by a German that lives in Windhoek.  We'll market more actively locally once we have finished with camp site upgrades and have erected some permanent tents and opened a restaurant.
Cheers
Glen

[Merwe Erasmus]

Keep in mind that if you exit Etosha at the Galton Gate, the veterinary officials have an inspection point right at the gate, before you exit the park.

[Glen Roberts]

When was this?  I have never been checked at Galton Gate (West), but the VET officials at Okaukuejo/Anderson gate are very strict when exiting the park Southwards towards Outjo.  I have also never been checked when exiting the park at Namutoni (East) (We last exited there in January). 
Glen

On 2015/06/18 09:17 AM, Merwe Erasmus wrote:

Keep in mind that if you exit Etosha at the Galton Gate, the veterinary officials have an inspection point right at the gate, before you exit the park.

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[Merwe Erasmus]

Glen it was 5 June. Peter at Kunene River Lodge was very upset (not as upset as my wife) when we told him and suggested that it might be a scam. He was going to take it up with the authorities. I will contact him when I am back in Cape Town next week.

[Glen Roberts]

OK, this is a new VET check point then. I have not been through Galton Gate since April, and there was not a VET check then.  We have been in discussion with the ENP park manager (Assistant Director Boas Erckie) regarding the VET check at Anderson gate, and even Etosha themselves are not happy about it.  Tthe VET check points are not in any way managed by Etosha though, and their complaints get no-where.  It is a completely ridiculous situation, as the entire ENP actually lies South of the main East-West VET fence, so theoretically the only VET check should be on the Northern boundary of Etosha, at King Nehale gate.  I suspect that the only "reasoning" behind the strict control of meat out of ENP (and even into ENP these days) is simply to force people to buy the completely overpriced meat at the Namibia Wildlife Resorts shop in Okaukuejo.  I'll take the issue up again at our next Joint Management Committee meeting with ENP and MET in July (usually held every 3 months at the ENP park offices at Galton Gate).

Regarding the Galton Gate meat issue, we expect to have a "shop" open just opposite the road from Galton Gate in the next 2 to 3 months, so you will be able to purchase meat from us there before heading further Westwards, or before heading into the park through Galton Gate.  If you do take meat into the park though, you will have to consume or cook it while inside the park.  I myself had to cook some meat on a gas braai at Anderson gate before I could take it out in January, even though the meat was purchased at Outjo, south of Etosha.  We could take the meat into the park, but not out again - even with the De La Rey meat market label showing it had been purchased in Outjo!

Glen

On 2015/06/19 11:15 AM, Merwe Erasmus wrote: