Etosha!

[Jackson Fratesi]

Fantastic seeing everyone this weekend, it was really nice to get back together and hear about everyone else's experiences.  Fun, too!

So, a few of us talked about Etosha on the weekend of the 24th and I'm going to try to make some moves on planning (car rental, booking, what what...) and I wanted to get an official count on who is interested.  So just shoot me back a quick email if you'd like to come and we'll go from there.

Hope everyone got home safely and the travel wasn't too long/aggravating.  

jackson

[Meredith Baker]

DUH! you the man

[Griffin Gaffney]

Count me in as well!

On 7/5/10, Meredith Baker <meredit...@gmail.com> wrote:
> DUH! you the man
>

[jen.lo...@richmond.edu]

I would like to come! Let me know if you want/need help with planning.

[Salif Doubare]

I'm in

jackson

--
Salif Doubare
Pomona Under Grad '12
______________________________________
Office of Black Student Affairs 2008-2010
Treasurer, Pan African Students Assoc 2009-2010
Mentor, Ujima
Salif....@pomona.edu
(773)981 -2906

[Jackson Fratesi]

ALSO: van rental looks out, which is too bad so we're gonna have to do two cars.  SO: can anyone who's planning on coming drive a stick shift?  Automatic is more expensive and it'd be nice not to have to go down that road.  I'll drive one car, I've already had that trial by fire.

Also x2: I've gotten some Etosha advice and apparently the way to go is not to drive around so much but rather to just sit at a watering hole and let the animals come to you.  That is apparently how the year longs saw the most animals.  We are not getting a guide, we can find the freakin animals our own selves!  If any of the folks from the previous trip have any advice to throw in, please, FEEL FREE.  

[WorldTeach Namibia FD]

Have you checked out Cheetah Car Hire in Ongwediva/Oshakati? Their number is 065 231786. Volunteers (and I) have used and liked them in the past.

:)
Jocie

[Anna Murphy]

don't know how to drive a stick shift at the moment, but that could
change with a good coach. i'd be happy to learn unless somebody else
has it covered already

[Griffin Gaffney]

Hi All!

This is just a fledgling idea as of present but I'm kind of thinking
that I might want to leave for Etosha on Thursday. That way I (and
anyone else who wants to come) could get a few full days in the park,
since I haven't taken any days off and I have worked more weekends and
beacuse I hear that it's a good idea to spend a few days there. I'm
also toying with the idea of staying in a hotel for Thursday night,
since I haven't gotten out of Outapi much, if anyone is interested.

That being said, if anyone else was interested in joining me we could
get an automatic car on Thursday and meet up with everyone else on
Friday.

Let me know.

All Best,

Griffin

[Jackson Fratesi]

I'm good with taking Friday off, that day is a pretty light day for me and my co-teacher can cover if I set some things up for her.  Any one else interested?

[Meredith Baker]

I would but I'll be missing Monday for Vic Falls.. would love to stay in a hotel though...

[Gravity]

I'm not sure I can. I have to teach saturdays to make up fridays I miss, and I'm not sure I have any more saturdays. I could try. Text me if you guys decide to do so, and I'll see what I can do (I have no internet except when I'm in town)

I can't wait to go. Samantha says she would be down for Thursday. She just needs to check with her principal. But for the time being count her in. 

Hope you guys are awesome! it was good to see you last weekend,

~Halimeda

[Jen Loughnane]

I won't be able to miss Friday either.

On Jul 11, 4:20 am, Gravity <seasong...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm not sure I can. I have to teach saturdays to make up fridays I miss, and
> I'm not sure I have any more saturdays. I could try. Text me if you guys
> decide to do so, and I'll see what I can do (I have no internet except when
> I'm in town)
> I can't wait to go. Samantha says she would be down for Thursday. She just
> needs to check with her principal. But for the time being count her in.
>
> Hope you guys are awesome! it was good to see you last weekend,
> ~Halimeda
> On Sat, Jul 10, 2010 at 8:43 PM, Meredith Baker

> <meredithbake...@gmail.com>wrote:

>
>
>
> > I would but I'll be missing Monday for Vic Falls.. would love to stay in a
> > hotel though...
>
> > On Sat, Jul 10, 2010 at 12:38 PM, Griffin Gaffney <
> > griffingaff...@college.harvard.edu> wrote:
>
> >> Hi All!
>
> >> This is just a fledgling idea as of present but I'm kind of thinking
> >> that I might want to leave for Etosha on Thursday. That way I (and
> >> anyone else who wants to come) could get a few full days in the park,
> >> since I haven't taken any days off and I have worked more weekends and
> >> beacuse I hear that it's a good idea to spend a few days there. I'm
> >> also toying with the idea of staying in a hotel for Thursday night,
> >> since I haven't gotten out of Outapi much, if anyone is interested.
>
> >> That being said, if anyone else was interested in joining me we could
> >> get an automatic car on Thursday and meet up with everyone else on
> >> Friday.
>
> >> Let me know.
>
> >> All Best,
>
> >> Griffin
>

> >> On 7/8/10, Anna Murphy <ajunmu...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> > don't know how to drive a stick shift at the moment, but that could
> >> > change with a good coach. i'd be happy to learn unless somebody else
> >> > has it covered already
>

> >> > On 7/7/10, Jackson Fratesi <jackson.frat...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >> ALSO: van rental looks out, which is too bad so we're gonna have to do
> >> two
> >> >> cars.  SO: can anyone who's planning on coming drive a stick shift?
> >> >>  Automatic is more expensive and it'd be nice not to have to go down
> >> that
> >> >> road.  I'll drive one car, I've already had that trial by fire.
>
> >> >> Also x2: I've gotten some Etosha advice and apparently the way to go is
> >> >> not
> >> >> to drive around so much but rather to just sit at a watering hole and
> >> let
> >> >> the animals come to you.  That is apparently how the year longs saw the
> >> >> most
> >> >> animals.  We are not getting a guide, we can find the freakin animals
> >> our
> >> >> own selves!  If any of the folks from the previous trip have any advice
> >> to
> >> >> throw in, please, FEEL FREE.
>
> >> >> On Sun, Jul 4, 2010 at 8:49 PM, Jackson Fratesi

> >> >> <jackson.frat...@gmail.com>wrote:

>
> >> >>> Fantastic seeing everyone this weekend, it was really nice to get back
> >> >>> together and hear about everyone else's experiences.  Fun, too!
>
> >> >>> So, a few of us talked about Etosha on the weekend of the 24th and I'm
> >> >>> going to try to make some moves on planning (car rental, booking, what
> >> >>> what...) and I wanted to get an official count on who is interested.
> >>  So
> >> >>> just shoot me back a quick email if you'd like to come and we'll go
> >> from
> >> >>> there.
>
> >> >>> Hope everyone got home safely and the travel wasn't too
> >> long/aggravating.
>

> >> >>> jackson- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Griffin Gaffney]

Also, I tried calling Cheetah Car hire and to rent a car you have to
be 23. I'm assuming it's something close to the same age for Avis or
any other place for that matter. Probably out of luck, then.

[Jackson Fratesi]

Alright, sounds like I'm going to have to rent both cars then?  My credit card can handle it and i'll drive one but we need to figure out who the other driver is going to be: both anna and meredith have expressed willingness to learn.  can anyone do better than that?

So far my count is:

Me

Griffin

Hallie

Sam

Meredith

Anna

Jen

Salif

8 people, which is a solid two cars.  If anyone else is trying to come along, speak now.  If taking off friday happens for some of the group, we have to figure out a way to meet up on Friday with everyone else- the car rental place is in Ondangwa in case that wasn't clear before.  Also, we will be camping in these camp sites, so keep in mind the kind of gear needed for that.  I hear tents and sleeping bags come cheap at china shops.  

I don't know if people can get off early on Friday, but I would prefer to spend friday and saturday nights in the park, so that we can get a nice full day in on friday as opposed to spending the first night in tsumeb.  The camp sites are supposed to be nice and situated near watering holes for nice night viewing- I'd like to do that both nights.  There's some discussion of a hotel one of the nights too, within the park.  I'm gonna do some research and try to scout out some accommodation reservations to make- those who are trying to a hotel, i guess we'll find a place that has both rooms and camp sites?  let me know what you guys are thinking.

jackson

[WorldTeach Namibia FD]

I'm not sure if y'all have taken this into consideration but there is
an entrance to Etosha about an hour past Ondangwa to the east off B1.
Just past Omuthiya. You don't need to drive all the way to Tsumeb
side. Just FYI in case you didn't realize! :-)

On 7/11/10, Jackson Fratesi <jackson...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Alright, sounds like I'm going to have to rent both cars then? My credit
> card can handle it and i'll drive one but we need to figure out who the
> other driver is going to be: both anna and meredith have expressed
> willingness to learn. can anyone do better than that?
>
> So far my count is:
> Me
> Griffin
> Hallie
> Sam
> Meredith
> Anna
> Jen
> Salif
>
> 8 people, which is a solid two cars. If anyone else is trying to come
> along, speak now. If taking off friday happens for some of the group, we
> have to figure out a way to meet up on Friday with everyone else- the car
> rental place is in Ondangwa in case that wasn't clear before. Also, we will

> be *camping* in these camp sites, so keep in mind the kind of gear needed

--
Jocie Jungers
WorldTeach Namibia
Field Director
office: +264 61 2933365
fax: +264 61 2933365
cellular: +264 811249167

[Meredith Baker]

If Anna wants to learn, I can let her take the lead ;)

[Griffin Gaffney]

Hi All,

I'm going to call a few places today. The issue is not renting the car
but rather actually driving it. Some of the rental places require that
you are 23 just to drive the car. I found a company, though, that
might allow me to drive (and I'd be willing to pay a bit extra for an
automatic). I read in the fine print that you must be either 23 OR
have had a valid driver's license for at least two years. I will call
them today and get back to everyone ASAP about that.

Jackson, I'll probably call you tonight.

That being said, I also talked to the Peace Corps volunteer at my
school about going to Etosha without a car. She knows of a good hotel
right outside of the park that does pretty cheap guided tours (which
she recommended because they have 'scouts' looking out for animals
around the park). So, it would be entirely possible to get a kombi to
Tsumeb then get a cab to the hotel. Just another option.

Hope everyone is doing well!

All Best,

Griffin

On 7/12/10, Meredith Baker <meredit...@gmail.com> wrote:
> If Anna wants to learn, I can let her take the lead ;)
>
> On Sun, Jul 11, 2010 at 5:20 PM, Jackson Fratesi
> <jackson...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Alright, sounds like I'm going to have to rent both cars then? My credit
>> card can handle it and i'll drive one but we need to figure out who the
>> other driver is going to be: both anna and meredith have expressed
>> willingness to learn. can anyone do better than that?
>>
>> So far my count is:
>> Me
>> Griffin
>> Hallie
>> Sam
>> Meredith
>> Anna
>> Jen
>> Salif
>>
>> 8 people, which is a solid two cars. If anyone else is trying to come
>> along, speak now. If taking off friday happens for some of the group, we
>> have to figure out a way to meet up on Friday with everyone else- the car
>> rental place is in Ondangwa in case that wasn't clear before. Also, we
>> will

>> be *camping* in these camp sites, so keep in mind the kind of gear needed

[Dana Bays]

Hey All,

Hope the weekend was nice!

I'm obviously not joining you for Etosha but can throw in thoughts or
answer questions...

I will say that just by reading through these that Etosha would NOT be
a very good place to learn to drive stick. The terrain is difficult
even when driving an automatic, and we got stuck a couple of times. I
would recommend getting an automatic if you can. It is entirely
gravel roads, really bumpy, and often large potholes. It would really
suck to get stuck out there...

Also, Jocie is right...there is an entrance closer to Ondangwa. We
only went to Tsumeb because we were meeting with Jen and she was
coming from the South. I would go straight to Etosha if you can, and
stay there Friday and Saturday night. We stayed at Hallali. The
campsites are really nice! And you can buy a decent tent at a China
shop for around 100 Namibian dollars. There are two other locations
as well - but keep in mind that they are all pretty far apart. You
can't drive very fast inside the park because of the roads and the
speed limit of 60 km/hr.

There is my two cents...hope you have an amazing time!

Best, Dana

[Jackson Fratesi]

Thank you for the advice Dana!  We are totally going straight to Etosha!  Sorry Tsumeb!  Okay, so Griffin and I have been in touch today and he has taken over booking an automatic, because, yeah, no one should learn stick in the middle of a game preserve in Namibia.  NO THANKS.  That is going to be more expensive than the stick, but I think it's a necessary cost.  It's Etosha people!  This is gonna be awesome.

Also- as mentioned, some of us (Griffin, Sam, Me) have expressed an interest/willingness to take friday off so that we can get some good time in.  What we were thinking is that we might rent the stick shift (since I'll be driving that) on Thursday and take off in that, then everyone else can meet/catch up with us in the automatic that you guys rent on friday afternoon.  That also means we have 1-2 spots in the thursday car if anyone is interested in taking a personal day on friday and joining us.  Anybody?

Griffin also put in work on hotels/camp sites.  All the camp sites cost about the same but have different perks- I am trying to do one night at one camp (Halali sounds great) then move to another (I hear Okaukuejo is legit) the next night and stay at ones that have night waterhole viewing.  Am I going to drink whiskey and watch for animals all night?  I think we all know the answer here.  It is going to be awesome.  I know some of the group wants to do a hotel/lodge one night- I think this is where we could take advantage of having two cars and the automatic could head off for the comfort one night while the manual sticks around for the creatures.  But if it ends up that most of the group (more than a car load) wants to do one or the other, we can work around this!  It's vacation!  We are not getting stressed out here and anyone that does gets thrown in with the hippos!  Plus most of the campsites offer luxury accommodations so we might not even have to split up except at the end of the night when the bougie crew laughs on their way to their soft, warm beds as we climb in our tents.  All this hotel/lodge stuff is way up in the air right now- JUST SAY SO IF YOU HAVE INTEREST IN THAT, OTHERWISE YOU'RE ASSUMED TO BE LIVIN IN TENT-TOWN.

finally: WE ARE GOING TO START MAKING RESERVATIONS SOON.  GRIFFIN AND I HAVE YOUR BEST INTERESTS AT HEART AND AREN'T GONNA DO ANYTHING BUT THE BAREST BONES BOOKINGS UNLESS YOU SPECIFICALLY ASK FOR IT.  IF YOU HAVE ANY CONCERNS/SUGGESTIONS/DEMANDS/DESIRES/DECREES PLEASE HOLLER THROUGH EMAIL OR CALL AS SOON AS YOU CAN.  WE'RE TRYIN TO DO THIS THANG.

[Meredith Baker]

I can be in Ondangwa by noon that Friday, and am interested in checking out the two campsites as well.. let me know if you need me to help with any of the bookings..

 

Thanks again to Griffin and Jackson for taking the lead on this!

[Griffin Gaffney]

Woo!

Just to elaborate on the whole two cars thing...

I think it's probably a good idea if we have one car of people leaving
on Thursday and another on Friday, if that would work. That way we
could get the manual on Thursday and the other group could book and
pick up the automatic on Friday. I'm not totally sure if that is going
to work, though.

I don't think I would be all too comfortable putting the car in my
name and having someone else pick it up without me.

Another option is to have people who want to come on Friday meet us in
Tsumeb. They could pick up another car there for pretty cheap and then
we would have two cars for the rest of the weekend.

So now it kind of looks like this, loosely:

Thursday-->Same Jackson Griffin (anyone else) depart for Etosha
Friday-->Others depart for Etosha. Maybe if everyone meets in Ondangwa
you could all get to Tsumeb from there and pick up a car. Or, I could
pick up a car on Friday and pick people up in Ondangwa maybe. Friday
night we will be in one of two rest camps, probably camping, unless
anyone wants to rent a chalet (they are 600-900$N depending on the
rest camp).
Saturday-->Everyone's in the park now, we can all have fun camping out!
Sunday-->Morning in the park, head home.

Sound good?

[Griffin Gaffney]

And by Same I meant Sam...

All Best,

Griffin

[Jackson Fratesi]

Ideally someone else would book the car but if Griffin is the only one willing to do it, I think it would be just as easy to meet everyone in Ondangwa as Tsumeb- it's not much further and everyone wouldn't have to deal with the hike.

[Meredith Baker]

Or why don't we rent the cars in Ondangwa instead of Tsumeb?

[Jackson Fratesi]

Yeah, that's what I was saying.  I don't think we need to go to Tsumeb at all

[Anna Murphy]

Huh?????? I think I could book a car for the Friday folks. And this
would be in Ondangwa, right? So it would be 4-5 people who would get
to Ondangwa on Friday afternoon and pick up a car and then make it to
Etosha that evening. I think?

[WorldTeach Namibia FD]

Just to add to this confusing discussion, make sure you plan to get to Etosha well before sun-down. It might be worth calling to check what time they close the gates. Once you make the turn off from the B1 (1 hour from Ondangwa +/- ... look for the modest sign after you pass through Omuthiya, a small town on the B1) you need to drive another 20 km or more (I think! I'm not sure of the exact distance) to get to the actual gate of Etosha. Then from there it's a bit farther from the gate to the first rest camp, Namutoni. The rest camps also have specific times that they close their gates as well. (So no animals can sneak in!!)

I've been to Etosha a million times so if you have any specific questions I can try to answer!
Good luck! :)

Jocie

[Jackson Fratesi]

Good point!  Everyone needs to make sure they can get off school and travel to Ondangwa with plenty of time to make it to etosha (probably two hours after the car is rented to be safe).

Anna- yeah, the thinking is five of you rent the car on friday afternoon and drive down to meet up with us.

[Griffin Gaffney]

Woo, woo, email chain confusion!

I'll try and summarize what is happening.

Money Info:

--For the rental cars, we are planning to add up all of the costs
between the two cars and split the price evenly between all of us.
That being said, it shouldn't be more than $100US per person for the
whole trip.
--For accommodations, there are a few options. To get a chalet in the
rest camp is $600-900N per person per night. Regular camp sites are
$200N per site plus $100N per person. The Mokuti lodge can be booked
in double rooms fora bout $450N per person per night.

General Stuff:

--PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know ASAP if you would like to stay at
the Mokuti lodge just outside of Etosha on Saturday night (see below).
We need to book rooms sooner rather than later. We will have to book
in groups of two, so I can hook you up with someone else and give you
the number to book a room there.
--Anna, you should probably get on booking a car ASAP. I'm not sure if
Avis will rent cars, but I am positive that Europcar will rent to
Americans under the age of 23 who have had their licenses for at least
two years. You can find their contact information quite easily online.
I think they have locations at Tsumeb and Ondangwa airport.
--Anna, Meredith, Salif, Jen, Hallie, you should all make sure to be
on the same page about leaving Friday, if that's what the plan ends up
being.

THURSDAY
Group A leaves from Ondangwa in a manual rental car that is under
Jackson's name. We will most likely spend Thursday night in Etosha at
one of the rest camps.

FRIDAY

Morning/Afternoon:

Group B leaves from Ondangwa in an automatic car that is rented under
Anna's name (sounds like that's the plan, Anna?). I'm not sure what
time you guys will meet, but maybe you could all coordinate and figure
that out.

Evening:

We all meet up and spend Friday night in the park at one of the rest camps.

SATURDAY

Morning/Afternoon:

Drive around Etosha and what not.

Evening:

Probably stay at the Mokuti lodge just outside of the park. It's a a
really nice place (from what I have heard/seen online) and we can get
a discount since we all have work visas in Namibia. It would be 450$N
per person for double rooms. If anyone wants to stay in the park for
another night, that is also feasible, since we will have two cars.

SUNDAY

Go home! If you're staying at Mokuti lodge, breakfast is included in
the room price.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

All Best,

Griffin

On 7/13/10, Jackson Fratesi <jackson...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Jackson Fratesi]

Yes, thank you for clearing everything up Griffin!  Nobody should feel obligated to do any of the expensive chalets- I think I'll probably be camping all three nights, so that also means that anyone who doesn't want to stay in the lodge on saturday night can totally stay in the park if they want to.  Again, no stress!  This is vacation!

Also: camping!  It gets chilly at night so you will need: Sleeping bag!  Sleeping pad (or something to put between you and the ground.  the nicest, warmest sleeping bag in the world doesn't do a DAMN thing if you're sleeping directly on the cold ground.  trust.) and a tent!   everything is available for cheap at china shops.  It would probably be wise to pick up some snacking type provisions for the weekend in ondangwa or wherever too.  Also any dranks you might want, if that's your thang.  All these campsites should be pretty nice and have meals but I kind of doubt it'll be more than that (i could be wrong!).  

whew, this is a lot of emails!  still excited!

[Anna Murphy]

this message goes out to the wonderful friday departure group:

we all need to be in ondangwa and packed into the car early enough to
get to etosha before sundown or, it seems, we'll be locked out. So
maybe we should be out of Ondangwa by 1 or 2 (does that sound safe?)
and aim to get there even earlier, which means I think I'll have to
miss some school on Friday, anyway. is everybody okay with this?

Griffin mentioned that the car rental place is at the airport, so
getting dropped off there would be best if it's possible. Booking the
car for pick-up at 1, and will change if necessary.

[Meredith Baker]

I can get to Ondangwa by 12 so I can definitely help you with that Anna! And Griffin, does this mean you are booking the lodge for Sat?  And what about the chalets the other nights? Those are still by the watering holes right?

[Jennifer Loughnane]

Hi Everyone!

I'm so excited for the weekend! I want to male sure that I bring enough
cash; so that, I can pay everyone. Does anyone know what the final cost
of this trip is so I can come prepared?

Thanks!
Jen

> So to recap for my own clarity, we are each responsible for bringing our
> own
> tents, sleeping pads etc? I'll try to buy some stuff in ondongwa tomorrow,
> to make sure I have what I need. (Including food.)
>
> I'm gonna try to get in as early as I can on friday. It takes about an
> hour
> for me to get into ondongwa. Anna, I'll call or text when I'm on my way.
>
> I can't wait to see you all next week!
>
> ~Halimeda
>
> On Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 12:23 AM, Meredith Baker

[Meredith Baker]

Yea, and Griffin, can we pay for the chalets with credit card?

[Anna Murphy]

i think rental car costs for the friday group will be about $40 US per person.

[WorldTeach Namibia FD]

Hello to everyone going to Etosha this weekend! :)

I hope you have a super wonderful fantastic time!!!!! :) Please take lots and lots of pictures!

Some safety/general reminders:
-For those of you driving, remember that the speed limit on Namibian highways is 120 km/hr unless otherwise marked (lower). There are definitely hidden speed traps out there so watch out! :) The cops hide by the side of the road and flag you down if you're speeding--they don't follow behind in a car like in the US. Please be very careful driving!! Namibian drivers are horrible, I'm sorry to say, and they take a LOT of risks. Stay on your toes. Also, watch out for lots of animals in and around the roads.

-EVERYONE, please remember to carry your passport. You may be asked to show it at checkpoints.

-When inside the park, do not exit your vehicle for any reason! This should be obvious but just in case. :) There are living, breathing dangerous animals out there--even if you can't see them. When you're driving around the park, if you have to use a toilet, there are some public toilets there. They're marked by signs at the side of the road. Don't just hop out of the car and do your business anywhere. :)

-If you encounter an elephant(s) while driving around the park, give it plenty of room. Usually they are happy to continue on their way and ignore you but if threatened they may cause harm to a car.

-If you camping, you may encounter jackals within the campground at night. They behave like wild dogs, really. (From my experience.) They just want your food. So, keep an eye on your food bags and what you are cooking on the grill. They are otherwise harmless. The camps do keep a tight watch on making sure that other (more dangerous) animals do not get inside the campground and have safety precautions in place should such a situation occur. As I've told people before, the campgrounds are quite nice! :)

-Remember how we talked about the red line? Well, when you enter Etosha at the northern gate, you are treated like you are crossing the red line and are not supposed to have meat products with you. Keep that in mind if you are packing food for cooking of any kind.

-Most of all, HAVE FUN!!!!! :) :) :)

Take care,
Jocie

[Jackson Fratesi]

Thanks for the advice Jocie!  In terms of not bringing meat in, are there places to get it inside the park?  I know that there are grills at the campground and I think I would be in for the biggest Namibian surprise so far if they expected everyone to go vegetarian at their Braii's.

[WorldTeach Namibia FD]

I think you can buy it at shops at the rest camp. Honestly, when I
went we just put our meat in a pack that did not contain other food so
that if they did want to look it would not be a big deal. I've never
been searched but they may ask if you have meat at the main gate as
you drive in.

On 7/21/10, Jackson Fratesi <jackson...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks for the advice Jocie! In terms of not bringing meat in, are there
> places to get it inside the park? I know that there are grills at the
> campground and I think I would be in for the biggest Namibian surprise so
> far if they expected everyone to go vegetarian at their Braii's.
>
> On Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 1:57 PM, WorldTeach Namibia FD <
> nam...@worldteach.org> wrote:
>
>> Hello to everyone going to Etosha this weekend! :)
>>
>> I hope you have a super wonderful fantastic time!!!!! :) Please take lots
>> and lots of pictures!
>>
>> Some safety/general reminders:
>> -For those of you driving, remember that the speed limit on Namibian
>> highways is 120 km/hr unless otherwise marked (lower). There are
>> definitely
>> hidden speed traps out there so watch out! :) The cops hide by the side of
>> the road and flag you down if you're speeding--they don't follow behind in
>> a
>> car like in the US. Please be very careful driving!! Namibian drivers are
>> horrible, I'm sorry to say, and they take a LOT of risks. Stay on your
>> toes.
>> Also, watch out for lots of animals in and around the roads.
>>
>> -EVERYONE, please remember to carry your passport. You may be asked to
>> show
>> it at checkpoints.
>>

>> -When inside the park, *do not exit your vehicle for any reason!* This