We left Spitskoppie mid-morning on 2nd April. The D roads were very badly corrugated & so we decided to drive a slightly longer route, via the tarred road. This proved to be a good decision & we arrived in Omaruru inn mid-afternoon for some supplies from the supermarket &a nice lunch at a local restaurant.
The road to the Erongo Mountains.
Only 38 kms to our destination the Erongo Mountain Plateau Camp. However, this proved to be a long drive, with the roads being very corrugated. The rest of the afternoon was spent setting up camp & we had a nice surprise waiting for us! Unbelievably Charlotte, Arnu's sister was camping here! So we had a nice evening chatting around the camp.
The view from our campsite: Part One.
Part Two: a very nice location.
The next morning on 3rd April it was a very gloomy outlook & we decided to stay around the camp to see what the weather would do. This proved to be a wise move as it rained hard for several hours. We couldn't do very much in this. The rain stopped in the afternoon & we were just getting ready to go out again when the heavens opened once more! It was probably a blessing in disguise as both Delana & I were suffering from a stomach bug & not feeling great.
The only thing we saw of note in camp between the rain was a pair of Great Rufous Sparrows with a nest. This bird is a bit of an enigma for me, for despite having an extensive range in the arid west of southern Africa, it is quite localized & I usually manage to miss them! So very happy to get a pair at close range in camp.
Sunset after the rain.
Because of the poor weather, we decided to have an early night & went to bed to watch TV. One couldn't have said that a few years ago!
The habitat.
The next day we were up before dawn & drove down the plateau to an area of koppies next to the road. Our target were two localised species: Hartlaub's Spurfowl & Rockrunner. Unfortunately I had made a mistake with the booking of this campsite. From the name, I thought it would be among the rocks, but it isn't. In fact, there is no suitable habitat for our two targets nearby & we had to drive around 25 kms down the poor road to have any chance ar all of seeing them. However the weather was good & we arrived at a likely looking area. We played the tape for the Spurfowl for some time, before Delana spotted one sat on a boulder calling back at us. I had good views through the binoculars but went for my camera & when I returned it was gone, lost among the boulders. It was a new species for Delana so she was happy. We spent sometime searching, but to no avail. However, we did hear Rockrunner singing but couldn't get close enough because of a fence. The bird was on private property.
We drove back up to the camp on the very poor road, but the weather was great: bright sunshine! What a change from yesterday. We then enjoyed a couple of hours around camp before the rain returned yet again.
We planned to go out into the field again but the weather stopped us, so I started writing my blog & Delana did some work. After an enjoyable evening we turned in. The caravan is so great when the weather is poor. The next morning we packed up & left for Etosha. It had been a nice stay on an excellent campsite with panoramic views. However, the combination of us not feeling great & the very mixed weather spoilt our stay somewhat.
