We stayed in the Caprivi Strip for one night, and this narrow stretch of land comes with a surprisingly interesting backstory.
Originally, the Caprivi Strip was part of British territory. Germany later proposed a land swap with Britain, believing this strip would give them access to the Zambezi River and open up better trade routes. What they didn’t realise was that Victoria Falls sits right in the middle, completely cutting off any meaningful river transport. In the end, Germany was left with what turned out to be a fairly useless piece of land.
They tried to swap it again for something better, but Britain wasn’t interested. Otto von Bismarck, a German leader at the time, famously complained that Germany had traded away “trousers for a button.”
A good reminder of what happens when you don’t do your research properly!
We stayed at Divundu Guest House, and like everywhere else we’ve been in Africa so far, the people were incredibly friendly. While we were having breakfast, one of the workers kindly offered to hold Zahra so we could eat in peace. She took Zahra outside and walked around with her, and Zahra was perfectly happy being carried around.
We also met a Muslim man during breakfast, who had moved to Namibia for business purposes. It’s always comforting and special to meet and connect with other Muslims while travelling. Whether its a five minute conversation or an ongoing friendship, talking to other Muslims during our travels feel special because it feels like a bond that trancends this life.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Two Muslims will not meet and shake hands having their sins forgiven them before they separate. (Sunan Abi Dawud 5212)
Mahango Game Park
We did a short self-drive safari in Mahango Game Park (entrance fee: $22). The park runs along the Okavango River, which eventually spreads into the famous Okavango Delta. To properly explore the delta, you need a 4WD, and with our car, and travelling with kids, it would have been a tougher and more expensive journey. We planned instead to do three days of self-drive safari in Etosha afterwards.
Even so, we still saw some animals during our drive here. Maryam told us that when warthogs run, their tails stick straight up. Once she pointed it out, we couldn’t stop noticing it as we saw warthogs everywhere!
After that, we made a quick stop at a shop for lunch at KFC and some groceries before driving to our accommodation just outside Etosha.
