Windhoek Airport – Business Class Lounge

Posted on February 3, 2018 by Tara

Time to bid farewell to Namibia and Africa overall and go home!

After dropping off the car, we walked to the terminal and checked in at Qatar’s Business Class counter – no waiting! I must say this whole Qatar Airways experience would never have been possible without the American AAdvantage miles I had squirreled away over the years, many transferred from the US Airways merge.

We were invited to the Amushie Lounge to wait for the flight.

It’s a decent sized lounge for this smaller airport and I liked the mural on the wall.They had a good spread at the buffet but I held back, wanting to save room for the flight service.

There are a few shops in the airport if you have some NAD or SAR to spend, otherwise just relax and enjoy the wifi!

Happy New Year!

Posted on January 1, 2018 by Tara

I hope that 2018 is a wonderful year for all of you with amazing travels and experiences!

2017 Travel Year In Review – The Year Of The Bucket Lists

Posted on January 1, 2018 by Tara

It’s time for my traditional look back at the year in review – both my personal travels and events that affected the miles and points community. Sorry it’s late but I have been busy with personal things. Last year was epic and I knew it would be hard to top but I may just have at least equaled it.

JANUARY – FEBRUARY – MARCH
Very quiet months. The miles and points opportunities have wound down so I have been more in a spend miles mode rather than earning. I have begun the shift away from the US programs and back to Australian programs. So my focus has been on maximizing the Coles (Virgin) and Woolies (Qantas) programs.

APRIL – MAY
The Godmother of All African Adventures happened over 4 amazing weeks and has been already covered extensively on this blog.

On the miles and points bucket list perspective I got to have my first ever business class experience flying Etihad from Perth to Abu Dhabi and Qatar from Windhoek to Doha to Adelaide!

JUNE – JULY – AUGUST

It’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind and so I did. Earlier this year I had posted that I wanted to do an Outback Australia birding trip. And that I was saving miles to go to the Loro Parque Conference in 2018. Well I changed my mind and decided to blow almost all of my remaining AA and BA miles on a trip to Peru to visit the Manu Wildlife Reserve. So I put in a lot of planning and research to make this trip happen.

SEPTEMBER

The big trip to Peru happened and was a huge success! I will get around to blogging it in the New Year.

And this was the final miles and points bucket list item. I traveled in First Class on Emirates between Auckland and Brisbane. Only a 3 hour flight but it was awesome and a great use of QF points!

OCTOBER – NOVEMBER -DECEMBER

Back to a more quiet lifestyle. I have spent almost all my miles and points (and very well I might add). I still do the shopping promos at Coles and Woolies but now I feel like I have accomplished so much of what I set out to do in regards to travel. I am not going to stop traveling but I will tone it back. I still have plenty of miles in Velocity, Qantas and Amex MR to easily cover travel plans in 2019, even 2020.
You may have noticed I also scaled back on blog postings. My personal life has become busier than it used to be so I apologize for that. I will be doing only 3 posts a week from now on just to keep a sustainable posting frequency.

I hope you all had wonderful travels this year too!!

Rosy-faced Lovebird (Agapornis roseicollis)

Posted on December 23, 2017 by Tara

The Rosy-faced Lovebird (Agapornis roseicollis), also known as the Rosy-collared or Peach-faced Lovebird, is a species of lovebird native to arid regions in southwestern Africa such as the Namib Desert. A loud and constant chirper, these birds are very social animals and often congregate in small groups in the wild.

There was a small flock along the Kunene River.

This one was seen at Oppi-Koppi Rest Camp in Kamanjab.

Spectacular in flight!

They have a specific range from Angola through Namibia and into the Kgalagadi NP in South Africa. There are reports of them in Etosha NP and I personally saw them in Kamanjab, Kunene River and Omaruru.

LEARN MORE ABOUT ROSY-FACED LOVEBIRDS

Wikipedia

World Parrot Trust

Birdlife

VIDEOS

Beautiful footage from Namibia

Documentary slide show in German but still interesting to English speakers.

Monteiro’s Hornbill (Tockus monteiri)

Posted on December 20, 2017 by Tara

The Monteiro’s Hornbill (Tockus monteiri) is a species of hornbill that is native to the dry woodlands of southwestern Africa. It is a common, near-endemic species in Namibia, with a total population estimated at 340,000 individuals.

I do remember seeing these guys in several places usually roadside as we were driving from one place to another so I can’t believe I only got one shot while driving from Huab Lodge to Omaruru. They are only found in Namibia and a small part of Angola so Namibia is really you best chance to see them.

LEARN MORE ABOUT MONTEIRO’S HORNBILLS

Wikipedia

Birdlife

Biodiversity Explorer

VIDEOS

Nothing on Youtube! There are a few clips on HBW taken around the Erongo area.

Lodge Review: Omaruru Guesthouse

Posted on December 16, 2017 by Tara

With a focus on birding and very little time planned for this overnight stop, the Omaruru Guesthouse was a good budget option.

The door with the lit windows is where the reception and restaurant is. Unfortunately, they don’t have dinner service, only a breakfast buffet. You have to go to one of the nearby hotels for a proper dinner. In our case, we were still pretty full after a huge late lunch at the Wimpy’s (like a Denny’s or Coco’s-ish) in Outjo so we were satisfied with snacks and drinks.

There is an attractive pool area which we didn’t have time to use.

The rooms were very pleasant and the wifi was pretty good.

Omaruru is the one town we passed through that I would have liked to spend more time. It’s quite an attractive little town and has nice cafes and gift shops and the birding in the surrounding area is excellent. It’s unlikely that we would get enough miles to afford a return to Namibia but Omaruru would be at the top of the return visits!

Birding Around The Omaruru Area, Namibia

Posted on December 12, 2017 by Tara

This would be our last chance for birding in Namibia before heading home. After leaving Huab Lodge, we headed south to Omaruru via Outjo to avoid dirt roads. I had had enough of those to last a lifetime! We arrived in Omaruru around 3pm so headed off towards the Erongo Wilderness Area for birding before heading to the hotel for an overnight stop.

Approaching Erongo Wilderness Lodge which has a gorgeous setting but was way out of our budget.

What’s this? Looks interesting! (Seen on the Erongo Road)

Shaft-tailed Whydah

There is a guarded gate but they let us in, no problem.

We were planning to go to the lodge, have a drink at the bar and see as many birds as possible. We were stopped in our tracks by a bad road.

Lower car park, lodge guests are given transport if they can’t drive themselves but not day-trippers.

Bad photo of a beautiful Violet Wood-hoopoe

We stopped in here for a quick look around and I was hoping they had some of those Lovebird artworks for sale (they don’t). I wish I had known Camp Mara existed, we would have stayed here! For future reference: Camp Mara

With the sun rapidly going down, it was time to go to the hotel we already booked: Omaruru Guesthouse.

Good morning! Time for some early birding before the final drive back to Windhoek Airport and the flight home!

OK, OK we will Go-away, Bird!

Flock of Rosy-faced Lovebirds

Pale-winged Starling

Let’s see if I can get a decent shot of a Rosy-faced Lovebird in flight!

Not this one!

Getting better!

These next 2 were the best I can do, they are a pretty small and fast target!

A final goodbye to Omaruru as we drive to Windhoek.

Birding The Grounds Of Huab Lodge, Namibia

Posted on November 18, 2017 by Tara

One of the reasons for choosing Huab Lodge is that there had been several reports on eBird of Ruppell’s Parrots in the area. We did find ONE parrots and lots more birds!

This pretty bird was seen on the roadside. I think it’s a Yellow-crowned Bishop.