Animals of Namibia

 Jackal which is related to our fox, its a scavenger

 Leopard, which is a very powerful animal, it can jump metres, climb trees.  It stalks its prey and pounces on it, rips its throat with it's powerful jaw and teeth.  They electrify the fences around the game farms to keep the leopards out, but they figure out how to jump the fences.  Some can jump the fences, others use trees and climb then jump in search of more prey.  At Africat, which is a foundation committed to saving the cats of Namibia (many are killed or orphaned by farmers as they kill their livestock), the leopards kill the cheetah as the cheetah do not have a lot of open plains to run and escape.  Leopards stalk their prey in the bush.

 Chameleon slowly making his way across the road, he forget to change his colour from the grass to the road.

 Little tick which only comes out after the rain, it looks a lot prettier than our ticks

 Cheetah watching the oryx.  He is being rehabilitated so he and his "brothers " can be released into the wild.  they have to learn how to hunt for themselves.  Male cheetahs tend to hunt in groups of 3.  The females are more solitary.  Cheetahs are sleek and can run up to 100km/h, so they need open fields to catch their prey and escape predators.  Unfortunately, there is not much open savannah left. although there is an effort to debs (a huge job)

 Kudu, males, it takes 2 1/2 years for one twist to grow in their horns (they taste good too)

Warthog, the "warts" on his face help protect him during fights, the tusks are very strong and sharp.  When they run, their tails stand straight up

 Impala, the "macdonalds" of Africa, they even have a little M on their bums

 3 male cheetahs resting in the afternoon, notice how they are all looking in different directions, although they feel safe as we are nearby

 Baboon

 young bull elephant, trying to show us who is boss

 elephant after the heard has crossed the road, they had young ones with them, so we kept our distance

 male giraffe, you can tell by the dark hairs (not tufts) on top of their horns

 male lion, guarding his female

 leopard, which spend a lot of time in the trees, they often sleep there and drag their kills up the tree

cheetah waiting to be feed

Images of Namibia

 Our unscheduled trip to Angola

 It is amazing what African ladies can carry on their heads, bundles of wood, laundry, groceries, often with babies on their backs

 African beauty shop

 

cows everywhere, sometimes they will even let you pass

Namibia used to be mostly plains, but due to overgrazing since the Europeans have come, the soil blew away and the thorny acacia and other trees took over and they cover most of the landscape.  Unfortunately it makes it difficult for some of the animals like cheetahs which hunt on the open plains.  Other antelope also like the open plains, which are slowly being restored in private game reserves.  Most of the land and animal conservation is done by private individuals.  They are trying to remove some of the trees and fences as these interfere with the game and their predators.

Cheers Kim and Dan

Waterberg Plateau

white rhinoceros

cliffs of the Waterburg plateau

A confused giraffe, they are both male, our guide was quite distressed by this behaviour, he kept saying "they are both males!"

The Waterburg plateau dominates the mid eastern area of Namibia.  You are only allowed on top of the plateau with a guide as there are black rhinos which are rare and dangerous.  Rhino poaching is a big problem in Africa.  Asian cultures put a very high value on the horn as it supposedly will cure anything from impotence to cancer.  We were very fortunate, as we got to see these rhinos up close, 10 m away.  We were with JJ who is the rhino tracker for the camp.  The rhinos have grown up with him and they allow him to come close.  These are huge animals, 1-2.5 tonnes.  They eat grass, the black rhino eats leaves and bushes (which stain its lips black hence the name).  Sometimes, the horns are cut off to protect the rhinos, but poachers will kill it, so they don't waste time tracking it again.  The 3 rhinos in this park are guarded at night.  They have 5 security guards watching them and watching for poachers, that's how serious it is here.
 We are off to track cheetah and leopard this afternoon, will write about it if we don't get eaten!
Cheers Kim and Dan

Northern Namibia

Hello
We travelled from Etosha, which is the major highlight for Namibia to the Kavango area and Caprevi strip (a strip of land which stretches east, over the top of Botswana, bordering Angola, it also connects with Zambia.)
 You pass through a veterinary stop where they check for uncooked meat and eggs, if you are Namibian or your drivers licence if you are not.  The landscape changes immediately.  Its lush with lots of little "villages" that have several round huts with thatched roofs called roundels.  They have walls made of sticks with sticks wound around, mud or sometimes a tarp.  There are also brick buildings, often made from mud bricks with corrugated steel roofs held down by rocks, no nails here. The "village" is surrounded by a fence made of sticks or reeds.  They farm maize, sorghum, beans and sometimes pumpkins.  They tend the fields by hand, using a hoe and their own power, you often see whole families out working in the fields.  The bigger operations have oxen which pull a plow.
It has been difficult here in the past few years, as there has been a drought, so a lot of hardship.  This year, the rains have come, but were heavy when they planted in November and washed their seeds away, so they had to start again.  They live a very simple life here, farming and cattle if they are fortunate.
The government does have schools, but the parents have to pay $200 N per year (20 CDN), but that is a lot of money for some.  Often, the kids have to walk many miles to school and leave before light.  In the winter, it gets very cold and some of the children do not have shoes.  Reminds you of your parents walking miles uphill!  We stayed at a lodge where the owners and their friend work with the community and have set up a preschool.  Many of the children are poor, so all the kids shower and put on school uniforms,  including shoes, which many do not have, so they are all equal.  They are then fed breakfast, have their lessons, have lunch and head home around 1 pm or so.  In the higher grades they start at 7 am, end around 1pm, but stay for a couple of hours to do homework,  Then walk home.
It is amazing how happy they are.   Always smiling and say hello.
The area is very beautiful, very lush and green.  The Okavango river runs from Angola into Namibia and then into Botswana.  There are crocodiles and hippos in the river.  The hippos are quite loud and snort and call out during the day, they even sound big!  They are very dangerous and have been known to attack small boats, if they feel you are getting too close.  There is an amazing variety of birdlife here.  So many beautiful colours, shapes and sounds.
We took a 3 hour tour of the river with a very knowledgeable local, Mark, who has lived here of 35 years.  It was like going out with a friend, but he knew all the birds, their calls, and habits.  We went into small channels looking for birds and hippos.  We even found traps the locals set for birds and fish (illegal), so we confiscated them as they could do some real damage.

sorry can't remember the name, they make a sparse nest of reeds which floats on the water and lay eggs, which are speckled, very hard to see

 Kingfisher

 2 bee eaters

two young hippos

Cheers Kim and Dan

off to the Waterberg Plateau next

Driving in Namibia and Etosha

 frequent mode of transport in northern Namibia

 Sch

 Etosha pan, it goes on for ever, Etosha means big white

 one of the better roads in southern Namibia, many roads seem to go to nowhere

 Fish river canyon

Driving in Namibia is a challenge, if you have seen the Grand Tour (new Top Gear) the roads really are that bad, some of them are bone jarring.  There are ruts and wash boarding for miles.  Rocks and potholes and lakes all on the same road.  The roads are numbered B, C, D.  B's are paved, the highways, C's are supposed to be good gravel, but you cannot be sure, and are often worse than the D roads.  There are some F and P, which look like paths.
But the worst roads in the country are in Etosha National Park.  Three ministries have responsibility within the park, but they do not communicate.  The roads department is in charge of the roads, the NWR (park service) for the park and tourism for accommodations.
We went for a game drive and got stuck in a lake of mud.  Fortunately, three Spanish fellows in a Land Cruiser came along and pulled us out.  When we got to the other end of the road, it was closed.  It was not closed from the campsite end.  When we finally returned to the camp site, we told the reception about the road.  They said that they were not responsible, it was the roads department and they were closed for the weekend.  She also told us that another vehicle got stuck the night before and was there all night.  This is a park where the animals, including lions, leopards, rhinos and elephants roam around, glad I was not those people (most people drive in

Fortunately, most Namibians are wonderful and much more helpful, but I think government offices are the same everywhere.

Etosha is a beautiful park, the animals roam free and you drive around, hoping to see them.  Its the rainy season, so its harder to see game and birds, but its beautiful green with lots of flowers blooming.  It is really fun to turn a corner and see a different animals on the road, or next to it.  There are also lots of young animals, next to their mothers.

Cheers Kim and Dan

Desert pictures and Etosha wildlife

 The dunes are really large, it's surprising that you can drive up them, most of them.  It is deceptive how steep and soft they are, easy to get stuck.

 Steenbok

 secretary bird

mongeese

Namib desert

Back again
We drove through the Namib desert, which Namibia is named for.  It is vast with an ever changing landscape.   It is most famous for its red dunes, which are spectacular and can be seen for miles.  But it also has vast plains, rugged mountains of many colours and lots of life.
We camped in the desert at a guest farm and were caught in a huge downpour (see previous pics), it was the first real rain they had in 3 years.  After the rains, flowers bloom and green bursts out everywhere.  There are carpets of yellow and green against the red sands, it really is something to see.
Little red "velvet spiders" (they are not really spiders), only come out ofter the rain.  Many species are like this, little lizards, spiders, plants, frogs that lay dormant until the rains come.   They come to life breed and the cycle starts again.
We took a day tour to Sandwich Harbour which is south of Swakopmund.  We drove through the salt works which are huge pans where they pump sea water into the "lakes" and let it evaporate.  When its at a certain salinity, they pump it into the next pan.  It takes 9 months to get the salt.  Most of it is shipped to South Africa for industry use.  Its a shame as they have flooded the land and killed all the grasses and desert plants that grow there.
We then drove along the beach to the harbour, there was no one else there.  It really is a special feeling to be the only people around.  I climbed to the top of the dune and all you could hear was the wind.  The view was pretty good, worth the climb, which is tough in sand.  If a dune is at a certain angle, when you slide down it, it makes a deep humming noise like a group of airplanes

 sunset in the Namib desert after the storm

 greater and lesser flamingos

 little gecko which does not have eyelids, he is nocturnal.  He has to lick his eyes to keep them moist

 the dunes come right up to the ocean

 gerbil feeding on a desert melon

white lady of Brandberg, the detail is amazing

( think bombers in WWII).  We then drove around the dunes and had lunch in the desert.  Our guide found a melon which grows in the desert, he cut it open and put in in a  thorny bush.  Within minutes, the bush came to life with lizards and gerbils, who smelt the melon.  The bush went form deserted to  teaming with life.
We also saw hundreds of flamingos, that breed in this area.  There are the greater and lesser flamingos and the slimier the water, the better for them.
We then headed north to Uis, which is a little town in the middle of nowhere.  It used to have a tin mine, which has closed.  It has left a huge white "mountain" which you can see everywhere from the town.  We then headed to see the "White Lady" of Brandberg.  Which is a famous rock painting, thought to be between 2000-5000 years old.  It is really a medicine man.  The detail and colours are amazing.  Its hard to believe they painted it so long ago.  Desert elephants also live in this area, we saw their spoor and evidence they had been there, lots of broken trees, but did not see any.

On to Etosha next
Cheers Kim and Dan