Namibia takes its name from The Namib Desert. Indeed, the name ‘Namib’ means ‘vast place’ which is the perfect way to describe the country. The desert itself is believed to have existed for at least 55 million years, making it the world’s oldest. It stretches for roughly 1,243 miles along the Atlantic coast of Africa, spanning Namibia, South Africa and Angola. In the local Nama language, Namib means ‘an area where there is nothing’. It has some of the highest sand dunes in the world, most notably in Sossusvlei. It is also home to the largest canyon in Africa, known as the Fish River Canyon. There is a lot of space in Namibia given its one of the least crowded countries on the planet. As of 2020 its population is estimated to be 2.5 million inhabiting a country that is 318,261 square miles in size. To put that in context England has a population of approximately 56 million (as of 2020) inhabiting 50,337 square miles. Namibia’s population speak a total of 30 different languages. While English is the official language less than 1% of the country’s population speak it as their first language. Nearly half the population speaks Oshiwambo dialects, while the other main languages are Afrikaans, Herero and German.
On our journey back we came across Arnold, the other dominant male bull, taking in the cool of a shaded tree. Further along we saw at distance two adolescent male giraffes fighting. It looked like they were more practice fighting. Known as ‘necking’, giraffes batter each other with their heads by swinging the necks around. They use their necks as it’s the most powerful and manoeuvrable weapon they have. As with just about every species on the planet, the males do this during mating season to establish dominance. Even if these two were only practice fighting, it was still amazing to see!
That afternoon we very nearly didn’t have chance to go out and explore, thanks to a fierce sandstorm. One guide coming back from the Skeleton Coast relayed to us that he nearly drove into an elephant; the visibility was that poor. Our afternoon drive was delayed until 6pm when the wind finally calmed down. We made the most of a short trip out to the riverbed and came across a superb setting of giraffe silhouetted in the setting sun surrounded by Ana Trees. Once again, their grace and elegance struck me. There is nothing quite like it. Towards the end of the drive we bumped (not literally!) into Ollie again making his way along the riverbed. We couldn’t stay with him for long as it was getting dark and we needed to return to camp. It was a fantastic end to a surreal day at Hoanib. It’s difficult to put into words the beauty of the landscape, the harshness of the environment and just how alien it all felt compared to the familiar sights of the UK. It is a location I think should be a ‘must’ for any trip to Namibia, and very much worth the extra effort to travel there.
The following morning we were in for a surprise. Max, one of the nicest guys you could meet, said he would take us out to the riverbed once again before our flight back to Doro Nawas. Considering this wasn’t part of the itinerary and at no extra cost it was incredibly kind. So by 6.30am we were on our way west to a different part of the river to see another elephant herd. It was a wonderfully clear morning and we came across the herd having breakfast by the edge of the riverbed. Just like the herd from the previous day they were constantly moving, and we followed them. The scenery was dramatic, dwarfing the already huge elephants, and really emphasised just how immense the scene was. Just like the other herd there was a particularly headstrong baby, charging around, running around in circles and playing with sticks - he even came across to our jeep and managed to rock it (there were five adults inside). Just imagine what an adult could do!
As we followed the herd along we eventually caught up with Ollie again. Just like the first evening he was attempting to reach green shoots high up in the trees, only this time he went up on three legs to reach the highest branch he could. Having managed a couple of branches he joined up with the herd and we were able to watch some interesting behaviour. Ollie found a different tree with a load of seedpods which would make a nutritious meal if he could reach them. Positioning the trunk of the tree between his tusks he shook the tree violently until the seedpods fell to the ground. He and the rest of the herd then hoovered them up in a matter of minutes. With heavy hearts and a little tear, we had to bid farewell to make our flight. We may have only been at Hoanib for two nights, but what an incredible experience. It is rare to encounter true wilderness on our planet. Humans have dominated so much of the world that to come somewhere truly wild is a life-changing experience.
A 45-minute return flight back to Doro Nawas, a long 192-mile drive (stopping at Outjo for a coffee break), and we had arrived at our next destination; Ongava Game Reserve, by late afternoon. What used to be unproductive farmland is now a 30,000-hectare conservancy for wildlife. It started in 1991, with several families coming together to invest in turning this farmland into a reserve.
It is also conveniently located right next to Etosha National Park, considered Namibia’s premier wildlife reserve, via Anderson’s Gate. I’m conscious I’ve used the word ‘vast’ a lot in this blog, but it really is a word that best describes Namibia and its open space. Etosha is no different. It is 8,000 square miles, its name translates to ‘great white place’, and its main characteristic is a salt pan so large it can be seen from space. Originally announced as a game reserve in 1907, it was firmly established as a national park in 1967. It is a wildlife haven thanks to strategically placed waterholes throughout the park - just plonk yourself next to a waterhole and see what wildlife shows up. It pays to know which waterholes to visit though. Morning game drives were done in Etosha and in Ongava in the afternoon.
So, we made our way to the Anderson’s Gate of Etosha National Park on our first morning, which is about a 20-minute drive - our camp was quite a way into the Ongava reserve. We made our way straight to the nearest waterhole in time to see a male lion roaring before wandering off into the bush and out of sight. Further on we spotted a Black Backed Jackal moving her puppies from a den site too close to the road to somewhere further into the bush. We continued exploring through the morning, coming across a communal Weaver Bird nest (estimated at around 500 birds), Oryx, Springbok, Red-Crested Korhaan, Blue Wildebeest and Ostrich. Once we were past the thick bush close to the park entrance the landscape changed dramatically into vast plains and more akin to what we were expecting.
What struck me about Etosha was its roads. Apart from Windhoek and Swakopmund at the beginning of the trip, just about every ‘road’ we had driven was a dirt track with a constant check on the tyre pressure to make sure they were suitable for driving such terrain. Yet here we were in Africa’s sixth largest national park, roughly the size of Switzerland, and we were driving pristine roads. It is thanks to these roads that make the park so popular with tourists. Simply hire a car and a book on Namibian wildlife and you’re good to go. In fact, on approaching a lion sighting, we decided to drive straight past thanks to the 15 or so cars, vans and minibuses all piled around it trying to get a glimpse through the bush. I’ve always recommended the benefit of local guides and local knowledge wherever you go and was thankful we had Stanley from Ongava. He was very knowledgeable about the species we saw and always checked with us before starting up the jeep’s engine to move it. It was this latter kindness that we gave him the nickname ‘so fine Stanley’ - he would say to us “so fine?” every time we had spent some time with a particular species to check we were happy to continue on. We would reply “so fine” and on we went.
Late that morning, before we returned to Ongava, Stanley managed to find us a couple of Spotted Hyena at a waterhole on the edge of the salt pan. They seemed to be using the water to cool down in the heat of the day, so much so the silt from the water stuck to their fur making them look like they were wearing trousers. A quick spin around of the jeep and we were able to watch a small herd of Zebra (or a dazzle as their collective noun is known) head-butting and chasing each other. Our final notable sighting for that morning was a group of giraffe grazing. Not bad for our first seven hours in Etosha!
The afternoon was spent in Ongava’s reserve and was quiet on the wildlife sightings. In fact, we had only managed to see Kori Bustard (yep, you read that right), a kestrel and a lion before it was time to return to camp. On discussing this with Siggi it seemed there were two likely reasons for this. One, a large pride of lion with around 12 cubs had been around the area for the last few days, keeping any prey animals away. Second, in 2019 Namibia suffered from, what meteorological services called, the deadliest drought to hit the country in 90 years. In May 2019 the president declared a State of Emergency in the country as they believed over 500,000 people would be affected. In June 2019 the Namibian government authorised the sale of at least 1,000 wild animals to limit loss of life and generate money for conservation. This, unsurprisingly, is all down to human impact on climate change caused by what is known as the La Nina effect, whereby constant warmer winters and drought affect the country. Indeed, every hotel/lodge/camp we stayed in had placed notes in bathrooms to plead using water as sparingly as possible, and in some reserves they were supplementing food for their wildlife.
The next morning, we made a quick stop at the entrance of Etosha to visit a primary school. My nephew as part of a school project had made a poster all about Namibia to show his classmates. We had decided to bring it to Namibia on this trip in the hope of showing a school should we come across one on our trip. This seemed like a good opportunity. My mum has a career as a school teacher, so when she spoke to the principal and one of the teachers there it was hardly surprising she was given the offer of staying the day with the children! After an apologetic “thank you but no” and we were back out into the national park. Siggi had been telling us about a particular waterhole around two hours’ drive into the park well worth visiting for the variety and volumes of animals that visit.
We made a few stops on the way, the first sights were a family of Banded Mongoose, a ’dazzle’ of zebras (both Hartmann’s Zebra and Burchell’s Zebra), and then a ‘cackle’ of Spotted Hyena (you’ve got to love the collective nouns for African wildlife!) before finally arriving at the waterhole. Siggi was right; there were Black Backed Jackals, Springbok and Oryx all around. I didn’t count but there must have been around 30 or so animals. Way out in the distance and through the heat haze we could make out a few giraffes. Not long after we had arrived, a large herd of zebras came to drink the water. It was the perfect way to spend a morning.
That afternoon we had a rather special trip planned. Many months in the planning we had arranged to visit the Rare and Endangered Species Trust (REST) about an hour’s drive from Ongava. It was here that we had the enormous privilege to meet Amos; a male Ground Pangolin. I won’t go into the details in this blog as there is separate blog post to highlight the plight of Pangolins worldwide, only to say that afternoon will be a memory I’ll treasure forever. Please do go and read my separate blog on them - they need all the help they can get.