Travel News Namibia Winter 2022

“There are times when solitude is better than society and silence is wiser than speech.”

Charles Spurgeon

Namibia Travel News

is published by Venture Media in Windhoek, Namibia www.travelnewsnamibia.com

Tel: +264 61 383 450, Hypermotor City Unit 44, Maxwell street PO Box 21593, Windhoek, Namibia

MANAGING EDITOR Elzanne McCulloch elzanne@venture.com.na

PRODUCTION MANAGER Le Roux van Schalkwyk content@venture.com.na

PUBLIC RELATIONS Elzanne McCulloch elzanne@venture.com.na

LAYOUT & DESIGN Liza de Klerk design@venture.com.na

CUSTOMER SERVICE Bonn Nortjé bonn@venture.com.na

TEXT CONTRIBUTORS

Pompie Burger, Le Roux van Schalkwyk, Lee Tindall, Helga Burger, Rièth van Schalkwyk, Dirk Heinrich, Charene Labuschagne, Elzanne McCulloch, Cheetah Conservation Fund, Dewald Campher, Linda de Jager

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Elzanne McCulloch, Pompie Burger, Le Roux van Schalkwyk, Lee Tindall, Helga Burger, Dirk Heinrich, Cheetah Conservation Fund, Dewald Campher, Linda de Jager, Charene Labuschagne

Travel News Namibia is published quarterly, distributed worldwide via Zinio digital newsstand and in physical format in southern Africa. The editorial content of TNN is contributed by the Venture Media team, freelance writers and journalists. It is the sole property of the publisher and no part of the magazine may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher.

All information and travel details are correct at the time of going to press. Due to uncertain circumstances, this may have changed after the date of publication. Please check businesses' individual websites for up-to-date details.

Winter 2022

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We're focussing on telling and sharing STORIES THAT MATTER across our various magazines and digital platforms. Join the journey and share your stories with audiences that understand and value why certain things matter.

Why ethical business, conservation, tourism, people and communities matter. How these elements interrelate and how we can bring about change, contribute to the world and support each other. Whether for an entire nation, an industry, a community, or even just an individual.

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n 2021, w ATT our vari d s stories ing

KONGOLA NKASA RUPARA NATIONAL PARK

BWABWATA GAME PARK Bagani

Katima Mulilo Ngoma MUDUMU NATIONAL PARK

Soul-searching in forgotten places

“Tourism is back! Or it is at least packed and ready to board a flight. It is well on its way.” These are the positive affirmations we are sending into the universe (and in the direction of our source markets) from our beautiful corner of the world.

My friends in the car rental industry tell me they are booked up through the high season. News that puts a smile on my face and lights a spark of hope in the heart. And I see them, our long-awaited visitors. They are landing at the newly revamped Hosea Kutako International Airport courtesy of airlines such as FlyNamibia, Eurowings Discover and Ethiopian. They are stocking their camping fridges in the parking lot at Maerua Superspar – a sight I didn’t know I missed until it returned. They are on the gravel roads and in Etosha and at the coast and they may not be as many as they once were, but they are here and an entire industry is as grateful as Namibians are when the first summer showers arrive.

Their arrival comes just in time for what some consider to be the best time of the year to visit Namibia. And though this may be true in some respects – winter is great for game viewing after all – Namibia is, and will always be, a year-round destination. Each season offers its own delights.

Winter in Namibia has a smell. There is a crispness to the air that awakens the soul and invigorates the senses. Everything seems brighter. Along with the sharp sting of cold on your cheeks on the back of an open game viewer comes a sense of clarity that is hard to replicate. The bushveld or desert air is energised with an exhilarating static charge. The sting does not just awaken the body, but the spirit as well. And, as your guide manoeuvres the vehicle along two-track paths in search of incredible wild sightings for you, his guests who he has so missed, you realise that this is where you’ve wanted to be and this is how you’ve wanted to feel over the last two years. This invigorating, soul-cleansing cold bite to the cheeks.

In this Winter issue of Travel News Namibia we take you on a journey to places where soul-searching happens, whether you were looking for it or not. Places like Namibia’s Tsau //Khaeb National Park. A place that has for more than a century been known as the Sperrgebiet, or Forbidden Territory, and has only recently been opened for tourism. We venture to the last true wilderness in Namibia – the Nyae Nyae Pan in what used to be Bushmanland along Namibia’s north-eastern boundary with Botswana. Both destinations are hinterlands where humans are few and far between. And along the way we take you to much-loved locales such as Lüderitz, the Atlantic Coast and Etosha National Park, where adventure, history, memories and quintessential Namibian hospitality await you. And if you can’t find an available self-drive vehicle, or would like to spend more time at the destinations themselves than on the road there, FlyNamibia Safari offers the perfect solution with daily shuttle flights to the very best travel spots in Namibia.

Now is the time to book that adventure, while we here in Namibia focus on the future of our tourism industry. Refocus on doing things right, now that we have had so much time to rethink and reset. To reprioritise and reposition our industry towards what truly matters. To steer towards transformation, like the rest of the world’s tourism industries are doing, and re-establish why an industry such as tourism in a country like Namibia is such an enormous role player in terms of livelihoods and conservation. High yield, low impact. Conscious travel. And, for us at TNN, sharing stories that matter.

With love from Namibia,

Elzanne McCulloch @elzanne_mcculloch

The true scale of the Bogenfels rock arch can only be experienced in person. Pictures just never do its magnitude justice.

- Elzanne McCulloch

CONTENTS

In this issue

THE GREAT WHITE PLACE p12

Rediscovering the eastern part of Namibia's most prolific national park - Etosha

PANGOLIN CONSERVATION p22

Combing technology and traditional knowledge to help save the world's most trafficked mammal

NAMIBIA PHOTOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR AWARDS p30

Meet the winners of the first Travel News Namibia Photography of the Year Awards

NAYE NAYE PANS p42

Finding hidden treasures and wetland wonders in the northeast

UNLOCKING TSAU //KHAEB p50

The Sperrgebiet opens for tourism after a century as the 'Forbidden Territory'

A quintessential Etosha "roadblock."

Erongo Wild | Fish River Lodge | Grootberg Lodge | Hoada Campsite | Hobatere Lodge | Shipwreck Lodge + 264 61 228 104 | reservations@journeysnamibia.com | www. journeysnamibia.com

Discover the very best of Namibia

DAILY hop on hop off shuttle flights to Namibia’s top destinations... at the price of a self-drive. Spend less time travelling and more time discovering the wonders of Namibia.

Etosha

Windhoek

Sossusvlei

Swakopmund

Also in this issue

10 BUSH TELEGRAPH News from the tourism industry

18 GROSS BARMEN A new look at a timeless favourite

24 NAMIBIA'S LAST BLUE CRANES More rare than black rhinos

26 CHEETAH CONSERVATION Three decades of the CCF

40 NAMIBIA CRAFT CENTRE Rediscovering a Windhoek landmark

48 MEET THE MOBOLA-PLUM Getting to know the trees of the northeast

54 A NAMIBIAN FISHING ADVENTURE Angling along the Atlantic

58 THE DESERT RAIN FROG Researching a rare amphibian in the Namib

60 BIRDING WITH POMPIE A windy affair in and around Lüderitz

66 LIVING WILD A barbel in a desert canyon?

68 THE LÜDERITZ PENINSULA Of fjords and rocky shores

72 A CELL PHONE ON A BUSH TRIP How not to be "that guy"

Bush TELEGRAPH

WILDERNESS SAFARIS NAMIBIA FACILITATES NEWS CLINIC IN MARIENFLUSS CONSERVANCY

In cooperation with donors and other stakeholders, Wilderness Safaris Namibia recently presented a fully-fitted mobile clinic worth US$ 1,5 million to the Namibian Ministry of Health and Social Services. The establishment of the mobile clinic will provide a wide range of medical treatment to the local Himba communities living in and around the Marienfluss. Before, community members had to travel over 325 kilometres to Opuwo for medical treatment. The handover ceremony took place on 29 April 2022 in Otjinungua, at an event attended by the President of Namibia, Dr Hage Geingob, First Lady, Monica Geingos, and governor of the Kunene Region, Marius Sheya. This initiative is part of Wilderness Safaris Namibia’s ongoing mission to support communities neighbouring its lodges in some of the most remote parts of Namibia. Venture Media’s RMB Ride for Rhinos initiative was one of the sponsors of this project.

News from the tourism industry

President of Namibia, Dr Hage G. Geingob

Himba Chief Tjambiru of the Okakurukouje Traditional Authority

EUROWINGS DISCOVER HAS INCREASED FLIGHTS TO WINDHOEK

The Namibian capital has become the most frequently served destination in the flight schedule of the Lufthansa Group leisure carrier Eurowings Discover. From the end of March the airline increased its flight frequency from five to seven weekly flights between Frankfurt, Germany, and Windhoek, operated as year-round service. This will be further expanded to a total of ten weekly flights during the northern hemisphere peak summer season from 2 July to 11 September 2022. While the regular flights depart daily in the early evening, the three additional flights during the northern summer are scheduled on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, departing early in the morning.

QATAR AIRWAYS RETURNS TO NAMIBIA IN JULY

Qatar Airways will resume its service to Windhoek from 25 June as part of its largest-ever African schedule, according to the airline. With more than 200 weekly flights to 31 gateways across Africa following this launch, the Windhoek route will offer seamless connectivity for passengers to almost 150 destinations in the airline’s extensive global network, which includes Europe, the UK and India. Qatar Airways will operate three weekly non-stop flights to and from Windhoek via Hamad International Airport.

FLYNAMIBIA LAUNCHES SCHEDULED SAFARI ROUTE

In mid-April, FlyNambia introduced FlyNamibia Safari, a scheduled local route. Operated from Hosea Kutako International Airport, this special service for tourists provides an easy connection to Namibia’s most iconic travel destinations: Sossusvlei, Swakopmund and Etosha, with an optional stopover in Twyfelfontein. The safari service significantly reduces travel time to the far flung destinations, giving travellers more time to truly discover, enjoy and absorb the wonders of this vast country – for a fraction of the price of a self-drive.

HAN HOSTS TOURISM TRADE FORUM AND AGM IN JUNE

The Hospitality Association of Namibia (HAN) is hosting the HAN Tourism Trade Forum (HTTF) and its AGM on 2 and 3 June in Windhoek. HTTF aims at providing a platform for HAN members and other service providers to network and engage with invited tour operators, agents and other key partners in the travel trade. The two-day exchange of views and ideas on a business-tobusiness format is intended to help reconnect tourism stakeholders face-toface after two long pandemic years. The HTTF offers a convenient platform for the Namibian travel industry to discuss issues of interest and concern, such as rates, policies, coordination in product development and marketing.

An important point to be discussed at the HAN AGM on the morning of 2 June, will be the celebration of the organisation’s upcoming 25th anniversary. Since its formation in 1987 by an initial 16 members, HAN has increased to approximately 400 members, representing the full spectrum of the hospitality industry, from hotels to guest houses, guest farms, lodges, rest camps, restaurants, conference centres and catering services. Associate membership is held by suppliers to the sector as well as tourism publishers and marketing companies.

DIGITAL VACCINATION CERTIFICATES ROLLED OUT

The Namibian government announced in April that the Trusted Vaccines platform is now available to generate COVID-19 Digital Vaccination Certificates for persons who are fully vaccinated. Secure, tamper-proof and digitally verifiable COVID-19 laboratory test results and vaccine certificates can be issued through the Trusted Travel and Trusted Vaccines technology platforms. This facilitates smoother and hassle-free travel.

Along the eastern edge of

The Great White Place

Text & Photographs Elzanne McCulloch

We have gotten into the habit of favouring Anderson’s Gate to enter Etosha National Park. It is the “central” gate on the southern boundary of the park near Okaukuejo. I am not sure why or how it happened, but habit is one of the most prolific of human behaviours.

When the Western part of Etosha was opened some years ago, its wild and unreaped bushlands called to me. So then, from Okaukuejo we headed north to Okondeka and then west. Habit. The furthest east we would wander was our favourite campsite at Halali. Spending a night at the Moringa waterhole the resort is famous for. An early morning loop north, then turning west again, past Salvadora, Charitsaub and Sueda along the pan, back toward Okaukuejo and on to the wilder west.

Imagine my surprise, when a recent venture to King Nehale led us as far east and then as far northeast as the park’s roads and boundaries allow, to a prolific route of sightings galore.

The first thing I noticed when we neared the park boundaries of Etosha after the four-hour journey from the capital were the white frosted-looking tips of the bushland all around. In the summer months the trumpet-thorns celebrate the rain with breathtaking white blooms. The namesake of the bush. On a late-afternoon nature walk with our guide at Ondili’s Etosha Oberland Lodge we inspected the soft petals up close. Such a delicate flower perched at the tips of spiky branches. As the sun set and the dense bushland around us melted into a seemingly indistinguishable hue of green veld-scape, the crisp white trumpets of Catophractes alexandri, reflected in stark

relief, like raindrops dripping off the very edge of the thorn. White blazes reflecting the sun’s last rays.

Early the next morning, after entering (you guessed it) via Anderson’s Gate, the white trumpets were replaced by the small yellow spheres of the nebrownii bush. Vast open landscapes intermittently dispersed with herds of springbok, blue wildebeest and the odd towering giraffe were the order of the morning. Most of the game seems to move off the main throughways and away from the popular waterholes during the summer months. There is enough water all around. We take a left turn off the main road on the pan loop towards Sueda. This is my favourite drive in the park, to my husband’s irritation. Unfortunately for him, he has never spotted anything of note on this route, while I have the most incredible souvenirs embedded in my memory banks. Of lions resting under Etosha’s most famous tree (the umbrella thorn that stands sentinel at the edge of the pan at Salvadora), a cheetah in stealth-mode just a short distance from Sueda, and lion cubs playing along the waterhole’s edge all by themselves at Chartisaub. Their mother had hidden them in the tall grasses to go hunting. So we take the left turn each and every time, and Sean bemoans it, but I insist. “One day this route will endear itself to you and you will never not want to turn left again.” Around a bend on the pan loop we go, and lo and behold – a rhino. A white rhino in both species and visage. The bull completely caked in the quintessential white clay of Etosha. The ominous buildup of dark thunderclouds as his background makes for an even more dramatic display. Bidding adieu to the white white rhino we head further east. Before the Sueda-CharitsaubSalvadora loop ends we happen upon another white rhino and I gleefully send an “I told you so” eye roll towards the driver's seat. Turning left is going to be much more fluid in the future.

Trumpet-thorn

White rhino caked in Etosha's iconic mud

Juvenile flamingos at Fisher's Pan

Banded mongoose

On the road between Nuamses and Springbokfontein, not far from the rest stop on the pan’s edge where visitors to the park are allowed to actually exit their vehicle, we find a group of parked cars, eyes and binoculars pointed toward the pan’s edge to the north of the road. As any Etosha explorer will tell you, a group of parked cars is just as exciting as spotting something yourself, and often less work. There, overlooking the vast expanse of nothing to the north, is a young male cheetah. Picture perfect he sits perched on a small rise. After some time the other cars continue on their way and we are left alone with the spotted cat and my 400mm lens. I am not quite done yet. He hasn’t treated me to “the shot” and my patience will have to suffice for the both of us in the car. What is it they say about “good things” and “those who wait?” Not too long after we are left alone with our cat he gets up and starts calling. Such a strange and wonderful sound. Somewhere close to a housecat reminding you that you haven’t fed him in a while. He walks along the edge of the pan and then into the mopane bushland, “yapping” all the way as we slowly follow, hoping to spot whoever he is calling. An hour of search and call and he is still a lonely feline. Dejectedly he wanders across the road and into the thick bush to the south. We hope he found who he was looking for.

After driving through an incredible summer shower, the only animals glimpsed through the frantic whoosh-whooshwhoosh of wiper blades being the silhouettes of rather miserable looking blue wildebeest, we reach the eastern edge of the Great White Place. A loop around the gigantic Etosha Pan’s smaller neighbour, Fisher’s Pan, rewards us with water bird sightings, including Yellow-billed Storks and both Greater and Lesser Flamingos. Like the trumpet-thorn flowers, the mud-caked rhino and the great pan itself, the flamingos are white. This is a popular breeding area and most of the

current inhabitants are juveniles, swaying their beaks through the shallow waters as they do their ballerina step. Near the end of the Fisher’s Pan loop we finally find a herd of the large mammals the park is famous for. In a forest of our new favourite – the trumpet-thorn – the elephants wander. They notice us and a young bull curiously ambles closer, as they are prone to do. A lift of the trunk to scent the air and a flap of ears to show us he knows we are here, and he is off to explore more interesting things.

Further north, all along the eastern edge of the pan, we are rewarded with more flamingos (hundreds of them) wading through the ankle-deep waters accumulated after the rains. Far from the road, but still a striking sight, a small herd of white rhino graze on the adjacent grassland. At Stinkwater waterhole we meet a large breeding herd of elephants. From matriarch to the smallest calf, they frolic in the cool water and quench their thirst as the day heats up. In no hurry to be anywhere. Giraffes, fresh black rhino tracks, a lone young elephant bull, a leopard dozing under a tree and herds of plains game meet us along our journey to King Nehale Gate in northern Etosha.

Stepping out of routine has never been this rewarding, and the eastern part of the Great White Place is a worthy addition to every traveller’s Etosha itinerary. TNN

Stepping out of routine has never been this rewarding, and the eastern part of the Great White Place is a worthy addition to every traveller’s Etosha itinerary.

Male cheetah calling for his mate

Gross Barmen There’s something about

Seemingly out of nowhere, against a field of low shrubs, the occasional camel thorn and rolling hills, the horizon becomes dotted with the sprawling tops of palm trees. Growing up in arid Namibia, palm trees (much like in the Sahara) mean refuge, solace and ultimately, water. A mere hop, skip and jump from the capital, just before Okahandja, a left turn takes you to Gross Barmen via the D1972. The palm trees weren’t a gimmick, it is in fact an oasis.

I don’t know what exactly I was expecting on my first visit, but certainly not this.

The gates seem to disappear among the sheer size of a brutalist, elaborate rammed earth wall, also known as the entrance. It feels like we have taken the wrong exit, got into a time machine and somehow landed on the set in a dystopian, sci-fi blockbuster movie.

My mother and I check in, pay our dues of N$200 per person for a day visit, and head over to the restaurant to make a lunch reservation. The movie continues as we drive around the property, finally parking in the shade of a palm, and venturing towards the wellness centre. Once inside, exposed concrete echoes the trickle of water in the distance. As we move closer to where that tranquil burble is coming from, a courtyard with copper beams for a roof, a cement walkway, a pond and a palm reiterate the air of Zen.

While some of the amenities are currently not available, the heated pool, jacuzzi, spa treatments and steam room are at our disposal. What more do we really need?

We are fans of warm water, my mum and I. But then again, who really needs much convincing to spend copious amounts of time floating in 40° Celsius, in water from a naturally occurring spring, I might add. The mineral-rich hot spring has a temperature of 65° at its origin and is cooled down for the indoor pool. As a concept, this place already ticked all my boxes long before coming here, but there is

something else about Gross Barmen and I am still trying to put my finger on it.

While Mum gets a back and neck massage in one of the unique pod-like treatment rooms, I dip in and out of the large, sparkling pool warmer than my bath water and try to finish my book. But my attention keeps drifting away from the words of Paulo Coelho and turns to the work of Wasserfall and Munting architects. In some strange way the masterminds behind the design of this space managed to merge two completely juxtaposing ideas into one unified piece of art. Hardcore minimalism meets Zen. Bold and sharp lines to contrast the flowing nature of water. If the apocalypse were to come, I volunteer as tribute to hide at Gross Barmen.

One last dip and we stroll to the waterfront deck that extends from the restaurant. Between the wellness centre and the dining space, not one, but two bright blue pools glisten under the midday sun. Kids and adults alike spend the public holiday lazing by the water. I can imagine lying down on one of those white loungers, looking up from under a hat at the towering palm trees, the sounds of splashing and laughter completing that vacation feeling.

I must be horrible company today. Just as we sit down and order a glass of Chenin, I am up again with my camera. So much to capture, so little time! Maybe we should have booked one of the chalets… they are across the pond, and from what I’ve heard reiterate the beauty, luxury and scale of the main building.

But the beauty of Gross Barmen (other than its architectural splendour) is the fact that it is not only for the summer sunshine months like most other resorts. I can’t think of anything better to do during our cold, dry winters than laze in a healing hot spring’s pool. TNN

Text & Photographs Charene Labuschangne

Bold and sharp lines to contrast the flowing nature of water. If the apocalypse were to come, I volunteer as tribute to hide at Gross Barmen.

Dare to hike the Fish River Canyon

Hobas Lodge

Hobas Lodge sits at the start of the Fish River Canyon Hiking Trail. The lodge is nestled among shady trees at the top end of the Fish River Canyon. Hobas is closely located to the Fish River viewpoint.

About the hike

Ranked one of the best hiking trails in Southern Africa

90 km long hiking trail

The hike is about 4-5 days

Starting point – Hobas

Finishing point – /Ai-/Ais Hot Springs

You can book minimum of 3 persons

A medical certificate of not older than 40 days is required.

/Ai-/Ais Hot Springs and Spa

/Ai-/Ais lies at the southern end of the Fish River conservation area in the Namibian portion of the /Ai-/Ais Richtersveld Transfrontier Park. Its main attraction is the spa facility. The thermal baths and heated swimming pools offer relaxation after completing the hike in the Fish River Canyon.

Despite being the most trafficked animal in the world, there is surprisingly little known about pangolins.

COMBINING TECHNOLOGY AND TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE TO SAVE A SPECIES

It is ten o’clock on a Friday night and we are sitting in the pitch dark on the wet soil of Bushmanland. The bush is alive with the sound of insects, frogs and even flamingos chattering in the distance from pans, full of water from the recent rains. Overhead, the clouds promise to pour down in another fierce and impressive shower as they have done for the last two days. About five metres away from us a pangolin is cosily holed up in its burrow, oblivious to the fact that some humans eagerly await its appearance. According to the location fixes sent out by the GPS transmitter fixed to one of the pangolin’s scales, it has been using this former warthog burrow as its home for the past couple of weeks. According to the data gathered by the GPS tracker, the pangolin has left its burrow around 21:00 every night in search of food, yet tonight he is a no-show. After an hour or so, with wet bottoms and stiff legs, we head back to camp.

After spending a few days in the field with Kelsey Prediger, patience and perseverance are words that from now on will forever be associated with pangolins. Listening to her various adventures in tracking, tagging and monitoring these scaly creatures, the above rings true time and again. To be honest, after slogging through a wet, sometimes very dense bush, both night and day without seeing one pangolin, I tend to fully agree with Kelsey. It also made me admire her determination to learn more about these vulnerable animals.

Kelsey is the founder and director of the Pangolin Conservation and Research Foundation, the secretariat of the Namibian Pangolin Working Group (chaired by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism), and an IUCN pangolin specialist group member and co-chair for southern Africa. In short, she is the goto person for everything pangolin. Through her research she has committed herself to finding out more about the behaviour and habitats of this shy mammal. The more we know about these animals, the better we can understand key areas specifically related to pangolin conservation, diet, status and release.

Despite being the most trafficked animal in the world, there is surprisingly little known about pangolins. Thousands of pangolins are poached and killed every year. Their scales are used in traditional Chinese medicine, and their meat is a delicacy among some of the wealthy elite in China and Vietnam.

The reason why we joined Kelsey on one of her trips was because of the exciting news that she GPS-tagged the first resident Temminck’s pangolin in a seasonal wetland ecosystem. This was also the first resident pangolin in Namibia tagged with an iridium satellite GPS transmitter. Sadly this was the same pangolin that evaded us. As the transmitters cannot transmit coordinates too deep underground and transmissions happen over timed intervals, the area where the pangolins are is known, but not necessarily where exactly they are.

Interesting data has already been gathered on this particular male pangolin. It has a much larger range than the other pangolins Kelsey has been monitoring in central Namibia. It covered over 60 kilometres in two months, but not in a dispersal pattern – which means the area that it has been utilising can be considered a home range.

The great thing about the data collected is that it allows Kelsey to look closely at the movements and range of this pangolin. This is helpful as the existing data available is for central Namibia, where not only the vegetation is different but there are also game reserves and private land. This is the first data for an area with rural communities as it is part of the Nyae Nyae Conservancy. Invaluable data allows tracking of his movement in relation to people as well as various environmental factors.

Being in a communal area has added an additional and quite exciting aspect to monitoring pangolins. Trackers from the local San community are involved in tracking and monitoring. With their extensive traditional knowledge not only of tracking but also of the area, they can be a valuable asset in learning how the animals use their environment.

Kelsey is in the process of setting up a pangolin ranger initiative similar to the rhino rangers in the northwest, where they protect and monitor black rhinos. San trackers working as pangolin rangers will be able to monitor all aspects of pangolin behaviour, movement and diet while also providing protection for them. If properly trained they can protect the pangolin and other wildlife especially on the boundaries of the conservancy, where poaching is more of a worry, while collecting extremely valuable data while following animal movements. “San trackers see what we cannot see. They find where pangolins have been foraging, where we might not see any signs,” Kesley explains. This also means that a pangolin does not have to be seen to be monitored and invaluable information can be gathered by pangolin rangers on patrol, which is then added to the GPS data from each individual pangolin’s transmitter.

The project aims at being mutually beneficial by providing muchneeded income in the form of salaries for the impoverished San communities in the area. It is hoped to create a sustainable livelihood for members of the community while being able to collect valuable information on pangolins and create awareness of the plight of these creatures and a sense of pride around having pangolins in their communities.

While our attempt at finding a pangolin failed, Kelsey’s initiative of combining technology with traditional San knowledge has all the potential of bearing the fruits that can lead to a better understanding and the protection of pangolins for future generations. TNN

Text & Photographs Le Roux van Schalkwyk

Fewer blue cranes than black rhino

Namibia’s blue cranes on the brink of extinction

It was still very dry at the end of November 2021 in Etosha National Park, home to Namibia’s small and isolated blue crane population. A few good rain showers several weeks earlier triggered a migration from the Andoni plains north of Namutoni close to the King Nehale Gate, where all of Namibia’s blue cranes seem to have congregated, towards the Fischer’s Pan area. Four of the 19 birds moved, but that number appears to have changed again since one pair returned to the Andoni waterhole after a short visit.

The 2021 summer count took place from the 20th to 27th of November. We visited various sites where blue cranes had been observed in the past, but only found one pair on the plains of Fischer’s Pan east of Namutoni, another pair at Twee Palms waterhole and 15 birds at the Andoni waterhole.

Although there had been some rain in Etosha National Park during the first half of the 2021/22 rainy season, it was very dry and hot. The blue cranes have not moved to breeding areas like Charitsaub and Koinachas as they had in November 2018. Back then, the pair marked with engraved colour rings NHF and NHH was recorded at Charitsaub and NBZ was seen with an unmarked partner at Koinachas.

We visited Andoni waterhole on the 21st, 23 rd and 25th of November 2021 and counted 15, 14 and 17 blue cranes on the respective days. On the 25th we saw two blue cranes a few kilometres east of Namutoni but none at Twee Palms. We believe that the pair at Twee Palms moved back to Andoni waterhole because it was too dry and unfavourable at Twee Palms.

This photo shows 13 of the 19 blue cranes left in Namibia.

Text & Photographs Dirk Heinrich

At the Andoni waterhole the two immature birds A1 and A2, which we ringed as chicks near Namutoni in April 2021, were spotted on all three visits, as well as the four young birds equipped with transmitters. Three of the cranes with leg transmitters have metal and colour rings. NAT (metal ring: A15875) and NAV (9A15874) were both ringed at Fischer’s Pan in May 2020, and NEV (9A15719) in April 2020 at Halali Seepage. NAV was unfortunately found dead in June 2020 with a broken leg. Two chicks were fitted by an MEFT official with transmitters in May last year, one receiving a transmitter and the colour ring NAV which had been taken off the dead chick the year before. The other bird was only fitted with a transmitter on his right upper leg.

Two of the immature birds seemed to be the chicks from Halali Seepage that could not be ringed in April last year because they were too big already – they were able to fly and thus could not be caught. They were amongst the group at Andoni too. It is alarming that eight of the 19 birds tallied in the past summer count are this year’s (six) and last year’s (two) youngsters, leaving only 11 adult birds in Namibia’s blue crane population!

Of the eleven adult birds only NHH (9A15641), ringed in March 2007 near Salvadora waterhole, NCN (9A15701), ringed near Halali Seepage in April 2016 and NHD (9A15864), ringed in April 2006 in the plains east of Rietfontein, could be identified. NHD’s green plastic ring with white letters is broken and will most probably fall off the leg soon, making it more or less impossible to identify the bird in future since one is not able to read the numbers on the metal rings from a distance. In the group was an adult with a metal ring only, which could not be identified. The rest of the birds are unmarked.

According to unconfirmed reports the Namibian blue crane population is seriously threatened because of poaching. The birds are killed and eaten once they leave the safety of Etosha National Park to feed in the Lake Oponono area further north. Some serious investigation and education need to be done to try and save Namibia’s small and isolated blue crane population.

Hanjo Böhme, the principal coordinator of the Namibia Crane Working Group, is convinced that if nothing drastic is done immediately, Namibia’s blue cranes will be extinct in three to five years. In the 1970s, more than 100 blue cranes inhabited Etosha National Park and the neighbouring Omadhiya Lake area (1976: 138). In December 1994, there were only 60 of these rare birds left and in recent years the number has varied between 30 and 35 individuals (adults and chicks). During the 2018 summer count 27 birds were recorded in Etosha National Park and in 2019 only 13.

We have far fewer blue cranes left in Namibia than black rhinos. A small, isolated group of blue cranes is found in central northern Namibia, a few isolated birds in Botswana and eSwatini (former Swaziland) and an estimated population of 25 000 birds in South Africa. All populations are decreasing, and the main factor seems to be habitat loss.

Since 2006 a total of 37 blue cranes have been ringed in Etosha. At the moment four birds are fitted with satellite transmitters. Only eight ringed birds are still sighted, and one with only a transmitter. In April 2022 two Blue Crane chicks were ringed near Halali (A3 and A4). If you see, photograph and/or identify (ring number) a Blue Crane in Namibia, please report (date, locality, co-ordinates) to gmbhanjo@iway.na or dirkuheinrich@gmail.com. TNN

A blue crane pair and their fledged chicks are foraging in the grass-covered plains near Halali at the end of April 2021. One of the chicks is demonstrating its flying abilities. Since the chicks were able to fly it was impossible to catch and ring them.

Sethi Guin (right) from the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, who is based at Okaukuejo, and his colleague from Namutoni, Markus Augumeb (left), helped members of the Namibia Crane Working Group, including Hanjo Böhme (middle), principal coordinator of the Namibia Crane Working Group, to spot and to catch the chicks.

NEV, a young blue crane who is about 20 months old, is showing off his satellite transmitter on the upper right leg, the green and white colour ring on the left upper leg and the metal ring on the left lower leg, while Red-billed Teal, Cape Teal and South African Shelduck rest next to him.

According to unconfirmed reports the Namibian blue crane population is seriously threatened because of poaching.

Three decades of

cheetah conservation

When American scientist Dr Laurie Marker launched the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) in 1990, she had no idea where this new adventure would take her. A zoologist from California, she learned about threats to a declining wild population while conducting in situ research in Africa in the late 1970s and through the 1980s. Dr Marker routinely travelled to Namibia and other cheetah-range countries from her positions with Wildlife Safari and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Zoo to study the habits of the world’s fastest feline. But it’s what she learned about human behaviour that shocked her. Habitat loss, loss of prey, and conflict with livestock and game farmers put cheetahs on the fast track to extinction. Livestock and game farmers were shooting, trapping and removing hundreds of cheetahs each year – more because of perceived threats than actual predation. She realised if no one would soon intervene, the cheetah might be lost forever.

Text & Photographs Cheetah Conservation Fund

Throwing caution to the wind and selling her worldly possessions, Dr Marker formed CCF in 1990, the same year Namibia earned its independence from South Africa, and relocated to Otjiwarongo, a rural town in northcentral Namibia which translates to “the place where the fat cattle live” or “the beautiful place”. There, Dr Marker set up CCF’s first base in a borrowed farmhouse and travelled around the country interviewing farmers about cheetahs and their farming systems. With consistent growth over three decades, CCF has become an internationally recognised research, education and conservation institution under Dr Marker’s leadership. The cheetah population of Namibia has stabilised and CCF is now the longest running and most successful cheetah programme in the world. Within a couple years, CCF’s research base moved onto their own farm, which over the years has become a network of neighbouring properties of a 58,067-ha private wildlife reserve and model farm managed by CCF. Today, the CCF Centre, with its modern facilities set against the breathtaking backdrop of the Waterberg Plateau, is open to the public 364 days a year from 09:00 to 17:00.

“We started running at cheetah speed 30 years ago, and we haven’t looked back since,” says Dr Marker. “Our research has been pioneering from understanding the overall health of wild cheetahs, the home range needs through radio/satellite collar monitoring, and mapping population structures through our genetics research.”

CCF’s 50-person team of conservationists, educators, scientists and veterinarians conduct research studies and work with local farming communities to encourage coexistence. The team develops non-lethal predator control tools and livestock farming training protocols at the Otjiwarongo Centre and deploys them throughout Namibia and in other cheetah-range states.

One of CCF’s most popular contributions to cheetah conservation is its Livestock Guarding Dog programme. For the

past 28 years, specially trained Turkish Anatolian shepherds and Kangal dogs are bred at CCF and reared with small stock like goats and sheep from birth. The bonding of these species is important, because the dogs will want to serve as bodyguards for herds while grazing on open farmlands. The dogs’ presence and exceptionally loud bark are usually enough to keep cheetahs and most other predators at bay, thus reducing pressure on farmers to take lethal action. CCF livestock guarding dogs are credited with sparing the lives of hundreds of cheetahs and other predators on the savanna. Although over 700 of these dogs have been bred and placed with rural farmers, there is a two-year waiting list for those seeking a trained dog.

Day visitors and overnight guests can request a tour during the centre’s trading hours without booking in advance. The tour includes an opportunity to meet the CCF livestock guarding dogs and the animals on CCF’s model farm, as well as a stop at the Dancing Goat Creamery to sample cheeses, fudge and ice cream made with milk from CCF’s Saanen dairy goats. The model farm is a self-supporting research and testing facility with commercial agriculture enterprises that doubles as a training facility for local Namibian farmers. CCF’s artisan cheeses are sold at CCF’s café and in retail markets in Namibia to demonstrate how goat farmers can earn more income.

CCF’s mission is to keep cheetahs living free and wild, and with this, CCF releases cheetahs back into the wild whenever possible. Over the past 33 years, CCF has released more than 700 cheetahs that were caught in farmers’ traps or otherwise taken from the landscape. However, many cheetahs coming to CCF will never live in the wild, as they have been orphaned or injured and are unable to hunt or survive on their own. All CCF tours include a visit to the CCF cheetah sanctuary, a series of wide-open natural enclosures where almost 40 of these iconic cats reside. Most were brought to CCF at a young age for veterinary care and management in cooperation with the Namibian Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT). They serve as ambassadors of their species to remind visitors that fewer than 7,100 of their cousins remain in the wild.

CCF activities without advanced bookings include walking tours around the sanctuary, a visit to CCF’s cheetah museum, watching daily cheetah feeding, and the Cheetah Drive. Visitors who book in advance can take part in special activities including a daily exercise session at 08:00, called the Cheetah Run, which provides an excellent opportunity to photograph the world’s fastest land mammal running at top speed. Or join a CCF cheetah keeper in daily feeding and care of CCF’s cheetahs in Behind the Scenes Cheetah Feeding, another excellent photo opportunity.

Guests can spend a few days at CCF to get the fully immersive cheetah experience. Babson House, a three-bedroom exclusive property, comes with a private chef and a veranda that overlooks the sweeping Namibian landscape and CCF’s cheetah sanctuary, providing the ultimate in eco-safari travel. For guests on a more moderate budget the five-suite Cheetah View Lodge, with a private dining room overlooking a water hole and the Waterberg Plateau, is an excellent option. No matter where you choose to stay at CCF, you will be treated to delicious farm-to-fork cuisine featuring a wide variety from CCF’s organic vegetable garden and cheeses from the Dancing Goat Creamery. Morning bird walks and/or evening sundowner game drives in CCF’s Little Serengeti can be booked through CCF’s tourism team, which is open to customised cheetah adventures depending on each guest’s wishes. For information on booking a CCF cheetah adventure, please visit www. cheetah.org/cheetah-ecolodge/.

All CCF’s activities are designed for sustainability. With this in mind, CCF has developed a Biomass Demonstration Centre (BDC), because millions of hectares of Namibian farmlands have been encroached with woody thornbush due to overgrazing by livestock, droughts and climate change. This bush encroachment has reduced the amount of grazing lands and wildlife habitat, resulting in pressure on farmers, which exacerbates conflict with predators. To help mitigate, CCF launched a habitat restoration project, CCF Bush, which harvests excess thornbush and converts it into Bushblok, a clean-burning fuel log that provides cooking fuel in remote villages without electricity, or for a local braai. CCF initiated the project to kickstart a Namibian biomass industry, and today, CCF has 44 employees working full time on several biomass efforts. CCF has been recognised with several top environmental distinctions around these efforts and guests may request a tour of the BDC.

Ever since CCF set up base in Namibia 30 years ago, things have gotten better for the cheetah globally. Namibia, with the

greatest density of wild cheetah of any country in the world (estimated at 1,500), proudly proclaims its status as “cheetah capital of the world”. From a nation that once persecuted cheetahs as vermin to the leader in conservation, Namibia has had just as much of an incredible journey as CCF.

“The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism has truly been our partner in conservation, and we owe much of our success to this collaboration. Namibia is the most progressive country in Africa with regards to species conservation and encouraging biodiversity, with conservation being included in its Constitution,” says Dr Marker. “Namibia is famous for its conservancy initiative. CCF is a part of the Waterberg Conservancy, and together with neighbouring farmers and the eastern communal communities, make up the Greater Waterberg Landscape. We are very fortunate to work in such a beautiful and peaceful place with some of the best conservation policies on earth.”

Proceeds from ecotourism activities in Namibia support CCF’s research, education and conservation programmes for the cheetah throughout Africa. To donate or find out how you can help, please visit www.cheetah.org/donate/.

“When you are thinking about your next vacation, please come see us. You will be supporting conservation, biodiversity and a healthier planet, and at the same time you will get amazing photographs and have a safari adventure you will never forget,” promises Dr Marker. TNN

FOR BOOKINGS: Cheetah Conservation Fund

Cheetah Ecolodge

Email: visit@ccfnamibia.org

Telephone: +264 (0)61 237294 or Exclusive reservations

Email: ccf@exclusive.com.na

Telephone: +264 (0)67 306225

Travel News

Namibia

Photography of the Year Awards

Launched toward the end of 2021, the Travel News Namibia Photography of the Year Awards encouraged our readership and online following to submit their ultimate Namibian photograph in order to win incredible prizes from our partners. Submissions fell into three categories - Wildlife, Landscapes and People & Cultures - with prizes sponsored by Ongava, Ondili Lodges & Activities and FlyNamibia respectively. An influx of submissions from both local and international photographers proved a difficult task for our judging panel, comprised of regular contributors to our publications and the sponsors themselves. Here are the finalists and winners in each category with their breathtaking captures of this land of wild wonders, endless horizons and enigmatic inhabitants.

WINNER LANDSCAPES

"First light - Sossusvlei reflections" Reflections of a flooded Sossusvlei capturing the very first rays of sunlight on a new day. - Randal Hinz

PRIZE: Two nights for two (Dinner, bed and breakfast) at any Ondili Lodges & Activities establishment

LANDSCAPES FINALISTS:

Jay Roode

Marcus Sümnick

Rian van Schalkwyk

Christian Spiller

Randal Hinz

PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS

Jay Roode

Rian van Schalkwyk

FINALIST

Randal Hinz

WINNER PEOPLE & CULTURES

"Mama Kasaona"

Herero mother Melody Kasaona and her daughter on a warm summer's day in the drought-stricken Sesfontein constituency of northern Namibia. - Teneal Koorts

FINALISTS :

PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS

PRIZE: Return flight for two on any FlyNamibia route

Nathan Turvaville

Tina Haulyondjamba

Koos Greeff

WINNER WILDLIFE

Commotion at a waterhole in Etosha National Park. A typical scene in the dry season. - Rian van Schalkwyk

Comments from the judges at Ongava:

"The horizontal bands of gazelle/zebra/yellow grass/ mopane shrub, the pairs (zebra on the left, giraffe in the middle, ostrich on the right) suggests a balance along with the perfect illumination on the springbok. With the hooves stirring the dust one can almost smell the elephant manure. Importantly - this a distinctive Etosha scene, only Makgadigadi or Nxai Pan could be mistaken. A distinction that draws visitors to Namibia and to the Park, a scene that cannot be mistaken for anywhere else in Africa."

Ongava Game Reserve -Nature First-

PRIZE: Two nights for two all inclusive at Ongava Lodge

WILDLIFE FINALISTS:

Pascal Klenke

Roberto Kruger

Marcus Westberg

Fabien Merceron

Jay Roode

Rian van Schalkwyk

Serge Chevron

Maja Carstens

Hallowed Halls of the Namibia Craft Centre

Text & Photographs Charene Labuschangne

hen I was little my mum serviced a couple of curio shops through the far corners of Namibia. I was lucky enough to occasionally travel with her to Damaraland, Sossusvlei and Etosha in a pearl white Toyota Rav filled with local crafts. She put my sister and me to work on stock takes, labelling and organising the curios and in exchange we got to go on game drives, sit by waterholes and read endless guidebooks. If she wasn’t on a trip, my mother would spend aeons at the Namibia Craft Centre sourcing and procuring crafts for her shops, after having picked up my sister and me from school. We spent afternoons on end frolicking through the stalls of small business entrepreneurs, drinking hot chocolate at the Craft Bistro, and inevitably perusing through the pretty products as an interest in fashion began manifesting.

Fast forward many years down the line, I still have a small orange beaded bag – barely big enough for my smartphone – which I claimed from the surplus stock after my mum closed her shops.

Namibian crafts – the gift to create, carve, string and construct in every medium imaginable – run through our country like a network of rivers and tributaries. Each one of our cultures and subcultures hold the key to their very own unique craft. Kavango and Zambezi are hotspots of wood carving. The nomadic Himba people don and design intricate and culturally significant jewellery. San people are masters of beadwork. Not to mention the hybrids and contemporary adaptations that have sprouted from our colourful mix and keen interest in repurposing materials. The Namibia Craft Centre is where all these tributaries converge, and crafters, artists and artisans have been doing business here since 1990.

There are about 40 small shops under their roof, which multiplies tenfold when you count in all of the crafters that supply the shops in the Craft Centre. Many of these stall owners have been showcasing Namibian crafts here since the very beginning, and their success stories are goosebumpinducing. After chatting to a few of the stall owners I noticed a trend – many of these individuals started out as salespeople for other shop owners, learning the tools of the trade, and eventually opening their very own shops in the Craft Centre. Since its inception, this space has been a home for locals and their small businesses to exchange knowledge not only of crafts, but also of good business.

On the premises of an old brewery, the centre boasts three floors of baskets, leather bags, beaded and wooden figurines,

Wclothing, jewellery and the list goes on. The open-plan architecture gives an air of industrial simplicity. Concrete floors are coloured in with tables and shelves displaying the very best of Namibian crafts. The mezzanine floor houses an airy art gallery, as industrial-cool as the old cold room, which now houses a cosmetics range. It is no surprise that Kerry McNamara Architects won an award for the design. In the meantime, the Craft Bistro got a facelift. While the cakes and coffees are as delectable as ever (their cappuccinos are to die for), their couches are inviting and the menu filled with fresh and exciting dishes.

Under the management of the Omba Arts Trust, Namibia Craft Centre curates the offering of shops, developing craft skills and initiatives as well as equipping shop owners and artisans with the facilities they need to conduct their business. At least 80% of all the crafts sold here are locally made, the other 20% come from our neighbouring countries as well as Kenya and Ghana. Keeping it local has always been the objective of the Craft Centre and with so many thoughtfully hand-made crafts at our disposal in Namibia and surrounds, why would we need to look elsewhere? 95% of the Namibia Craft Centre’s shops support women projects and cooperatives, bringing pride back to the hands that create the majority of our crafts and emancipating many more generations in their wake.

Although strolling through the Craft Centre in Windhoek before your flight home is a great opportunity to stock up on souvenirs, it is not just for the tourist. Shareen Thude, who has been general manager at the Namibia Craft Centre for 11 years, encourages locals to browse through their selection when on the hunt for the perfect gift or simply looking to add local flair to your home and wardrobe. The same can be said for corporate groups looking to give back to the local craft industry while gifting their clients. Imagine receiving a functional Namibian craft as a corporate gift, instead of some silly branded pen?

Walking through these hallowed halls in my twenties evokes the same nostalgia, pride and love for Namibian crafts as it did when I was small; only this time around I have my own budget to blow on baskets, bags, bowls and beads. Buying authentic, local, hand-crafted and made with love will never go out of fashion, which is why supporting the Namibia Craft Centre is just about the coolest, caring thing you could do. Long live our beautiful local crafts! TNN

FINDING TREASURE in the middle of nowhere

Wattled Cranes in flight

Black-winged Stilt

The Nyae Nyae Pan in all its sunrise glory.

In the days when we still had our most treasured experiences printed on glossy postcard-size photos, a friend gave me some to remind me of a wondrous experience that I had missed in my travels criss-crossing the country. As you probably know by now, Namibia is a dry country, famous for its deserts and dramatic geographic rock formations, mountains and canyons. Water is a special treat along the 1700-km-long coastline, the perennial rivers on the southern and northern borders and the few big man-made inland dams. Looking at the photos, I squinted to figure out where the captured body of water could be. Not the ocean, because there was a fine line of greyish vegetation visible at the top. The birds were plentiful, but I could not identify a seagull or a cormorant. Definitely not the ocean. In fact, I needed a lot of imagination to fill in the suggestion of expanse inevitably lost with the limitations of a small-format camera. Those photographs with their subtle pastel colours and what were obviously thousands of birds triggered my imagination. For years I had a little flip frame on my desk hosting them, reminding me to go there when the time was ripe.

In Namibia, where drought is a constant reality, the time only came years later – after a long period of drought.

By then, I had heard amazing stories about the Nyae Nyae Pan, like how a lone hippo suddenly appeared one day. Nobody saw it coming, or from where. Travel News correspondent Willie Olivier drove all the way to photograph him, only to find he had left again. Nobody knew where to either. One of the iconic baobab trees, the sentinel on the edge of the pan keeping watch over whoever pitched a tent or rolled out a sleeping bag under it, just crumpled up as these trees do. Again it was Willie who told us, because he found the heap while doing a story on the historic baobabs of Namibia.

By now the beautiful opening photograph of hundreds of flamingos has given away my story. These thousands of birds on the water in the middle of nowhere are standing in

the shallow water of the pan in the Naye Naye Conservancy close to the north-eastern border with Botswana.

It is one of three places in Namibia where flamingos come to rest. From the great lakes of Africa, most famously the sulphur-rich Lake Natron in Kenya, they fly to the Walvis Bay Wetlands, the Etosha Pan and this pan. How they know when there is water is one of the mysteries of nature. (Of course, it is possible the riddle has been solved already, but I still prefer to believe us humans do not need to know why and how, just yet.)

The Nyae Nyae Pan is not along any popular travel route. In fact, it is not a place one would accidentally chance upon. You plan for it. When the universe conspires to make it happen when the season and rainfall is perfect, and when even the moon is full, an Easter long weekend makes the trek to the middle of nowhere a reality.

Our adventure started in the pouring rain as we headed east, then north-east on gravel and eventually, as the light faded, on a slippery red mud track to a farm shed to pitch tents. Since rain and wetness is something Namibians pray for and never, ever detest, even wet firewood and half-cooked chops are a slim price to pay for glorious rainstorms on parched earth. Sliding through muddy puddles on a red clay road is the biggest fun if you have an experienced driver behind the steering wheel of a strong 4x4. At last we arrived at Tsumkwe, the only village near the Khaudum National Park. This area, formerly called Bushmanland, also includes the Nyae Nyae Conservancy, where the San people have the right to hunt.

The wonder of the sight of the thousands of pink flamingos wading in the reflection of clouds is a sight to behold. It is quite a challenge to photograph them because the individual birds constantly move their feet to whirl the mud to release the organisms which they then filter from the water with their beaks. Flamingos can only feed with their heads upside down. Perhaps not the only living creature to do so, but certainly the most spectacular.

These ballerinas of the sky come down to the water to join a variety of ducks, Black-winged Stilts, Marabou Storks, Spoonbills, Egyptian and Spur-winged Geese, Openbill Storks, Wattled Cranes, herons and the common Sandpiper. Not to mention all the regular little beauties on the water’s edge and in the surrounding trees.

A body of water always attracts all kinds of activities. Do not expect to see hundreds of springboks with little ones and then catch a glimpse of two cheetahs in the tall grass stalking. But you may just be so lucky.

The amber sky and red sun setting in the dusty haze of winter sky is lovely, but somehow summer sunsets with billowing white clouds turning all shades of pink with a dark gunmetal-tinged eastern sky is magical. To look at this spectacle reflecting in water, is otherworldly.

May you have that treat one day soon. TNN

Wattled Cranes

Meet the Mobola-Plum

Getting to know the trees of the northeast

In this series we explore the beauty of trees with our beloved local nature-enthusiasts and authors, Helga and Pompie Burger. Each with a unique voice and opinions on how best to identify the trees of the Kavango and Zambezi, Helga and Pompie help us through the tricky trials of identifying northeastern Namibia’s most iconic flora.

Ifirst identified this tree only quite recently. The occasion was photographing a chameleon that was moving slowly on the leaves of a large tree unfamiliar to me. The leaves were beautifully symmetrical, aligned in one plane with brownish “hinges”. Having good pictures of the chameleon on the leaves of the trees made identification easier – due to the particular shape of the leaves and the way they are arranged.

- Helga Burger

Ever wondered when standing underneath a massive big tree and having no idea what it might be? Yes, this has happened to me quite a few (many) times. The big advantage is that I have a wife who knows everything, apart from this massive tree. After listening to various CD calls she eventually worked out that it is a Parinari. She was more impressed by the name than the tree initially but once the joy of discovering the funny/interesting name had passed, she also got involved in admiring the tree. The funny goodies on many of its leaves are almost as diagnostic as the fruit.

- Pompie Burger

Fruit has a tasty yellow pulp, ripens on the tree

An evergreen tree that grows up to 20 metres

Very interesting gulls grown on the leaves

AN EASY GUIDE TO IDENTIFYING THE MOBOLA-PLUM

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Parinari curatellifolia

AFRIKAANS: Grysappel

KWANGALI: Usa

LOZI: Mubula

MAP GUIDE Main road

Tree density in various areas

STRIKING FEATURES OF THE MOBOLA-PLUM

• Usually it is a massive dark green forest tree

• Fruit is plum-like

• Two-coloured leaves with short, very fat petiole, held on one plane

SEASONS OF THE MOBOLA-PLUM TREE

DRINK & DRIVE

• An evergreen tree that grows up to 20 metres and more

• Dense round to dome-like crown is perfectly shaped

• Grows in sandy soil usually single

STOP & STARE

• Leaves are elliptic and simple, alternate

• Leaves are shiny dark green and leathery

• Leaves are arranged zigzag on the twigs (beware of the chameleon)

TOUCH & TASTE

• The greyish brown fruit is ovoid and has a scaly skin

• Fruit has a tasty yellow pulp, ripens on the tree

DOWN UNDER

• Very interesting gulls grown on the leaves

• Usually masses of fruit and kernels under the tree

• Leaf has prominent veins underneath

ICON GUIDE Fruit season

Flower season

Leaf season

This article is an extract from The unbearable beauty of trees: 56 magnificent trees of Kavango and Zambezi written by Helga Burger, published in 2020.

To order The unbearable beauty of trees , contact Bonn at bonn@venture.com.na

Where to find Mobola-Plum Trees in the northeast

Unlocking the Forbidden Territory

Tsau //Khaeb

Park

What enticed men to leave their homes in Europe for a far-off German colony on the African Continent to dig through burning gravel under the relentless sun of the Namib Desert for a gemstone made of carbon arranged in a crystal structure?

Many romantic stories are told citing various reasons, but in actual fact these men were motivated by one thing alone – greed.

That said, these fortune seekers in Lüderitz and the area later known as the Sperrgebiet (German for prohibited area) have gone down in history through a wealth of stories of intense hardship and suffering, successes and losses as well as unimagined wealth and unsustainable opulence. The mad rush that occurred after the discovery of a diamond by railway worker Zacharias Lewala in 1908 left its mark on the desert in the form of vast plains covered in gravel heaps, rows of disintegrating trommel sieves and ghost towns, the most famous of which is Kolmanskop. While Kolmanskop is always worth a visit, seeing the ghost settlements south of Lüderitz holds an almost unexplainable appeal. Maybe it has something to do with the buildings being less disturbed because the Sperrgebiet had been off limits for such a long time. Maybe it is because the desolated areas in which those old settlements are found make you feel as if you were the first person to uncover these archeological gems.

It is weird to think that mining tourism can have so much appeal. Imagine the worked-out remains of Namibia’s grotesque open pit gold mines one day being visited with a sense of romanticised longing for the past and taking photos of disintegrating mining equipment in areas where nature has been completely destroyed. Yet, these mining relics of more than a century ago have considerable tourism value.

Our guide, Günther Berens, explaining some of the fascinating geography of

the area.

The pump station at Grillental once supplied fresh water to the various mining settlements.

A barren landscape that presented many challenges for the diamond mining pioneers.

The only remnant of a cocopan.

Exploring the processing plant at Pomona

The mine manager’s house at Pomona

The Sperrgebiet was proclaimed the Tsau //Khaeb National Park in 2008. It covers an area of 2,2 million hectares, the majority of which falls within the Succulent Karoo biome. It had been closed to the public for more than a hundred years to protect the diamond wealth of the area. As a result, the fragile Succulent Karoo ecosystem, which boasts the highest diversity of succulent flora globally, was left largely undisturbed for all these years – an amazing feat when considering how rare it is to have a protected area such as this in modern times.

Around 1,050 plant species are known to occur in Tsau //Khaeb National Park. That is nearly 25 percent of the entire flora of Namibia on less than three percent of the country’s land area. The Succulent Karoo is listed as one of the world’s top 34 biodiversity hotspots.

For this reason, any form of tourism in the area had to be well thought through as it holds the potential to adversely affect this preserved area. A tourism development plan was drawn up and approved in August 2019 for a period of 10 years. As part of the development plan, nine tourism concessions were awarded by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism with very strict guidelines.

The concession that covers the mining tourism hot spots as well as the awe-inspiring Bogenfels, was awarded to a company called Sandwich Harbour 4x4, which recently invited the Travel News Namibia team on its Bogenfels and Diamonds Scenic Tour.

The full-day tour enters the park through the Rotkopf entrance gate some 20 kilometres east of Lüderitz. The first stop, after a short drive, is Grillental. This

was an important pump station (water is not easy to come by in the desert) that provided fresh water to the mining towns several kilometres away. Apart from a couple of buildings, tools are scattered through the area, a reminder of the hard labour on this site all those years ago.

Driving further, the route takes guests through a diverse landscape of rocky outcrops, shifting dunes and, of course, the gravel plains that held the promise of the sought-after diamonds. The only remnants of the diamond days are hundreds of gravel heaps that were sifted through for the valuable stones.

Just before reaching the ghost town of Pomona, the tour passes through Idatal, named after August Stauch's wife. Stauch is famous for starting the diamond rush after Zacharias Lewala, the above-mentioned railway worker under his charge, brought him the first stone. According to Stauch, the valley was so rich in diamonds that when his party discovered Idatal the men crawled on their stomachs at night picking up the stones that glittered in the moonlight.

Pomona with its abandoned houses and their disintegrating wooden frames, is similar to Kolmanskop, but it covers a larger area with a lot more manmade remnants strewn around. The narrow-gauge railway tracks, once the lifeline to the Lüderitz harbour, are only discernible by the rust-coloured lines on the ground. The metal has completely rusted away.

After a delicious lunch, which includes oysters, the tour departs for the natural highlight of the southern coast – Bogenfels. The massive rock arch is 55 metres high and arches over the Atlantic shore. It is a sight to behold and difficult to explain in its striking beauty and size. Barely visible when driving towards it, Bogenfels never fails to impress even returning visitors. A walk to the top of the arch affords amazing, if slightly scary (for those with a fear of heights) views of the surrounding area. While a look at the arch from below offers a completely different perspective of the giant rock structure.

Exploring the remnants of the settlements of the diamond pioneers gives a little insight into what it must have been to battle the elements – heavy fog, wind, sand storms and a burning sun – in a remote part of an unknown country. The former settlements of these adventurous spirits have been preserved by the desert. They allow extraordinarily fascinating glimpses into the past and what some would do for the ultimate prize of a small stone and the promise of wealth. TNN

Bogenfels rock arch.

Fishing Adventure

Namibia is well known for its diverse, vast landscapes and abundant ocean life. The latter make it a premium fishing destination.

Many anglers dream of landing their best catch on this pristine coastline, and we are fortunate to have shared many special moments with our clients in this beautiful country.

We recently embarked on a fishing adventure from Cape Town, South Africa, to Henties Bay in Namibia. I have made this trip on many occasions and driven thousands of kilometres to and from, but this one was special.

It was special, because after two years of hard lockdown, of being confined within our borders and limited interaction with people, we finally had the opportunity to visit this magnificent destination again and embark on an adventure we had waited for so longingly. Being adventurers at heart, this was something all of us had really been looking forward to for a long time.

It was a bigger group, so it took some planning and organising to get everyone across the border without hassles. Covid still being a factor, we had a few extra hoops to jump through, but the whole procedure turned out to be pretty well managed.

We left Cape Town around midnight and followed the CapeNamibia Route, i.e. the N7, most of the way. At daybreak we were surrounded by the arid semi-desert landscape that characterises the Northern Cape. We reached the Vioolsdrif/ Noordoewer border post shortly after 7:00 am. COVID and PCR tests were still a factor, but did not cause any hassles. Once in Namibia, we stopped at our traditional spot to enjoy breakfast, re-energise and refuel.

You could feel the excitement building, knowing we were in Namibia and all was on track, but we still had quite a distance to go. After breakfast we immediately hit the road again. Usually the south presents itself as a rather barren landscape but now the effect of the good rain falls, which Namibia has had this year, were evident. We were greeted with a green carpet of lush flora everywhere. It was a changed landscape and truly amazing to witness. A first for me after many years of driving this route.

We drove pretty much the entire day to our halfway stop in Mariental and enjoyed our first night under the Namibian stars together with the great hospitality that is one of Namibia’s hallmarks. If you grew up in Africa you must have a braai

Text & Photographs Dewald Campher & African Fishing Adventures

whenever you have the opportunity, so we sat around a fire sharing stories while enjoying world class beer and some of Namibia’s famous quality meat. Yes, we did have some side dishes too!

We were on the road again early the next morning. I always advise people driving with me to take note of how the landscape changes from the sparse vegetation in the south to the dense bush as you approach Windhoek. But this time everything was green as far as your eyes could see, and the bush simply got denser as we neared Windhoek. We were lucky to see some wildlife in the dense bush. Obviously it seemed to be in great condition.

A must-visit in Windhoek is Joe’s Beerhouse, a unique restaurant full of African stories and artifacts. Make sure to reserve your table.

From Windhoek we headed to the coast. As you get closer to the Namib Desert, vegetation usually becomes sparser. But once again, we were in for a pleasant surprise: plants in abundance everywhere around us. I keep mentioning this because even for a frequent visitor it is very special to see Namibia lush and green like this.

As it was a shorter trip than the previous day, we took it easy and made a few stops to appreciate the smaller towns and views – such as the famous Spitzkoppe. With pictures taken, sore jaws from chewing all the biltong we bought at Okahandja and excitement rising we reached our destination for the next two weeks, Henties Bay.

Henties Bay is a sea angling hotspot, and on the bucket list of many a keen angler. A prime fishing destination that is so unique, diverse and beautiful, it will leave you wanting more. If you mention Henties Bay to an angler, I can assure you a

conversation will be struck up immediately. Some will eagerly share their story of the big one they either hooked, or the one that got away. Some will share with you their desire to go there and catch their dream fish. Either way, Namibia is the place many anglers dream of and keep coming back to.

My group gathered at Henties Bay’s popular watering hole, Skubbe Pub & Grill. This is the place to go after a long day fishing, mainly because of the atmosphere and for exchanging information. You will normally pick up a few tips on where the fish are as the fellow anglers eagerly talk about their catches.

After a quick lunch we headed to our accommodation, Huis Klipdrif. Most importantly, we got our tackle ready for the next day.

After settling in we had a briefing of what to expect over the next few days. I did a few trace and bait presentations with some good banter in between. With the game plan in mind we headed out for our first team dinner in Henties Bay. As you can imagine, with everyone being super-excited, the atmosphere was incredible and a good time was had by all.

The next morning we got up at 5:00 am and headed north, out of Henties Bay. We wanted to try a few spots I had visited on a recent trip, and it so happened that the locals had mentioned them as being promising.

In Namibia you are allowed to drive on the beach to reach your fishing spots, so letting down your tyres for getting through the sand is crucial. Even more importantly, do it yourself and do not rely on the attendants at filling stations. Somehow they managed to get it wrong with several vehicles, which resulted in them getting stuck the moment we hit the sand. But getting stuck is all part of the adventure and with a few alterations we were off again.

At our first spot, Horing Baai, it was not long before I hooked a stunning fish. However, as it was not the fireworks we were looking for we decided to try Doep se Gat, a spot I knew well. From the moment we arrived it was game on. With smaller fish on the bite and a few bigger ones in between, I knew it was only a matter of time until we would land the trophy fish.

And just like that, it happened. Des was on with the first trophy fish of our trip, and on his brand-new setup. I guided Des through the fight and helped to land the fish. It was a bit more challenging with the deeper gutter in front of us, but when I first laid eyes on this bigger fish, I knew I had to land it whatever it took. I timed the waves and went swimming for him – and walked out with this beautiful fish in my arms.

We worked quickly, stayed close to the surf to keep the fish wet, snapped a few pics, and released the stunner. He swam off strong, and we were as happy as can be. The Kabeljou weighed in at 12.5 kg, a personal best for Des. Since he is one of our VIP clients and goes on frequent trophy fish sessions with us.

Our first day ended well and the guys were over the moon. We made a quick stop at the aforementioned local water hole to brag about our catches of the day. With a few cold beverages and some stories shared, many laughs and lots of banter, we headed home to cook fresh Kabeljou. In my opinion there is nothing better than a fresh fish, but a fresh fish in Namibia is still something else. It must be the atmosphere that adds to the flavour. There is something special about it and it will be a meal you will refer to on many occasions.

The next few days were pretty much a repeat of day one. We fished hard. Many good fish were landed and released. Everyone managed to catch some every day and tick a few species of their bucket lists. We mainly caught kabeljou, steenbras, shad, galjoen, blacktail and many varieties of shark species in all shapes and sizes. Many firsts and

personal bests were achieved by many of us and the guys had a great time!

We were well organised and well equipped, which made things so much easier, but feeling “fished out” after many long consecutive days of fishing, we looked forward to heading home to our loved ones.

There are many stories about this trip we would love to share with some amazing people, but apart from the fishing, we simply enjoyed the entire adventure. Venturing into the wilderness, the unknown for some and out of everybody’s comfort zone. Experiencing Namibia in its full glory and taking in everything Africa has to offer is what truly made our trip.

We were able to witness some special moments like a jackal on a dune at sunrise. We watched bright pink flamingos flying over the ocean, visited the seal colony at Cape Cross and found washed-up whales – to name but a few.

Our trip home was just as breathtaking as the earlier drive north, and we once again had the pleasure of seeing Namibia in a way that few visitors will see again. As we reached our last stop, Grünau, before crossing the border the next day, we had one last surprise. Brian kept telling me that the people we would be staying with would be feeding us properly, and me, being Afrikaans, would appreciate it.

Well, let me tell you I did not expect any of this when we stopped at Namgate Guesthouse and Butchery. We were a handful of guys, but the food that was put in front of us was for a veritable army. From whole necks of lamb for each person to pumpkin fritters… boy oh boy, was there food! I recall that I stopped counting the different dishes at number eight. Now that’s what you call catering for your guests and another great example of Namibian hospitality.

Well fed, tired and grateful, we ended our last night under the Namibian stars, knowing that the next day our adventure came to an end.

Very grateful for another successful trip. See you soon, Namibia! TNN

Namibia is the place many anglers dream of and keep coming back to.

WHISTLING FROGS... A world of

Not many people can claim that a rain frog was named after them – even fewer can assert that they were once almost arrested for searching for one – in a desert of all places. Let me introduce you to the world of frog expert Vincent Carruthers. He is a well-known contributor to amphibian research and co-authored several books: when you hear a long, drawn-out rising whistle in the Namib Desert and it seems to be coming from nowhere, you may want to look again and search for a small creature (about two inches in size) with bulging eyes.

Some locals refer to the desert rain frog (woestynpadda) as a melkpadda (milk frog) because they exude a milky poison when threatened. The elusive Breviceps macrops frequently makes it to the list of the world’s cutest animals. Not only because of its stuffed animal looks, but also because of the sound it makes when it is handled or disturbed: it squeaks like a plastic toy.

WALKING ON SNOW SHOES IN THE SAND…

Perhaps because this creature cannot hop or leap away, but has to walk around on the sand, it displays a piercing squeak with its mouth open wide when alarmed. Vincent explains: “Its feet are quite unlike those of any of the other rain frogs which all have unwebbed toes and a massive calloused tubercle on the heel with which they dig backwards into the ground. The desert rain frog has no such tubercle and an extensive fleshy web extends

between fingers and toes. This enables it to walk on the loose sand like camels’ padded feet or as if wearing snow shoes.”

Fearing that the desert rain frog was on the brink of extinction, Vincent and a colleague set out to search for it in the late 1970s. They were gathering information for a new book on amphibians.

A WONDROUS CLAIM AND A STRANGE ARREST

This frog species is confined to a narrow coastal strip in northwestern Namaqualand and southern Namibia. It occurs in the area of the 26 000-square-kilometre Sperrgebiet, proclaimed a national park in 2008. Prior to that the area was strictly guarded and only accessible to diamond prospectors. Today it is limited to small-scale mining. The Orange River is the park’s southernmost border. It seldom rains there. Annual precipitation is about 60 mm and comes mainly in the form of mist that condenses in the inflowing air from the Atlantic. “The frogs call in the mist from exposed positions on the sand or shallow excavations. It is a long, drawn-out rising whistle,” says Vincent. “The desert rain frog was first discovered in 1907 and there were specimens in bottles in a couple of museums in South Africa. They were all labelled Port Nolloth or Alexander Bay, but none were dated later than 1936.” The research team visited Port Nolloth in October 1977. For days on end they were exploring the characteristic burrows – just a conical depression in the sand

Text & Photographs Linda de Jager

searching for the frog’s distinctive footprints leading to it. A quick excavation of the top 10 cm of dry sand might just reveal a dumpy little frog resting at the level where the sand retains moisture from the previous morning mist.

Says Vicent: “Life on the dunes is remarkably active. Tracks of lizards, rodents, beetles and other insects criss-cross the sand between the curious succulent plants. Once or twice we found evidence of a sad story where the tracks of a frog met those of a meerkat at a blood-stained point of intersection. The excitement of our hunt carried on well after dark and we ventured unintentionally close to the line that separates the open desert from the prohibited diamondiferous areas owned by De Beers. All of a sudden the figure of a policeman materialised out of the dark. Polite but clearly suspicious he had been watching our torches flitting about the dunes and noted the obvious fact that we were searching in the sand close to diamondiferous ground – curious behaviour for out-of-town strangers and not difficult to draw the obvious conclusion. Illicit diamond dealing was taken very seriously in those days. We explained that we were looking for frogs. In the desert? Yes. “Frogs”, he explained patiently, “do not occur in deserts.” So we were forced to accompany him to the local police station. Amid disbelieving chuckles, he explained to his police colleagues that we were from Johannesburg (clearly suspect), Wits University (definitely criminals, given the context of the time), and we were looking for, wait for it – frogs! In the sand. “And the one ou (chap) says he’s a professor!”

Vincent recalls that their story was so improbable that in the end the police decided it had to be true. They were allowed to go back to their camp and returned the following day armed with their collecting boxes full of legitimate frogs, and all ended happily.

STILL UNIQUE AND STILL VULNERABLE

Vincent is fascinated by the way this species has adapted to desert conditions. He explains that rain frogs are an almost exclusively southern African genus, Breviceps, and many of the 18-odd species are confined to forests or high rainfall regions. “They lay their eggs in damp burrows under the leaf litter on the forest floor. Their tadpoles develop and mature in these burrows and emerge into the leaf litter as fully formed froglets without ever having been near water. That life cycle should only be possible in an extremely moist, shady habitat, yet the desert rain frog has adapted to the exact opposite, an exceptionally arid desert. It survives in this seemingly inhospitable environment by burying itself 10 or 15 centimetres below the surface where the sand retains a certain amount of moisture. It moves about at night, frequently visiting dung heaps to hunt for insects.”

Another special adaptation is the extremely thin and vascular skin on the belly. This allows moisture to be absorbed from the damp sand below the surface.

While most of the mining that threatened their habitat has now stopped, and large areas of ground have been restored, the frogs remain vulnerable. In the SANBI survey of endangered species (Measey, G.J. Ensuring a Future for South Africa’s Frogs – a Strategy for conservation research. 2011) the ‘vulnerable’ status

was retained because “Current estimates suggest that there are less than 10,000 individuals and that there has been a decline of 10% within three generations… it is not yet known whether it has returned to restored habitat.”

A REMARKABLE CASE OF PARALLEL EVOLUTION

Vincent guards a treasure chest of fascinating information. He explains that there is another closely related species, the Namaqua rain frog, Breviceps namaquensis, that occurs along the Namaqualand coast and adjacent arid mountains as far south as Langebaan. Its call is very different.

“Rain frogs are confined to southern Africa, but there is a completely unrelated Australian frog, the sandhill frog, Arenophryne rotunda, found in the sand dunes of Shark’s Bay, north of Perth, Western Australia. “It is a very similar environment to the Namib and the frog looks much like a rain frog (rotund with short legs.) It has an almost identical method of laying its eggs in moist sand where they develop into fully formed froglets just like rain frogs do.”

In 2017, Vincent’s dedication as herpetologist received a singular honour in zoology: a new species of rain frog was named after him. The frog has been named Breviceps carruthersi, otherwise known as Carruthers’ rain frog or the Phinda rain frog. The subtropical area of the Phinda Game Reserve in Zululand is far removed from the Namib Desert. Exactly how many desert rain frogs remain alive today is uncertain. But if you bother to search for quite some time, a strange little creature will whistle gently at you as if to say, “I have been here all along.” TNN

Herpetologist Vincent Carruthers, a well-known contributor to amphibian research and co-author of several books

FAST FACTS ON THE RAIN FROG:

Breviceps Merrem, 1820

19 species, 18 in southern Africa

Desert rain frog (woestynpadda is one species)

Conservation Status: Vulnerable

Where do you find it in Namibia: Along the coastal dunes south of Lüderitz.

How do you know it is a rain frog: Very short legs, flat face, rotund body.

When is your best chance of seeing a rain frog: At night or early morning in the mist.

Birding in Lüderitz

A wind-boggling

experience

Text & Photographs Pompie Burger

I wonder if any of those pioneers in the early 1900s ever saw Barlow’s Lark ( Calendulauda barlowi ) at Pomona, or the Dune Lark ( C. erythrochlamys ) in the dunes near Lüderitz? Looking at the barren ‘killing fields’ those diamond hunters left behind as memories for later generations, I doubt it very much. I suppose the diamonds’ blinding effect on your eyes has the same effect on your mind. In the end, it’s the larks that are still around, and not those diamond hunters.

nce you are in Lüderitz, please don’t get too carried away by the beautiful Art Nouveau and German imperialstyle buildings, (or the diamonds) because then you will definitely run out of time. Our trip along the peninsula south of Lüderitz proved to be most fruitful, with our first sighting being a lonely Chestnutbanded Plover wading along the edge of the Radford Bay lagoon. At Sturmvogelbucht, we unfortunately didn’t see any storm petrels, but we did see our first pair of African Black Oystercatchers (Haematopus moquini). If you haven’t seen one of these rock waders with their red eyes and red legs, ‘you ain’t seen nothing yet’. At least they did confirm that there are indeed oysters on the local restaurant's menu. After every bird trip, one bird always sticks out in your mind, and without doubt the African Black Oystercatcher was the Lüderitz ‘special’ for me.

OOur next stop was Dias Point, and as I had been warned beforehand about the wind, we held on for dear life and did some birdwatching at the same time. A flock of Ruddy Turnstones (Arenaria interpres) welcomed us and, without having to hang on to the latticed bridge, we had another quick sighting of two ‘tobies’, a breeding Kelp Gull (Larus dominicanus) and a few Hartlaub’s Gulls (L. hartlaubii) drifting in the strong south-westerly wind.

From there, across the sea, we had a good view of Halifax Island, our destination for the next day. Watching the waves crashing into the side of the island, I already had my doubts whether the antiemetics would do the trick for me. It would be a sin not to mention the exceptional vegetation on the peninsula. If I had any doubts about birds surviving in this arid, windswept landscape, the plants were an eye-opener par excellence. I became so carried away in my botanical expeditions that I almost forgot about the birdwatching. Two definite specials were the Bushman’s candle (Sarcocaulon patersonii) and my favourite, the Pelargonium cortusifolium

Cape Cormorants

Antje Burke wrote in her book Wild flowers of the southern Namib ‘this plant grows only in rocky habitats’. To be honest, I think this is somewhat of an understatement. I’d rather put it ‘…grows only in the most inhospitable, barren, hurricane-forcewind-plagued, untenable circumstances imaginable’. Both these plants had the most beautiful little flowers, just to show you what can be done!

If Coleridge’s Ancient Mariner had to endure only a fraction of the wind we experienced on our trip to Halifax Island on the Sedina, his poem would have been much shorter, probably a one-liner, but then again, our skipper didn’t have an albatross around his neck. This pelagic trip is a must whether you are a birdwatcher or a vomiter. Going up and down with 60-metrehigh waves we were able, at times, to see Windhoek going up, and Atlantis going down. We had a good view of two Cape

Gannets (Morus capensis) trying to impress us by flying around in the gale-force wind without having to hold on to anything for dear life. They actually seemed to enjoy it!

Fortunately, although the wind was quite strong, we were able to get a good view of some of the inhabitants. On the way we saw a large group of Cape Cormorants (Phalacrocorax capensis) bathing in the water. The wind was too strong for doing anything else. Later we saw the other three of the cormorant species – Bank (P. neglectus), White-breasted (P. lucidus) and Crowned Cormorants (P. coronatus) – flying past the boat, which we incidentally saw later on Shark Island sitting on the rocks. The permanent inhabitants of Halifax Island, African Penguins (Spheniscus demersus), were quite enjoyable, especially when they came out of their beach house to greet us.

White-breasted Cormorant

How many roads must a man walk down, before you call him a man? How many seas must a white dove sail, before she sleeps in the sand? The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind, The answer is blowin’ in the wind.

Greater Kestrel

Damara Tern

Barn Owl

Chestnut-banded Plover

Black-browed Albatros

Bob Dylan

We also heard them screaming above the wind but were not certain if they wanted to invite us onto land for a drink. At least we were able to hear why they are called Jackass Penguins, because those passengers who were afraid to open their eyes, could imagine we were driving through Wortel near Rehoboth’s donkey country. In the end, the trip was an unforgettable experience not to be missed by anybody visiting Lüderitz. Next time around, we will definitely be on the boat again, come hell or high water (hopefully not too high). Maybe then we will see the much sought-after Petrels – if the boat drifts a bit further south.

Shark Island is a must for the birder. We had some good sightings of Swift (Sterna bergii) and Sandwich and Common Terns, and finally the ‘tobies’ allowed us close enough to see them eye to eye. The scenic view of the town from there is also well worth the effort and, if you can withstand the windy conditions on the rocks, you might be lucky enough to see the odd albatross.

Our trip down to Bogenfels was probably as impressive as you could ever wish. You wonder why this ‘monument’ wasn’t named one of the Seven Wonders of the World, but then it is probably better this way, or you’d have had a McDonalds in the background of this majestic rock monolith. And yes, we did see a pair of oystercatchers patrolling this spectacular area, making it even more spectacular.

Our last stop was Kolmanskop, but apart from the Cape Crow’s (Corvus capensis) nest in one of the old houses, there were no traces of other birds, not even a Barn Owl (Tyto alba), which would have been a fitting ‘decoration’ to these beautiful old houses.

Although it is a long way to drive to Lüderitz from Aus, it is a trip you shouldn’t miss. There were quite a few Greater Kestrels along the road and we even saw a few sitting on the ground, as there are not that many trees. Hopefully, on the way back, about forty kilometres from Lüderitz, you might spot the odd group of Barlow’s and Grey’s Larks. Who knows, Bob Dylan might well be correct in singing: The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind. TNN

African Penguin

Living Wild in the land of sand and freedom

A barbel in the canyon?

Text & Photographs Lee Tindall

It is our tradition, whenever the Sesriem Canyon fills with water, to go and swim there. In January the time had come again.

I spoke with a friend, based at the entrance to the park, the day we planned to go, and he mentioned that the wind was chilly and strong, and sand was filling the skies. I thanked him for his weather insights and he warned me to look out for snakes if we did go. I chuckled, thanked him again and took this news to the family. We spoke to the kids, explained that the weather was awful, that it could become super unpleasant and that we would need to assess the situation as we arrived – in short, we needed to be super flexible.

Of course we piled into the car, swimming costumes on, hats, sunscreen and that sense of excitement you get when you know you are about to do something you love! We had been to the canyon on two previous occasions. In both cases we had been privileged enough to have it all to ourselves. There is a spot where the years and years of occasional water flow have carved out a little island, up against one canyon wall.The water flows around the other side and further into the canyon. This is our spot for floating in the canyon and cloud gazing, or swimming laps and grinning from ear to ear. It is a miracle of nature to have this at our doorstep, and to have experienced it three times already is simply unreal.

When we arrived at the parking lot on this super windy day in January I opened my door at the same time as our ten-yearold opened his – I was nearly blown right out the car… the wind was so strong. Murray and I looked at each other and instinctively we knew that we were locked into this mission. Failure would not be tolerated and no one was super flexible. All of us were struggling with the practicalities of moving house and the weird limbo stage we were in. The whole family needed some magic. After the short walk into the canyon, marvelling, as always, at the rock formations, trees and plants, we found the water. More than ever before. Happily, once we had descended into the canyon, the sunshine warmed us and the wind no longer reached us.

I dipped my toes into the chocolate-caramel swirl of water and flinched. Freezing. Remember that failure is not an option! I did the only thing I could and got in with the kids. We yelped, shrieked and compared the water depth at various locations. I called Murray to come and join us and told him the boldfaced lie that the water wasn’t too cold. After all the performance he knew full well that it was freezing, but despite hating cold water and swimming only if it was fifty plus degrees in the shade, he bravely joined us. By then the kids and I had made our way into a long, narrow section where the sun could warm our top halves.

It was at this stage that I spotted the frog. With unbridled enthusiasm I called the kids to come and see. We watched as it swam, perfectly shaped and perfectly miraculous in a normally dry canyon. Everything was glorious. The frog made its way to

the rock wall, where I could only assume he would hop out had things gone well.

Needless to say, things were about to take a turn. As I pointed to the frog at the rocks, a huge grey, gaping mouth scaled the rock, out the water and practically inhaled the frog. The three of us were horrified. Stunned (and rare) silence.

Grace just about ran on the water to get out, I called for Murray who was halfway to us and Connor immediately went into science mode. Of course, now all I could feel was things brushing up against my legs, ready to inhale a small African country – or just me. I am sure there was nothing there, but I recalled my friends’ warning of snakes and did wonder whether we were living in a B-grade Anaconda-style movie. Now, in hindsight, I can confirm it was not a B-grade movie remake.

It turned out to be a catfish – or barbel as they are also known. Not as fierce as a snake, but much creepier. We can only assume that it got washed into the canyon from dams along the way. But once you see one barbel, you see many and we might have landed in the barbel hotspot of the canyon. Murray, still a little away at this stage, having watched us and aware that we were in no danger, was having a great laugh. None of us will ever forget this moment and none of our stories are ever quite the same – my best version is the one our kids tell.

We did end up hanging out in the canyon some more, took our photos and then made our way to the petrol station, Sossus Oasis, for the best Magnums this side of Swakopmund. Never mind the snakes, it’s the fish you should be aware of! TNN

Lee Tindall was born in Namibia. With her parents, who were employed by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, she lived in some of the remotest, most beautiful protected parts of the country. It was there where her love and enthusiasm for nature developed, a passion that she keeps kindled to this day.

In April 2016 Lee and her husband Murray – along with their two small children, beloved golden retriever Rocco, ferocious cat Yzer and several goldfish originally named Goldie 1, Goldie 2 and Fred – moved to the NamibRand Nature Reserve, where Lee was the Research and Environment Warden, based at Keerweder. She is also the coordinator and secretary for the Greater Sossusvlei Namib Landscape, a not for gain association focused on large landscape conservation and upliftment. Lee and her family are now moving on to their next adventure.

Follow her series 'Living Wild' in the upcoming issues of Travel News Namibia .

The Lüderitz Peninsula

It was a tad windy, as it tends to be here. If it were early November, the wind would be welcomed with open arms by the migrant wind surfers gathered in this sleepy yet surprisingly vibrant corner of Namibia’s southern coast. For them, the wind means world records. For us, on this bright yet gusty Feb morning, the wind means hair in your face if you, like me, continuously forget to pack an elastic band. But the wind, along with strands of hair in your mouth, brings with it a sense… or rather, a scent of adventure. A scent of the unknown and yet-to-be-discovered in the air. And along this wild coast, where jagged rocks border tumultuous Atlantic waves, that scent of adventure in the air can easily catapult the active and creative mind back to a time when Portuguese sailors caught a first glimpse of the same coastline, albeit their view from the dark waters eastward. What did they imagine when first spying these shores? Imminent danger… and then absolutely nothing behind the coast. To them these shores and the hinterland it led to surely looked like the caricature of death. To us it still looks barren and forlorn, but with a vibrant little town a few kilometres away and the knowledge that our Toyota bakkie will get us where we need to be (and back), the scene leans more toward adventure and discovery than the sailors’ version of doom.

We’re exploring the Lüderitz Peninsula, the aforementioned Toyota making easy work of the well-laid-out salt routes and dirt tracks and acting as a very adequate barrier between us and the wind. From Lüderitz we follow the clearly demarcated road signs out of town in a southerly direction, along Second Lagoon toward Grosse Bucht. From here the road loops northward where along the road paths lead off toward the coast. A series of what has been labelled “fjords” can be found at the ends of these paths. The views from the crags and jagged rock faces are certainly reminiscent of the images of Norway I’ve longed over on Instagram. The routes leading to and from these fjords should certainly only be tackled with a proper 4x4 vehicle and a semi to

experienced off-road driver for good measure. This is where the adventure part sets in. A short climb up scraggly hills or rocks lead to the most incredible views of the wild coast with its bays and inlets. Hold onto your hat, your camera, your jacket, your dog, as the wind whips around you, even yanking my hair out of the top knot I managed to fashion with a small rubber band scoured from the bottom of my camera bag. The water below churns and tugs. Dark hues of blue and turquoise swirling with whitecaps and froth. To the west the Atlantic stretches into eternity.

Along the route you will see signs demarcating the precious and extremely sensitive breeding grounds of the Damara Tern, a bird endemic to Namibia. Be conscious of where you wander and certainly stick to the roads as you explore. The region is not only home to special species of mammals, birds and reptiles, but also an extraordinary collection of flora, delicate and easily destroyed. If you’re extremely lucky you may spot a scraggly brown hyena scuttling in the distance, or seals sunbathing on a rock along the shore, Heaviside’s dolphins frolicking in the surf or African Penguins waddling around on Halifax Island. Flamingos, pelicans and other waterbirds frequent the shallow waters of the lagoons and beaches.

Further north along the route we reach Diaz Point, an iconic red-and-white-striped lighthouse standing sentinel. Here, the ardent and now-famous explorer Bartolomeu Dias pinned a stone cross, or padrão, to a high rocky outcrop more than 500 years ago, marking his discovery of this new world. The actual cross has made the journey back to the northern continent from which its patron hailed, but its replacement stands tall in memoriam. Take a deep breath while you brace yourself against the gusts and soak in the history. TNN

Text Elzanne McCulloch

Photograph Le Roux van Schalkwyk

A cell phone on a bush trip

This might give away my age or ignorance as far as modern technology is concerned. If you want to sort out your emails from the last six months, or catch up with your broker on the latest on the stock trends, think twice before going on a bush trip. Unfortunately, nowadays everyone has a cell phone and it is easy to keep it charged in your vehicle.

Imagine sitting all tensed up near a group of leopards in the Mahango Game Park, getting your Nikon camera in position to capture the moment of a lifetime. The silence is palpable, the final settings on your camera have been done, the car’s engine is off, window wound down to the perfect height for your 2000mm lens to rest on, even Springsteen has been silenced. Everybody in the car sits in utmost anticipation. A small Monarch butterfly lands on the nose of the male leopard, the leopard’s head (and the butterfly) fill the screen of your full-frame digital camera. A short prayer slips through pursed lips, you have already stopped breathing long ago, thanking God for this once in a lifetime opportunity. For once in your illustrious photographic career, you are at the right place at the right time. Your daughter’s cell phone

goes off with the beautiful sound of Kurt Darren's Kaptein span die seile

A few tips on how to have a phoneless holiday. Feed it to an elephant, accidentally drop it in the hippoinfested river, stand on it or just throw it against the wall.

Or listening to aunty Mavis screaming on her cell to her daughter in Joburg about the horrible food she had to deal with this morning on the game drive, the stench of fresh elephant dung hanging in the air while she was trying to wurg in (force down) yet another croissant. The guide even had the audacity to stop under a tree to show the guests some or other Pell’s bird.

My last effort to take my cell with me on a trip was between Rundu and Divundu where I “accidentally” dropped it under a Manketti tree trying to explain to my Sanlam broker that I do not have any

Text Pompie Burger

money and, no, I do not want to buy this wonderful new policy that can earn me thousands within two months. I hope one of the inhabitants of Omega 2 can use the cell to beat some sense into the head of a snake.

A few tips on how to have a phoneless holiday. Feed it to an elephant, accidentally drop it in the hippoinfested river, stand on it or just throw it against the wall. A more subtle option is to give it to one of the locals for a present. As they say, giving is always better than receiving.

Advantages yes, although they are few and far between, like being kept up-to-date on the latest cricket score, especially when your team is on the brink of a victory (again potential disadvantage, when they are getting a hiding from the Aussies). When you get lost in the bush, the GPS on the cell might be extremely useful. I even heard of a lady from the USA who, when they got stuck in the sand, phoned 911! It can also be used as a decoy: telling your wife you got a call that the road back home is washed away and you very, very unfortunately have to stay on holiday a few days longer. TNN

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