Etosha National Park

Part way through Namibia our tour group spent three days visiting Etosha National Park. The dominant feature of Etosha, which means "Great White Place," is an eighty kilometre long salt pan that is surrounded by savanna and mopane woodland. Once a vast lake, it dried up a few thousand years ago when the river that fed it decided to change course. Like Kruger, Etosha is a a premier wildlife location, such a special place that it warrants a blog entry of its own. While Kruger is known for its wide variety of species, Etosha is famous for its sheer number of animals. In 1876 an American traveller named McKiernan remarked, "All the menageries in the world turned loose would not match what I saw that day." Nevertheless, to protect the animals, only about two-thirds of the park is closed to tourism. Most of the landscape that is accessible is pretty wide open so the animals are often easy to see. As was the case with Kruger, at times one drives for 10-15 kilometres without seeing much at all, then all of a sudden large groups of multiple species suddenly appear. By far the most common species in Etosha was the springbok antelope.
The sightings are best during the winter months (July/August) when the land is at its driest. During this time the animals are inevitably drawn to where ever they can drink. Etosha's main waterhole, Okaukuejo, is regarded as perhaps the best in the world for seeing animals, especially the black rhino. Highly endangered and difficult to see because they are ill-tempered and reclusive, black rhinos are rarely seen elsewhere in the park but regularly wander in from the dark at Okaukeujo. The black rhino, also called the hook-lipped rhino, is smaller than the square-lipped or white rhino. This is really a misnomer as the "white" rhino (not found in Etosha) actually means "wyde" (wide) in Africaans. Unfortunately, poaching is a significant problem in Etosha, eliminating about five percent of the rhino population per year. Namibia piloted the idea of lopping off part of the horn to protect the animal by diminishing its commercial value. However, this makes the mother unable to protect the young, rendering them more vulnerable to attacks by predators such as the lion.

Poachers are extremely dangerous people. Five years ago in Kenya German tourists on a safari were warned to ignore any poaching activities they observed. When four people in the group started shouting at armed men they saw shooting animals the poachers drove over to the safari vehicle and shot them on the spot. End of trip for everyone else as the bodies had to be taken to a morgue. Apparently, in order to protect themselves, rangers are told to shoot on the spot anyone they even suspect of poaching.
I can't say that we ever got completely shut out while game viewing. One morning I was at the waterhole by 5 A.M. but saw little. Just as I was preparing to leave, a beautiful little bird called a crimson-breasted shrike, which was not very shy, made an appearance. It was the only time in Africa that I managed to see this species.
One night I stayed at the waterhole until about 22:10 before heading off to phone Nancy. Weary from being up late then again early the previous day, I decided to head off to bed at 22:45. Imagine my chagrin the next morning to find out that at 23:00 four male lions showed up at the hole and remained there for an hour. A black rhino, annoyed by their presence, made a series of mini-charges at them. It would seem that although the lion is the king of the jungle, the rhino rules at the waterhole.

Leaving camp, those of us who missed the amazing sighting the night before were feeling a little down in the mouth. As if to rescue our spirits, within five minutes of passing through the rest camp gate we arrived at a waterhole to find a pride of eight lions, three adults and five juvenile cubs! What unfolded next was a very memorable experience. After about twenty minutes most of the lions moved off about seventy-five metres to sit in some grass but one of the lionesses remained. Watched spellbound as a giraffe then a jackal arrived at the hole for a drink. Ultra-wary of the lion in its attack posture, both animals would edge closer then back off. The jackal eventually got very close before giving up and leaving. The giraffe was more persistent, walking away until its courage returned, inching closer, then backing off. After nearly a full and very interesting hour it gave up and quit the area. Black-backed jackal sightings were as common in Etosha as they had been further south in the Namib Desert. This proved to be advantageous to us one evening as we were eating dinner. Bruno, one of the French members of our entourage, noticed a jackal parked at the bottom of a tree for a lengthy time, staring up into the branches. Upon inspection we noticed a lesser spotted genet! About the size of a large domestic cat, the genet is a member of the mongoose family. With our help, the jackal and genet proceeded to perform a bit of a Tom and Jerry routine. As we got closer, the jackal would back off. This allowed the genet to leap to the ground and run to another tree, hotly pursued by the jackal, followed by the tourists!
Nancy and I had seen many termite mounds earlier in our trip, but nowhere were they as prevalent or as picturesque as in Etosha. The nests vary in colour depending on the soil and reminded us of those that we saw at Kakadu National Park in northern Australia. The nests are sometimes a nuisance for farmers. Eliminating them must take place at an early stage of their development when the termites are constructing their underground base. Otherwise, the termites simply replace what gets knocked down.
One afternoon, we encountered a rather large snake slithering its way across the landscape. The guides thought it was a kind of mamba, someone else has said suggested a cobra, I call it simply bad news. Aware of our presence the snake quickly disappeared into a hole. The life of a rodent can't be very easy. Imagine being comfortably settled into your home for the day when all of a sudden a pair of large glowing eyes appears in the darkness of your hallway!
A very interesting species that we saw in the park on a number of occasions was the secretary bird. Standing as high as 140 cm, the secretary bird is a mostly terrestrial bird of prey, eating rodents and sometimes even an infant antelope! It enjoys a certain amount of notoriety in Africa since it is on the national coat of arms of both Sudan and South Africa. It is built somewhat like an eagle but resembles a crane in flight. The plumage on the nape of its neck, as well as two elongated central tail feathers (unfortunately, cut off in my photo) make it an interesting spectacle as it struts across the terrain.
One of the interesting elements of our game viewing has been witnessing the interaction between the adults and offspring of the various species. I have a great photo of a mother and child black rhino at the waterhole, and a few images of suckling behaviour as shown below.
The number and variety of antelope on the plains of Africa is at times bewildering. one would think that they might run out of food but nature, in its highly organized, way has ensured that most antelope species actually consume different kinds of plants, or, at least, different parts of a plant. One of my best memories of Etosha will be a scene that evolved with a small group of red hartebeest antelope. One big buck was stationed quite close to the road providing a wonderful opportunity for photography. Responding to a noise in the distance, it turned away from us. We all noticed two other hartebeest racing across the distant landscape in what appeared to be a game of tag. A few seconds after this photo was taken, the nearby beast joined in the charge as the animals dogged, darted and sprinted in the vicinity for the next few minutes! Perhaps the most adorable of all of the antelope species are the tiny dik-diks, which stand a mere forty centimetres tall. They are named after the sound that they make when alarmed. Dik-diks are highly monogamous. Once one of the pair of life partners dies the remaining dik-dik will have a homosexual relationship with another widowed dik-dik. How's that for loyalty?
All three of Etosha's rest camps are currently under extensive renovations to bring them up to world-class standards prior to 2010. This is the year that South Africa will be hosting the World Cup of Soccer. Destinations throughout southern Africa are hoping that that they will benefit from the increase in tourist traffic. All of the work didn't really affect us since all of our nights on the tour except for two were spent camping.

As we were preparing to leave for our final game drive before exiting the park, a colony of banded mongoose put in an appearance to scavenge for scraps. Most of them didn't seem too bothered by our presence. Nancy and I had seen a smaller kind of mongoose a number of times in Kruger as well as in Kwa-Zulu Natal but this was the first time that I had encountered this larger species.

Thanks for sharing my time at Etosha. Hope you've enjoyed some of the information and pictures. Next stop: Victoria Falls!

Namibia - Land of Open Spaces

Namibia marks the beginning of a new phase in our tour of southern Africa. Upon arriving in the capital city of Windhoek we were immediately faced with some difficult decisions. Nancy's mother, Velma, was not well. Nancy decided to return home as soon as possible to be with her family. I decided to tentatively carry on with our imminent safari. On the third day I would arrive back in an urban area. If Velma's condition was deteriorating I too would return home. Each of us thought that we both made the right choice. Time will tell.

Being without Nancy was a big adjustment. There were also some initial organizational difficulties at the administration level of the tour that resulted in getting dumped in the desert for an afternoon after a five hour drive in extreme heat. An Australian woman who was in the same boat was also left baffled, without food, and not knowing who we were to meet or when they would arrive. It all worked out in the end due mostly to the efforts of our guide, Fisher, and his assistant, Jairos, who were terrific leaders and wonderful human beings. I quickly learned to respect their knowledge and appreciate the constant concern they showed for the security of their clients. Both are citizens of Zimbabwe. They taught me that Zimbabwe means "house of stone" in their language.

The trip southward through some very weathered-looking rock formations was not very comfortable but certainly was interesting. The stark beauty of a desert never ceases to amaze me. The Namib Desert, from which the country takes its name, is the oldest desert in the world. Eighty million years of arid conditions are the result of the warm dry winds caused by the Benguela current flowing southward in the Atlantic Ocean. Despite the extreme conditions (averaging less than 10 mm of rain per year) the struggle to adapt and survive is demonstrated by the little pockets of life that exist.

The main attraction in the south of the country is the towering dunes of Sossusvlei, which are believed to be the largest in the world. Viewed best at sunrise or sunset, the dunes morph through a variety of colours and shades under the changing light conditions. Steady winds ensure that the dunes are constantly shifting in size and location. Exploring the various dunes for the day was a lot of fun but very tiring. It takes a great deal of effort to scramble up a 250 metre dune in the hot sun!A special site among the dunes is a place called Dead Vlei (Dead Lake). Much of the Namib is built upon an enormous salt pan. These are very parched, white, and often cracked depressions in the land that have at times in the past contained salt water. As the water evaporated, the salt and other minerals were left behind to accumulate. These white soils provide an acute contrast to the red sand dunes. As you can see, Dead Vlei was once a lake that was able to sustain a small forest before an unusual period of rainfall drowned the trees.

Our hike to Dead Vlei was quite memorable. Due to a breakdown in communication we believed that the total hike to get there was five kilometres. It turned out to be ten kilometres long up and down dunes through the sand. Most of us had insufficient water as morning turned to mid-day. I can only recall one other time in my life when I have felt so dehydrated!

The camel thorn tree is one of the rare forms of fauna of any size that grow among the dunes. Many desert species depend upon the camel thorn. It provides shade as well as a home for insects and reptiles.

The bark, leaves and sap provide sustenance for a variety of species. The pods it produces are also a key source of food. These pods are known as camel's toe.

The gemsbok (oryx) is a highly specialized antelope that lives in the Namib Desert and throughout most parts of the country. It's main source of food? The pods of camel's toe! The gemsbok has the uncanny ability to survive for long periods of time without water. It is able to let its body temperature climb to levels that would kill most mammals. Rather than drink it consumes the traces of dew that form on the desert plants late at night and early in the morning. Indeed, many of the species in the Namib rely on the moisture provide from fog which rolls in off of the Atlantic Ocean on a fairly regular basis. As we travelled along in our safari truck, a gemsbok by the side of the road got spooked and raced the vehicle flat out for about 100 metres. That was an image that I'll never forget! Other common animal species that we saw in the desert were ostriches and the black-backed jackals. They seemed to always be on the prowl and visited the campsites from dusk until dawn. Each night we could hear them howling and growling back and forth. What a mess they made at one site where the campers (us) forgot to stow the garbage inside the truck!Another world class attraction in this area is the Sesriem Canyon. It's a one kilometre long, 40 metre deep cleft in the desert floor that provides quite a few corridors for exploring. The small amounts of water which accumulate here provide a micro climate for some species to survive. Sesriem is Africaans for "six thongs", the length of six leather cords that the Voortrekers had to lower into the canyon to gather water.

As we proceeded further northward in the desert, a second kind of tree began to appear. It is called the quiver tree, so named because the bushmen used it for creating the sheaths for their poison arrows upon which their hunting endeavours depended.

An interesting species of bird called the sociable weaver manages to survive under these harsh conditions. The birds start off building their nests individually but eventually they meld into

one. This helps to insulate them from the sometimes cold winter nights, snakes, and wasps. I'd imagine it leads to some pretty good parties as well!After a few days of gruelling desert heat we were all feeling relieved when we arrived at Walvis Bay. During the past hour of driving the temperature had dropped so dramatically that most of the people on the tour donned sweaters or jackets. Walvis Bay is Namibia's only deep water port. It has also become a rapidly developing tourist location that is well-known for its pelicans and flamingos. A short drive north of Walvis Bay, we arrived in the city (really a small town) called Swakopmund. Its extensive beaches help to draw many visitors from Europe, mostly Germany. Namibia became an independent country in 1990. For many years it was a German colony. Later, as a protectorate of South Africa, it served as a buffer between the South Africans and their adversaries in the Angolan War of Independence. The Angolans sent their colonial masters (Portugal) packing and began a war of liberation in surrounding countries. The leader of the guerrilla group (MPLA) was killed just two years ago and there remain today some pockets of armed resistance. The condition of Nancy's mother having stabilized somewhat, with some uncertainty I decided to finish the safari. Leaving Swakopmund was the point of no return as we headed of into some serious wilderness in the region known as Damaraland, after the Damara people. Our first stop was at a place called Twyfelfontein. This is the scene of the greatest collection of ancient San rock engravings in Africa, soon to be a World Heritage Site. The San lived in the area during the dry season since there is a nearby spring. The engravings are not only impressive in number but are well-preserved compared to rock paintings which deteriorate more over time. Tourism has quickly become Namibia's second largest industry, after mining. The country boasts the world's largest uranium mine, the largest and best diamonds deposits, tungsten, silver and a wide variety of other precious metals. Hawking samples of stone is thus one means for people to scrape a living off the land. As we headed northward it was easy to see that day-to-living is very difficult for the majority of the desert population. Homes were smaller and more simple than I had seen elsewhere in southern Africa.
This region is occupied by a number of tribes. The Herero women are known for their beautiful dresses as well as their head wear. A married woman sports a hat that is adorned with a fixture in the shape of bull horns. These represent the cattle that the husband had to pay for his woman.
After visiting a number of interesting rock formations such as the Organ Pipes we paid a visit to a petrified forest. The semi-buried mineralized trees were huge pine that once got washed down from Angola and became lodged in the soil. What an exciting experience - it's not every day that you get to hold chunks of a 350 million-year-old tree in your hands!

Heading further north we camped among the rugged and remote Spitzkoppe Mountains. This was a very dramatic setting, nestled in the middle of a diverse variety of picturesque rock formations that included distant plateaus, widely distributed boulders of varying size, and smoothly carved pinnacles once subject to the ebb and flow of the currents while submerged in the ocean. The atmosphere was bone dry, the air pristine and the entire landscape silent. One of the features looked very much like Ayer's Rock and manifested the same glow in the setting sun as we climbed to the top.

In the opposite direction was a rock face known locally as the Matterhorn since it is thought to resemble the peak of that oh-so-famous mountain in Switzerland.

Our next cultural encounter was really quite special. There's a semi-nomadic people in northern Namibia called the Himba. They like to keep to themselves for the most part but we were able to visit a village that had really only had much contact with outsiders for the past three years. The tribe is particularly know for the beauty of its women. Although their clothing is rather simple they go to great lengths to decorate themselves. The woman combine their natural hair with that of animals to create a braid, apply animal fat, ash, then ochre. At the age of 8-10 years males and females alike have their middle four lower teeth removed. This is considered to improve their appearance, enable them to enunciate their language more effectively, and help to differentiate them from other tribes. Our guide was dressed in western clothing and no longer lived with the Himba. He ran away at adolescence when some of these traditional rituals begin! During our visit most of the women were busy making butter out of goats' milk by gently rocking their pots back and forth in a pendulum-like motion.

Since water is such a precious commodity to the Himba, it should really be no surprise that they do not use it for bathing. Instead, animal fat is mixed with ochre and this is they rub on their bodies daily. It helps to block the sun, discourage insects, and is considered to be beautiful.

Smoke is also used as a means to keep clean. When the woman pictured below finished preparing the ashes she raised her skirt and then hovered on her knees above the smoke, something that is done for up to an hour per day. This was quite a shock to a few of the French people in our ensemble. Indeed, since the earliest days of colonialism is southern Africa, when the Dutch arrived at the cape, personal hygiene has been a contentious issue. The Europeans considered the practice of applying animal fat to the body to be barbaric and disgusting. The native people were equally as disapproving of the use of scrubbing with water, which they saw as very odd and ineffectual for their needs. I guess it all depends on what you're used to!

The last but not least of the local visitations on the tour agenda was with the San (bushmen) at Tsumeb. I had anticipated that the three hour tour would involve a long walk in the desert somewhere. I think that we were all a little disappointed to learn that our walk was to be along a tourist-oriented trail through the forest adjacent to the village. Nevertheless, the event turned out to be educational and interesting.

Paul was a young man who was fascinated by and dedicated to learning many of the traditions of his ancestors. To him they were a very advanced people far more competent than himself at surviving in the world. The local tribe had been resettled outside of their traditional lands when the apartheid government created Etosha National Park (without compensation) thus many ancient skills are now being lost. During the excursion we were told about the many uses of the plants and shrubs in the vicinity then were shown how to make and successfully operate a simple snare to catch a guinea fowl. Paul also demonstrated the construction of different tools and weapons as well as the many uses of an ostrich egg. He finished by making a fire with two sticks and some dry grass. This involves some pretty hard work!

We also learned the ins and outs (literally) of how to make a termite trap. Termites are considered to be a real treat in the community, so much so that termite mounds are individually owned and operated. Just twice per year newly born termites leave the nest and are attracted to the bound sticks that are set afire above the pit. In their quest for light they fall into the hole and are collected in a bag. A good haul is about twenty kilograms! The termites are fried or roasted in the sun before being shared with the neighbours.

The San were notorious for their ability to track game. Paul showed us some common types of animal tracks and told us some interesting stories about living along the Angolan border. Growing up during the Angolan Civil War he was instructed to run and hide in the bush whenever he heard a vehicle approaching on the road. A trick that the rebels used to elude the South African forces was to remove the soles of their shoes and reattach them backwards to disguise their direction of travel. The San were able to help the South African army by detecting the weight distribution on the imprints to get a true reading of troop movement.

The last part of our journey through Namibia was along the Caprivi Strip. This is a sliver of land that was once politically independent. When the Germans were masters of Namibia they decided that it would be really nice to have access to the Zambizi River further to the east. The German Count von Caprivi did the negotiating with the other European powers of the time so the land was named after him.

There's lots of game in the area and its pretty wild (i.e. dangerous) - no fences, electric wires or conservation authorities. We had a terrific power boat tour of the waterways on the Kwando River. There are plenty of crocodiles and hippos in the area! On December 24, 2005 one of the locals was in the water with a net trying to catch some extra fish to sell for Christmas. He got snapped up be a four-metre crocodile. When the government asked for proof of cause of death they killed a baboon and used it as bait. It didn't take long for the croc to gobble it down. After capturing it they cut it open and found the man's legs in the belly. Apparently the rest had been stolen in a croc feeding frenzy.

Most of us were brave enough to swim in this protected (caged-in) pool set in the river. The water flows very quietly but forcefully - it was a great workout trying to swim against the current.

There were a few nights in which most of the people on the safari were awfully scared to leave their tents. One night a big sign warned people about elephants and hippos moving through the campground at night. This was also a vintage malarial area. Someone in Africa dies of malaria every thirty seconds! It was the first time in my life that I can recall applying insect repellent to virtually every inch of my body.It's pretty hard to sleep you when you hear a few mosquitoes buzzing around and the grunt of a hippo no more than a stone's throw away! One night I ventured out at about 3:30 A.M., inching my way to the washroom then dodging and weaving my way back. There were some pretty heavy snorers in our group, their sounds often barely distnguishable from the sounds of the night!

Before heading to Zambia we finished Namibia with an enjoyable paddle in dug out canoes called the upper delta of the Okavango River . It was lots of fun, saw some hippos up close and personal and we all finished just happy to be safely on terra firma once again!