"you know you are truly alive when you are living among lions"
karen blixen, out of africa
we're now on the last leg of our trip through namibia. we are heading south towards okonjima, then to windhoek where we began, completing a somewhat wonky circle around the country. leaving etosha late morning put us at outjo town just in time for lunch. outjo had an open bank, petrol and the best pizza in africa! we ordered takeaway since it was near 100 degrees outside and no shade to leave the truck in. we chose the special: 2 small pizza's $72.00 n (around $8.00 u.s.) . and then we waited... had a cold beer each, read the paper (chuck) wrote in journal (lori) watched a large group of overlanders come in, buy pastry's and soft drinks (big decisions) considered another beer, but we are driving. when eventually out of the kitchen came a smiling cook holding a very large box. our small pizzas. it almost didn't fit across the front seat of our car. omg, oh my gosh, was it ever good. we made a mental note, must return sometime to outjo for more someday. :)
passed through otijiwarongo...
the drive to okonjima from the b-1 was 18 kilometers. then, once inside the gate, it's several more km's to camp. we were required to follow the same rules of other camps, you must stay in your car, and no speeding.
okonjima - home of the africat foundation. set amid the rolling omboroko mountains, this protected 20,000 hectare wilderness is a place chuck has wanted to return to for 17 years.
for the last 20 years the africat foundation and the hanssen family have rescued over 1,000 cheetah and leopards that have been trapped as a result of human/wildlife conflict on the farm lands in namibia. over 85% of these big cats have been returned to the wild. as with most animal rescue programmes, there are those individuals which cannot be released immediately. injured as well as orphaned cheetahs and leopards, too young to be on their own in the wild without their mothers, are taken into africats care.
chuck saw many changes since he was here last. africat has acquired more land, okonjima now has 3 camps, and his fond memory of seeing cheetah wandering the grounds surrounding reception, doesn't happen anymore.
after greetings and cool drinks, we were shown to our room, view 1. good name heh? (warthogs outside!)
we were too late for the days activities, but chatting and fireplace sitting suited us fine! it gets cold here in the evening!
after dinner we were invited to a hide. this one was a long low shack in the shape of an L, with very small windows. right outside is a waterhole. peter, our guide (you must go with a guide, single file, quiet and careful please!) put scraps out on the ground, but not before scanning the area very carefully with a torch (flashlight). i was thinking 'hurry, you never know what might be lurking'
we sat in silence, waiting and watching. only minutes later a porcupine arrived! and then another, and another, 3 porcupines! they lined up in front of the food and began crunching and smacking. we giggled quietly. when they were finished they scuttled away, sounding like a paper bag full of sticks. we waited so long for something else to appear, we were falling asleep. peter said 'shall we go?' and i think we were all in agreement. time for bed. another perfect day in africa.
morning view
weavers nest
pumbas in camp
many! haha hee hee, see?
jambo pumba :)
built in shade :)
banded mongoose
guinea fowl feather from chuck :)
the cape turtle dove says in the am : work harder work harder, and in the pm: drink lager drink lager :)
(told to us by our funny guide jonas). this morning we are looking for cheetah.
here is the device used to locate a signal. we found one! jonas, our guide stopped the truck and said, 'we will walk'. so we got out, all eight of us. six guests and the guides peter and jonas. the rules for a walking safari are, stay in a single file line, no talking, stop when the lead guide stops, and walk when he does. the two other couples were unsure, uneasy. i managed to get in line right behind jonas (exciting!) then the two other couples were behind me, then chuck, finally peter.
we began walking off the road through the bush. stickers and thorns catching on clothes, every step bringing up a small cloud of dust. it was hot. and exciting. about ten minutes later the woman behind me began complaining. i could hear her, even if i couldn't understand her language. then, she tapped me on the shoulder and said 'excuse me. how long must we keep walking?' i just shrugged and smiled. more walking. and then, we stepped out into a clearing, and far across to the other side, i saw a termite mound, and then nearby a spotted tail flipped up out of the long grass.
cheetah!
we kept walking, not directly to the cheetah, but circling around coming closer all the while. i am looking back at chuck and grinning ear to ear, he winking at me. the woman taps me again 'how much closer must we go?' i whisper to her 'it's okay' and keep following jonas. we are about 3 car lengths away now and the woman calls jonas loudly, she says she is not comfortable and we must stop now! jonas tells her it is fine and motions her to quiet. and we walk on. we are on the edge of the bush, not in the open, standing single file,
with two cheetah only yards away from us now. so thrilling!!
they stayed for only a short time, before getting up and disappearing into the surrounding bush. i am sure the woman was thrilled too by now, she seemed to lose her fear and began taking photos. we all smiled (quietly). whew!
it was then i saw that peter had carried a large kind of board with him. on the way back chuck found a porcupine quill and gave it to me!
a purple roller!! we've never seen one!
the next morning we were going to look for leopards. i couldn't sleep in anticipation. and because lions have been calling all night. they sound so close, as if their outside our door. ROAR ROAR roar huff huff huff. this is how it sounds. the first roar is the loudest and then it gets softer, until all you hear is the deep huff huff huffing. i really love it. it's 5:30 am, wake up call, time to go!
we drove around, greeting the wakening bush veld. we saw: oryx, sand grouse, banded mongoose, squirrel, red-billed frankolin, swallowtail bee eaters. and then jonas said 'there is a leopard in the tree'. WHAT? he whispered it again as we drove through trees and brush, thorns poking, a branch even broke off and i had to pry it off my seat. but all the while never taking my eyes off the trees in front. WHERE? we couldn't see.
until we drove directly in front of an acacia and jonas pointed up. 'there'.
up in the tree was nkozi. an eight year old male leopard, with a fresh killed zebra (you can just make out the leg). we watched him lick his prize for a few minutes, and then he stood up
looked at us
and began to climb down
out of the tree
there were six of us, plus the guide on the truck, and except for the sound of camera shutters, it was silent. jonas had told us earlier to be very quiet and still if we find leopard. make no sudden movements he said
i am pretty sure that just comes naturally when you find yourself close to one of these, oh my goodness
nkozi is a very big boy
we sat and watched him walk away. it was then i think i remembered to breath. i was so lucky to be sitting closest to him. on a safari truck everyone has a good view, but sometimes it can be great. jonas was really happy about these photos, nkozi is his favorite he told us. he asked if i could send him the photos. with pleasure!
so exciting, and so early in the morning still. what would we see next? 14 giraffe!
granpa pumba
leopard #2 incredible! as soon as jonas radioed in his location, mr. leopard was gone
and please believe me, a few hours later, we saw leopard #3. three leopards in one morning!
we came upon more bat eared foxes, 5 of them playing together. when they saw us, they started playing statue. hee hee
we didn't return until the afternoon, hours past when we were expected. the staff graciously made breakfast for all of us. we talked with our new friends, going on another game drive in the afternoon, and the next day too, and even having dinner together. it's so easy to make friends on safari. did i tell you they are from madagascar and they've invited us to visit?
we found more cheetah, these brothers are different than the first pair we saw. these boys were orphaned as cubs and will never be returned to the wild
hee hee, so playful
jonas is a good and patient guide
africat (a free cat) namibia
last night in the bush, last sundowner
tomorrow we leave for windhoek and begin the long trek home. tonight, we looked at the stars, the crescent moon, and as we walked the path to our room, we took in every sight and sound and smell of the bush.
but we have one more place to visit before we go:
REST - rare and endangered species trust
this is seamore! a great eagle owl. he was found in the midst of a cattle kraal, not moving and was in great danger of being trampled, he was rescued and brought to r.e.s.t, to be cared for by maria.
i love him!! maria asked if we'd like to hold him, he needed to get used to other people. YES please! he looked right at me and made chirpy noises!
this is an endangered cape griffon vulture we had an opportunity to feed
maria invited us into her hide, to watch a vulture restaurant
we waited two hours, watching vultures fly in, lured by the scraps maria had put out for them, you can see the pile of guts and other bits and pieces laying in the dirt
this tree had 2 vultures on it when we arrived
two hours later, it looked like this
a tawny eagle flew in
a lot of birds came, but no one made the move towards the food
maria said it could be any minute or several more hours. we took the decision to leave. we had a drive to windhoek still and preferred to arrive before dark. we made such fast friends with maria she invited us to stay at her guest cottage. oh couldn't we just stay one more week? sigh (greedy lori) we made a donation to support REST and maria said we would be the sponsors of seamore for the months of june and july! our name would be on the board! and she gave me a beautiful bag with a cape griffon vulture on it. our new friend walked us down the hill to our car where we reluctantly said goodbyes
bye baboons
bye okonjima
on the road to windhoek
our trusty ride(yellow plate). we put almost 3000 kilometers on this vehicle.
not to be missed, joe's beerhouse, windhoek , namibia
at the airport. guess who all these pelican cases belong to? the bbc. and the planet earth crew! they had been filming in the kalahari. fantastic friendly talented people.
goodbye namibia, karee nawa (stay well)
one last thing, before i end this extraordinarily long post
remember jonas and the photos he asked for?
i made jonas a book of his favorite leopard, nkozi
thank you for great memories
our route
there are many things that didn't make it into these posts, but i have kept your attention long enough. i don't think it's possible to describe all that we saw and experienced, but i hope these posts gave an idea of the beauty and wonder of this country namibia.
if you are thinking of planning a safari here is a travel agency we have used and highly recommend, we've booked two trips through them now and will definitely do so again.
thank you for coming along, it's been a pleasure!
xxx lori
