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| The Oryx - Linda's new favorite animal |
It has been so long since I posted a blog entry that this is
just going to be an overview of our time in Namibia. I’ll post individual
entries later along with more from South Africa and Botswana.
Namibia is a dry country of amazing contrasts. Its European
colonial history began with ‘discovery’ by the Portuguese as they were
searching for that elusive route around Africa to the East and its spices. But
as a colony, it was founded by Germany with the exception of the port of
Walfish Bay (Walvis Bay) which somehow the British commandeered as a port to
furnish its inland colonies. When Germany lost World War I, the colony was
given to South Africa to administer. Over the years, the United Nations tried
to get South Africa to give up control, but it took fighting and was not until
1990 that Namibia gained independence. Walvis Bay was added in 1994. Meanwhile,
South Africa had extended its apartheid regime into Namibia. The legacy
remains, but Namibians will tell you with pride that race is not an issue
today.
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| Our camp from the air |
The coastal city of Swakopmund is the most interesting urban
area in Namibia. The German heritage is easily seen in the buildings and the
monument honoring the 1904 defeat of the local tribe. Moreover, even though
English is the national language, you are much more likely to hear German
spoken on the street and in the shops. Unlike the other southern African
naitons we have visited, the overwhelming majority of visitors here are from
German or Switzerland. I had to go back four months to find another American in
the guest book at our hotel.
Our first stop was Sossusvlei, a national park you have
certainly seen in pictures. The red sand and the dead trees are unmistakable.
Animal life is minimal which only makes the oryx and springbok more dramatic
when you see them silhouetted against the dry landscape. Nor are there a lot of birds, but eleven of the 23 birds we
saw were new ones. The treeless landscape also allowed us the opportunity to
see jackals and bat-eared foxes.
From Sossusvlei we flew 140 miles to Swakopmund and then
drove to Damaraland for a different landscape experience. With just a bit more
water and occasional river flow, this area has enough trees to support a
healthy population of elephants. We also saw kudu and steenbok. As in
Sossusvlei, the lack of predators means the animals can live in peace and
humans are able to walk the property without a guard.
Our next to last stop is the famous Etosha National Park
where animals abound. Almost a quarter of the area is the Etosha Pan, a dry
lakebed so salty that nothing grows on it. The rest of the park varies from dry
scrubland to forested areas. Waterholes dispersed about the landscape provide
enough water for a good variety of animal and bird life, incluinding lions,
leopards, and cheetahs. The only missing animals are those that need lots of
water like cape buffalo and hippopotamus.
Best are the thriving populations of black and white rhinoceros, one of
the few places in Africa that can make that claim. The facility manager says
that the best anti-poaching unit here is the lions.
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| Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk |
Tomorrow we leave Etosha for Otjiworongo and the Waterburg Plateau. More later.
