Klipspringer
545 days ago
On route to the Twyfelfontein Rock Engravings, during my RGS visit to Namibia, we took in a loop of the surrounding country, finding Giraffe in what I thought were the most unlikely rocky surroundings and the elusive Klipspringer.
These small antelope (58cm at the shoulder) were hard to spot unless they moved, when they bounding around the kopjes (the rocky outcrops at the steep valley sides) at an astonishing pace, completely sure-footedly. Klipspringers never need to drink – being herbivores, the succulents they eat provide all the water they need.
Alkyd painting of an adult male Klipspringer. (Exhibited at NEWA 2007.)
Kinloch Hourn
1204 days ago
A fine week was had and that was not only the weather, it was so good to get back to the west coast again – a view of the head of Loch Beag and the accommodation
and west to Loch Hourn over Loch Beag
Dining off the fruit of the land sea (OK, so I wasn’t having much luck with the fly – well my excuse is there were no woman present to tie them on – and I’m sticking to it). With convivial company (many thanks for your hospitality as always Martin) if only there wasn’t that confounded “Seagull” chirping-in at dinner parties… always wonder what the other guests went away thinking?
Martin pointed me towards a convenient Munro (Gleouraich) on the way out, a stretch of the legs before driving back to Yorkshire. Rufus (my Vizsla) doing a good job of finding the Red Deer Ptarmigan for me on the way up.
First pencil and oil studies of a male Ptarmigan, a brace of which I saw at about 800m up Gleouraich, will work it up to a finished paining, erm when I get around to it!
Back home, evidently the summer is still here as the Swallows still are – in fact a few had enough energy to mob a Sparrow Hawk this afternoon.
Namibia Day 13
1559 days ago
The shock of a city again, a last bit of absorbing a different country and back on a ‘plane. Hey, back to chatting with the same girl I met on the way out, comparing notes, as it were.
What can I say. Sad to leave, and even sadder on remembering, but I’m determined it’s farewell and not good-bye – I’ll be back!
Namibia Day 12
1560 days ago
A full day around the Africat project land, seeing how they keep track of and handle the animals and of course, a swim or two.
There’s an old boy of a Wart hog that wanders into the grounds after the sun has gone down and later as the fire dies down, he shuffles closer and closer to the embers – a nice warm pit for the night.
David Price-Williams gave us his final lecture/joke telling session of the whole visit and we drank and talked late into the night – my last night in Namibia.
Namibia Day 11
1561 days ago
This morning’s breakfast was kind of incongruous at the shopping complex in the camp site at Okaukuejo – piped muzak!
However, we were soon back out into Etosha, wending our way down towards Outjo for lunch at a local café. The drive down the tarmac C38 main road was a reminder that we were heading towards Windhoek and home.
Okonjima Lodge is a welcome 24km of dirt track, west off the tarmac. The home of the Africat Foundation – and a swimming pool!
The Africat Foundation is a non-profit organisation that seeks to find solutions to the conflict between predators and farmers in Namibia. This all developed from the struggles of the Hanssen family (who bought Okonjima farm in 1970 to breed Brahman cattle) to better protect their livestock by using more developed, educated techniques.
The accommodation was fantastic – as have been all the lodges in Namibia.
Namibia Day 10
1562 days ago
Entering Etosha from the west required a permit, and immediately the wildlife began to become more numerous. To name but a few, we encountered the larger Elephant, Wart Hogs, Black Wildebeest, Red Hartebeest, Bateleur Eagle, Pale-chanting Goshawk, Lappat-faced Vulture, Scops-owl and an unknown eagle.
Here the type of zebra changes from the earlier encountered Hartmann’s Mountain zebra with their thinner black stripes to the Plains Zebra Equus quagga also known as the Common zebra or the Burchell’s zebra – these more southerly populations also have brown “shadow” stripes between the black and white ones.
Black Wildebeest or White-tailed gnu Connochaetes gnou
Lunch was within a small fenced compound under a noisy Weaver Bird’s communal nest, before trundling down to the busy town of Okaukeujo, with it’s large water hole – largely policed by a couple of lion. Truck-loads of people were homing-in here, and when I say truck I refer to what appeared to be almost chicken lorries paced with tourists – looked as hot as hell onboard.
Namibia Day 9
1563 days ago
An extremely hot and arid crossing limestone geology and climb onto the plains, very slow progress and very dusty, on the way passing through the foot-and-mouth protection fence.
We came across some of the Herero people, saw Baboons, Peregrine Falcons and got stuck in the only boggy bit we came across!
Staying at the excellent Hobatere Lodge for just one night, shame we couldn’t make use of the pool though – the Lions were busy wrecking it! There was a hide a short walk from the lodge, overlooking a water hole, so I spent a couple of hours hoping to catch site of something. However, with what appeared to be a German outdoor broadcast unit and an English chap vying for decibel ratings, no self-respecting animal, no matter how thirsty, was coming anywhere near.
After supper we were treated to a nocturnal drive – lamping the animals – quite different to rabbiting. Although fascinating to see animals that otherwise you would not, such as a Civet, it actually felt quite intrusive. No more so than a Giraffe that had settled in what it regarded as a safe place to sleep for the night and had laid down. The guide moved swiftly on, but I hope it wasn’t disturbed – by us, or by the hunting Lion we saw later on.
On the way around our nocturnal route, the vehicle stopped to deposit a honeymooning couple, who climbed a rope ladder into a tree house for the night – fantastic – especially seeing the lion’s eyes winking in the distance.
I spent the night in a small hut a short walk from the main complex, and was woken at 2am by the low throaty rumble of a lion. Peering through the window, it was stood only a few feet from the hut. I could just see a couple of others in the gloom, as they slowly crept of through the night. In the morning we were told they’d made a kill only matter of metres away from the lodge, so recreational rambling was ruled out.
Namibia Day 8
1563 days ago
Travelled out locally from the lodge today, seeing Steenbock, Hartmann’s mountain zebra (with much wider white interspaces between their black stripes), Giraffe and Oryx abound in the rocky landscape. Very fresh Lion and Rhino spore, but no sightings, although we caught a glimpse of a Black-backed Jackal.
Giraffe with Hartmann’s Zebra behind
There were more Bottle trees, growing seemingly more raggedly and what I took for Yellow-bark Acacia Acacia erubescens
A couple of new bird species to me, were the Lappat-faced Vulture and Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters. Lunch out in the bush again and back to Palmwag by late afternoon.
Namibia Day 7
1564 days ago
A relaxing start in the comfort of Twyfelfontain saw us in the Toyotas by 9am and into the Huab ephemeral river valley tracking the elusive Desert Elephant.
Bingo! We found a herd of 10, which we followed at their leisurely pace for the best part of the day. These elephant are relatively careful grazers, tending to strip branches of their leaves, rather than trash the tree itself. We were informed this is because of the relative scarcity of food. Therefore, rather than destroy an area by grazing it hard, they leave the parent trees in a good condition for the elephant’s next visit.
After following the group for an hour or two, they did what David and Caesar had hoped for, but what they hadn’t witnessed before – they set out to cross the open desert – moving from one grazing ground across to another. This is probably their usual routine, but few people have witnessed it.
Lunch was spectacular. View north-east across a trail of elephant to distant hills.
Late in the afternoon we arrive at Palmwag Lodge passing through the amazingly red and rocky hills around the Birgsig region – I just love the Bottle Tree which was quite common to this rocky region.
Namibia Day 6
1566 days ago
7:45am start into the Huab valley in the attempt to find Black Rhino. No sightings, but plenty of spore under 1 hour old.
Many other animals sighted, including Springbok, Oryx and Klipspringer. We were very close to Giraffe, which seemed incongruous amongst the rocky valley sides.
No trip can be complete without a visit to the “Penis Garden” – where we had a better look at good examples of the Welwitschia mirabilis.
Picnic lunch out on the dry river bed, with Mousebirds, Rock Falcon and a Small Owl – the Owl actually complete with a Mousebird…
The tortuous drive took in the trance induced Rock Art, which is considered to be among the finest rock engraving in Africa. In the words of Michael Mott after having viewed the rock art at Nsangweni Rock Shelter, Swaziland:
In the panic hour we turn and run from the healing eland. Blood flows from our nostrils. The trance takes hold but the imagined wings do not bear us up. We overlap one another, beast/man. Legs tangle ankle/hock. We no longer run on own own feet when we follow in one frieze like running fire the white veins, rock rivers. We are no longer in our time. We are all of us running down, running down.
We gave a whole bunch of young girls a lift back – on the roof-rack.
Namibia Day 5
1567 days ago
As we were in town for the only time in our visit, the early morning was spent stocking-up on film, maps and cash.
By 9am though, the Toyotas were grinding along the main route to the Seal Colony at Cape Cross (Kaap Kruis) – the seals were plentiful – and smelly.
Having had our fill of seal odour, we retired slightly south along the coast for lunch. No, no way was I going for a swim. The water was very cold – and I say that as one who used to take a dip every New Year’s Day in either the sea, or even colder, some random lake somewhere. Also, it looked to me as though the beach sloped disturbingly steeply into the water, my self-preservation bells rang at the probable undertow.
Still, soon we were off again, for what turned out to be the most boring bits of the whole visit. David P-W asked for a rotation of volunteers to keep him awake at the wheel as we sped on in a cloud of dust further inland and northward. Nearing Uis, with the impressive Brandberg massif (a member of the 130 million year old Post-Karoo complexes) on our left, the country became interesting again.
With the vegetation came the animals. Kudu, Zebra and Springbuck appearing regularly, along with the rather large Kori Bustard which I can readily believe, is the heaviest flying bird. Elephant spore was plentiful, but no sight of them, only a lonely skull.
I didn’t spot Twyfelfontain lodge initially, it’s organic shapes blending well into the base of the rock. Hornbills and Quail welcomed us, along with a cool beer on the spectacular veranda. I was tempted to go for a swim, but the sky looked overcast and I thought it a little cool – it started to rain – someone said the first time in 30 years. Be that as it may, nobody was expecting it, and I didn’t have my dip. I was to find out later, a girl I spent the flight out from the UK chatting with, was taking the water!
Namibia Day 4
1568 days ago
The morning saw us out to the Swakop River valley for a little look see at the Welwitschia Moon Landscape and attendant plants.
However, photos of the Welwitschia will come later, at another site. The highlight today, was a flight over the Sand Sea with some fabulous light patterns on the dunes.
We set-off along the Kuiseb riverbed, with the 500ft Canyon dramatically marking the edge of the Sand Sea to Rock Namib, out to Sossus Vlei with huge dunes and back to the coast over the Diamond Camps. How people survived in those inhospitable regions is beyond me, just the a few A-frame shack remnants could be seen of the of the diamond rush that ended in the late thirties.
Heading back north along the coast, we flew over the wrecks of the Eduard Bohlen supply ship, stranded at Conception Bay in 1909 and the Shaunee, wrecked in 1985. Seal colonies could be clearly seen gathered on the sands, along with Flamingos and saltpans, both pink with algae.
An evening out in toon – the Small Mouse bar!
Namibia Day 3
1569 days ago
One of those days that seemed to be mainly travelling, punctuated by great apple strudel at Saltaire.
Leaving the Namib (‘huge, deserted place’) desert, considered the oldest desert in the world and thought to be at least 5 million years in age, we crossed the tropic of Capricorn near the Guab Pass and entered a different morphological zone of the Central Rock Namib. This stretches from the Kuiseb to the Huab rivers and presents different scenery.
Much to my surprise, there was a very european looking Kestrel amongst the rocks and some rather succulent looking melon type fruit heavily protected with thorns.
Numerous punctures necessitated a call into Walvis Bay (Walvisbaai) for repairs, and on to Swakopmund for a contrasting night in the Schwiezerhaus Hotel
Namibia Day 2
1570 days ago
A very early start, 5:30am, but all the better for that – it was an amazing night – listening to the animals pass by (and underneath) your little canvas hut, and so good to wake to the fresh African morning.
Drive down the Tsauchab valley towards Sossusvlei – into the Sand Sea, but not as far as we had hoped because of the wind blowing a thick blanket of sand across in front of us.
We returned via the curious subterranean Sesriem Canyon, where there were Barn Owl, Rock Pigeon and Goshawks co-existing.
First time of eating Oryx Steak and fantastic it was.
Namibia RGS
1571 days ago
It was cold getting off the aeroplane in Windhoek, after a surprisingly long flight from Frankfurt. It was my first visit to Africa.
After getting out of the city (it didn’t take long) we headed south/west in the Toyotas and the first real view we got was from the Gamsberg Pass. The size and aridness then began to make itself plain as turned south along the edge of the Namib Naukluft Park, toward Sesriem and the first night at Kulala Lodge
Wildlife was at first hard to come by and anything seen was a huge excitement. It must be amusing to those that live there or have been many times, that the merest indigenous animal causes such a stir. Although we were constantly told to wait for the impressive sights ahead, it is quite exciting to see your first Springbok and Kudu.
Hummingbird
7947 days ago
When I was working at FBA on Windermere during 1987, some old friends of mine invited me over to St Kitts in the West Indies. A chance not to be missed, so Doc Pots and I packed our rucksacks and grabbed the next flight.
The father of the family was managing the sugar factory out there, had room for visitors and had taken over an old Land Rover so that we could get around the island – not that it’s that big!
Now, I don’t really go in for lie-on-a-beach type holidays, but I must admit to doing a little bit of that, as it was so hot and incredibly relaxed. Mind you I thought I’d earned it first by running along the northern black beaches in the morning and hiking up and down the island’s aptly named dormant volcano, Mt Misery.
This is about the only finished (largely) airbrush painting I did, something I toyed with but never really found too much to get excited about, with actually painting like that.
