We’ll spend 10 days traversing the whole of Namibia; I think one of the most scenic of the Southern African countries I have visited thus far, primarily for the diversity of landscapes. We entered Namibia on Tuesday, March 29th, breezing through the border crossing. Our first stop was Divundu, which was primarily a waystation on our way to Etosha National Park. The Rainbow River lodge was located right on the Kavango river, where we watched a beautiful sunset while sipping ice cold beers. It was a long drive the following day, passing from verdant hills to flat and dry shrublands. There was a marked difference in the moisture content of the air as we passed into the arid desert, my skin drying up almost instantly. We arrived into Etosha NP by late afternoon where we spent the next two nights camping, with a game drive in between. During the game drive, we passed through the Etosha Pan, a large dried up salt dessert with an absolutely barren landscape. Here we had fun with the camera taking trick photos with the use of perspective. The concentration of game was much lower than that found in either Kruger or Serengeti, however there were several scattered waterholes where numerous animals gathered together due to the scarcity of water. At our second camp there was a large watering hole that was dimly lit at night; we sat here for several hours watching animals come and go, including giraffe, elephants, rhinos, jackals, and a solitary juvenile lion.
The 3rd day we passed out of Etosha and headed south toward Otjiwarongo, stopping along the way to visit a local Himba Tribe village. These amazing people have managed to retain much of their traditional culture; preserving their language, dress, and way of life. The men in loincloths, and the women topless and elaborately decorated in beads and bangles. They had the most stunning of hair styles; wide plaits covered in ochre paste, forming a red chord that ended in a large pom-pom of hair that crowned their shoulders. The women never bath with water, instead they used perfumed smoke to purify the body, then cover their skin with ochre mixed with butter to form a red claylike cream, which gives them a beautiful copper tint and protects them from the sun. Unfortunately they are not completely without western influence as tourism has brought with it the concept of a cash economy; the women selling bead work to earn money to send their children to western schools, where they adopt western dress, and like Eve, their eyes are open to nakedness and they feel embarrassment or shame in their heritage. At the same time, having westerners come on village tours allows them to present and take pride in their way of life, and so it is a double edged sword.
After the village visit, we traveled to our lodge in Otjiwarongo on a cheetah farm. The cheetah population in Namibia is dwindling as farms are expanding into their natural territory, the cheetahs then hunt sheep and cattle, causing a nuisance for the farmers who respond by killing them. The owner of the farm was once of the same philosophy, but had a change of heart and now captures the cheetahs that encroach on his farm and puts them in a large fenced area where he feeds and protects them. He has requested multiple times to release the cheetahs to Etosha NP, but unfortunately the government is in favor of killing the cheetah and actually make it harder for conservationists. Export laws also make it impossible for him to send the cats to National Parks in surrounding countries like South Africa. He uses tourism to help pay for the food and vet bills; people staying in his lodge and camping on his property are able to go along during the feeding time where they can see the cats leap in the air for the meat as it is thrown off the back of the truck, which is an amazing sights. The lodge itself is beautifully incorporated in the natural surroundings and uses all solar energy, and staying there was a real highlight of the trip.
