PrintNamibia January 2009 Conservancy Safaris Trip Report
By: Sarah Fazendin
“Here we are trying to do something different to change the future…” John from IRDNC Quarterly meeting
January 17th: Nairobi to Johannesburg
After a lovely afternoon in a day room at the luxurious and comfortable Palacina hotel in Nairobi, I transferred to the airport for my flight to South Africa. I spent the night at the Southern Sun hotel near the airport for a quick few hours of sleep before connecting to Windhoek , Namibia.
January 18th: Windhoek to Northern Namibia
Upon arrival in Windhoek I was carefully instructed to get a tourist visa, not a business visa (something important to remember when traveling there if you’re in the travel industry for sure!). Tourist visas are free of charge. The airport in Windhoek, as Windhoek itself, is clean and efficient. We met up with our guides Russell Vinjevold and Tommy. The roads in this part of the country are well maintained and make for easy driving. We got in the car quickly and off we went. This was an atypical first day, as it’s a very long drive (nearly 8 hours) up to the Torra Conservancy, our first stop. Regular CS programs start in Swakopmund and start with about a 4 hour drive to Torra on the first day. Conservancy Safaris does not consider any part of these car journeys to be “transfers”. They are instead part of the safari experience with lots of stops and activities built in over and above the fact that we travel through some of the most scenic and wildlife rich areas in Namibia.
On the way we saw stunning landscape, bits of wildlife here and there, and the dreaded Afghanistan Hunting Dog. Our guide explained that these are dogs bred by poachers, and are “bad news”. Typical of the conservation safari, guides have long history in conservation and talk about the issues that continue to face Namibia on an ongoing basis underscoring the importance of the work Conservancy Safaris is doing.
We arrived in camp after dark, to a beautifully laid table ready for dinner and a few distinguished guests Dr Margaret Jacobsohn and Garth Owen-Smith. These two have set up the IRNDC and are true community conservation pioneers. Dinner was roasted lamb with roasted potatoes, and a nice Greek salad. We all slept well in the tents, which consist of a nice bed roll and small table. The night here in Namibia was very quiet.
January 19: Wereldsend and the Torra Conservancy to Sesfontein
This morning we headed out early to track Black Rhino on foot nearby the camp. Trackers had gone out about an hour before us, and had found a male rhino nearby. They were particularly excited because they have not seen this one before, it had an unusually long top horn. The trek was strenuous, but it felt great to be out of the vehicle and walking around. Our guide Tommy was very serious about watching the wind and directing us to stop as soon as the rhino seemed to be hearing us. We spent about two hours with the rhino.
When Garth started his conservation work in the early 80’s he set out to stop poaching, not to catch poachers. This may seem like a semantic issue but there is actually an enormous difference between the two approaches. Garth’s approach in combination with a community based implementation very soon brought poaching under control – especially in respect of rhino and elephant. No rhino has been poached in the past 13 years, perhaps longer, in this area. The game guard system has until now made sure poaching has not resumed. A main conservation issue today is instead how to secure the co-existence of people and wildlife in the area. However, rhino in Etosha National Park, our guide Tom told us, are vulnerable. The local people here know if someone doesn’t belong and the PEOPLE are what are keeping these animals safe. In Etosha, minimal budgets and too much land to cover are a problem for the park rangers and they can’t keep poachers out completely.
Apparently this area houses cheetah as well, but they are very hard to see. The estimate about 7500 cheetah are in Namibia, with about 2000 in this NW Kunene region we were traveling through, but they are very hard to spot and rarely seen.
After this we headed back to camp, where the quarterly meeting of the IRNDC was happening. This is a meeting where representatives for about 20 conservancies in the area come together to discuss issues, see what worked best and plan for the future. This was a lucky coincidence and one of the things that makes Conservancy Safaris so special. John, one of the main speakers in this meeting, said addressing us, “one of the challenges is showing the outside world that we’re doing something different.” Throughout the trip we were introduce to amazing conservation figures who are all involved in Conservancy Safaris, and supportive of this, and they were very adamant about showing this and highlighting this to all of us. This is a commercial company whose ultimate goal is conservation. Conservancy Safari’s goal is to provide the people in the area with an income from their conservation efforts – to make sure that they are the ones who benefit and not outsiders from places far away. Exploitation should be a thing of the past but is unfortunately still – with a few exceptions – the order of the day. The income they will hopefully earn from Conservancy Safaris will justify a continuation of their successful conservation work.
I particularly liked one quote… “Wildlife is the one thing that Africa has that no other continent can even come close to matching.”
After that we piled into the vehicles again and headed North West towards Sesfontein. We stopped for a light lunch and carried on until “telephone hill” to view a spectacular landscape and some of Namibia’s famed fairy circles. As we drove through villages, we were amazed at our guide Tom’s ability to sleep local Damara language, which involved four different clicks. This was his first language as his nanny as a small child was Damara.
Dinner tonight was a traditional Namibian Braai with traditional maize meal. Drinks by the fire then a lovely night sleep in our little corner of Namibian paradise.
January 20: Hoanib River to Puros
This morning at the Hoanib River we had our best game sighting of the trip thus far, and it was a highlight. Our guide’s favorite elephant, whom he studies for years, is Clarissa. She and her herd were walking through the river bed and we spent a few hours with them. After that we drove about 4 hours through some of the harshest, dry terrain I’ve ever experienced. Near Puros we did see four cheetah scamper up the hill and over away, and while fleeting this was quite a big sighting for this area.
We arrived in camp in the early afternoon and enjoyed some downtime before a short evening drive down the river with Steve Braine, looking at lizards and bugs.
January 21: Puros to Orupemba
This morning we had a chance to experience some of the local culture. At Puros we visited a school where the local Himba and Herero children attend. After that we searched for lion, which were spotted quite near by that morning by the scouts employed by the conservancy. They have trained these guides to help conserve the lion, and it’s really an amazing feat that the local people tolerate the lion. A true conservation success. We did not end up seeing the lion.
We also had a chance to visit a Himba village, which was fascinating. We had a guide that explained their way of life to us, and had a chance to interact with a woman, an elderly man and some children.
Then, as we drove towards tonight’s destination, we had a classic Conservancy Safaris moment. There is an old man Russell always stops in to see. He lives completely in the middle of nowhere, on a hill, and makes knives and arrows. He also has a small shop on the roadside. We spent quite some time with this interesting man, a fantastic and unique cultural interaction.
Then we drove a few more hours to Orupemba conservancy, one of the owners of Conservancy Safaris and the location where they are building a permanent lodge which will be a highlight of the CS circuit. This area is a bit more lush.
January 22: Orupemba to Marianfluss Conservancy and Back
Today we did quite a bit of expedition driving, over two mountain passes, up to the boarder with Angola which is the Kunene River. After that the group had a chance to visit the site of the new permanent lodge Conservancy Safaris is building. In the Marienfluss Conservancy we have; up to 2130 Gemsbok, 1644 Ostrich, 84 Steenbok (an under estimate), 5865 Springbok and 640 Hartmann’s or Mountain Zebra. There are also very large troops of baboon – especially up by the Kunene River. There are furthermore giraffe (but very few), crocodile, hyena (both spotted and brown), jackal and kudu. Lions sometimes venture this far north but the last ones that did got shot.
January 23: Orupemba to Sesfontein
This morning we had breakfast with one of the original game scouts from the Orupemba Conservancy. He feels that the community is benefiting from wildlife, in that people are coming in to take pictures of the wildlife and staying at their campsite. It’s all a very simple, low-key concept that has had positive consequences. This guy loves his job, and told us that in the community others in the community are supportive of the work they are doing.
This morning we visited the site of a new school near the Orupemba campsite and visited a nearby Himba village. This will be the Kunene Conservancy Safaris School to be built as a result of donations made by one group of guests travelling with us and visiting the existing school in November last year. We then drove towards the coast and near the Skeleton Coast threes tough a stunning mountain range. We made our way back to Puros and then got some very exciting news. Dr. Flip Stander was nearby with some lion, and was going to be darting lion that night. We decided to stay in the area and wait for the darting which was to happen at sunset. In a fortunate turn of events, we popped into a luxury lodge in the area and had a chance to swim, have a cool drink and some lunch. It was heaven and a perfect way to spend the afternoon!
The lion story is a classic example of why the work Conservancy Safaris is doing is so important.
There were two problem male adolescent lion in the area, and the local community and conservancy had decided they needed to go. These two lion had been scratching a village doors in the night, and roaming near the school. While the community understands the importance of lion in terms of direct benefit to the community through tourism, these two had gone too far and had to be dealt with. They had been tried to be relocated many times, and they keep coming back. Flip was going to dart three females and relocate them towards the coast in hopes that these adolescent males would follow. (See complete blog entry on this event!).
January 24: Sesfontein to Swakopmund
Today was a long drive back to Swakopmund via the Skeleton Coast (note most guests will fly back to Swakopmund at the end of the trip, vs. drive), and we stopped at the coast to view a massive seal colony. Plenty of time to enjoy the landscapes and reflect on this special and different journey we’d just experienced.
