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Namibia News – Feb 2013

February 6, 2013 Southern Africa Bush Tails
Andersson’s Camp
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A visit to Andersson’s Camp on the Ongava Reserve is always exciting, whether you go on a drive or relax in camp watching the incredibly busy waterhole.

Andersson’s Camp – a birders paradise The waterhole is regularly frequented by black rhino

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The camp chameleon is always somewhere to be found, There were quite a few young warthog running around, in different colours off course! Enjoying the waterhole and the mud!

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Butterflies are also plentiful A purple roller warming up in the early morning sun

Pin-tailed whydah’s forage on the grass in front of the The black-faced impala’s had some young even though it main building in the late afternoon. Is so incredibly dry at the moment

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Some more young ones The ground squirrels are always a source of entertainment a lilac-breasted roller watching the sunset.

Little Kulala
Weather and Landscape

The weather has treated us well. The mornings have been pleasantly mild for most of the month. Clouds still build up during the day, promising to rain and in the end being pushed away by the usual westerly winds from the Atlantic Ocean. On some days we could see that it was raining in the Naukluft area. The question remains, when will we get our rain?

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Wildlife
As we have not received any rain yet, the animals have be en staying close the ephemeral riverbeds, which offer some food and shade from the heat. The dry season waterholes throughout the reserve are now the only sources of water at this time of year. The camera traps at most of the waterholes have proven once again to be very useful. It has been so hot on some days that even the springbok, brown hyaenas and ostriches are using the waterholes as “swimming pools”. Luckily we caught some of the swimming action on the camera traps.


A big highlight this month has bee n a photo taken at the waterhole between Little Kulala and Kulala Desert Lodge. The camera captured a shot of a cheetah walking past during the morning. Generally the cheetah that live on the Kulala Wilderness Reserve do not frequent this area, so we were very excited to have them around the camp. The resident ostrich family has been seen regularly, and the mother seems to be distancing herself from the chicks, which means that they should be dispersing soon and she will start a new family.

Camp Activities
December was the month for celebrations!


Christmas was our first celebration, and we achieved this in true style. We took our guests out under the trees in front of camp and enjoyed a meal at a large communal table. Camp staff sang traditional songs and some of the guests even joined in with some energetic dancing.

New Year was the next big ‘do’, and we celebrated it in a similar manner. A late dinner accompanied by a special Kulala cocktail menu was the order of the night. This was followed by an aweso me camp fire to see in 2013. Once again, all took place with song and dance.

Staff in Camp
Guides: Willem, Abner, Petrus, Nicky, Teek and Willy.

Doro Nawas Camp
Weather and Landscape

Summer is finally upon us and it has brought with it the heat we have come to expect. We have had some wonderfully cloudy mornings, full of the promise of rain but the clouds soon dissipate, with the sun ready as always to up the heat. The sun is strong, with temperatures soaring into the late thirties (Cel sius) on a daily basis. The afternoons have remained relatively the same with strong winds blowing into the early evening. We have received some light drizzle in the middle of the night but it’s b een so little that it did not even register a reading on our rain gauge. We are still hopeful though that the rains occurring in the rest of the country will grace Doro Nawas with its presence.

Wildlife
The elephant herds in the area are still prospering. The young ones have developed a keen interest in our guides and their vehicles, to the point where they approach the vehicle with trunks at full tilt sniffing at their admirers. The elephants have, as yet, not started their seasonal migration up into the Grootberg Mountains – hopefully they will stick around a bit longer.

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We have had an unexpected guest at the Doro Nawas Camp. It was a male black -backed jackal that has decided to make the camp his home, roaming around the edges of the camp in search of food and water. One of our guides transporting some g uests from Bergsig through the Huab River spotted an amazing out of the ordinary sight. The group came across an African wild cat in hot pursuit of a much larger steenbok, but they disappeared into the bushes, so the final result of that pursuit is still a mystery to us. Talk about your David versus Goliath scenario!

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One of the baboon troops, which we mentioned last month, has decided to move a bit closer to the camp. They can sometimes be spotted from the veranda moving across the plains.

Guest Comments
“Finding the desert elephants and getting close to them was incredible. Visiting the school and the village was fascinating. Michael and Wilhelm are both wonderful guides – They are stars!”
“It is an eye-opener as our guide Michael tracked and found the elephants.”
“360 degree views, beautiful pool, absolutely wonderful staff, size of the room, outside places to relax and of course the ability to sleep outside! Oh and shower outside – these all made for an incredible holiday.”
“We loved the sundowner s and the view from on top of the roof. Expedition with Richardt on our way back from Twyfelfontein. It was relaxing and inspiring.”

Staff in Camp
Managers: Agnes Bezuidenhout, Wayne Du Toit, Rosalia Martin and Agnes Aikanga. Guides: Richardt Orr, Reinhol dt and Michael Kauari.