Running with the Wild Dog - All Creatures Great and Small

Leaving the camp at the Himba village, near Kamanjab, we drove across to the spectacular Etosha National Park in Kunene Region for two days crammed full of game drives and watching animals big (animaximals) and small (animinimals) by watering holes. We stayed in Okaukuejo and Namutoni.
 Wherever we turned to watch, the scene before us looked as though Noah had just parked the ark and let all the animals out!  (As a random aside, I have just discovered that the word animinimals is in use by a techno band from Belgium).

This was my 13th safari in Africa after Lake Manyara, Ngorogoro Crater, Tarangire, Burigi parks in Tanzania, Hwange and Matopos parks in Zimbabwe, Naivasha, Nakuru, Maasai Mara, Baringo and Mount Kenya in Kenya and Murchison Falls in Uganda, so I wasn't really into striking off 'the big 5' of a ticklist. Instead I was keen to just 'be' in the midst of one of the most amazing creations of the natural world. And I have to confess that Etosha is easily one of the top National Parks in Africa for wildlife!

Here are some glimpses of the wonders of our creation, the rest you will find in the photo gallery in the previous posting or if you venture into the park yourself.

Zebra crossing

Two Oryx

The day of the jackal

Cat napping

The Lion King

They are not laughing

The amazing Etosha salt pan

Hartebeest

Giraffe taking a long drink

All too soon we left Etosha behind and headed south to Okonjima, home of the Africat Foundation, the largest cheetah and leopard rescue and release programme in the world.  We spent one night there and learned all about the work of the Africat Foundation and met some of the kitties.

Nature red in tooth and claw

Cool caracals

Bookends - members of the 'Adams' family

After dusk, I was able to catch up briefly with my friend Beth who leads volunteers at the PAWS project just down the path. Later my fellow adventure travellers and I enjoyed a wonderful braai and swapped tall travelling tales around the camp fire before turning in. 

Our band of happy travellers

The next morning we dismantled our camp for the last time and hit the road.

Soon we arrived back in Windhoek and, reluctant to say goodbye, we decided to enjoy a 'last supper' in style at Joe's Beer House among flaming schnapps and a variety of game platters (feeling a tad guilty after observing these beautiful creatures in the wild....) a great way to end a spectacular Namibian Adventure!

From left to right: Ian, John, Vikki, Me, Jonathan and Petr

On the good life....

Dear readers!

 I'm aware that I've been a bit slack lately and haven't posted on my blog for a while. I hope you enjoyed the slide show I posted up yesterday! I've had my head down the last few weeks analysing data and getting a report finished. My colleagues and I had managed to gather a lot of information from interviews during our field visit. We have heard about some good practices and innovations in responding to protection concerns during the relief phase of the flood emergency, and some key individuals who are championing the cause at field level which is encouraging. However there are still gaps during the return and recovery phase and much work to be done in the next four months to strengthen leadership, coordination, conduct trainings and assist stakeholders to come up with a realistic and practical plan for the protection sector. We have a series of meetings ahead of us this coming week to galvanise more support and commitment across the board so hopefully we can accelerate the process.

Meanwhile on the 'leisure' front I've also been a bit busy too! I want to make the most of my time here. A couple of weeks ago I managed to join the monthly guided tour of the Botanic Gardens which started at 8.00 am on a Saturday morning.  I set off from home in the chilly morning air to walk down to the botanic gardens and I arrived to find a really good turnout, people from all ages and backgrounds had pitched up ready to explore the wealth of plant specimens with the help from our incredibly knowledgeable guide, Wilhem, a very tall German chap. The tour took 2.5 hours and after much searcing, scrutinising leaves, seeds and flowers and listening to numerous anecdotes on plant collecting we ended the tour with a lovely steaming cup of tea and delicious home made cake. During the tour I made two new friends,  a Brit called Beth who works  as a field guide at the P.A.W.S project at Okonjima (cheetah conservation) and Mark who is an American anthropologist, studying management systems and structures in uranium mining. 

The next day Beth, Mark and I decided to go out for dinner at NICE, the Namibian Institute for Culinary Education which is a 'finishing' school for future top chefs in Namibia.  The food is top notch at reasonable prices and the setting beautiful, a myriad of individually themed and beautifully designed dining rooms.

I enjoyed some grilled butterfish on couscous with tomato chutney, accompanied by a refreshing glass of chardonnay, followed by a cassata parfait and coffee. Delightful!

Another culinary find is the Cinnamon Cafe, a quaint cafe attached to Otto's antiques, ideal for a tasty brunch or lunch. I enjoyed a steak roll and then pancakes with chocolate sauce! Browsing Otto's is like stepping into a time machine and being transported back into Namibia's chequered history....