In July Suzanne and I spent two weeks on a safari tour in Namibia. These are the faces of some of the animals we saw.
This is a Gemsbok although they were referred to as an Oryx when we saw them. These beautiful animals were in all of the four parks/reserves we visited.
A suspicious Kudu. Kudus are large and impressive animals. The males walk with a kind of elegance.
This is a Pied Crow although one reference suggested it's really a raven. They were in all the parks we visited and acted very much like the black crows we're familiar with. This one was waiting for someone to toss it something to eat.
This male elephant was standing in a water hole as we drove up in our safari vehicle. We were on the other side of the water hole but apparently had disturbed the elephant's afternoon bathing time. Clearly agitated, the elephant came around the water hole, ears flapping. When it was even with the safari vehicle, it turned and 'charged' toward the vehicle. Our guide yelled. A few feet from the vehicle the elephant stopped, turned, and walked off into the brush. Our guide assured us that by the elephant's manner that this was a 'fake charge' which was in fact the case. However, for Suzanne and the others on that side of the vehicle, having a 'charging' elephant, fake or not, stop only a few feet away was ... an experience.
The primary objective of our visit to the Desert Rhino Camp was to see a Black Rhino. At dawn, the search vehicle with two trackers went out to start the search. We followed in our safari vehicle an hour or so later. Damaraland and the Palmwag Consession, where the Desert Rhino Camp is located, is huge and the Black Rhinos can be anywhere. The search vehicle staff had an idea where to look but ultimately a Black Rhino was found in the same way humans have hunted for thousands of years ... the two trackers, on foot, looking for footprints or other clues. After a morning of driving down rough (really rough) trails and over endless rocks, we had our meeting with a Black Rhino. Because the vehicle would probably scare it away, we got out and walked across a rocky plain (maybe a couple of hundred yards) and stood next to a bush to view the rhino, which was about 75 yards from us. This is our Black Rhino. According to 2021 estimates, there are about 2200 Black Rhinos in Namibia.
This is a White Rhino in the Okonjima Reserve. It had come to a water hole for an evening drink. While the search for a Black Rhino had been long, in the Okonjima and Ongava Reserves, there were numbers of White Rhinos. We had close up views of groups of 4 / 5 rhinos including a mothers and baby. The White Rhino is clearly not 'white'. Its name is a sloppy translation from the Afrikaan word 'weit' which was a historic name. Weit means wide which described the mouth of the White Rhino (Good story although linguists are not convinced this is the source). Since this species became a White Rhino, the other species clearly must be a 'black' rhino. Neither name makes much sense, but they've stuck.
This is a Steenbok. He was outside our quarters in the Okonjima Reserve.
This is a Monteiro's hornbill. There are also Yellow Billed hornbills and Red Billed hornbills. All seem to come with an attitude.
A young male Lion. A pride of lions had made a kill and were somewhere in the brush nearby. This one was walking through the brush along the road. He may have been looking for the pride to join the eating or he had been there and was driven out by another male.
One of many Ostriches. They were generally in groups (flocks) of three of four. When close to the road they flapped their wings and trotted away as we got close.
A mother Warthog. She had three young ones with her.
Two Springboks ... not really fighting so much as pushing each other around.
A male Waterbuck.
There were many Zebras. Always fun to see. There are three species. This is probably a Plains Zebra. We also saw the Mountain Zebra.
The Obonjima Reserve works on big cat preservation. There were lions and leopards roaming wild. Cheetahs were kept in a large enclosured area. They were fed and did not hunt although they did have enough space to run. This one was struggling to be interested enough in our arrival to keep its head up and eyes open. The issue is that Cheetahs can't compete for food in the 'small' area (many square miles) of the reserve as lions, leopards and hyenas are more powerful and drive them from a kill.
This Giraffe and several others were eating leaves from the tops of trees. There are a number of Giraffe species. This is (probably) an Angolan Giraffe although I'm sure it doesn't really care. Breaking from faces, the next photograph is of a Giraffe drinking.
For a Giraffe to get a drink is a big deal. It checks several times to see that there are no predators around. It seemed to check the edge of the water hole for solid places for its feet. The slowly it worked its front legs out so that it could reach the water.
In the Okonjima Reserve we went out to find a Leopard. It was made easier as numbers of the Leopards (I think our guide said there were 32 somewhere within the reserve) have radio transmitting collars. Even at that it was an effort as the receivers are not very directionally accurate and the Leopards really don't want to be seen. The first sighting of this one was two ears sticking above the grass. It was hunting Guineafowl, a chicken sized, gray and mostly ground dwelling bird. There was a flock of them across the trail from where we saw the Leopard. The Leopard crossed the trail and disappeared into the grass. We could see it going along a tree line approaching the Guineafowl. All of a sudden, the Guineafowl exploded out of the grass and noisily flew into a couple of trees. The Leopard came back past our vehicle and was probably blaming us for an unsuccessful hunt.
One more elephant. This was one of two that we saw heading toward the water hole at our camp. We followed along as they walked through the camp to the water hole. The next half hour or so was spent sucking water into their trunks and alternately spraying it into their mouths or over their bodies.
This is a beetle of the Toktokkies family of which there are numbers of species. It was seen only in the during our stay at the Wilderness Camp in the Sossusvlei area ... desert and sand dunes. There were several along the camp's walkways. In general, very few bugs were seen. This one was certainly the most impressive.
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