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On December 27, 2007, my girlfriend Maargi
Leitch and I flew to Cape Town, South Africa, to spend a weekend there prior to
a 10-day trip in Namibia, organized by Rockjumper Birding Tours. From Cape Town we
flew to Walvis Bay, on the Namibian coast.
From there we drove through Swakopmund and Spitzkoppe
to the Erongo Mountains, then to Etosha National Park where we spent five nights and
finally to the Waterberg Plateau, before
heading to Windhoek, the capital, for our flight home.
It was my first time in Namibia, and Maargi's first time anywhere in Africa. Having a limited amount of time we opted
for a guided trip, but after many years of travelling around the continent, my
impression of Namibia is that it's probably the best country in Africa for independent
travel and wildlife watching.
It is beautiful (as long as you enjoy hot, dry,
open country), safe, and its road infrastructure is excellent; I don't think we
saw a single pothole in the whole trip, and even gravel tracks were in top
condition. Malaria is present only in Etosha
during the wet months, and sanitation is very adequate, making it perfect for a
family trip. Cell phone reception is good throughout the country along tarred
roads.
The combination of great expanses of untouched wilderness, rich and
abundant wildlife, and modern towns and infrastructure makes travelling through
Namibia a pleasure free of the inconveniences usually associated with Africa.
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Walvis Bay
Namibian people throughout the trip were nice,
relaxed and welcoming. The country seems free of the residual racial tensions
that still haunt South Africa, and crime figures are indeed very low for the
usual African standards. Maargi (who is Canadian) drew an interesting parallel
between South Africa-Namibia and the US-Canada: the immense, easy-going, largely
uninhabited country next to the big, powerful and somewhat pushy neighbour.
 Rest stop near Spitzkoppe
Birding-wise, the tour was a great success. Being Maargi's first large-scale birdwatching experience I told our guide that my goal wasn't to tick an exhaustive list of species; still, we managed to find almost every endemic and near-endemic, plus special birds like the nomadic and unpredictable Burchell's Courser, which had eluded me in South Africa, up to a total of 248 species. As for other wildlife, this was definitely the Lion tour. We saw lions every day in Etosha, and witnessed them mating, playing, fighting and killing.
 The Halali Camp gates, Etosha NP
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| Gravel road to Etosha |
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| Makalani Palms, Etosha NP |
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| Lions and Springbok at Nebrowni waterhole |
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Elephant and Springbok, Etosha
Etosha offered wonderful viewing of great numbers of animals, many of which were giving birth at the time of our visit; the plains were full of mothers nurturing their young offspring.
Elephants
Our guide throughout the tour was Markus
Lilje, a young new addition to Rockjumper's team, a veteran of Kruger National
Park and other game reserves despite his youth, and a sharp spotter and expert
off-road driver. He has an encyclopaedic knowledge about Southern African birds
and fauna, and is very keen on reptiles, which gave me the chance to spend a
lot of time spotting and identifying some very interesting lizards.
 Springbok
We were very lucky with the weather: although in theory it was the beginning of the rainy season, the rains were actually delayed. This was a major advantage for wildlife viewing in Etosha. Temperatures were high but dry and bearable, and animals still concentrated around waterholes, in Etosha and elsewhere.
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| Bürchell's Courser |
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| Plains Zebra foal |
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| Banded Mongoose |
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| Red Hartebeest |
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Warthog |
Young Elephant |
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Anchieta's Agama |
Wedge-snouted Skink |
Ground Agama |
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Books:
As a field guide I used the latest (2002) edition of SASOL Birds of Southern
Africa, by Sinclair, Hockey & Tarboton (Struik). Struik publishes a
wide catalogue of excellent books about the region's wildlife: Field Guide
to the Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa by Bill Branch is
invaluable, and Field Guide to the Mammals of Southern Africa by Chris
& Tilde Stuart is a very good photographic reference. I also carried with
me the indispensable Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals (A&C
Black).
There is an abridged version of this book, devoted solely to Southern
Africa. As usual, Lonely Planet publishes the best general info guide
for the country in a small package.
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| Markus Lilje and a Sociable Weaver's nest |
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Double-banded Courser |
Spike-heeled Lark waiting
for the rain |
Plains Zebra drinking, Etosha NP |
Lioness drinking, Etosha NP |
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