While gourmet meals, luxury accommodation and passionate guides are as consistent as the sun, each lodge in this 10-day safari delivers stellar moments.
Venus glitters above the sliver of the new moon in Namibia’s night sky. The swathe of stars is so creamy it engulfs the Milky Way. I crane my head, exalted by nature’s display. The astronomical phenomenon comes as a shock. I’d anticipated semi-desert and wildlife in Namibia. But not a spectacular, glittery mass of constellations. I shouldn’t be surprised.
Safely back on ground, we’re driven through the 24-square kilometre Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park. The park’s Mopane bushes, Russet Bushwillow and Natal mahogany provide fodder for other animals: impala, kudu and buffalo; waterbuck, zebra and giraffes. A&K’s wildlife drives are exemplary; the park is renowned for its elephant population. Bobby, our tenacious guide, has other ideas. He’s determined to find a lion that was spotted earlier. We jump aboard the 4WD and whip around the sandy roads. Bingo! He spots her: a female lion, licking her jowls, having just demolished a kudu, whose carcass lies under a nearby bush. We move on; others are waiting their turn.
For my final leg, I fly via Windhoek, Namibia’s capital, to Okahirongo Elephant Lodge that’s located on the Purros Conservancy, a remote 3550-plus square kilometre desert wilderness in Kunene , a region of north-west Namibia. The desert below – a landscape of mountains, valleys and craters – is as alien as I’ve ever encountered. No signs of humans exist. Across the never-ending sepia-hued expanse spread veins of black contoured lines.
Each day, we explore our surroundings, both in the 4WD and on foot, with Karitjangua, a local OmuHimba and a gentle, wise guide. At the Elephant Coast Viewpoint we watch the fog creep inland through the hills, like dry ice. We wander through the Clay Castles, a series of undulations and eroded peaks. We spot oryx, springbok and Hartmann’s mountain zebras.
The village comprises several huts surrounded by a corral; the chief is away, we’re told, though four females and two males are still living here. Zahavara, a village matriarch, explains the impact of lack of water on her community and their semi-nomadic lifestyles. Karitjangua, a son from this village it transpires, translates.
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