African Animal Galleries – Nambia, Africa. Elephants, Big Cats, Giraffe, Zebra and More!
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We flew from Cape Town to Windhoeck, Nambia by air and drove 3 hours north to a private eco game preserve – Africat
We came across a curator from another Raptor Reserve en route who stopped us to show us a Pangolin she’d rescued
Pangolin’s are nocturnal and very unusual to see
Big Cat Country
Entrance to Africat, 20 km off the main highway
Africat is enclosed, but the animals are in balance and live as they would outside the enclosure. Here, our guide explains how the Leopard’s and Cheetah’s are wearing tracking collars to assist in locating them in the wild
Map of Africat – which is huge BTW
Demonstrating the use of the tracking device
Our Toyota Landrover was the perfect vehicle
Gate to the main areas within the reserve
Female leopard hiding in the grass
She sees a male leopard who is working on his “kill”. She must be very cautious or he’ll kill her
Note how she is absolutely locked on to watching him
He gave her a bit of a scolding when she got too close and here she has turned back with a scowl
Male leopard with “kill” in tree
This kill was about 2 days old according to our guide and appeared to be a gemsbok. You could literally here the bones crack
The female came beneath the kill and took some fallen scraps
After our first experience, we settled in to the lovely resort with one of our hosts
African drums of Namibia
Our “bungalow
Bathroom at Africat
No, these creatures aren’t real, but very cleaver metal work to add to the flavor of the experience. It gives wall art an entirely different meaning…:-)
Nice digs!
Cheetah at Africat – You can see his collar and how fixed he is on another Cheetah
We are at the perimeter of the compound here and a neighboring Cheetah and ours were vying for territorial dominance
Very fast, very light and very stealthy
We’s spent two full days and nights there and I would highly recommend such an experience to anyone interested in these impressive animals.
Etosha National Park entrance, northern Namibia
This is a huge “salt pan”, perhaps a 100 miles long by 70 miles wide
Pink Flamingoes of Etosha
Our first night accommodation right on the huge muddy salt lake. It was not air conditioned and it DEFINITELY needed to be
While driving to an from this resort along a 4 wheel only track, we came upon Nikki’s first elephant and this rather tall fellow
In the savannah and plains of Etosha, you simply don’t know what will be coming up in the next mile
Cooling Meerkats… These guys are not roadkill, but all stretched out to maximize the surface area of their bodies in the shade to keep cool
Leopard Tortoise… Yes, is sounds like an oxymoron. We saw this guy on the side of the road and thought we’d have a look. No humans were harmed in the making of this photograph
Not your everyday sight! Just out of the blue, an ostrich appeared
Nikki with the big guy
Again, we were just cruising down the road when we came upon this lone male elephant having lunch
Our second night, we did have air conditioning a room right on a well lit waterhole
The previous evening, we’d seen elephants, black rhinoceros, giraffes and all manner of oryx, springbok, jackals and on and on at this water hole
Today, it was the zebras turn
Oryx
Young Giraffe takes a stance
Cooling Meekats
Wildebeast
Warthogs
Springbok – the fast food for most of the big cats
Natural causes? We saw what appeared to be an intact zebra down. The vultures and jackals were closing in
Vultures and jackals cleaning up
A classic vulture
Yet another ostrich
A break while driving our 4 wheel drive vehicle through the park
Birds nest
Zebras and their young
There are several natural and about 15-20 man made watering holes throughout the park. Here we see a bull elephant cooling down with water
Nice to hav a long lens…:-)
Dolomite Camp was a new resort and only had been open for several months. It was a favorite for us
I felt a bit like we were on a far away planet here. The bungalows, which were very nice (but NOT air-conditioned) were all built on top of this small mountain
Dolomite Bungalows
A glass of wine to relax from the long day’s drive
Rhinoceros near Dolomite Camp
Elephants near Dolomite Camp
Just out of the blue
We stopped close to a mother elephant and her baby. She didn’t like us so close and feigned a charge
According to our guide, the females always stop short
Good thing he was right. This elephant was less than 15 feet away when she pulled up
Magically, we came across several families of elephants, totaling about 60 animals at one water hole near dusk
The late afternoon bath and drink
Yet more family groups showed up
Lots of little ones in all the groups
This is the holding tank for the watering hole. These two guys just climbed the wall and went straight for the water
Babies playing in the mud
Another successful day, we loved this setting, the bungalows and the highlight of seeing 60 elephants at once
Our next day, we came across this oryx
More Springbok
A dry man made watering hole
Herds of Zebra
Termite mound
Big Bird
This was an interesting sequence
These two were fighting over territory or females
Coming in for a cool
The elephants cover themselves on really hot days with mud which helps cool them off
Giraffe
Mountain Zebra
Black Rhinoceros
Our digs at Dolomite Camp
Bungalow
Warm afternoon – Nikki relaxing
Ostrich Eggs
Dolomite Camp’s pool and view
The view from our bungalow of the man made watering hole.
Sunset on the Etosha Pan
Luckily and rarely for this area, we came across this lioness and mate
Lioness at Dolomite
Guard and his kids with Nikki as we left for our next destination
This guard minds the gate to this huge park.
En route to Damarland Camp, we stopped at the Petrified Forest
Don’t take policy
Nikki with petrified log
Largest petrified tree in the “forest”
Twyfelfontene – Means “Uncertain Spring” was inhabited under a much different climate about 2500 years ago
Visitors center….I kept looking for Luke Skywalker…:-)
Petroglyphs showing animal life from 2500 years ago
Striking Stones
Back at the ranch…:-)
En route to Damarland, we were told to use this old burnt out vehicle as a guidepost
Sunrise breakfast at Damarland Camp
We were in search of the elusive Desert Elephants and Desert Lions, but had no luck
We got close to a Desert Elephant, but couldn’t see him in the bush. They are shorter and have bigger feet to support them in the soft sands. The Desert lions are much whiter in color and also have bigger paws
Our bungalow at Damarland Camp.
This entire place was washed out in a flash flood about 10 years ago and rebuilt. Right in the same place! Ummm? Lovely none-the-less
Our hard working guide with Nikki
Ex Pat Americans – Michael, Kathy and their lovely daughters with Nikki before they departed back to Johannesburg where they live.
