EHRA 2

So, after a lovely weekend we went on our adventure. Saturday was the end of year party and a lot of people from the local villages came in their traditional fancy dress. Sunday we all went down to Uis, the nearest town (about 1 hour away), and hung out at the pool of the Brandberg rest lodge. There was parrot that could speak and sing, as well as delicious milkshakes.

The next day we finally went. Most groups spent the week tracking elephant herds and camping where they are taken in the riverbeds - elephants spend their time in the dry season eating the lush vegetation and digging for water in the currently dry rivers. However, we are the last group of the year, and our guide, Chris, is moving on to his first proper tourism guiding job. For this reason we were super lucky to be taken out on a big expedition by Hendrick and Mattias, as a treat, but also to teach Chris the area. We did see elephants, but we also saw so much more.

We set off in two open Landcruisers, with all our bed rolls tied to the roof. Sitting on top was an option, and luckily no one else in my car wanted to, so I sat on top for the whole week. Apart from a few patches where I was only attached to the car by arms, and the scorching (according to some) sun, the view was incredible and 360 degrees (also it was actually more comfortable, and I managed to have a light nap on the last day).  The lead car was driven by Mattias with Hendrick beside. This was the car to be in as their local knowledge is formidable. Apart from both being incredible characters, both have a wealth of experience and know the damaraland area like the back of their hands. Hendrick worked for the MET for 13 years as an anti-poaching officer, and spent many months wondering the bush, monitoring the rhinos, with only barrels of supplies dropped off at various locations by the government. Mattias led a team of trackers for the Save the Rhino Trust and so did something very similar. The 2^nd car was driven by Chris who is a good guide, having recently finished his training in South Africa. I started in Mattias’ car, but swapped halfway through.

The first day we set off parallel to the Ugab river, stopping off at various farmsteads to ask for information. No one had anything fresh, and the most recent sighting of elephants was 3 weeks earlier. We continued west where Hendrick suspected the herd had moved to.  The riverbeds look like lush green snakes moving through the dry landscape of yellows and browns. Damaraland is part of Namibia’s western arid zone, where a lot of animals have adapted specially to the desert environment. For this reason, a lot of animals are found nowhere else in the world, and on the way we managed to see Ruppel’s Korhaan and Ludwig’s Bustard, two examples.Also, amazingly we saw two Klipspringers scamper up a hillside nearby

Late morning we arrived at the White Lady Lodge, where they were sure to have an idea of the elephants whereabouts. They said they hadn’t been able to show their tourists the elephants for a while, as they had moved far west down the riverbed into the pro-namib wilderness. No problem for us, but we first moved into the riverbed and had lunch under the shade of a large tree.

Afterwards we continued along as the river got narrower and was swallowed up in rocky gorges. There was water lying openly and thick beds of reeds and papyrus filling every ravine. Mattias got out of the car and walked ahead. A few minutes later he came running back excitedly pointing over the reedbeds. A group of 5 elephants was grazing on a small plain behind the reeds, and we all walked through to approach them from downwind. We watched at a distance as they grazed, unaware of our presence.

Mattias and Hendrick start where they think the animals could have come and follow their tracks expertly, with near 100% success as we would find.

Retracing our tyre tracks a short distance, we drove up the riverbank into the shrublands and winding through the mountains. Eventually we came upon a series of vast grass plains and spotted ostriches and a few springbok. The Brandberg, the highest peak in Namibia, was also visible, looming over us in the distance. And the other way the plains and rocks stretched out for an eternity. After many kilometers we descended into a small valley with thicker vegetation. There was, apparently, an artificial waterhole, but it also was the catchment area of the Numas river. Rhino tracks were seen and followed, but unfortunately as we went deeper into a canyon, following the river, it became clear that the rhino had disappeared into the hills. Luckily, we did see a caracal cross the road ahead of us, too engrossed in the springbok nearby to notice us – quite a rare sighting!

In the riverbed, Hendrick tells us of a lion that approached his camp behind a particular bush. We then left the river and went off into the gorges to find a spot to camp, finding one at the foot of a granite cliff in a small valley. We slept to the sounds of hyena’s calling.

The next day we continue further away from the river, through the endless gorges and valleys carved in the granite hills. After many kilometers spotting Gemsbok, we come upon a great plain called Rooivlakte Nr. 1, the Brandberg still looming. On the plain we observed how an ostrich would run from us at a great distance, trying to get downwind and avoid detection.

At the opposite end of the plain, the Kwandachab riverbed lay and we drove along it, finding fresh rhino tracks almost immediately. On foot we followed but they had moved far, so back to the cars and continue that way. The Kwandachab river eventually joins the Ugab, but we moved in the opposite direction, spotting zebras and springbok and gemsbok. After a few hours we had to conclude, once again, that the rhinos had moved off into the hills, all 3 of them. We lunched once again in the shade in the river, with the huge walls of the Doros crater visible behind the rock walls.

The kwandachab split into the Doros which would flow into the crater, and we took this route. Preparing to duck under a hanging branch a rhino was spotted ahead in the thick bushes. It promptly ran off and zigzagged, moving off to another gorger in the right. Hendrick and Chris had began walking slowly alongside the rocks to scout the area, but Mattias spotted a 2^nd rhino and whistled for them to come back. Driving forward we could see the 2^nd rhino watching us from its safe distance against the dramatic backdrop. This one was a male, but the first was identified as a cow called Lani, whom Hendrick and Mattias had tracked many times before. We followed the path we had taken, hoping to meet her further down, instead one of her daughters and a granddaughter were spotted at a very close distance, before they too ran off. We really had the best of luck in terms of rhinos.

By now, we were in an area called Doro !Nawas, or place of the rhino. The riverbed took us into familiar landscaped of rocky kopjies and grass plains, before we came out onto a spectacularly vast plain surrounded by the Doros crater on one side, and Mik mountain on the other. Our camp for the night was beside huge slab of rock in the center, and I placed my bedroll on top of the slab. Hendrick told many stories of his time working here around the campfire, and of a Hyena den he discovered just ‘over there’.

Naturally, I woke up to an incredible vista, and as the sun rose it cast a red glow on the peak of Mik mountain, the moon still visible above – the perfect photo.

A few of us followed Hendrick as he walked looking for tracks, the cars caught up and picked us up later. That day we left the desert and said goodbye to the fields of gravel dotted with 1000 year old Welwitschias. Moving through the mountains we ended up back in the savannah of Damaraland at a monument called Burnt mountain which I had visited last year. Its really only a small mound, but it looks like its been burnt (by volcanic activity). Once again we began asking at various farms and lodges for information on the elephants, and we were directed to the Huab river.

After driving through the springbok filled grasslands in the Torra conservancy, we reached the Aba Huab river (aba – to carry on your shoulders), which flows into the Huab. After lunch we managed to find them feeding along the river. There were 2 small calves of less than a month. This wa the H2 (huab 2) herd, and they were very used to cars walking less than 2 meters from us. We marveled at how they used their incredible trunks to strip bark off the branches. At one point the matriarch rumbled and they all walked off in the same direction hurriedly. 2 lodge cars from the local Wilderness lodge were spotted, so we moved off up the river to set up camp.

As we were enjoying our dinner that night Mattias told us to shush, and pointed out the herd moving silently across the opposite bank. Further down, they crossed back into the bed, evidently walking quietly to avoid us. One young bull named Harold fed from the seeds under a tree only 20m from us, and we all gazed in the dark silence.

On the final day Hendrick and Mattias tracked them down and we said our goodbyes before beginning the long and uncomfortable ride back to camp. We passed the Mowani lodge where I stayed last year and saw lots of wildlife (which is all recorded with coordinates).

I could not imagine a better way to experience the incredible wilderness area than the expedition we undertook.