December 1, 2021

Conservation is a family business

Namibia’s conservation landscape has Annette, the Rhino Whisperer – firmly on the map. Always by Jan’s side, she was his wing(wo)man, in more ways than one. Looking into the life and work of this fascinating matriarch, Annette is rigorous when it comes to her calling to conserve endangered species and has led many projects, even relocating elephants to Central Africa.
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December 1, 2021

The RMB Ride for Rhinos 2021

The arrival of riders for the 2021 RMB Ride for Rhinos coincided with World Rhino Day on Wednesday 22 September. While the theme for this year’s World Rhino Day is Five Rhino Species Forever, the yearly RMB Ride for Rhinos is an event that is intended to create awareness for the plight of one rhino species in particular – the black rhino.
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December 1, 2021

The quintessential Namibian Safari at Ongava

From the back of a game viewer driving through Ongava Game Reserve, it is hard to imagine what the area must have looked like 30 years ago when it was still a cluster of unproductive cattle farms. Today it is a protected piece of land where antelope are plentiful and lion, rhino and elephant freely go about their business, all part of and contributing to a healthy, thriving biome.
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December 1, 2021

Gerhard Thirion on Capturing the Wilderness

Gerhard Thirion grew up on a 106 000-ha game farm north of Etosha National Park where he developed a burning passion for wildlife, nature and indigenous cultures at a very early age. He initially pursued a career in the aviation industry as a loadmaster with the national airline. Fuelled by his love for aircraft and flying, this was where his interest in photography was conceived.
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March 4, 2022

Wildlife selfies – A conservation crisis

Imagine travelling the lengths of this planet, enduring long layovers, leg cramps and perhaps a chair-kicking child – all worth it for that highly anticipated moment when the wheels of a steel bird touch the tarmac and you are on African soil. A sigh of relief. Your holiday has just begun and you are undoubtedly off to the far corners of Namibia in search of rugged landscapes, natural wonders and untamed wildlife.
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March 9, 2022

Emboldened conservation beyond boundaries: The Namib Tsaris Nature Reserve

The area bordering the Namib-Naukluft National Park in Namibia’s south, which may seem like a wasteland to some, has become synonymous with conservation. Unsuccessful commercial small livestock farms having given way to large tracts of fencless land allowing for the unhindered movement of desert adapted wildlife.
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March 10, 2022

When conservation becomes a way of life

All of us had to adjust while the pandemic filtered into our day- to-day life, making major lifestyle changes as we went along. For nearly two years of having to find new creative ideas and hoping for the travel industry to recover, conservation continued… education continued… and so did the passion for sustainable tourism. You see, while the world seemingly came to a standstill, nature forced us to keep going. Conservation had to continue. Supporting communities had to continue. Therefore, tourism had to continue. Because conservancies and communities still rely on tourism.
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March 20, 2022

On the Frontlines of PANGOLIN PRESERVATION

Across the vast landscapes of central, northern and northeastern Namibia, the plight of the pangolin, an inconspicuous creature, continues. This small mammal plays a major role in the bushland ecosystems of sub-saharan Africa and, as the most trafficked mammal in the world, lives under an ever-present dark cloud of threat. Enter Namibia’s newest concerted effort trained directly at the preservation of this important species - the Namibian Pangolin Working Group.
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March 20, 2022

Of teeth and claws: Taking stock of carnivore research in the Greater Etosha Landscape

Etosha National Park has a long history of research with a dedicated research centre, the Etosha Ecological Institute (EEI), located at Okaukuejo since 1967. In partnership with the EEI, the Ongava Research Centre conducted a literature review and search for any form of output from research conducted on carnivores within a buffer of 50 km of Etosha. This included scanning online databases, but also spending several days in dusty archive rooms at the EEI.
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March 20, 2022

It’s about time, not distance

In Damaraland you don’t measure a trip from here to there in distance; you measure it in time. Forged from an outpouring of lava some 130 million years ago and then exposed to millions of years of erosion, fluvial drainage, sun, wind, temperature extremes and seismic activity, the landscape is so rugged, it ranks as one of the harshest terrains on our planet. In this regard, the extreme terrain acts as its own fortress, a barrier to outsiders and a haven for those that can adapt to live within this land of sun-baked basalt and hardship. The wildlife that has forged a life in Damaraland’s mountains and valleys is unique, not in their physiology, but in their generational knowledge – survival messages passed on from old to young – which enables them to survive the very extremes of life itself.
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June 1, 2022

CHEETAH CONSERVATION

When American scientist Dr Laurie Marker launched the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) in 1990, she had no idea where this new adventure would take her. A zoologist from California, she learned about threats to a declining wild population while conducting in situ research in Africa in the late 1970s and through the 1980s. Dr Marker routinely travelled to Namibia and other cheetah-range countries from her positions with Wildlife Safari and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Zoo to study the habits of the world’s fastest feline. But it’s what she learned about human behaviour that shocked her. Habitat loss, loss of prey, and conflict with livestock and game farmers put cheetahs on the fast track to extinction. Livestock and game farmers were shooting, trapping and removing hundreds of cheetahs each year – more because of perceived threats than actual predation. She realised if no one would soon intervene, the cheetah might be lost forever.
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September 1, 2022

A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE

Crisp winter air hangs over the horizon, creating a soft white filter for every tree and hill. Looking down, you see a veil of yellow and orange mopane leaves crushing softly under your feet. In a single file line, you tread lightly, one foot in front of the other, so as to not disturb the life that surrounds you, or the black rhino spotted at the lodge’s subtly lit waterhole the previous night.
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September 1, 2022

Turning travel into impact: Celebrating 10 years of TOSCO

The uproar in the Namibian tourism industry as a result of the poisoning incident was a direct reason for stakeholders to open the dialogue. The consensus towards the end of the meeting was overwhelming: an organisation was needed to strengthen the relationship of the tourism industry with communities and conservation organisations. That same year, Félix founded the Tourism Supporting Conservation Trust which has become known as TOSCO.
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September 1, 2022

The value and virtue of vultures

I was hoping I would spot a Pygmy Falcon on my last trip to the Namib-Naukluft Park, Namibia’s largest conservation area. Small, spirited and snow-white, the bird appeared as misplaced as an Edelweiss flower in the desert. The Pygmy Falcon soared like a white star, in stark contrast to the dry riverbeds, gravel and grassy plains.
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September 1, 2022

RMB RIDE FOR RHINOS: Eight years of cycling for conservation

The RMB Ride for Rhinos is an annual cycling event aimed at creating awareness of the tireless yet determined combined patrols done by Save the Rhino (SRT) trackers, rhino rangers (members of the local communities) and members of the Namibian Police. The event not only gives riders a tiny taste of the hardships endured by these individuals but it is also a means of raising funds for the ongoing conservation efforts by SRT. Le Roux van Schalkwyk goes along on the adventure.
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