December 1, 2021

Exploring the Great White Place from East to West

Etosha, the Great White Place, stretches over a distance of 300 km from west to east as the proverbial crow flies. On my most recent visit I decided to traverse the park from Galton Gate in the west to Von Lindequist gate in the east – a journey of several hundred kilometres.
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.
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.
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.
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.
December 1, 2021

Namibia with wings

From stark desertscapes to lush woodlands. Rugged mountainous terrains to smooth, uninterrupted coastline. Namibia is as geographically and topographically diverse as it is culturally. The land of endless horizons. That is how we have known, and marketed, Namibia since our young country’s birth. Our great expanse of sights and delights is unsurpassed.
December 1, 2021

Birding with Pompie: What’s in a name

I think the only bird which has been named and featured in a movie is Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Bird on a wire by Leonard Cohen is the song most covered by other artists – about 400 different artists, I think. If this is because it is such a beautiful song or if it is about the bird I do not know. What is important is that I do not know what bird it was, but I think it has been sitting on the same wire for the last 50 years.
December 1, 2021

Company

Three’s company? Bull, that kite will not fly for me. I think more than one is a crowd. But I realise that for most (normal?) people this is not what they have in mind when planning a trip (holiday/camping). Being a one/ two-person tripper, I think I can be quite selective if I must do that crowd-camping thing.
December 1, 2021

From the desert to the mountains

As widely as the Namibian landscapes can differ when comparing the northeast of the country to the southwest, as quickly it can change over short distances. Such changes in scenery will not be as drastic, of course, but can nonetheless give one the feeling of being in a completely different place.