It was yet another early start from Namutoni - in fact we were so early the gates didn't open for another twenty minutes, so we sat in the car and waited. The journey to Okonjima was a boring one. The road was incredibly straight and the vegetation monotonous. Andy and I took turns with the driving and we stopped for a late breakfast in a 'Wimpy' in Tsumeb. Tsumeb was an attractive little town with streets lined with jacaranda trees. Originally it had been a mining town but in the late 1990s the mine closed.
Our next stop was Okahandja where the main street had quite a few shops. Sam had wanted a Namibian rugby shirt but incredibly none of the shops stocked them only South African and New Zealand tops. We found our way to a delightful curio shop but were slightly surprised that we would have to ring the bell before we could enter. Something we found to be quite common throughout Namibia. The shop was filled with souvenirs and safari clothes. We decided to buy a few things including a zebra tail and an oryx head made from a tree root. The carving was made by a local Namibian craftsman and it was nice to buy something that hadn't been made in South Africa.
Then we were back on the road heading for Okonjima once more. When we turned off the road we were surprised about the length of the track leading up to the camp from the gate at its entrance. In fact it turned out to be about 24km long! When we did finally arrive we were not disappointed. The chalets were bordering a beautiful garden. A dead tree had been transformed into a wild bird feeding post where fruit and nuts were left to tempt all kinds of birds to feed. We saw shrikes, starlings, hornbills and other birds we did not recognise.
Okonjima lies among the "Omboroko Mountains", west of the Waterberg Plateau Park. The name Okonjima is a Herero one meaning 'Place of the baboons' and it is run by the Hanssen family. It is best known for its work with big cats and the Africat foundation that is based out of it.
At 3 o'clock we were taken on a game drive to see some cheetahs. We were transported in a large open topped jeep and shared our drive with another English family - Bernard, Dorothy, Daniel and Catherine. The cheetahs we saw were ones that could never be re-habituated into the wild as often they had been found as cubs and were not able to kill for themselves. As we drove up the cheetahs raced up to the jeep like oversized domestic cats, meowing and purring hoping that Meldon our guide would give them some meat. It was incredible to see these beautiful cats so close-up and made for wonderful photograph opportunities.
Next we were taken to the Africat surgery, made famous in the UK in the series 'Animal Park - Wild in Africa' with Ben Fogle and Kate Humble. We were even lucky enough to see the wild dog puppies they had saved and Dave from the program. Africat does a lot of good work in Namibia to help save the big cat population there. A lot of their work is to create awareness and promote the tolerance of large carnivores among the farming community as it is here that many of the cats are shot for killing domestic livestock. We were shown the inhumane traps that the farmers used to kill or trap the cats - many were horrific.
On the way back to camp we were lucky enough to see a cheetah up on a termite mound. Cheetahs are always looking for a good high vantage point to seek out game and they climb on top of the mound for just this purpose. Luckily he posed for just enough time for us to get a photo.
In the evening we walked down to a night hide on the camp where left over vegetables from the night's meal are scattered outside and watched quietly as porcupines and a couple of civets munched through the meal. You couldn't believe just what a noisy eater a porcupine could be. The sky was clear as it was most nights and not affected by the light pollution of home so you could see the stars and milky way incredibly clearly. It made me feel very small and insignificant.
On the way back the roar of the lions was so close and loud Sam and George thought they had somehow ventured outside the gates and came scurrying back looking quite shocked. They hadn't taken a wrong turning it was just that the lions were just outside the fence and in the quiet night their roar seemed particularly loud.
As well as the many wild animals Okonjima also boasts a very special pet a large old, blind warthog who was aged about 104 in human years. As soon as the fire was lit in the evening he would lie next to it, so close that often his hairs would begin to singe. His name was 'Sir Piggy'.
More thumbnails ...
1 vote 
