Conservationist Brett Atkinson in his tour to Africa has revealed where to track desert-adapted lions and elephants in Namibia.
According to him, the Hoanib River in Namibia’s dry season resembles the narrowest of dirt tracks, prescribing a meandering route from the craggy mountain-rimmed expanses of the Kaokoveld to the rolling Atlantic dunes of the Skeleton Coast.
When the annual rains come, usually as an impetuous series of downfalls from November to April, the river can be transformed into a swiftly-flowing torrent in just a few hours but for most of the year, the Hoanib’s bone-dry river bed is a vital migratory route for the desert-adapted animals surviving in this remote area in Namibia.
Elephants, lions, oryx and springbok all derive sustenance from the scrubby trees lining the river, and over millennia, the wildlife species of the surrounding Damaraland region have evolved to be smaller, leaner and more hardy than their cousins on the savannah of East Africa.
To the untrained observer, Damaraland initially looks like an animal-free zone, with its red-rock cliffs and canyons bookended by soaring cobalt skies but after years of working in this unique landscape.
Animal numbers in Namibia’s Damaraland may be lower than in traditional safari hotspots such as Botswana and Kenya but when careful tracking and on-the-ground detective work ensures a successful big-cat encounter it’s even more intense and special.
The region’s elephants seem easier to track down, with a few of them actually showing up for breakfast at the camp’s waterhole earlier in the day.
Atkinson, concluded his findings by saying, ‘’As the Land Cruiser carefully rounds a bend in the river, a family of elephants is revealed coming the other way, grazing along the banks, and clearly not overly fussed with any human interlopers.
‘’Adolescent female elephants, most likely aunts and cousins, linger to provide shelter and support to the smallest and most vulnerable of their extended family, but the older and more established of the herd continue confidently towards us. Trunks are raised in curiosity, sniffing out our unfamiliar aromas, and being adroitly used to gently tear branches and leaves from riverside vegetation.’’