Archive for February, 2010
On the edge of the Namib
February 10th, 2010 | 
Author: Rob
| 
Posted in Weekends | 
Show on Map (Geotagged at lat -23.6228123, lng 16.2489777)
We arrived at our campsite in the late afternoon, with the January sun still high in the sky and settled down with a cup of coffee before setting up camp. We were drinking in the view when a slight movement on the rocky backrest of the seats in the braai area caught Jane’s attention – a metre long spotted bush snake! In the way of most snakes, it disappeared from view almost as quickly as we could grab our cameras, but Jane spotted it again half an hour later; in the tree overlooking the braai area this time, and we were able to watch it slithering through the branches of the tree for a good fifteen minutes before it made its final exit for the weekend. Perhaps not the best of welcomes as the shade below this tree was an ideal spot for our friends Des and Jo to position their tent!
Namibgrens is a wonderful campsite, just 165 km from Windhoek on the D1275 road, and is located just a couple of km from the top of Spreetshoogte Pass, the steepest pass in Namibia. The mountain campsites are located amongst the granite hills and are better equipped than the average campsite in Namibia. Each campsite has its own toilet, shower, braai area, washing up facilities and large canvas-walled shelter that provides a cool respite from the scorching summer sun. There are also two swimming pools in the campsite. Veritable luxury as camping goes!
The spacious campsite number 1 has wonderful views and is probably the choicest of the campsites, and here we were visited by constant parade of Mountain wheatears, Cape buntings, Great sparrows, Black-throated canaries and African red-eyed bulbuls. A female Great sparrow took a liking to her reflection in a shiny kettle, and she spent several minutes walking around the kettle, preening herself like a prima donna and pecking at her reflection.
There are wonderful walks at Namibgrens, and it is possible to walk for many hours through the spectacular scenery in the comparative isolation that is so refreshing for the soul. When following the Dassie Trail it is possible to take a side path that leads up a fairly steep climb to Eagle’s Rest, from which there are 360-degree views over the deserted hills and valleys.
Standing at the top of this hill and rotating slowly it is possible to take in the plains spread out below Spreetshoogte Pass; the flat-topped Gamsberg, the Namibgrens campsite and farmhouse; several dams and a seemingly limitless series of rocky hills.
It is also worth taking a walk to the larger of the dams on the farm, a walk that will take you past the goat pens, where you may see Bobby, the baboon who lives with the goats and has become something of a tourist attraction on the farm. The dam is populated with quite an assortment of waterbirds, including, on occasion. Great white pelicans.
We were returning to Windhoek when we left Namibgrens, and took a wonderful drive down Spreetshoogte Pass to Solitaire. After coffee and a generous slice of the famous Solitaire apple-pie at the bakery, we followed the route over the Remhoogte Pass and so back to Windhoek.
Tags: 
Bird of the week – Week 6 : Kori bustard
The most impressive thing about the Kori bustard is its size. It is big. Really big. Not as big as a Common ostrich, admittedly, but the difference is that the Kori can fly; in fact it may well be the largest flying bird in the world. The males are up to 1.5 metres in length and can weigh as much as 19 kg. That’s about 1,200 times heavier than a canary.
Their weight, though, does make them a little reluctant to fly, and they are most commonly seen walking sedately through the long grass of the veld. Even when disturbed they will often walk away quickly. When the Kori does fly, it often uses a running take-off, although it can take off from a standstill.
They are solitary or in pairs when breeding; but may be in larger groups at other times. The males display with their necks inflated, their tails raised over their backs and fanned. These polygynous birds don’t make a nest, with the clutch of 1 or 2 eggs laid in a scrape on the bare ground. They are fairly wide spread in Southern Africa, although they are more common in the drier West and are fairly common in Namibia and Botswana. In the Savuti area of Botswana the Southern carmine bee-eater reportedly uses the Kori as a roost as it hawks insects that are disturbed as the Kori walks through the grassland.  This association appears to be less common in other parts of Southern Africa.
The Kori’s diet consists of insects, small vertebrates, seeds, and carrion. The fact that they also eat gum from Acacia trees provides the reason for their Afrikaans name – “Gompou”, which means “Gum bustard”.
The scientific name for the Kori bustard is Ardeotis kori; ardeotis being from the Latin “ardea”, meaning a heron or bustard and kori being a corruption of the Setswana word “kgôri”, being the Setswana name for the Kori bustard.
And of course you know this limerick, don’t you?
The bustard is  an exquisite fowl
With minimal reason to scowl
For he escaped what would be
Illegitimacy
By the grace of a fortunate vowel.
Canoeing on the Orange River
February 3rd, 2010 |
Author: Jane
|
Posted in Trips | Show on Map (Geotagged at lat -28.7374096, lng 17.6109123)
I’ve always suspected that our family has a number of adrenalin junkies hidden in the closet and so it was no surprise when we unanimously decided to try white water rafting on the Orange River. As we were staying at Norotshama, a resort some sixty kilometers from Noordoewer on the Namibian side of the river, the obvious choice for our trip was Felix Unite, a company well-known for their river tours. They very obligingly allowed us to book a half-day trip on the river on New Year’s day.
We were somewhat apprehensive about the wisdom of going on New Year’s day as we weren’t sure how hung over our party would be, let alone the condition of the guide who was to take us. However, when we arrived at Felix Unite, our guide turned out to be a sweet young lady who was quite capable of leading the group.
After fitting ourselves out with life jackets we climbed onto the back of a truck and were driven a few kilometers upstream to the starting point of our trip.
We were given a short briefing on what to do and then we were off! The scenery in that part of the world is amazing, with the river flowing alongside high mountains on the left bank and the dry Namibian landscape on the right.
There are numerous birds in the reeds and in trees on islands in the middle of the river and it was lovely to watch them take off effortlessly as we neared them.
The smooth water ahead reflects the mountains and a sense of peace and tranquility overtakes one as one paddles silently down the river.
It has to be said that calling it “white water rafting” along this stretch of river is a bit misleading. For starters we were in ordinary two man Mohawk canoes (not rubber dinghies as we had hoped) and the rapids that we had to negotiate were extremely tame. In fact I’m sure we were all somewhat disappointed that it hadn’t been more of a challenge. Having said that, however, another couple who tacked on to our group, did manage to overturn on the last rapid and ended up losing some of their gear, so either they were really unlucky or we were pretty good to keep afloat!
A highlight of the trip was when we had canoed about halfway and we pulled over to the bank and went ashore. Here we were encouraged to walk back a few hundred meters and then step into the river to catch the current, supported only by our life jackets which made us beautifully buoyant. Our guide called this “nappy running” and it turned out to be such fun that we did it twice.
Felix Unite operate four and six day tours here as well and provide all the essentials for the trip. They are a well-run organization and can be recommended for their canoe trips, which are reasonably priced. However, if you are hoping for a white-knuckle experience over hardcore rapids, in rubber dinghies, I suggest you head to the Zambezi or you will be disappointed. To be fair to Felix Unite though, they don’t advertise their trips as anything but canoeing down the Orange River, so we were slightly mislead by the resort which punted white water rafting! Also, the strength of the rapids obviously depends on how much rain they have had upstream. But it’s an awesome experience nonetheless!
