The Brandberg is Namibia’s highest mountain. Königstein is the highest peak at 2573 meters.
About the Author: Kobus Alberts is 34 years of age and is married with 2 children. He was born in Usakos, Namibia, and is currently living in Swakopmund. He holds a diploma in Nature Conservation and has spent 11 Years of his life living in most of the National Parks and Game Reserves of Namibia. He has most recently been heading up the National Marine Aquarium of Namibia in Swakopmund, a position he held for 5 years and is now a director of Wild at Heart Safaris and Namibian owned travel company unique is that it was established entirely by ex-game rangers with a love of thier country. email: info@wildatheartsafaris.com
On the 6th of July I, Steffen Oesterle, Volker Mohrholz and Toralf Heene started the climb to Königstein.
We left at 14:00, with the aim to overnight in the area near to Springbokwasser. (Just to put the distances and height a bit into perspective, you need to know the following. The vehicle was stopped at the foot of the Brandberg at a height of 700 meter. The total distance from the vehicle to Königstein, using a GPS, was 11 Kilometre)
Following a footpath it looked really easy, until the footpath disappeared. After some boulder scrambling, we found a trail again and this trail led us straight to camp.
Author: Andries Alberts, Game Warden of Bushmanland and the Nya Nya conservation area. Find out more here.
Tari Kora is one of the many favoured watering holes in the Khaudum National Park. Situated in the northeastern corner of Namibia, the Great Khaudum is 386,400 hectares (nearly 955,000 acres) of unspoiled, unfenced, northern Kalahari, Savannah Woodland wilderness. It is the chosen home of Lion, Leopard, thousands of Elephants, Giraffe, Roan Antelope, Kudu, Oryx, Red Hartebeest, Blue Wildebeest, Steenbok, Hyaena and a host of bird life far too vast to list.
As the park is unfenced, these great creatures inhabit the Khaudum because they have chosen this place. In the four and a half years I’ve been privileged to reside in Tsumkwe, Tari Kora has provided me and many tourists from around the globe the opportunity to be part of their world, if only for a short while. Pictures capture memories, but it is the watching, waiting and listening in silence that yield the very best returns -
Author: Andries Alberts, Game Warden of Bushmanland and the Nya Nya conservation area. Find out more here.
Namibia is a country with many faces. If you are so lucky to see only one of these faces you will lead a happy and fulfilled life.
On a Namibian safari I came across this valley. At first it was just this green stretch of trees in the middle of these vast open plains. To compliment this picture further, there was the massive Brandberg in all its glory.
As we followed the two track road towards the river the flat plains gradually became low hills dotted with round boulders. Entering the valley the scenery changes to that of green trees and low shrubs. The campsite is nestled under the trees. Like all camping safaris, the camp has first priority and is pitched as soon as possible.
Afri-Leo is a Namibian Charity Organization, involved with the plight of lions in Namibia.In conjunction with Wild At Heart Safaris, the “Walk for lions-2008″ was launched from the 30th of April until the 15th of May.
The aim of the trip was twofold:
1. Raise funds for Afri-Leo and;
2. Make people aware of the Human Wildlife Conflict situation in Namibia.
About the Author: Kobus Alberts is 34 years of age and is married with 2 children. He was born in Usakos, Namibia, and is currently living in Swakopmund. He holds a diploma in Nature Conservation and has spent 11 Years of his life living in most of the National Parks and Game Reserves of Namibia. He has most recently been heading up the National Marine Aquarium of Namibia in Swakopmund, a position he held for 5 years and is now a director of Wild at Heart Safaris and Namibian owned travel company unique is that it was established entirely by ex-game rangers with a love of thier country. email: info@wildatheartsafaris.com
The group that came on the safari consisted out of 14 Swiss Students, 12 Local Namibian Students, 3 Film Crew members and 5 supporters for Terre-Et Fauna, which is a Swiss based charity organization.
The local team consisted of a Wild At Heart Safaris Member, Kaurimbi Expeditions that were involved with all the logistics and Tammy Hoth of Afri-Leo
The Safari started at Kavita Lion Lodge, home of the Afri-Leo Foundation. This was to be our base camp for 2 nights. The activities in this area were mainly an introduction to the whole safari, observing lions while feeding, and the Swiss and Namibian students to get to know each other.
The following two days the group visited the communal area bordering Etosha National Park. The Khoa di //Hoas Conservancy area was the first, and the group walked from village to village and interviewed people in these different villages. The interviews mainly focused on the Human Wildlife Conflict and how it affects these people and their way of life.
The 8 Day Naukluft Hike is reputably the toughest of its kind in Southern Africa. This was found to be true, by both guide and client of Wild At Heart Safaris.
Author: Kobus Alberts is 34 years of age and is married with 2 children. He was born in Usakos, Namibia, and is currently living in Swakopmund. He holds a diploma in Nature Conservation and has spent 11 Years of his life living in most of the National Parks and Game Reserves of Namibia. He has most recently been heading up the National Marine Aquarium of Namibia in Swakopmund, a position he held for 5 years.
The safari started in Windhoek. After collecting Mr. Eran Wieder from the airport we drove South towards the Namib Naukluft Park. After a good nights rest at Tsauchab tented camp the highest dunes in the world were viewed. Sossusvlei and Deadvlei were seen during this day of travel. That afternoon we booked into Hikers Haven, at the Naukluft campsite. After sharing out the necessary food for the coming 8 Day hike, we settled down and had a last big meal.
Waking up at 05:30 with butterflies, we had a last quick coffee and then started the walk at 06:50. Our rucksacks weighed in at about 20 Kilograms for Eran and about 22 Kilograms for me. After an hour of walking we took the first of many rest stops we would have that day.
We slowly started with the climb, and what looked like a little hill, turned into a murderous walk, and both of us got to the top tired, and slightly shocked at the sudden turn of events. This was the start of many climbs that we will encounter during this walk.
After passing the fig Tree fountain we climbed even higher, and then had a well deserved lunch break. During lunch I went in search of more fountains, but found none. Luckily for us we were not very far from our first shelter, Die Putte.
It was January, 1999. As a Nature Conservation officer in the Nyae Nyae and Khaudum National Park areas in northeastern Namibia, I had been called out to Boebi post where Wild Dogs had killed three cattle.
About the Author: Andries Alberts, Game Warden of Bushmanland and the Nya Nya conservation area. Find out more here.
!Xashe was a bushman belonging to the Ju’hoansi tribe, and it was him whom had suffered the loss.
!Xashe had seen many moons, his skin was rumpled with the years gone by. As we sat down together he explained to me what had happened.
Fourteen Cape Wild Dogs had killed three of !Xashe’s milking cows. Taking notes for my report, I explained to him that unfortunately there was no compensation for damages incurred by wildlife and that there was very little that we could do for him. His voice was soft and gentle as he told me that he understood.
Saw the men for the first time at the Airport when they were collected. Ordinary men of different walks of life.
The campsite was just South of the Brandberg Mountain, and the perfect setting for the starting point. The “rest” day, 1 day before the race, me and the participants went for a walk-about in the area. Climbed an inselbergs to get a bird’s eye view of the area. “Uncle Spikes” a.k.a. the sun were out and burning down for everyone to feel. Near the end of the walk some guys were out of water already, just showing how easy it is to misjudge the intense heat and all of this only in the morning part of the day.
Posted on September 5, 2007 by Wild at Heart Safaris
Unspoilt Namibia
Citizens of the Namib Desert
Granite Geology of Damaraland
PETE’S BIG NAMIBIA TREK 2007
In February 2006 I did my first ‘Charity Challenge’. It was a Husky Sledding Trek in the Norwegian Arctic, raising money for ‘The Blue Cross’, and I enjoyed it so much that I decided to do another charity trek again this year. I decided to do something quite different from last year’s trip, so I chose to go to the desert instead! In May 2007 I took off to Namibia, Africa, for a week long Desert Walking Trek in the oldest desert in the world, the Namib, this time raising money for ‘Dogs Trust’, the UK’s largest dog charity.
The challenge was to walk for about 6 hours each day, at day-time temperatures of up to 40*C, with freezing cold nights, over varied desert terrain and without any creature comforts at all. The trek was organised by ‘Across the Divide’, a British organisation, but my fellow trekkers were 20 Americans, all raising money for AMFAR, the American Foundation for AIDS Research. Here’s the story of how we all got on in Namibia.
Posted on September 5, 2007 by Wild at Heart Safaris
Tourism and Conservation in action
Author: Andries Alberts, Game Warden of Bushmanland and the Nya Nya conservation area. Find out more here.
The Nyae Nyae Conservancy in northeastern Namibia is 9000 square kilometers in size and allow the local Ju’hoansi bushmen to utilize natural resources in the area, in an attempt from the Government to give ownership to indigenous communities. A conservation effort that works well. (Local communities also benefit largely from safaris going throught these areas.)
Unfortunately, in January 2002, a local woman was killed by a rogue elephant bull. She and three other young girls were collecting veld food a kilometer away from their village, !Auru, when they spotted three elephant bulls in front of them. The girls fled, leaving the elderly woman hiding behind a big tree. As they turned to call for her, they saw a fourth, one-tusked bull behind her. But it was too late. The elephant picked her up with his trunk and flung her into the air, braking her neck. It then ripped off both her legs and crushed her chest.
Nature Conservation staff collected the remains and permission was granted to destroy the animal. And so the hunt started.
