Out & About August 2017

OA travel

the cubs and the female have now linked up, the cubs had fed on the oryx carcass and their condition had greatly improved. What struck me most during my time in Namibia is that it is one of the last bastions of true wilderness in Africa; an unending show of sandy and rocky vistas that justifiably attract visitors from afar. It came as no surprise to hear that Angelina Jolie chose to relax in the Namib Desert during her last pregnancy, Jeremy Clarkson and the crew of the Grand Tour had just traversed the toughest 4x4 routes and that several recent Hollywood movies had been filmed amid the lunar landscapes. While I was awestruck at just how much there was to see and do, the real pleasure was the strangely liberating and profoundly humbling sense of insignificance I felt in the face of such

pride had been recently killed – gored by the horn of an oryx while hunting – and her sister had fled the area. More distressing was that the deceased female had three 18-month-old cubs entirely dependent on her for food and water. Being too young to find food or water for themselves, they had been waiting for days for their mother to return and their skeletal bodies had almost given up. The situation was desperate, with Dr Stander praying that the fleeing sister would return to take care of the cubs. By some miracle we were driving through the dunes en route to the airstrip for a scenic flight when one of our group spotted a peering face on top of a sand dune. It was the lioness. We immediately radioed Dr Stander who stayed with her the whole day and later observed her killing an oryx. At the time of writing, I had been informed that

National Park at the heart of which lies the Hoanib River. This concourse remains dry for most of the year, but, surprisingly, supports relatively lush floodplains full of springbok and oryx antelope, ostrich and numerous birds, happily feeding to a backdrop of undulating white sand dunes. I was on a mission however, as I had heard some troubling news. I had come to this section of the northern Namib in search of the elusive and highly threatened desert lion. It is estimated that perhaps only 150 individuals exist and they all occur in this small pocket of Africa. Dr Phil Stander of Desert Lion Conservation, a heroic individual who has dedicated the last 20 years of his life to researching and protecting these lions, met our group at the western side of the Hoanib floodplain. One of the last two females of the Floodplain

a vast and majestic space. I cannot wait to go back.

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