September 22, 2016

Friendly encounters – the correct way to see a rhino

After three hours the rhino trackers had found them. We parked behind a euphorbia and tried to crunch quietly over the stones to a spot where we could see them: wonderful, it was Topnotch, the cow, and her calf Troy – he’s just a year old – and they were making a good breakfast out of some bushes. The two were 200 metres away and completely unaware of us. And that’s the point…
June 28, 2016

Namibia Animal Rehabilitation, Research and Education Centre

The Namibia Animal Rehabilitation, Research and Education centre (NARREC) is an organisation based on the outskirts of Windhoek, providing relief to rescued animals that have been injured, orphaned or in some way displaced. Founded by Liz Komen, a qualified veterinary nurse, NARREC has facilities to accommodate a large variety of bird species, especially predators, and to provide hospitalisation and rehabilitation to small mammals.
September 3, 2015

Desert lions: A fight for survival

We were making our way down the Hoanib when he came out from behind a bush on the riverbank. He was beautiful. Strong and young. And by the collar around his neck I immediately knew who he was. His brother followed soon after and the two young male lions made their way down the dry river toward an unknown destination.
September 3, 2015

Battling invasive cacti

In order to save water, and because they have beautiful flowers and are often easily available, one may be tempted to plant cacti in the garden. However, the entire African continent boasts no indigenous cactus species. All cacti originate from the tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas. Being very well adapted to arid conditions, they thrive excellently in our dry climate and since they are from a different part of the world they experience a total lack of indigenous pests or diseases in Namibia.