Rhino Desert Camp—Day One
There were 12 of us including the guides. We started out with Sanjayan and David, then Chris Bakkes joined us. Chris is a local guide and a walking encyclopedia of everything Africa (not just Namibia). He is originally from South Africa and now makes his home here in Namibia.
We left Wyndhoek Sunday morning for Rhino Desert Camp. We took two small planes and everyone had a window seat. Scott shot all the video. I took all the photos.
To view larger still images click on the first image. PicLens is a fancier option with even larger images.
These images show a view of Wyndhoek as we were leaving, some desert mountains and a dry wash. You can see from the air how massive amounts of water have moved through the land. Looking at it when it is this dry, it is hard to image that water does come through here in large quantities.
We meet Chris and Kapoi at Rhino Desert Camp. Chris will be with our guide for the next nine days. Kapoi works at Rhino Desert Camp and is our local expert. Almost all the camps and lodges put the airport a little bit away from the camp. This is nice because it makes every drive to the camp a safari. Most of the African landscape reminds us of the American Southwest. It is amazing how similar the land and rock formations are to places in Arizona and Utah. There are even bits of quartz and agate strewn about. On this ride we saw giraffe, zebra, ostrich, oryx, springbok and a few birds. We also saw an odd looking plant called wel wichia. This living fossil is the national plant of Namibia. It is a tree that looks like a dying succulent. There are both male and female plants. The female plant has small cones. There are two very tough branches that grow along the ground in opposite directions. These branches are flat and rippled in various shades of green.
The large green, spiky-looking bush is called euphorbia damarana or milk bush. It is poisonous to humans, but a favorite food of the rhino and kudu.
All the lodges and camps are very upscale. A nice mix of being out in the middle of nowhere in total comfort with (great food, drink and fun companions). When it gets a little chilly the flaps can be rolled down and a couple space heaters brought in for warmth.
After lunch we go on a short drive. The plan is to take a hike up a hill to look around and then come back down as the sun sets and do our first sundowner of the trip. We see a few more giraffe on the way out to the site. There are several plants that look like cactus, but are euphorba virosa. Apparently there are no cactus in Africa. Take a look at those thorns – I think they are teasing me! Just like the deserts of the southwest, you have to look close to see some of the plant and animal life. There were busy ants moving food all over this hill. There were also some nice bits of rock to examine. Every day in Africa ends with taking a moment to watch the sun go down – usually with a cool beverage in hand. We all thought this was a worthwhile tradition to adopt and bring back home!