Hoanib
Looking for Desert Elephants
I was aware that the Hoanib was a hot spot of desert elephant activity so naturally when we lived in Namibia I would spend as much time as possible camping there. Trouble was that access there was difficult and camping a risky business if you are traveling in one vehicle as Clarissa and I were in our own Toyota 4x4. In the early 1990s the Hoanib was a remote and seldom visited place so you never saw another vehicle when you were there. It was very wild! There was consequence if you broke down - a long walk out!
1/11 : Our vehicle looks very insignificant in the bed of the Hoanib River.
2/11 : First night on arrival at the lower Hoanib.
3/11 : Some mornings, fog from the coast would flow up the river valley.
4/11 : Desert elephant could be encountered anywhere along the lower reaches of the Hoanib.
5/11 : Encounters with desert elephant were often unexpected.
6/11 : Then there were the really surprising encounters with wildlife.
7/11 : Giraffe are never usually found in this kind of surroundings either.
8/11 : At midday I would pull the tarp over the vehicle for shade.
9/11 : Sometimes caves were good places to make camp at night.
10/11 : On 2 occasions we were woken up by the sounds of black rhino browsing right next to where we were camped.
11/11 : Our Hoanib camping trips were amongst the most interesting we had undertaken.
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