Packed, breakfast and away early again this morning as we have an activity on the way North West to Windhoek. Passed some Wildebeest and Oryx along the way.
Back to Solitaire (where we had stopped on the way south to Sesriem) and the Namib Carnivore Centre at Solitaire. To quote them “A unique carnivore research and education centre in partnership with the N/a'an kuse Foundation. Our aim is to conserve wild carnivore populations, educate and inspire. Two wildlife biologists are stationed at Solitaire Guest Farm and guests can accompany them on wild Cheetah Tracking Safaris. During the tracking excursion guests will learn about the research at the Centre, how radio telemetry works and walk alongside the cheetahs (we didn’t do that) in a spectacular landscape promising a truly unique experience.”
We hopped into an open backed truck and headed a short distance back along the road to a fenced paddock. Mat, our guide, said that it was about 10km around). Mat had a radio receiver which he waved in the air listening for the clicks to find out where Pepper, the female Cheetah was. Pepper and the other cheetah’s have a radio collar so they can be located. When we caught sight of her he called and blew the horn. She came bounding over (Cheetah’s are fast) to the truck where Mat gave her a bowl of meat, including bones. She gobbled it up as we took photos and then she wandered off.
Like most of the Cheetahs, Pepper had been an orphaned cub when her mother was shot by a farmer. The idea of the Centre is to release the animals back into the wild but Pepper has been habituated to humans too long (she had been at a lodge for some time before coming here) and would not survive in the wild.
We also saw two male cheetahs but they didn’t get food as they are only fed every 4 days. They came over to the truck all the same and Mat ‘played’ with them if getting them to snarl and hissing at you is playing. They are beautiful animals.
From Solitaire we drove over the Spreetshoogte Pass towards Windhoek. Spreetshoogte Pass connects the Namib Desert with the Khomas Highland. With gradients between 1:4.5 and 1:6 it is the steepest pass in Namibia, as well as the one straddling the biggest elevation difference, climbing almost 1,000 metres within 4 kilometres of road. The top of the pass features a rest place from which there is a spectacular view into the adjacent Namib. We certainly appreciated this because there was no way we were stopping on the way up for a photo. Talk about steep!
A quick stop at Rehoboth. Interesting that we are now back to a littered countryside – something we have not seen for quite a while. As Ian says it all depends on the local government). A little further along the road we had our packed lunch (our last) at a roadside stop before arriving in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia.
Ian showed us ‘briefly’ around Windhoek - 1959 Heroes and Heroines Memorial Grave, the Independence Museum, Parliament House etc.. In our travels he had told us quite a bit about Namibia’s independence struggle and it was interesting to see how it was all remembered in the capital. In some ways it would have been great to spend more time investigating but the reality after two weeks on the road was that we were exhausted.
We visited the Wild Dog office down town and met Lucinda who had planned our itinerary for us and were then whisked off to Galton Guest House for our final night in Namibia. It was here that we said our good byes to Ian. He had certainly excelled as our guide and we couldn’t have asked for anything more. Such a knowledgeable person.
Lucinda had organised a driver to take us a local ‘hang out’, Joe’s Beer House for dinner (well most of us – Jennie was feeling a little poorly). What a bizarre spot – funky I guess you’d call it. There was paraphernalia everywhere – old stuff hanging from every crook and cranny – antelope heads, skulls, horns, toilet seats, chairs and even a mini minor – probably even the kitchen sink if we’d kept looking. The food was pretty good too.
