Zebra At the Edge of Dawn. Falling in Love With Namibia

MOUNTAIN ZEBRA IN THE MORNING LIGHT AT PALMWAG CONCESSION, NAMIBIA. IMAGE: ROBERTA KRAVETTE

ROBERTA KRAVETTE, THE SLIGHTLY MORE CAUTIOUS SIDE OF THE DESTINATION: WILDLIFE TEAM. NAMIBIA IS PERFECT FOR BOTH OF US.

By Roberta Kravette

How to Describe Namibia?

Namibia. Imagine a salt-pan moonscape adorned with mirage curtains shimmering under rainless blue skies. Imagine flat miles of low, dry brush punctuated by red-peaked mountains. Namibia is strange, sharp needled trees and thousand-year leaves and rolling hills formed by immense black boulders that lead to a coastline studded with ghostly stranded ships.

And Namibia is Wildlife

✔︎ Trip Tips

Where: Namibia, Africa
When: Summer: Oct.- March
Shoulder Seasons: April/May
How: Guided tour
Who: Solo or small groups,
Seniors to adventurers.
What: birders, photographers, wildlife lovers.
Why: The first nation to include habitat conservation in their constitution!

Diverse and plentiful, the wildlife species in Namibia astound in their adaptions to this challenging habitat. And Namibia is numbers, too. Here live the only growing populations of some of the rarest species on earth, including black rhino.

Namibia is also not exactly the first destination you think of when you are contemplating a safari. In fact, a few years ago, when Les and I were planning our very first African adventure, Namibia did not even cross our minds. Thankfully, Namibia was in the thoughts of a friend.

Peaceful Vibe, Wildlife, Cleanliness — Namibia Hit All My Sweet Spots

It turns out that this relatively little known country (no crowds!) was the perfect choice for a very first experience in Africa.

Namibia hit all my sweet spots. The pace is slow here, the vibe is peaceful. Welcoming people made me feel at home everywhere we went. Both the German and English languages are widespread, but smiles and laughter, are even more prevalent and have need no of translation.

And the country is astoundingly clean (even the public restrooms!) To help keep it that way, and in tune with its constitutional mandate for conservation, the government has a no single-use plastic policy. Yay!

Discover Namibia for Yourself! Small groups or solo travelers. Ask us how.

WOMAN TO WOMAN THIS HIMBA LADY AND I SHARE A LAUGH. WE HAD NO TROUBLE UNDERSTANDING EACH OTHER. IMAGE: ©ROBERTA KRAVETTE

I love the climate too, almost zero humidity, and virtually no mosquitos, warm in the daytime and cool enough for fleece or a jacket at night.

Wildlife is surprisingly abundant, thanks to a system of locally owned and run conservancies - it must be especially tough too. I cannot help but be amazed at the arid-adapted giraffe and zebra, both plains and mountain species, that thrive here.

The biggest population of endangered black rhinos left on the planet are found in Namibia, thanks in large part to those aforementioned local conservancies. But, the desert-adapted lions and elephants continue to amaze the researchers (and me!)

ELEPHANTS HAVE ADAPTED TO THE CHALLENGING CONDITIONS OF THE NAMIBIA DESERT BY EVOLVING LONGER LEGS AND WIDER FEET, THEIR SURVIVAL DEPENDS ON A MATRIARCH, ESPECIALLY NOW IN THIS TIME OF DROUGHT. SHE LEADS THE HEARD FROM ONE WATER HOLE TO THE NEXT. IM… — ELEPHANTS HAVE ADAPTED TO THE CHALLENGING CONDITIONS OF THE NAMIBIA DESERT BY EVOLVING LONGER LEGS AND WIDER FEET, THEIR SURVIVAL DEPENDS ON A MATRIARCH, ESPECIALLY NOW IN THIS TIME OF DROUGHT. SHE LEADS THE HEARD FROM ONE WATER HOLE TO THE NEXT. IMAGE THANKS TO DR. LAURA BROWN, DESERT ELELPHANT CONSERVATION.

Traveling Across Namibia in a Volkswagen

By the time we arrived at the Palmwag Lodge in Damaraland on the western side of Namibia, we had already been in the country for about a week. We had arrived in the capitol city, Windhouk, exploring by foot its fascinating mix of bustling modern business, history, and and traditional culture.

From there we set out across the country on hard-packed white gravel roads that turned our rented Volkswagen from blue to grey. We visited Namibia’s small towns, discovered treasure in their local shops and rested in their cafes. Outside these few enclaves, (make sure you stop and fuel up!) we rarely saw another human soul, a delightful surprise on our crowded planet. This gave us time and space to stop and marvel as the landscape changed from massive red dunes, to endless rolling hills, and rocky, flat plains that seemed to stretch forever before suddenly giving way to mountains of round black boulders.

Explore Namibia’s ancient cultures, fascinating wildlife, endemic & near endemic birds. Ask us how

The Time to Witness Wildlife

And the lack of other travelers, including to the parks and reserves, also allowed us time and space to discover wildlife species, some we’d never seen before. The wildlife paid little attention to the car or to us as we spied on their interactions for hours from the side of the road, unhurried, uncrowded and relaxed.

DELICATE LITTLE STEENBOC, WITH THEIR BIG EYES AND WONDERFUL EARS BECAME AN INSTANT FAVORITE IN NAMIBIA. IMAGE. ©ROBERTA KRAVETTE

We witnessed the antics of springbok spronging (leaping straight up with all four legs off the ground simultaneously) in the grass. And watched a cheetah eating the one who didn't get away. We'd spent hours watching giraffe and wildebeest and a delicate black-backed jackal leaping in the grass after rodents and lizards we couldn’t see.

We had seen the magnificent kudu and the unflappable oryx. One orex that I will never forget lead me down an enormous red sand dune when the mid-day sun became too much and my brain and legs seemed to no longer work in sync. No, we had no problem finding fascinating life all around us.

Arriving With the Sunset

Later, we'd have unforgettable encounters with lions and elephants - but it is a single warm morning in Palmwag that I go back to in my mind, time and time again.

We had arrived at the lodge, an oasis, literally and figuratively, only the day before. That evening we watched the sky turn from blue to bright orange infused with golds and pinks and reds then slowly deepen to the darkest ink studded with a million stars. And we slept lulled by the soft, strange sounds of the wild.

THE SUNSET FROM OUR COMFORTABLE VANTAGE POINT AT PALMWAG LODGE WAS GOLD AND ORANGE AND PINK AND RED . IMAGE: ©ROBERTA KRAVETTE

Sunrise of an Unforgettable Morning

We gathered early the next morning, just as the sun began to peek up from the mountains, filling the sky with pink/yellow light.

Palmwag is the oldest lodge in Namibia's arid Damaraland region. Nestled next to a spring near the Uniab River, surrounded by tall grasses and palm trees, it is a real oasis - a lifeline for both humans and wildlife.

Our meeting point was on the boardwalk that runs along the little ribbon-stream behind the lodge.

We arrived a few minutes early to find our guide had already been there for well over an hour, well before the sun came up.

WARNING BEHIND THE PALMWAG LODGE, THE UNIAB RIVER IS A FREQUENT WATER STOP FOR DESERT ADAPTED ELEPHANTS. IMAGE: ©ROBERTA KRAVETTE

Later, we learned that his extremely early arrival was to ensure that his guests, we, didn't startle – or get startled by – some of that thirsty wildlife, including the desert-adapted elephants or lions that drop by to drink and cool off in the tall grass.

Interested in Namibia? Let’s talk.

Our guide lead us out across the stream, over the little wooden bridge, past the "Beware of Elephants" sign, up the hill, stopping to look at thorny acacia trees and the Commiphora wildii or Omumbiri used as perfume by the indigenous Himba, and the rambling pile of long leaves strewn on the ground that are the 1000-year old Welwitschia plant. We went further through the bush and along a path winding up the hill until we reached the plateau.

OUR NATURALIST GUIDE EXPLAINED THAT THE WELWITSCHIA PLANT CAN LIVE TO BE OVER 1000 YEARS OLD. IMAGE: ©ROBERTA KRAVETTE

A Sound on the Breeze And We Are Not Alone

High above the valley, the guide stopped to show us tracks. Zebra!

He told us to be quiet. Watch. Listen.

There! The wind carried a sound from far away, a kind of bark.

We looked out and down over the infinite expanse of rocks and sand and spindly grasses and great lush clumps of poisonous Damara Milk Bush (Euphorbia damarana) that seemed dare and tease, tempting the unwary to just one bite …

Zebras were filling the valley.

ZEBRA APPEARED FROM NOWHERE, CALLING TO EACH OTHER AS THEY FILLED THE VALLEY. SPRINGBOK WERE CLOSE BEHIND. IMAGE: ©ROBERTA KRAVETTE

And Then Quiet Filled the Valley

Again the bark-like sound wafted up. The zebra were calling.

Was this their morning greeting - were they saying all is clear, or sending a warning each other - perhaps about us? But the zebra were in the valley, and we stood high on the ridge. After a while, they must have understood that these two-legged interlopers were staying put.

After awhile first zebras, (the adventurers ?), relaxed and quieted, concentrating on making their breakfast from the coarse, dry grass.

MOUNTAIN ZEBRA SEARCHING OUT BREAKFAST IN PALMWAG, NAMIBIA. IMAGE: ©ROBERTA KRAVETTE

More zebra followed. Stripes mingled and separated and mingled again. Springbok and kudu joined them in the valley. They grazed together, barely looking up to greet new arrivals.

The zebras await you Contact us

After awhile, hunger quenched for the moment, the sun and quiet and perfumed air must have energized them. A kind of exuberance rolled over the valley. Groups of zebra began to run, and stop, then run again. They Circling, chasing. Playing?

We stood on our overlook and watched them until, finally, with the sun getting hotter and higher in the sky, it was time to head back to the lodge to find our own morning repast.

SUN AND MORNING AIR SEEMED TO BRING OUT THE EXUBERANCE IN THE ZEBRA, SUDDENLY THEY BEGAN TO RUN AND CHASE EACH OTHER. IMAGE: ©R.KRAVETTE

Enchanted By the Call of Zebra at Dawn

On our first trip to Africa I expected to be impressed by big cats and thunderous elephants and those rare, fantastic, endangered throw-backs to prehistory, rhinoceros. And of course, I "knew" we’d find plenty of game in the form of antelopes and others of every size and shape.

But I never expected to be enchanted by the call of zebra at dawn, in a peaceful valley, surrounded by the rocky red hills of Namibia.

Be warned. There is no amount of readiness that can prepare you for the magic of Africa.

WE SAW MANY LIONS IN NAMIBIA. WE WATCHED THIS PRIDE FOR OVER AN HOUR. AND THEY WATCHED US. IMAGE: ©ROBERTA KRAVETTE

Experience Namibia On Your First Visit to Africa or Your Twelfth

If you would like to make Namibia your first experience in Africa, or your 12th, check out the opportunities on our travel page, or contact us, put I Want to Go To Namibia in “What’s on Your Mind?, and we will help design the perfect itinerary for you, or your family (great for multi-generation vacations,) or small group.

Namibia is unforgettable. Let’s plan.