Aat: TT Namibia (Last update April 6)*

[aat]

Thanks for the comments about the Lions.... Jackal was part of the scene sorry for posting


Part 17 - Etosha Impressions

Next to sightings with Cats , Black Rhino I think it is nice to show you some impressions of larger groups of animals , trying to survive in a dry area , big open areas and some waterholes.
From a distance it makes it even more beautiful

Zebra's.... lined up , walking through the heath towards....?
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Yes....good guess.... to a waterhole

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Sitting in your car and wondering.... so many of them and such a small waterhole...how are they doing this..

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Other antelopes also coming for some water and also walked a long way.... had to wait...

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Beautiful they are

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Another waterhole with these 5 zebra's in line drinking together..always worth a (camera)shot

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And these , my mind "went" to Mopani area in kruger , glad to see them here too

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On the borders of Etosha we enjoyed this group of Giraffe....

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and last picture

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Thanks for being with me again after a peaceful and lovely week

[nan]

in the first picture, the Zebras seem to be so resignated
nothing to eat... only the search of water

nice picture... the 5 in line

I think your "Mopani" Antelopes are Red Hartebeest

nice episode, in a so hard life

[aat]

Part 18 - From Etosha to Okonjima

Hi all,
For a while enough about Etosha and moving from Etosha to Okonjima
(Okonjima is the home of the AfricatFoundation)

Leaving Etosha and driving along the long and not winding roads
Somewhere near one of the towns we found the High Speed Train

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Getting closer to Okonjima Bushcamp we saw these signs

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and
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From the main road it still a distance and several times we had to pass one of the gates....
Loved this one

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Okonjima ?
Situated halfway between the capital Windhoek and the Etosha National Park, the 55,000 acre Okonjima Game Reserve has some of the best accommodation in Namibia, but the highlight has to be the cheetah and leopard safaris.

Well,
The accomodation is fabolous , people / staff wonderful and our almost private ranger was suberbe !!

On arrival day we decided to go for a Leopard drive. There were no many guests and so we had lots of space in the vehicle.
How it works ? In the reserve there is a good number of Leopards, some are wearing a collar and some do not wearing one. Some are brought in for different reasons and some other Leopards just entered the area and are completely wild.
All leopards have to take care of themselves , hunting antelopes , wildebeast etc.....
Going with a Leopard drive means driving around and the ranger / driver is "looking" for signals of Leopards wearing a collar and sending signals. You have to be within their "reach" to be able to find them.

We found a signal after about 40 minutes driving around... signal is one thing...finding the Leopard next step... and after 5 minutes more looking around we found this really beautiful Leopard.

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He was relaxed , laying down

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Getting a bit closer and a big lense is sooooo usefull

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I made a nice series of pictures but just can't show them all here.

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Just after this shot he stand up and walked away.... but with this vehicle we were able to follow him off-road through the bush.
10 minutes later after driving through the tick bush (following a leopard is not that easy .... I know now !)

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Instead of looking at a Leopard laying down it was really great to see him walking and standing if front of us...

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And a last "shot" of this Leopard

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Thanks for being with us and will continue next part with ehhh more Leopard and walking with / to Cheetahs
*** yes nan.... really something for you I promise....***

[aat]

Tina,
It's worth to go to Okonjima (not cheap but worth it) I am from the netherlands and the currency exchange rate is very nice for europeans. There are many possibilities to stay in Namibia , from average prices to more expensive. Convincing your SO must be not that difficult, buy a leopard print night "dress" and you can book for Namibia....

stunning pictures, aat I would not mind to see them all

It sounds like this is a place I have to visit. I just have to convince my SO first to finally go to Namibia. Is it very expensive?

[aat]

Part 19 - Okonjima

Thanks for all comments on part 18.
I will add two new parts now , 19 and 20 about Okonjima

(Okonjima is the home of the AfricatFoundation)

Previous part I showed you some pictures of a beautiful male Leopard
Our second day started with a early morning drive to find another leopard.

Driving through this area is beautiful and after about 1 hour searching we found another leopard , this time a really beautiful female

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Like the male leopard she was wearing a collar but I tried to make the pictures so you can't see the collar or may be a little part of it.

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It was really great to be able to get so close and getting all the time to photograph her. We stayed for about 30 minutes with her.

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Like with the other leopard we found her by using the radio signals.
Like a real lady she showed her beautiful face and tongue

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and like any cat ...doing a "cat-wash"

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what a joy and being lucky again to see a leopard like this one and at such short distance.

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Less then 20 meters away... she was really stunning

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Then so cute... laying down and a little nap for about 5 minutes...
Here you can see a small part of her collar.

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Last picture of her

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It was part of our trip and while sitting in the vehicle going around to find these cats it's such a great privilege to see them.

I will add next part shortly after this one.... specially for my friend nan

end of part 19

[aat]

Part 20 - Okonjima

Second part about this day at Okonjima (Walking with Cheetah)

(Okonjima is the home of the AfricatFoundation)

Previous part I showed you some pictures of a beautiful female Leopard
After tracking and finding the leopard it was time for second part of the morning.

Finding and walking with the Cheetah
(specially for nan ... I know she likes / loves Cheetah so much...
nan, I really can recommend you going here and doing this....)

Driving to another section of Okonjima where we started to search for Cheetah. These Cheetah are collared.
After some time we found them

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The ranger stopped the car so we could go out for a walk ......

The Cheetah (3 in total) walked away so we had to follow them
Elly and I got out of the car and started to walk
After about 100 meter we found them again laying down in the shadow

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It is feels different ... camera in your hand and Cheetah at less then 20 meters from you...

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Together with one of the rangers I could even get a bit closer ....

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But it is different ...standing there , high grass and some bush.... and so close to them

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Big belly and staring at you at about 10 meters.... sooooooo beautiful

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and zooming in a bit.... feels like being next to this Cheetah

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and

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with a last view on two of them... it was too close by to have both of them on one picture.... and going backwards was not an option because you could not see them well enough for a pciture....
This one made at about 5 meters from them.... ranger next to me.... and quickly "click" ....

What a wonderful experience this was.... One-with-Cheetah

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Ok.... end of these two parts.... hope you liked it...

[Toko]

Part 9 - Nice Encounters

Then.... I just could stop before I almost hit this lovely snake. A Cobra on the road and he/she was not amused to meet me....

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more detailed

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I am not afraid of snakes (sitting in my car and windows closed .......) so getting a bit back to get out of his spitting range I opened my window to make some more pictures. I think because of the "vibration" noises of my car he prepared himself for protecting action... and for us.... beautiful posing for some pictures of him in "strike position"

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and more in detail:

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Hello

we have an update on this supercool Cobra sighting.
We have done some searching and herpetologist Johan Marais has confirmed our latest suspicion ... it's a rare find of an

Anchieta's Cobra

Well done, aat

And thanks heaps, Johan for your help and expertise