Desert elephant tracking

As per Luke's post, we hired Archie a passionate local guide for conserving the wildlife of the area. He had also being heavily involved in protecting the Rhino. He took us to the old elephant song campsite which has been deserted due to lions. We found out why, when we discovered a dead zebra, surrounded by lion tracks. The tracks were very recent, but we couldn't find them. Further up the river bed we saw lots of families of baboons, oryx and springbok. Unexpectedly we came across giraffe who didn't seem too concerned about our presence. Some baby giraffes were also there. Eventually we found a herd of the desert elephants, there are only 500 left in Namibia. We were able to climb on some rocks and watch them pass below us. We were lucky to have the valley to ourselves. Towards the end of the valley we has lunch with 2 bull elephants. On the way back we passed a couple of jackels and continued looking for the lions but with no luck. After dropping Archie off at his home and meeting some of his children, we headed north to Opuwo. We were going to head west to a himba community camp and travel up the river beds, however with the car issues, we decided to head to a more major town. Opuwo was mind blowing with such a mix of tribes. Half naked Himbas and Zembas were wandering the street along with the Herero in their massive dresses and those who had adopted Western style clothing. The himba camp was closed, so we ended up camping at the country lodge with beautiful views across the valley. Hot showers were appreciated as the end of each day we, the car and it's contents are always covered in dust.

Lions prints




Desert elephants




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Location:Hoabnib River,Namibia