ROBB REPORT INDIA AUGUST 2015 ROBB REPORT INDIA AUGUST 2015 journeys

south-western tip, Namibia is an The eight-tent more than 97 scorching kilometres inhospitable land of bone-dry deserts before crashing into the frigid Atlantic Inside Out and grey and ghostly Atlantic shores. property at Hoanib Ocean. Namibian parks are home to The country is twice the size of boasts stylishly simple Africa’s Big Five animals, rare mam- A new camp near Namibia’s Skeleton Coast lays the framework for California but, with only about 2.3 mals including the coastal-dwelling a one-of-a-kind safari experience. million citizens, has roughly six per interiors featuring brown hyena, more than 600 species by bruce wallin cent of its population. The residents of birds, and Cape fur seals, humpback represent at least 11 different eth- works commissioned whales, and other marine life. And nicities, among them the San people from the wildlife yet, as many regular visitors are quick r. Philip “Flip” Stander bounds from behind a bushy beard the colour of the des- of the Kalahari, the semi-nomadic to point out, one should never expect D ahead of his guests, eager to share a ert’s famed dunes. “Here’s one now.” Himba in the desolate north-west, photographer in Namibia a Serengeti-style safari discovery he made on the grounds of Delicately, he reaches for a smooth piece of red and the German-, English-, and Graham Springer. marked by an abundance of wildlife. Namibia’s Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp. The clay, maybe two inches at its widest, and turns it Afrikaans-speaking descendants of “It is not a first-time destination,” Cambridge-educated zoologist—who has been over to reveal a black painted side. Several more European colonizers. parkland, including Namib-Naukluft says Will Jones, founder and manag- studying the Namib Desert’s elusive lion items—including a larger fragment, complete Almost half of the land in Namibia National Park, where some of the ing director of the United Kingdom- population for more than 15 years—has a knack with a handle—present themselves within sec- is protected as private reserves and world’s tallest sand dunes stretch for based safari company, Journeys by for uncovering the area’s hidden treasures. The onds, suddenly revealing this speck in a sea of current source of his excitement, however, is sand and rock as a trove of ancient artefacts. “It’s neither a cat nor any other living creature, but everywhere,” Stander says, placing the original rather the vestiges of nomadic people who roamed shard back on the ground in the precise position this barren stretch of northwestern Namibia he found it. “But you have to look closely.” thousands of years ago. In Namibia, a country of striking extremes and “If you look around on the ground you can find fascinating subtleties, the doctor’s advice is sound. shards of pottery,” Stander says as he surveys a Situated north of South Africa and west jumble of rocks, his intense blue eyes peering out of Botswana on the African continent’s

Wilderness Safaris’ Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp borders one Dana A llen of Africa’s least visited—and most extraordinary—national parks.

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light aircraft, the eight-tent prop- erty is one of 11 camps in Namibia operated by the South Africa-based Wilderness Safaris, whose lodges near the dunes of Namib-Naukluft, in the north-western Himba lands, and in other remote regions helped establish a Namibian lux- ury safari circuit. At Hoanib, the eight accommoda- tions flank a main lodge, all con- structed with heavy-duty canvas tops stretched tightly over an artful con- figuration of poles. Stylishly simple interiors feature works commis- sioned from the wildlife photogra- pher Graham Springer, whose black- and-white prints—an oryx standing on a distant sandy ridge, a lone giraffe loping over a dune—empha- sise the surrounding terrain as much as, if not more than, the wildlife. The landscape is certainly worth The main luxury item that Namibia offers is space. It makes the travellers highlighting. Rugged granite peaks jut from a parched gravel plain that feel completely off-grid, giving a sense of total solitude. drops gradually from the camp’s elevated perch toward the Hoanib The eight accommodations Design. “It is for those who have decade. Still, he says, “The main became relatively—though by no River, a sandy bed that is devoid had their wildlife fix elsewhere and luxury item that Namibia offers is means easily—accessible with the of water almost year round. Springs flanking a main lodge at are looking for something differ- space—that ability to feel like opening of Namibia’s newest lux- underneath, however, support an Hoanib are constructed ent, to push out the frontiers a lit- you’re completely off-grid, that ury lodge, an exclusive fly-in camp ecosystem in which deep-rooted tle bit more. Namibia definitely sense of solitude.” that offers an appropriately singu- ana and acacia trees sprout from with heavy-duty canvas ticks that box.” Nowhere is that feeling more lar safari experience. the riverbed’s floor, offering sus- tops stretched over an artful Jones, who grew up in six African pronounced than in the country’s tenance to the desert-adapted ele- countries, counts Namibia among Skeleton Coast National Park, Hoanib Skeleton Coast phants, giraffes, oryx, springbok, configuration of poles. his “Under the Skin” destinations, a four million-acre expanse that Camp is set within the 1.1 million- and baboons that wander its The Hoanib a collection that also includes is said to be one of the least acre Palmwag Concession, on its twisted channels. The phenomenon—a by-product source for wildlife, springing up to Camp’s lodges situated near Zambia, Rwanda, and other less- visited parks in all of Africa. Last north-eastern border with the The camp’s location is about 40 of the hot desert clashing with the form striking blue oases amid the the dunes travelled locations. Namibia, in August, the secluded region national park. Only reachable by kms from the coast, a distance cov- Atlantic’s cold Benguela Current— vast dune fields. A drive through the of Namib- particular, offers “a much more ered almost entirely by windswept is feared by sea captains and air- dunes to one such wellspring is a Naukluft specialist, unfettered safari experi- dunes. Excursions to the coast plane pilots alike. (More than 1,000 highlight of the camp’s trip to the have helped ence,” he says. “It’s about spending require a morning drive over the shipwrecks line the Skeleton Coast, coast, which also might include vis- establish a The stylishly Namibian more time in fewer places, about dunes and floodplains, and a offering one explanation for its its to a seal colony, a rusted iron ship- simple luxury safari drilling down into the micro wild- 15-minute return flight in the after- name.) But the fog serves a purpose wreck, and a ranger station packed interiors at the circuit. life world—the insects, the lizards. noon. The trip is included for guests beyond frustrating would-be trav- with whale bones, pickled snake Hoanib Camp emphasise the But it’s also about your big cats, staying three nights or more at ellers. In an area where the average remains, newspaper clippings about surrounding your elephants, and how they adapt Hoanib, but it is by no means guar- annual rainfall is less than an inch, long-ago wrecks, and other Skeleton terrain as well to life in the desert. It’s all there, anteed. Flights are contingent on the soupy conditions provide hydra- Coast curiosities. The outing—which as the wildlife. it’s just a little harder to find.” the Skeleton Coast’s fickle weather tion for reptiles, birds, and other a change in weather can cut short at While Namibia has traditionally patterns, which frequently produce animals, with dew accumulating a moment’s notice—is unique among catered to the self-drive safari mar- a viscous and vicious fog that bar- on the leaves of plants to form min- safari experiences in Africa, offering ket, Jones has seen the level of Dana A llen rels in from the shore, enveloping iature pools of water. a sharp contrast and a fine comple- accommodation in the country vast stretches of inland dunes in a The desert’s underground chan- ment to Hoanib’s equally compelling

improve dramatically over the past A llen Dana matter of minutes. nels also create the occasional water excursions closer to camp.

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Namib is the only place in the world where lions live in such extreme conditions and free-ranging lions can be seen coming down to the coast to hunt seals.

After replacing his potsherd, and can be an irresistible draw for says. “A desert lion in Namibia Stander heads back toward the the desert’s limited predator popu- might have a range of 2,600 to camp, leaving his guests and their lation. According to Stander, who 34,500 sq km.” The desert’s low lion guide to wander down to the Hoanib is now based at Hoanib but spends density means that the chances of River. Their path travels first over weeks at a time in the open wilder- seeing one are slim. The odds a granite rise—which hides the den ness, the Namib is the only place in increase greatly, however, when you Top: The and paw prints of an African wild- the world where lions live in such have a sharply focused doctor Hoanib cat—then down an elephant-worn extreme conditions. (It is also the in residence. Skeleton Coast campsite. trail to the riverbed, where a safari only place where free-ranging lions The next morning, at the outset Below: Desert- vehicle is waiting. A short drive come down to the coast and, on of a game drive to the Hoanib River,

adapted downriver reveals the pachyderms occasion, hunt seals.) The cats were an urgent call comes in over the top & bottom left: Dana A llen; bottom right:B ruce elephants, that presumably carved the path, a all but eliminated from the desert radio. The guide on the receiving giraffes, and party that includes three newborns. in the 1980s, shot or poisoned by end of the call—who has not seen other wildlife thrive along the Each subsequent bend seems to poachers and farmers. In the late a lion since arriving at camp a few Hoanib River, produce additional elephant sight- 1990s, however, “reports started weeks earlier—suddenly swings his despite annual ings; giraffes, too, begin to appear coming in of tracks in the desert,” vehicle around and speeds off in rainfall of less out of the thin desert air. A herd of Stander says. “I surveyed the area the direction of a nearby valley, than an inch. ostriches—maybe five adults and and found between 20 and 23 lions.” where Stander is waiting with his 13 chicks—sprints at top speed at That number has risen to more latest discovery. the sight of the vehicle, scattering than 150 today, a still infinitesimal over the nearby dunes like a pack figure in the context of the 80,808 Journeys by Design, of velociraptors. square kilometre Namib. “A typical www.journeysbydesign.com; W

The riverbed’s high concentration lion’s range in East Africa might be Wilderness Safaris, allin of game is an anomaly in these parts between 50 and 100 sq km,” Stander www.wilderness-safaris.com

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