Namibia – Page 10 – Pelican Yoga

Locating Lila (the leopard)

Published January 12, 2023 by Pelidoug

The featured image – photographed by fellow traveller Ian Millar, to whom my thanks – shows John M (a very capable nature guide/driver/researcher/educator) radio-tracking a leopard.

All of the leopards in Okonjima are 100% wild animals, but some have been “darted”, then fitted with radio-transmitter-equipped collars.

Okonjima, in central Namibia, is centrally focused on wildlife conservation and research, which is in large part funded by tourism.

At the time Ian took the featured image John had located unmistakable evidence of a leopard having very recently dragged his/her “kill” across the track on which “our” vehicle was driving…

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Weaving at the Windhoek Country Club

Published January 10, 2023 by Pelidoug

Weaving at the Windhoek Country Club

As is true of not a few other “country clubs”, the one in Namibia’s capital city is in fact well inside an urban “footprint”.

The Windhoek Country Club Resort offers luxurious accommodation, decent food, a casino, an 18 hole golf course, a gym, and extravagantly “Afrokitsch” reception and dining spaces.

To the astonishment of this non-gambler, non-golfer – and non-fan of Afrokitsch – my beloved and I there enjoyed an unforgettable wildlife experience, just a couple of human footsteps away from “our” room!

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Footprints: literally, mostly (with musical bonus)

Published January 8, 2023 by Pelidoug

Footprints: literally, mostly (with musical bonus)

This post’s actual footprints come from bears in Alaska, birds on the Indian subcontinent and continental Australia, a Tasmanian wombat, and humans in an African desert and Australian suburbia.

The musical bonus is courtesy of one of the greatest jazz musicians – equally so as composer, virtuoso instrumentalist and inspired improviser.

There’s also a metaphorical footnote which involves New Zealand’s largest farm…

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Happy Gnu Year, with musical bonuses (final, double-edition of Namibia “single”-image series)

Published December 31, 2022 by Pelidoug

Happy Gnu Year, with musical bonuses (final, double-edition of Namibia “single”-image series)

Gnu/wildebeest are bona fide antelopes.

However, as the Blue Wildebeest’s scientific name – Connochaetes taurinus – suggests, most human newcomers assume that wildebeest are bovine beasts.

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Breaking wildlife photography “rules” ( #23 in Namibia single-image series)

Published December 30, 2022 by Pelidoug

Breaking wildlife photography “rules” ( #23 in Namibia single-image series)

From a very sensible “5 Quick Tips For Better Wildlife Shots”, which is worth reading:

One very important rule when photographing wildlife is to focus on the eyes of your subject.

As you can see, today’s photo breaks this rule…to its advantage, I think.

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“High, wide and handsome” (#22 in Namibia single-image series)

Published December 29, 2022 by Pelidoug

“High, wide and handsome” (#22 in Namibia single-image series)

The expression comes from the USA, and is usually applied to places like Montana or to ruggedly handsome “big” men in America’s “Wild West”.

”High, wide and handsome” perfectly describes a deal of Namibia, especially western Namibia’s Brandberg massif.

It covers circa 650 square kilometres, has a circumference of circa 140 kilometres, and Its high point – Namibia’s highest peak – is a deal taller than Australia’s Mount Kosciuszko.

Unlike the Great Wall of China, which is not in fact readily discernible to an astronaut’s naked eyes, the Brandberg is clearly visible from the International Space Station.

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Black and white, in colour (#21 in Namibia single-image series)

Published December 27, 2022 by Pelidoug

Black and white, in colour (#21 in Namibia single-image series)

This post’s photo was not taken in a national park, nor on a “game drive”.

In northwestern Namibia – in fact, just about anywhere in Namibia – an interesting wildlife encounter is never a certainty, but is almost always a less-than-remote possibility.

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Postprandial, probably (#20 in Namibia single-image series)

Published December 26, 2022 by Pelidoug

Postprandial, probably (#20 in Namibia single-image series)

At least during the festive season, Australian human behaviour is sometimes surprisingly similar to certain fleeter-footed – but also well-fed – Namibian cats’…

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Venerable dunes, with “Father Time” musical bonus (#19 in Namibia single-image series)

Published December 24, 2022 by Pelidoug

Venerable dunes, with “Father Time” musical bonus (#19 in Namibia single-image series)

The Namib is generally considered the world’s oldest desert; certainly, it is many millions of years older than the Sahara.

Some of the Namib’s dunes are uncommonly stable, exquisitely coloured, remarkably tall.

Contrary to common belief – and to claims made by promoters of various African and Eurasian deserts – the world tallest dunes are not in Africa, nor Arabia, nor China; by a considerable margin, they are in South America.

The Namib’s “sand sea” is, however, singularly beautiful, most especially around Sossusvlei.

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Weirdness-free zone? (# 18 in Namibia single-image series)

Published December 23, 2022 by Pelidoug

Weirdness-free zone? (# 18 in Namibia single-image series)

Sick of strange, odd, eccentric or exceptional persons, things and phenomena?

You believe signs/believe in signs?

if your answer to both questions is “yes”, a town/region you have never heard of has “just the place” for you!

It is conveniently located in the world’s second least densely populated nation, not far from its border with Angola…

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Tag: Namibia