Photographs from Etosha

Hobatere Reserve Game Count

July 28th, 2009

Oryx running during a game count I helped conduct at Hobatere Game Reserve.


On July 24th, two WWF trucks loaded with camping gear, GPS’s, and maps of the Hobatere Lodge conession [freehold game ranch] were headed into the Kunene region of Northwestern, Namibia to help finish up the world’s largest 6.6 million ha game count. Quick reminder about this game count if you haven’t been following recently: The count represents how local control [post apartheid] is allowing people on communal lands to manage their own resources sustainability and has contributed to the large recovery in certain wildlife populations, while bringing economic benefits associated with hunting, meat sales, and other various tourists areas to the communal areas. This count helps conservancies manage their wildlife populations and establishes quotas. Its truly an amazing community based effort.

The Northwest Game Count has been going on since 2000. It has been estimated that anywhere from 250 to 300 people help conduct the game count and it covers a whopping 17.5 million acres or 1.3 million full-length football fields! All the trucks running different routes cover over 4,000 miles and 27 adjacent conservancies work together during a three week period to count. This short period helps to prevent double counting.
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Planning for the count:

Earlier in the week Raymond, who is in charge of collecting much of Namibia’s game count data everyone cites, was having problems gathering enough people to go with him and help Hobatere conduct their game count. Raymond has been with WWF for 10+ years and is full of many good game count stories and knows Namibia well. I was itching to leave Windhoek and –so I gladly volunteered! We also worked it out to have Erica and Keith join us too. I’ve had many enjoyable weekends with both in the past.

It takes Raymond awhile to set up the details of a game count, even for a small one like Hobatere. He has to print out maps for all the vehicles, line up GPS units with preloaded positions and maps, negotiate with the owners or communal members when and where camp will be set up, and collect enough food for everyone.

“Oh, we’re going to be in the Northwest part of Namibia again Raymond?” I said. “How about we do the game count on Saturday and spend the rest of the weekend in Etosha?”

“You want to go to Etosha?” said Raymond. “Alright, I’ll take you to Etosha.”

I was so thrilled. The week before I was looking at National Geographic and other photography websites learning more about my camera and saw so many photos snapped in this park on NG. Also previously, at the Cheetah Conservation Fund fundraiser, I met Frans Lanting, a NG photographer who is doing a Namibian project right now and I imagine he’ll be taking many photographs in the same areas where we were going.

I also wanted to put in one more field trip before I fly back to the states for my sister’s wedding, therefore, this was a perfect opportunity. And what better way to leave Namibia than to do a game count and Etosha before I come back for round two.

Driving to Hobatere Game Lodge:

Along the way, there are some rather enjoyable small towns on highway B1 including Okahandja and Otjiwarongo one passes through. Many locals are out walking in the streets, conversing in front of grocery stores, and enjoying the beautiful weather. The highways leading to these towns have huge swaths of grass and shrubs cleared [so you can see the a 600 pound Kudu bull before you see it in the windshield of your car] with warning signs of Kudu, Warthogs, ect. and the beautiful Khomas Hochland, Auas, and Omatako mountains ranges fill the horizon. They’re dark brown and red forces lining the way to Damaraland that remind me a lot of the Southwestern parts of the states. We stopped briefly in Otjiwarongo for lunch at a German influenced restaurant and quickly hit the road again to reach our destination before sundown.

Much like the Great Plains, one has to be prepared to travel 5 to 8 hours a day to reach your destination. As we were driving into the Hobatere Reserve, we saw some mountain zebra and beautiful damaraland flora. We quickly set up camp by one of the nice lodges, and were catching Z’s to be up at 5 AM to begin the count at 7 AM sharp. We did stop in the main reception area to relax and talk to the owner Steve about the upcoming count. It was so interesting to hear his perspective on the conservancies and their development in Namibia.

Along the way, Raymond told me there would be a good chance we’ll see lions and that about a pride of 20 live in the area. With that said, there would be no more sleeping outside of a tent for the colleagues and myself. Normally, I’ve taken my chances and have slept outside underneath the stars and it reminds me of home, because we have the same clarity like the second least populated country in the world in the Sand Hills.

There are no lights anywhere to even challenge the flaming balls of solar gas.

Raymond also entertained us with many good stories and local food favorites that include utilizing the whole animal. I never imagined an animal could be used up in so many different ways, but some of them did sound intriguing and there will probably come a point when he’ll take me to Naye Naye [Bushman Land] and I’ll be able to indulge in fine bush meat dining. We had a short meeting about the routes, what to expect, and who will be doing what for the upcoming morning count.

Then we were off to bed with no sight or sound of lions near the camp site, but we all had hopes of seeing one in the field.

Morning of the Game Count:

When the morning came, we divided up into two teams. Erica has a GIS mapping background and Raymond wanted to take route 3 with me because there was a chance anyone else would get lost, but he’s been on it before. Each team was going to do one route and share the second one together. Keith and Erica were doing route 1 and Raymond and myself were doing route 3.

And we were off going no faster then 30 km. To maintain integrity in the count: you start at the same time, on the same date, use the same route, and never use binocs when you’re counting from the top of a truck. Its amazing what one see’s just standing up in the truck vs. driving and it made me think about all the wonderful things I’m probably missing.

Overall, the game count went well. It was the first time I was in charge of sitting up on top of the truck looking for African wildlife that can be rather hard to spot. For a Nebraskan Sand Hiller, this was quite the thrill. It semi reminded me of counting cattle through the gate back home making sure all is well. I was a little intimidated to say the least. But I remembered what my boss Chris Weaver told me about looking through binocs to find hidden wildlife, but in this case I can’t use them. Luckily, I spent a few days driving around with Chris in Damaraland before and developed a sense of what to look for when single animals are not as obvious.

The morning drive was so beautiful. The light was soft. The wind was dying down. And I had a great view surrounding me.

We didn’t leave our campsite for more then half a mile and immediately saw 3 female kudu up on a rocky hillside looking down at us. We were in for a little surprise with our route. There were few clearly marked roads because all the rains have grown the grass long making it impossible to find a road. We were relying on the GPS to steer us in the right direction while avoiding a series of rocks and trees. I’d say we bushwhacked for about 60% of route three, and it was frustrating at times trying to navigate through dense Damaraland brush/tree veldt. We saw many oryx, zebras, giraffe, and spring bok. And I spotted a black backed jackal Raymond told me was a, “Good spot!”

Before everyone left, we decided on a place to meet up so we could do route 2 together. Raymond and I feared the extra time it was taking us to do our route was going to make us late. When we arrived we didn’t see any tracks coming from the other direction. We figured they were lost and waited 10 minutes. We didn’t hear the sound of a truck, so we found a bottle and wrote a note for Keith and Erica to head back to camp in the middle of the road. We were pressed for time to leave by 1:30 so we could make it to Etosha before 5:30 when they close the gates at the camp site so lions don’t eat you. If we were late, it would be a cold cold night waiting outside the gate listening to lions roar.

Route 2 was much easier to go through and we saw much more wildlife in this part of the reserve. We rolled back to camp and saw no sign of Keith or Erica. Lets say things became a little tense and we were worried about our friends. We spent nearly two hours flying around the different routes looking for our friends and were worried something horrible had happened. With lions, elephants, ect. hanging around many things can go wrong. I felt like a professional tracker while we were blazing through Hobatere. We were looking for tracks, assessing where they’d were most likely to be located, and listened for signs of life.

Once we started driving their route, Erica and Keith came roaring behind us in their truck. They’d planted their truck perfectly in two aardvark holes and they spent an hour digging themselves out, using a jack to lift the truck and pile rocks in the holes to they could drive out. Raymond and I were so relieved, but I don’t think it was apparent how worried we really were about the situation. We went back to camp, packed, crunch numbers, and flew to the Western side of Etosha where one has to have a permit issued before you arrive. Luckily, Raymond has some nice friends.

I’m going to write about the Etosha experience shortly. Please stay tuned! In the meantime enjoy the elephant picture I took in the Etosha National Park.



Cheers!

A.E. Price