News

Years after the mystery of the bare circles in the grassy plains on the edge of the Namib has been lifted, biologists are still captivated. Not only can the circles grow as old as the hills but their creators now hold the world record in "ecosystem engineering". Much to the chagrin of beavers... 

The Blue Crane, critically endangered in Namibia, occurs exclusively in the Etosha National Park and the Omadhiya lakes, a series of oshanas (seasonally flooded lakes) to the north of the park. To see this rare bird, tourists often visit areas near the Chudop waterhole in the Namutoni area, Salvadora in the Halali area, and recently at Nebrownii, east of Okaukuejo in Namibia’s most famous park.

When you see workers removing cacti from riverbeds in Windhoek or undeveloped, open land, know that they are providing an invaluable service. The workers are part of the voluntary ‘Cactus Clean Up’ campaign, which is now supported by the Gondwana Collection. 

Over the years I have visited Bushmanland many times but never spotted an African wild dog, although every now and then I heard about other people who had seen the multi-coloured canids. This time I am fortunate enough to encounter some of these fascinating animals in the wild. I can hardly believe my eyes: three African wild dogs are chasing a young springbok less than 100 metres away from us!

Devoid of life. That, at first glance, is the impression given by the red dunes and the adjoining white gravel plains of the Namib Desert on the doorstep of the coastal town of Swakopmund. The seasonal Swakop River, which reaches the Atlantic Ocean at Swakopmund, forms a dividing line between the town and the dunes to the south. Sand and stones, wind and fog, otherwise nothing. Or so it seems. This area is home to an amazing array of creatures, and there are also relicts from the past to take a closer look at. 

Kalahari truffles grow in eastern Namibia. They appear in years of good rainfall, usually late in the season when weather conditions are favourable. Driving in the eastern regions in autumn, you’re likely to see people searching for the cracks and protuberances in the red soil that reveal their whereabouts.

2017 has brought good rainfalls to large parts of Namibia. In places the rain was even above average and the gift from above was a great relief for the whole country. For some, however, it had disastrous consequences – especially in areas where the landscape hadn’t seen a drop of rain yet and was still suffering from the drought. A young couple from Austria, on their first visit to Namibia, had to sit tight in a spiky Ana tree amidst the whirling muddy floods of the Omaruru River for six hours until a police helicopter came to the rescue. 

In an effort to reduce and eventually eliminate plastic water bottles at our lodges, Gondwana contracted a local business – Dial a Water Namibia (commonly known as DAWN) to source and import a machine that allows us to still sell purified water to our guests, but more importantly get rid of the loathed plastic bottles. This is in line with Gondwana’s strive to decrease the use of plastics in all our operations and speaks to our constant drive to be as environmentally sensitive as we possibly can be.

Namibia’s wild horses have lived in the desert for 100 years and they are one of the top ten tourist attractions in Namibia. During the severe drought of the past years supplementary feed has kept them going. Now predation by hyaenas is threatening the survival of the wild horses in the Garub area of the Namib Naukluft National Park.

On Tuesday this week (28th March 2017), just after lunch, Dr Jean Paul Roux - Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources’ marine biologist - was informed that a stranded dolphin had been spotted in Lüderitz harbour. Dr Roux was surprised to find a Risso´s dolphin (Grampus griseus) stranded in the shallow water. Risso’s is a species which is very rare to Namibian waters.