Issue 2 (May 2008)

• Wild Dogs have returned to Mudumu National Park in the Caprivi Strip, according to guides at Lianshulu Lodge – the only lodge inside the park.

The dogs have just successfully raised a litter of six pups and are a welcome and important addition to the park’s eco-system. Also in the Caprivi Strip, Islands of Africa’s Susuwe Island Lodge, reports elephants starting to return to the area, and a hippo has taken up residence in front of the lodge.

• Namibia Tracks and Trails has increased the frequency of its mobile safaris into the northwest of Namibia. The trips (both tailormade and scheduled departures) range from two nights searching for elephants and black rhino to longer trips for eight nights. Many of the shorter trips are perfect for people wanting to spend a couple of nights close to nature in the complete wilderness with a highly experienced guide.

• Two Namibian hotels and two lodges are going to be revamped following a deal with one of the world’s oldest luxury hotel chains. Kempinski plan to redevelop The Strand Hotel in Swakopmund, King’s Den Lodge in Caprivi, Mokuti Lodge close to Etosha and a hotel in Windhoek.

• Mushara Lodge has opened an outpost on the bank of a dry riverbed. Mushara Outpost sleeps 16 and each en suite tent is on a wooden deck giving great views into the surrounding bush. The Outpost’s cool main area is built in the style of an old farm house with high walls and a corrugated iron roof with a large wrap around veranda that offers plenty of shade. Owners Marc and Mariza Pampe say they want to create a ‘lived-in feeling’- friendly, warm, extremely comfortable, with a homely atmosphere.

• Boulders Camp, the newest property in the exclusive Wolwedans Collection, has opened deep in the heart of the NamibRand nature reserve. Boulders accommodates guests in four spacious rooms that are sited around the base of a rock strewn mountain. It is private in the extreme. There are no well-trodden paths here, just thousands of square hectares of the oldest desert on the planet. Boulders Camp is seasonal and is open from Easter to October, the prime desert months.

• Okonjima Bush Camp – the home of AfriCat – has added a wheelchair friendly room to its accommodation. Okonjima is famous for its cheetahs but, a couple of years ago, adopted some wild dog puppies. The pups’ progress was followed in the BBC’s Wild in Africa programme. They are now happily settled in a new large enclosure.

•  A new pile of rocks at the entrance to the reception of Cañon Village replicates numerous similar piles that can be found in many parts of Namibia. They are usually next to ancient paths and passes, or sometimes in the vicinity of watering places. Among the Nama people they were known as Haitsi Aibeb, the grave of Haiseb, a deity. If you come across a Haitsi Aibeb you are meant to add a stone or a twig and ask for Haiseb’s blessing for your journey.