Our carnivore tracking experience

Driving down to Namib Rand we had a full van of fridge, beds, enough food for a small army, four sleepy girls and Flo, our ever-enthusiastic male researcher, in the front driving. The first time we felt that we were actually far from N/a´an ku sê was when the road changed to deep earth red and the landscape went from constant scrub-land to giant canyons and red sand as far as the eye could see.

We were greeted at the house by the last group who got a braai going for us and regaled us with tales of the country and indecipherable German songs. The thing you could see in all their eyes was the fact that they loved it here and would stay forever if they could – we knew we were in for an amazing time.
The following day we spent networking with local landowners and farmers – it’s vital to build a rapport and good dialogue with the people who work with this land otherwise they will never understand why we want to release “dangerous” animals and then go off and leave them. We were treated to lunch at a luxury lodge and although we tried to convince Flo that we would be much better trackers if we stayed there, he wasn’t entirely convinced. Everyone was unstintingly lovely and we were showered with water and friendliness wherever we went.

The following day the real tracking began, our male Cheetah Kyan had decided that he too deserved the good life and had wandered into Sossusvlei, so, with heavy hearts, we followed him into the reserve – life’s hard for a research volunteer! Sossusvlei is on the edge of the Namib desert and is a stunning vista of giant red sand dunes – one of which our Cheetah friend decided to stroll up so in the mid-day burning sun we toiled up this colossus before collapsing at the top for melted cheese sandwiches and a surprising lack of Cheetah. Although Flo kept insisting he was just there… just over the next hill… the very vertical hill. The beeps from the receiver were loud so he couldn’t have been far off.

We knew that if the Cheetah had the stamina to run up those mountains he was obviously in good shape and so for the next three days we turned our attention to tracking the female leopard who was rather more sensibly still in the Namib Rand reserve where it’s comparatively cool and there’s lots of game – she was a different animal entirely.

The night of the Cheetah tracking, we went on a night drive together with James. The drive was very interesting but still the cats eluded us – was it just bad luck or did they take one look at us and scarper? The following morning our luck was in and we saw five male cheetah. It was an awesome sight well worth waiting for.

Tracking the female leopard involved a lot of mountain climbing (very scary on occasion!!) and not a lot of leopard. We brought the vitals with us – a good book and a pair of binoculars. Flo, on the third day finally spotted her for ten seconds and so we bedded down on the most uncomfortable rocks we have ever come across for nearly nine hours. She wasn’t having any of it and although Flo, again, (and the receiver) assured us she was directly ahead we did not spot her, which was a shame but we knew she was okay which was what mattered most.

We celebrated that night with a final braai and insightful talk of ground squirrels.

Would we come back? In a heartbeat.

Sonya, Rachel & Emma

Get involved
Take part
To experience your own life changing African adventure, wild carnivore tracking and volunteer at the project visit www.volunteersnamibia.com or email bookingsnaankuse@iway.na .

Make a donation
The research work at N/a'an ku sê is providing crucial insights into the lives and movements of large carnivore including cheetah and leopard. N/a'an ku sê relies on voluntary donations and sponsorship to fund their work, provide tracking collars and to feed and ensure the animals welfare. To make a donation to support this vital work email donationsnaankuse@iway.na

We hope to see you soon!