Up, up and away in our beautiful balloon! Not quite....

It is too windy to go up in the balloon! So we all enjoy the sunrise.


The balloon slowly inflates as the sun rises.



The hot air balloon pilot and crew filling up the balloon with hot air before sunrise.


We decided that a great way to end our amazing Namibian vacation would be to take a hot air balloon ride over Sossusvlei and the beautiful Namibia desert and dunes at sunrise. The gracious lodge staff woke us before sunrise. We had a quiet breakfast and then made our way on the short and bumpy drive to the launch site.

As we approached the balloon, we were met with quite a sight. The sun was just coming up over the horizon. The dunes were a deep red in the early morning light. The balloon and basket were lying on its side. We could see the bright flames in the darkness as the crew worked to fill up the balloon with hot air. Our driver took us right up to the balloon basket and beckoned us to move closer. We were honestly wanted to stay away from the balloon and the flames!

As we approached the balloon, we saw a crew of 5 or 6 men working hard to hold the massive balloon down in the breeze as it filled with hot air. As we got even closer, we saw the handsome hot air balloon pilot. We were both quite taken by him! He was holding a large flame thrower which was pointed up into the balloon, filling it with hot air and gas. He shouted at us to "get into the basket!" I admit that we were too distracted by his good looks to really be listening! It was only then that we came around the side of the basket and that we noticed the 10 German tourists already in the basket. They were all crouched in the basket, and only their little faces were visible--just like in an egg carton. (In the moment, it was quite comical, because we had not noticed that they were there!). All that we could see was that the German tourists did not seem to be making any room for us. Confused, I asked "do you want for us to get in on top of them?" He replied "get in the basket--now!"

We crawled into the basket and as the balloon filled with air, the basket started to move to the upright position. It seemed that we were about ready to launch! But looking up at the balloon, it was only partially filled with air in the breeze. The balloon then slowly came to rest back on its side. One more time the balloon came slowly up as the pilot and crew worked to fully inflate the balloon, but then balloon slowly deflated and then came to rest back on its side.

At this point the pilot said that he was sorry--but it was too windy to launch. It was rather disappointing, but we were all much happier to be safe! So we decided to try again and take another hot air balloon ride in the future!

So we are looking forward to another visit to take our hot air balloon ride someday, hopefully with the same cute pilot!

Driving in Namibia

Driving in Namibia must be approached with extreme caution, as both roads and vehicles are often in poor condition and wildlife lives in such close proximity to man. The only paved roads are main routes or highways between major cities. The majority of roads are dirt or gravel. These roads can make for very difficult travel in the rainy season. Therefore the 4x4 pickup truck, or "bakkie" as it is known in Afrikaans, is the main mode of transportation. It is not unusual for roads to be filled with potholes, lined with washboard style ruts, deep standing water and large mud puddles. Another daily hazard is the multitude of wildlife and cattle on the road. We learned that travel in Namibia is very slow going. A trip that might take two hours in the US could take up to 8 hours in Namibia.

On this trip we covered a large part of Namibia, traveling over 1000 kilometers across the scorching deserts of Namibia on dusty roads seeing only eighteen other cars and one tortoise per day. After our two week volunteer stint at CCF we drove from the capital city of Windhoek to the beach resort of Swamkupmond on the west coast, then from Swakump to the desert dunes of SSvlei, and from SSvlei back to Windhoek.

Ecological surveys: name that acacia! ouch!

We have an efficient system--all done in 6 or 7 minutes!


Matti--our fearless leader, expert bird spotter and plant identifier.


Name that plant--D sin, A flecki? Don't let them fool you, when they are full grown, they have thorns up to two inches long!


The Earth Watch crew: Joyce, Janice, Lisa and Kim

The native landscape in Namibia is vast and varied, from arid desert, to ocean beaches, to grass savannah to sand dunes, to bush to rich ranch land. It is interesting to note that cheetahs are most commonly found on farmland due to the fact that they are sadly not able to compete with other predators in protected areas in Namibia. Much of the native landscape is a healthy balance of bush and open grassland. Due to poor farming practices during colonization, much of the landscape has been covered with thick, thorny bush. This bush does not allow animals to move freely or the cheetah to run and pursue their prey. CCF is a leader is efforts to return thick thorn bush areas to a more native grassland by selectively removing areas of dense thorn growth. CCF volunteers conduct ecological surveys to study how quickly thorn bushes are growing back in cleared areas.

Goat and sheep dipping! (much harder than it looks)

Our goat and sheep handling teacher--Joe!

Holding a goat kid down in the tub (they hate the tub!)


Look at that technique!


CCF maintains a flock of up to 300 goats and sheep. The purpose is to be a demonstration farm for the local area. CCF teaches local farmers how to ensure the health of their small and large stock as well as their protection. Monthly classes are held at the CCF Education Center which focus on all aspects of raising small stock from birth and development, preventing parasites, to proper fattening and selection for market. CCF estimates that several thousand local Namibian farmers have been through the courses over the years.
Goat dipping is a comprehensive process of providing oral and external medications to small stock to prevent worms and parasites. It is especially important during the rainy season when goat pens are filled with mud. This process entails administering an oral medication, and then thoroughly applying an external medication to a goat in a bathtub. This process is very difficult as the goats and sheep do not like being lifted into a bathtub and being doused with cold water!

The Spooky Skeleton Coast

Information about the Namibian Skeleton Coast:

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200705/namibia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeleton_Coast

Swakopmund, Namibia

Here is a great website with information about Swakopmund, Namibia!

http://www.swakopmundnamibia.com/

A toast on the Skeleton Coast!

The delightful town of Swakopmund is located on the central western coast of Namibia. It is a charming German seaside outpost. It is very upbeat, with a positive vibe and friendly people. Lots of German food and beer. It is a great place to shop, eat in an outdoor cafe, or just to relax by the sea. We spent a couple of days here just relaxing after working at CCF.

We decided to take a drive north along the Skeleton Coast. What a difference! The landscape is a vast, stark and dusty desert. This area is known for it's large quantity of shipwrecks. Sailors would become disoriented in the dense fog and run their ships aground. Next time we come to Namibia, we plan to take an aerial tour of the coast to enjoy the wildlife and beauty of this amazing region.






A skeleton coast shipwreck.


One of the seaside developments of vacation homes just north of Swakopmund.


A birthday toast on the Skeleton Coast!

Running down Dune 45!

Our trip to Sossusvlei was the highlight of our trip. It is a gem located in the western central part of Namibia. Below I have listed a link which gives some details about the area. It is fascinating! It is a place of stark beauty: sand dunes, canyons, and vast arid stretches deep in the Namib Desert. The sand dunes in Sossusvlei are some of the highest in the world.

One of the most special parts of our stay in Namibia was our stay at the Kulala Lodge. Its proximity to the park entrance makes it perfectly situated to enjoy the area. It is a very warm and special place. The lodge sits along a river bed, and blends beautifully into the surrounding landscape. It consists of a main building--dining area, bar and pool, surrounded by individual guest accommodations. Everything about the lodge is impeccable, from the rooms, to the service, to the food, to the tours! The rooms are sumptuous. The rooms have thatched roofs with large balconies perfect for sleeping under the stars if desired. The service is amazing. Every morning, the staff comes to gently wake you and summon you to breakfast. After breakfast, the staff sees guests off to trips to see the countryside or makes sure they are comfortable just lounging and relaxing for the day. After dinner, the staff serenades guests with lively local, traditional music and dance. The Namibian nights are very dark, and as a result the stars are very bright and dense.


Kulala lodge is an excellent jumping off point for exploration of Sossusvlei. Sesreim Canyon is a long, thin, deep canyon cut into the desert, filled with water during the rainy season. A lot of local lore surrounds the origins of the canyon's name--which is detailed on the website below. It is beautiful to behold. We decided to take the tour to Dune 45 and Dead Vlei. Dune 45 is so named because it is 45 miles from the park entrance. We arrived at the dune at sunrise, and took a short 20 minutes of so to trek up to the top. At sunrise and sunset, Sossusveli is striking. The deep red and orange hues of the dunes and surrounding desert, the starkness and vastness of the Namib desert are absolutely breathtaking! Dead Vlei is a group of trees that died after being cut off from water from the movement of the dunes. The vlei is reached after a short walk from the road. The trees look so lonely, stark and desolate.

Janice shows off her technique.



Running down Dune 45!



Look, I can run sideways!

Sunrise at the top of Dune 45 in Sossusvlei, Namibia.

Great article on Dr. Marker and CCF

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/rare-breed.html

Two female sub-adult oryx on the right!

One of the primary roles that CCF has taken on is serving as a community leader in wildlife conservation and management. Concerned farmers, land owners and members of the local community band together to form conservencies or large protected areas for natural resources and animals. As a key member of the Waterberg Conservency, CCF conducts surveys of animal numbers in key areas. These reports are taken on a regular basis. For example, surveys on "the big field," a Serengeti like open savannah area on CCF property, are taken on 3 consecutive days and or nights. These numbers are consolidated and studied to reveal trends about the status of local wild life populations. Volunteers get to participate in the game counts and (amazingly) we became quite adept at identifying different animals, their sex and whether they were adults/sub-adults.

One of the most important pieces of data is the health of the medium sized game population, the main source of prey for cheetahs. CCF hopes to be a leader in showing farmers that game can and should live in harmony with their livestock. This way local land owners can maintain the delicate balance between man and nature. It will also ensure the survival of the wild cheetah in Namibia, the primary goal of CCF.

We were lucky to see a multitude of wildlife during these game counts and while taking part in our daily activities while at CCF. We saw: zebras (and babies), giraffe (and babies), oryx, eland, kudu, springbok, red hartebeest (pronounced "artibis"), black faced impala, steenbok, warthogs, mongoose, cheetah, hyena, black backed jackal, bat eared fox, aardwolf, black rhino, turtles, monitor lizards, spitting cobra, camelions, ostrich, Cape doves, Cape sparrows, yellow hornbill, lilac breasted rollers, Maribou stork, Coribustards, black korhan, secretary bird, vultures, guinea fowl, crimson breasted shrike, spiders, scrub hare and the largest centipede ever seen (lucky us - right outside our rondovel)!

The photos above show: oryx/jackal, oryx, warthog, lilac breasted roller and red hartebeest.

Written by Kim.

Cheetahs and dogs??? Huh?

What do anatolian shepherds have to do with cheetahs? CCF and Dr Laurie Marker have chosen to focus on the Anatolian guard dog (Turkish) to provide protection to local farmers' small stock. This keeps predators, including cheetahs, away from the herd and reduces farmer shooting of cheetahs.

The dogs are known for their guarding ability. CCF breeds and raises the dogs on location. Dogs are placed with local farmers and flocks at a very young age to facilitate the bonding process. With careful training, the dog will grow up to protect it's flock from predator attacks. Throughout the dog's life, CCF makes visits to ensure good health, good performance, and that they are being appropriately utilized. If a dog falls ill, is not treated well, or is not performing as desired, the dog is brought back to CCF to be nursed back to health or retrained. This pilot program has been very successful and the waiting list is currently several years long for Namibian farmers to obtain dogs.

We were lucky to arrive just after puppies had been born and got to participate in puppy feeding and (when no one was looking) puppy hugging. It was sad to see the pups leave and be given away, but cool to see the Guard Dog program in action.

In the photos above, Gail is walking Timbo, a lovable dog-in-retraining, and SuperDog, the last puppy, is checking out the goat pen.

Written by Kim.

Take an umbrella!

Animal blinds are an amazing and close up vantage point from which to conduct game counts. The blinds are low, green, cinder block buildings, approximately 8 x 11. A foot wide, slit-like, horizontal window allows volunteers to view the game. Blinds are strategically located near water holes, man made or natural sources of water, where animals come to drink, lick and (in the case of a warthog) bathe. As the animals can't see the volunteers inside the blind, it is a great vantage point for CCF's 12 hour surveys (6am to 6pm). These surveys are taken on a regular basis, and the data is compiled to get an accurate assessment on the health of area wildlife and most importantly the health of animals that cheetah prey upon.

It was amazing to be so close to the animals and to have the opportunity to observe them at ease. We saw one oryx spending considerable time grooming herself and a male giraffe herding his family through the area. Three juvenile giraffes played together and one oryx spent a very long time looking at our blind, quite puzzled.

Matti had warned us to "take an umbrella" and he was right. It turned out that the blind was not waterproof. At 4pm, there was a huge thunderstorm and downpour. The sketchy roof covering gave way and we squeezed ourselves into the one dry square foot, only to be dripped upon mercilessly. At 6pm, we were holding up the roof and standing on a mat, as the blind was flooding. Luckily, Matt came early to pick us up and we were able to laugh the whole way through.

Written by Kim

Early morning with the Florida students

Every year a group of undergraduate and graduate students come out to CCF to do a study abroad program to focus on the amazing learning lab for ecology and wildlife that CCF provides. The students live on the Cheetah View farm on CCF. The students make a presentation in a chosen area of study as well as take weekly tests. The students say that this program is "no walk in the park!" FSU students also conducts specialized studies to include a study of local birds with bird nets, a study of local reptiles, and a study of bats and of small mammals. Each of these studies provides CCF with valuable data on the health of each of these animal populations. As Earth Watch volunteers, we had the honor of taking part in the bird study.

That morning, our group caught a crimson breasted shrike in the nets. The FSU leader took measurements, and gave us a very detailed briefing of this rare and beautiful bird.

The highlight of our day was the release of a spitting cobra. It had been caught the day before near CCF buildings and was released in a more remote area. That is one mean snake!

Written by Kim.

See Cheetah Run!

Seeing the grace and dexterity of a cheetah running is one of the most amazing sights! At CCF, one of the ways to exercise the cheetahs is through a "cheetah run" - a rag on a string/pulley system, which moves in a big square (couple hundred feet). The moving rag incites the cheetah chase instinct and off they go! We were excited to witness the inauguration of a new cheetah run, which several volunteers/staff worked hard to create. At first, three adult cheetahs had a go, and then the cubs were brought in - a great success!

The first photo shows Matt and Goran setting up the cheetah run, followed by different cheetahs having fun/getting exercise. I didn't feel that the photos captured even a smidgeon of the beauty of cheetahs running, but hope that some of it is conveyed.

Joyce's photos

Joyce was another Earthwatch volunteer on our trip. She has some wonderful photos, which you can see by clicking on "joyce's photos" above. My particular favorite is of the donkey's head:

Moving Bella

Bella was a young female cheetah who had come to CCF very traumatized. She was initially in her own pen and was very skittish and fearful. While we were at CCF, we (Kim, Janice, Rachel, Goran - all volunteers) helped move Bella to a new, larger pen with a roommate: Padme. Padme was an older female and it was hoped that Bella would do better with a friend and mentor. To move her, Bella was placed in a wooden box and transported in the bakkie. She did not seem to initially like her new surroundings, but settled down, as Padme worked hard to make friends with her. In the second photo, Bella is the smaller cheetah, and Padme is cozying up to her.

Cheetah feeding

One of the many highlights of the trip was to participate in cheetah feeding. They usually eat donkey meat (and sometimes horse), with the donkey head being a particular delight (top photo). Six days a week, the cheetahs are given a honking piece of meat. Sometimes, the cheetahs are given their food in bowls (second photo), sometimes the food is thrown over the pen fence (third photo) and sometimes the cheetahs chase after the moving bakkie and are thrown their food. The last is thrilling - to see the grace and elegance of them running (second to last photo).

More Cheetahs!!

I took over 200 photos of cheetahs, but didn't want to bore everyone, so I've tried to pick out my best and add them here. Enjoy! (If you look closely at the "eye" picture, you can see the back of our bakkie!)