There are two places, Hobatere and Grootberg Lodge, from which wildlife can be seen from a wooden and rock balcony. Thence, from the lands inhabited by the mud tribes who resisted the desert, men and beasts wake up with the difficult task of surviving. This is the account of a trip in times of pandemic through the drylands of the south of the south of Journeys Namibia.
In Namibia, a huge vertical strip of land washed by the Atlantic Ocean, it hardly rains. Two colossal deserts with evocative names, Namib y Kalahari, that occupy most of its extension, prevent clouds from approaching from the sea. And in the last two decades the drought, probably due to climate change, it has flared.
As a result of their demanding living conditions, Namibia is the fourth most depopulated country in the world, only after Mongolia, Australia and Iceland. To get an idea, it is enough to compare it with Spain: with almost double the surface, it has a population of 2,5 million, while ours is from 47.
For all of it, Every day that passes in this country is a struggle for survival between men - the vast majority of them shepherds and farmers.- and animal fauna - systematically decimated in recent decades by hunger, thirst and lack of territories in which to expand.
All this tells us Tammy Hoth Hanssen, creadora de Namibian Lion Trust, a Foundation committed to the survival of the lion, the dethroned king who has lost all over Africa the 90% of its population since we entered the 21st century: “Not long ago there were more than 200.000 lions on the mainland. No more left, today, more than 20,000 ".
Not long ago there were more than 200.000 lions on the mainland. No more left, today, more than 20.000
And what is the main predator of the lion? Man, course. The equation is simple: the drought arrives and the animals that serve as food for the feline (impala, orix, zebra…) they migrate in search of green pastures. Lions, not used to long journeys, they find no food and come dangerously close to the lands where men herd cows and goats. If they find them unprotected they have an epic feast, earning the thirst for revenge of the rancher in question, whose way of life has just been destroyed. After, the power of man. Traps are set, the beast is drawn to the rifles, the "king" is exterminated. Checkmate.
Let's not judge. Who wouldn't fear a hungry lion? Who would not explode with anger watching him devour the cows that are the livelihood of his family? Many of us, western well-to-do, we could ask ourselves: And why don't they keep the cattle in guarded stables? Very simple to think, impossible to do. Tammy explains: “The soil in this part of the world is so little fertile, what a cow needs, on average, 25 hectares to feed. In areas where it rains a little more, maybe with 12 hectares is worth. In your world, 20 cows feed on one hectare of land. And on top, part of that grass is shared with oryx, Zebras, gazelles, and the floor, no rain and with that level of grazing, it stops growing and dies ".
So a rancher who has, let's put, 200 cows, needs to 5.000 hectares on average for their survival. Now to see who is the handsome one that every day takes them tens of kilometers away and every night brings them back home. It would be impossible. So the animals spend long periods in unprotected land and without anyone watching them..
Lions or leopards enter poorly constructed fences and kill dozens of them because they bite and bite
And the circle of deprivation and death narrows with the lack of water. The data given by the director of the Foundation for the conservation of the lion are devastating: "We have more cattle than we can keep. Our tribes, los himba, the herero, they must learn how much livestock they can actually keep, ¿1000, 500, 200 heads? The weather is teaching us that livestock cannot survive in these circumstances. A few days ago I was talking to a farmer who told me that a year ago he had 250 head of cattle and in a year due to the drought have survived only 20. Now they have found that goats last longer and, with the little money they have, they have launched to buy thousands of them. And that will end up being another problem. Containing a herd of goats is very difficult. Lions or leopards enter poorly constructed fences and kill dozens of them because they bite and bite, even if they only eat two. People lose 50 goats in a night that are worth between 50 and 500 Namibian dollars per piece, which is a lot of money ".
The tourism, the great opportunity
Tammy Hot tells us this while we are comfortably seated in a corner of paradise called Hobatere Lodge, in whose development and exploitation the Foundation that directs. She tells us that she is the fourth generation of migrant farmers from Europe. And that years ago he understood that, if Namibia ends up with the animal fauna that lives in the wild, tourism will suffer and with it, hope for a better future.
Today, explains, there are still many wild animals living in freedom. The vital limits of many of them are constricted in the magnificent Ethosa National Park, but the aspiration of this Foundation is that humans learn to live together without having to confine animals.
Tourism is a two-way manna: on the one hand, favors the donations that many of the visitors make to African projects when they return home. For the other, demonstrates that another effective and sustainable way of life is possible, beyond cattle grazing. That's why you think, "If wild animals end up locked up in national parks it will be a great failure".
If wild animals end up locked up in national parks, it will be a great failure
For suddenly, his foundation organizes talks, distribute information, meets with ranchers, try to get followers. And, while, some lions are gps tagged to learn their habits and find a way to better protect them.
So, the Hobatere Lodge he co-manages offers safaris (day and night) in magnificent terrain to enjoy nature and see up close and be able to study wild animals. And even, if you have a little luck, to be able to photograph the now in need of protection king of the jungle.
To close the tourist suggestions section, point, those whom Namibia tempts, and they may have mentally noted Hobatere's Lodge as a possible destination, another suggestion of similar caliber: The Grootberg Lodge. They are both in the land of the Damara, slightly southwest of Ethosa National Park.
A lookout of the desert
This special accommodation, with affordable prices, It is located at the top of a basaltic plateau from whose pool you will enjoy colossal views and from where you can go on excursions in search of elephants and desert lions.
And believe it, worth. Elephants have been able to adapt to a harsh environment where they eat less and have less water to drink. And they have achieved it despite being surrounded by human beings and the lack of resources..
Bernard Guibeba, Bob, a guide of 58 years working in conservation, speaks to us in whispers of the intelligence of these animals while we watch them feed a few meters from us: "Sometimes, when they are very thirsty and cannot find water, They enter the villages of men and tear down the warehouses to satisfy themselves. But, they never attack men, They pass by the houses and surround them with hardly any noise. They are perfectly aware that there are living beings there that they do not want to harm ".
They never attack men, They pass by the houses and surround them with hardly any noise
While he is telling us this, there is an elephant that has separated from the others and has come closer than anyone.. He does not take his eyes off us: "It is the matriarch, He has known for a long time that we are close and he watches us. If we made some strange move, would attack ". It is cowardly to imagine attacking such a bug. They do not do it, they return to their untamed cliffs to protect themselves from man and we spend the day circulating through a desert that the miraculous rains have dyed green and yellow. Damaraland, this part of Namibia, It is a dry world of sand and rock in which nothing seems to be completely dead or alive..
So far this story of wildlife and traveling proposal, that is why we are a travel magazine with stories. But Namibia has much more. For example, the Epupa falls, to the north now, almost on the border with Angola. The Skeletons Coast, where the ocean and the desert embrace and that receives that name for the number of shipwrecks in past times. Or the fishing town of Walvis Bay; o Cape Cross, home to tens of thousands of seals - without exaggeration-, that can be contemplated by the tourist in the most absolute exclusivity; or the fish river canyon, or the peoples of ancestral tribes of Bushmen, himbas, damaras, basters…
But, paraphrasing Michael Ende, those are other stories, and we will have to leave them for another occasion.
