Namibia
Etosha Waterholes
Dolomietpunt & Dolomite Rest Camp
A stay at Dolomite Rest Camp is thoroughly recommended and my wife and I had a fantastic short break here during our second holiday in Namibia. We left Okaukuejo just after first light for the 290km drive to Dolomite which is located in the previously restricted western section of the park. The accommodation opened in June 2011 and initially only guests staying there were granted access to the entire area by driving there from Okaukuejo. Now, however, visitors can also access the western section of Etosha directly from the south via the Galton Gate.
The route from Okaukuejo to Dolomite takes in some superb waterholes which are far less frequently visited than those in other parts of the park. The Koppie on which Dolomite Camp stands dominates the view as you approach. Just before the turn-off to camp, is the Dolomietpunt Waterhole. The scene that greeted us was magnificent and there was just one other car in the large parking area.
Various animals, including a herd of elephants, were drinking with the high, rocky ridge making a pleasant change scenery-wise, compared with the majority of the park which is flat. During the winter months there are usually two separate troughs here but after the summer rains fall, a large pool forms.
Etosha is home to Burchell`s Zebra, seen here, and the rarer Hartmann`s Mountain Zebra, the latter species only being found in this western section of the national park. Zebra stallions can be particularly vicious with one another and we witnessed numerous brief but seemingly brutal fights here.
A colony of Ground Squirrels had built their network of burrows right beside the road close to the Rest Camp and I stopped to try for a few shots. Without warning, a couple began to fight, launching themselves into the air but I wasn`t quick enough to capture them on camera. Another squirrel, obviously a bit of a daredevil, was busy digging out his or her new burrow right in the middle of the main road!
At the Dolomietpunt Waterhole, with low-lying sparsely-vegetated plains in every other direction, you can easily see animals approaching from afar. Baboons are only found in Western Etosha and we watched a big male charge a herd of springbok causing them and several other herbivore species to take flight.
The low-resolution photo (© NWR) on the right shows the camp from the air with the car park at the very top of the shot in the centre. The reception area is also at this end of the ridge with the Dolomietpunt waterhole just out of view, bottom right. The main road isn`t visible either and the orange coloured track running across the scene is just a service road with no public access.
|
Out of 20 chalets at Dolomite only two, numbers 13 and 14, look onto the waterhole and we had been allocated one of them - No.14 - absolutely stunning! Our veranda provided a birds-eye view of herds of elephant, giraffe, zebra and ostrich streaming across the sandy plains to slake their thirst.
Little did we know that the Baboons much preferred to wind-up human guests staying at the Rest Camp! There`s a good chance that the cheeky monkeys will actually end up inside the chalets, especially if unsuspecting guests don`t keep their windows and doors locked! Within 10 minutes of arriving and starting to unpack, we were under siege from the resident baboons! The cheeky monkeys clambered onto the roof trying to tear through the thatch, repeatedly looked in the windows and even tried the door handles a few times despite my wife or I holding onto the handle from the inside!
The Baboons took great delight in pulling the roofs apart. One appeared to be reading the sheet of cardboard it had just hauled out from underneath the concrete apex of the chalet next door to ours. Our own unit was in an even worse state and we had to step over a pile of debris on the way to breakfast the next morning.
Later, when we mentioned to one of the staff that the baboons had been causing mayhem and much of our chalet's thatch was now lying on the path, she just laughed and said 'Yes, they like to play don't they!'.
Please bear in mind that all my images are subject to copyright. They are not free to use and have been embedded with a digital watermark.
A Kudu, Baboons and a Rock Hyrax all snapped from the chalet. Hyrax, also known as Dassies, and brightly coloured Namibian Rock Agama lizards are common here, as are numerous colourful bird species which can be photographed either within the camp grounds, or flying overhead. Sitting out on your veranda to watch the stars isn`t recommended though as lion and leopard often pass by during the night and you could end up on their menu! Big cats have even been seen wandering through the grounds in broad daylight - one of the reception staff said she was at her desk around noon one day when an adult leopard strolled past right outside!
Detailed information on Namibia and additional images taken there can be found on Clydeside Images.com. Utilise the blog`s search box or the `Overseas-Namibia` fly-out label on the right-hand side of the blog page. Please bear in mind that my Stock Photography Archive has even more shots taken in Namibia.
If you wish to purchase any image(s) please email using the Contact Form and I will respond at the earliest opportunity.
If you wish to purchase any image(s) please email using the Contact Form and I will respond at the earliest opportunity.
Two types of Monitor Lizard are found in Namibia. This is a Rock or White-throated Monitor (Varanus albigularis), while the other is the Nile or Water Monitor (Varanus niloticus). The latter species is an excellent swimmer and found in several regions including the Caprivi Strip but not in Etosha as there are no rivers or streams. Rock Monitors, including this example which I photographed as it plodded past the deck of our chalet at Dolomite Restcamp, are solitary creatures that usually hibernate in a semi-dormant state in a chosen retreat for winter.
|
Unlike their aquatic cousins, Rock Monitors are resident throughout much of Namibia and species distribution overlaps in delta and riverine areas, but they are absent from the Namib Desert and the southern part of the country, except for the Swakopmund area. Their diet includes snails, grasshoppers, millipedes and beetles but carrion and baby tortoises are often targeted. Rock Monitors are at greatest risk from Honey Badgers and raptors, especially the Martial Eagle.
Below: Ostrich at the waterhole photographed from our chalet. The other shot looks towards the waterhole, just visible between the bushes, from the end of the ridge. There had been talk of a couple of additional chalets offering an even better view of the pool being built here but it appears that these plans have fallen through.