When animals attack!

For the final few days of our trip we had booked a campsite in the Namib-Naukluft National Park, a 2 hour drive from the dunes of Sesriem. From the entrance of the park (and a sign saying let yourself in, and please close the gate behind yourself!) it was a slow 10km drive to the campsite. The road weaved up and around the Naukluft mountain range on which the park is situated. Either side of the track some of the harshest landscapes we had seen - scorched and rocky with little in the way of shade. Apprehensive as to whether the campsite might prove to be a hot one, we were pleasantly surprised to find the accommodation located in a beautiful valley. With the camp more or less to ourselves, we settled at a site on the unfenced perimeter, a stream running directly in front of the braai pit. 

The camp has two circular walks, of 10 and 17km respectively, and with some time before sunset, we traced the final 3km of the Waterkloof trail, sighting Dassies, Kilpsrpinger and Kudu, before doubling back on ourselves and returning to camp as the sun went down. As we plonked ourselves in our camp chairs and settled down for dinner, we were joined by a guest - a small-spotted Genet. At first we noticed the swish of a tail in the bushes and the reflection of torch light in eyes. And then the Genet sauntered out into the open, more concerned with catching the beetles which littered the camp floor than the two campers. At one point, the Genet was within touching distance as it checked out the braai. Other  surprises included a scorpion, dancing around on the floor as we made our way back from the shower block - head-torches essential!

Our animal interactions over the two days were not all entirely positive, however. Kate had headed off to the ablution blocks and I was sitting waiting for the water on our gas burner to boil for a nice cup of coffee. The coffee never arrived. 20 metres to my left came walking a male baboon. Striding towards our vehicle, his intent was obvious - he wanted food. I'd chased away baboons before in South Africa, so stood from my chair, made myself big, clapped my hands and shouted. He carried on walking. I carried on clapping. He was getting quite close. Not feeling so confident now. I stepped back slightly. He noticed and ran right towards me, bearing his teeth (large). I enacted 6 million years of evolutionary process by running away and hiding behind the 4x4. To the victor, the spoils - a kilo of ground coffee. He grasped his prize and trotted off, before plunging his tongue into the foil. Deciding that ground coffee wasn't his thing, he threw the saliva soaked bag to the floor. No food for him, no coffee for me. He did come back to raid our camp the following day, but Kate ran after him with a large stick.