Etosha Park to Cheetah Farm, Namibia

---

Etosha Park to Cheetah Farm, Namibia

This was a day on gravel roads where all the land was either fenced for cattle or fenced for private hunting lodges. No small villages, nobody walking beside the road, no mud homes with thatched roofs, no small children running out to wave. Since we passed through the red line on our way to etosha park the land is all owned by whites with financial resources to operate big land holdings.

One such farmer has made an arrangement with Himba people from north west Namibia to live at his farm near Kamanjab, enabling tourists to get a glimpse at their life style. These folk have a unique culture where they reject modern life style and live in a very primitive manner. The women in particular cover their skin with Ochre and oil, braid their hair with Ochre and paste, wear ankle rings symbolizing their number of children, dress in animal skins that do not cover their breasts and build their very small homes with mopane sticks and cattle dung.  

The visit to their village was awkward since it was like browsing a new neighborhood. However once we began photographing and showing the children and adults the digital result then the fun began. The Himba people actually live 500 km north west of this village but a few families live on this farm for a few months at a time to be in the route of tourists. Try to Google Himba people of Namibia to see pictures and stories of their unique community and traditions.

The next excitement was at our camp on a cheetah farm, also near Kamanjab. The farmer owns a large cattle ranch but takes in cheetahs that would otherwise be shot by other cattle ranchers. He keeps them in a 100 acre fenced area and feeds them raw donkey meat every evening. We rode out to this enclosure standing up in the back of a Toyota pickup. The cheetahs gather around and the truck driver carefully walks from his cab to the pail of raw meat hanging off the back of the truck. This meat is tossed out one 10 kg steak at a time until each has enough. Quite a lot of argument until one gets the steak and runs off to feed.

The enclosure is fenced to keep the cheetahs in. Sometimes wildlife manages to get under the fence but not likely gets out with a dozen hungry cheetahs at home.

This farmer also has three cheetahs from birth who are tame and can be petted like a cat. The only warnings are: do not to wear sun glasses since that spooks them, do not put your purse or bag down as they immediately take ownership and do not step on their tail. As with the lions in Victoria Falls, Kayla did the petting and Richard did the filming. 

That night we talked to the farmers son who had saved a small python from his Jack Russell and was nursing it back to health before release. Overhead, we noticed a 3-meter long snake skin and were glad the live one was just a baby.

The weather continues cloudless all day with light winds and 35 C. However the nights are becoming cool enough to sleep in the bag. We sat outside before going to bed and enjoyed the silence and sky full of stars, with warm breezes blowing.

---