We are visiting Okonjima, home of the Africat foundation.
I’m chatting to manager Déne Herselman.
The Okonjima Experience. The Okonjima Nature Reserve sprawls over 200 square kilometres of undulating plains, mountainous outcrops, and riverine thickets, and it is here that leopard, the most adaptable of all the wild cats, thrive.
For generations, the Hanssen Family had been avid cattle farmers until the need for solutions to increasing livestock losses and post-independence interest in Namibia as a tourist destination, changed the face of Okonjima, as well as that of Carnivore Conservation.
With the family still at the helm, Okonjima now encompasses a dedicated team offers you the guest a truly Namibian stay.
Within Namibia’s scenic Central Highlands, Okonjima Nature Reserve has long been a sanctuary for endangered big cats – especially leopard and cheetah. Once persecuted by local cattle farmers, leopards roam free within the reserve, with the long-term aim of releasing them back into the wild.
The work is underpinned by the established AfriCat Foundation, which spearheads the conservation of carnivores throughout Namibia. As well as the big cats for which Okonjima is famed, nowadays those carnivores include the nocturnal brown hyena, aardvark and pangolin.
A highlight of a stay at Okonjima is to head out first thing in search of leopard or – as the sun dips below the horizon – to seek out the creatures of the night. With many of the animals radio-collared, tracking them is relatively straightforward, and with leopard largely habituated to the presence of humans, photographic opportunities here are almost unparalleled.
While big cats are very much the focus of these drives, that’s not to undermine the other species here, among them Hartmann’s mountain zebra, blue wildebeest and giraffe, as well as numerous antelope, from oryx to the diminutive Damara dik-dik.
Birdlife is impressive, too: eagles and vultures; korhaan and sandgrouse; colourful shrikes, waxbills and bee-eaters. Even the most experienced birder will be reaching for their binoculars to seek out specials such as Carp’s tit, greater scimitar hoopoe or the Damara rock runner.
To stay at Okonjima – and there is a range of excellent accommodation options – is to experience this unique setting at leisure. Exploring on foot, either with a guide or on a self-guided trail, simply adds to the sense of place.
