Safari lodge in Namibia, game drives at Okavandu

The oryx is the animal on Namibia's coat of arms and perfectly adapted to drought. It can go a long time without drinking water, because it gets much of the moisture it needs from its food. Here you often meet it on the road in.

The Namibian giraffe uses its dark tongue, up to 45 centimeters long, to pluck leaves from between the thorns of the acacias. Its numbers have recovered strongly over the past decades. Right now we're even raising a little giraffe at Okavandu that we rescued.

Kudu bulls carry spiral horns that grow more than a meter long. The kudu prefers dense bushland and eats leaves, shoots, and fruit. At the last game count, there were about 130 kudu at Okavandu.

Hartmann's mountain zebra is a specialist in rocky, steep terrain. You can recognize it by the dewlap under its neck and the stripes that reach down to its hooves. The species is vulnerable, and a large part of its population lives in Namibia.

The leopard is a master of camouflage and moves mostly at dusk and at night. Its rosette pattern is as individual as a fingerprint. One roams the farm here too, and while hardly anyone has seen it, its tracks turn up all the more often.

The ostrich is the largest bird in the world. It can't fly, but it runs at up to 70 kilometers per hour. The males have black plumage with white wing and tail feathers, while the females are grayish brown.

The warthog often feeds on its knees, resting on padded wrists. To sleep, it backs into a burrow so its tusks point outward. At Okavandu it often crosses your path on the road in.

When alarmed or excited, the springbok leaps into the air with its back arched and raises a fold of white skin. It copes well with drought and often moves in mixed herds on open ground.

The impala lives in herds in open bushland. When threatened, it leaps up to three meters high and far, so a pursuer loses its trail.

The steenbok is small and shy and usually moves alone or in pairs, always with cover within reach. If danger comes, it first ducks into the grass and only bolts at the last moment.

You can recognize the blue wildebeest by the dark stripes on its neck and forequarters. It mainly eats short, fresh grass and needs water regularly, so you often see it at the waterholes.

The white, horse-like tail is how you can tell the black wildebeest from the blue wildebeest for certain. In the 19th century it was almost wiped out, and today's population goes back to a few surviving herds.

The eland is the largest antelope in southern Africa, with grown bulls weighing up to 900 kilograms. Despite its size, it jumps surprisingly high. Its joints click as it walks, which is often how you hear a herd from far away.

The white ring on its rump is the waterbuck's telltale sign. It likes to stay near water and often flees into it when threatened. Its shaggy coat carries a greasy, strong-smelling skin secretion that probably protects it from getting wet.

Sable bulls turn jet black as they grow older, while the cows stay reddish brown. Both carry long, backward-curving saber horns, with which they hold their own even against predators.

The name comes from the Afrikaans word “bles” for the white blaze on its face, which a brown band often splits across. The blesbok eats almost nothing but grass and stays on open ground with water nearby.

After the sitatunga, the red lechwe is Africa's most water-bound antelope. Long, narrow hooves carry it through shallow water, and at the first sign of danger it flees into the water instead of onto land. In the wild it lives in the wetlands of northeastern Namibia.

Nyala bulls and cows look like two different species. He is slate gray with long hair on his belly and mane, while she is rusty red with white stripes across her body. The nyala stays at the edge of thickets near water.

The roan antelope is one of the largest antelopes in Africa. You can tell it from the sable by its long, tufted ears and a black-and-white face mask. In Namibia it has become rare.

At about 40 centimeters at the shoulder, the Damara dik-dik is one of the smallest antelopes. It lives in pairs in a fixed territory in dry, stony bushland. It owes its name to the alarm call it gives when danger threatens.

The common duiker lives alone and eats leaves, fruit, insects, and even carrion. Thanks to moisture-rich food, it can go a very long time without drinking. Its name means diver, after the way it dives into the brush when danger threatens.

The rock hyrax is about the size of a rabbit, yet a distant relative of the elephant. It lives in colonies in rock crevices and likes to sun itself on warm stones while one animal keeps watch.

You can recognize the banded mongoose by the dark bands across its back. It lives in groups of usually ten to thirty animals and mainly eats insects, millipedes, and scorpions. We even have a pet mongoose here, Monti, who likes best to hunt down his own scorpions and beetles.

With ears up to 13 centimeters long, the bat-eared fox can hear termites in their mounds, its main food. It also sheds excess body heat through its ears.

The aardwolf is the smallest hyena species and eats almost nothing but termites, up to 300,000 in one night. It's nocturnal and spends the day in its burrow, so you only rarely get to see it.

The Cape porcupine is Africa's largest rodent, and its black-and-white banded quills grow up to 50 centimeters long. It's nocturnal and rattles the hollow quills on its tail when threatened.

The chacma baboon is the largest and heaviest baboon species in the world. In the morning and late afternoon, the troop moves through the bushland, and at night it sleeps on the rocks of the Erongo.

Black-backed jackals live in pairs that stay together for life. The young from the year before help raise the next litter. You're most likely to see them at dusk on the dirt roads and at the waterholes.

The brown hyena is the rarest hyena species and near threatened worldwide. Farmland like ours is important habitat for it too. It's nocturnal, so most of the time you only see its tracks where the dirt roads cross.

The white-backed vulture was long the most common vulture in Africa, and its wings span a good two meters. It circles on thermals and watches other scavengers. Because its numbers have dropped sharply, the species is now critically endangered.

With a body length of up to 1.5 meters, the marabou is one of the largest storks, and its wings span about three meters. Its head and neck are almost bare, with a throat pouch hanging in front. Like the vultures, it soars while it watches for carrion.