{"id":3090,"date":"2026-01-04T16:15:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T16:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/3090\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T16:15:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T16:15:26","slug":"tracking-namibias-desert-rhinos-in-the-storms-of-a-decade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/3090\/","title":{"rendered":"Tracking Namibia’s desert rhinos in the storms of a decade"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).<\/p>\n

Damaraland is certainly a large area (18,000sq miles) and it\u2019s definitely in a hot region (current temperature 31C). But where I\u2019d expected lunar landscapes speckled with the occasional succulent, there are rolling hills swathed in softly wafting grass. Where I\u2019d imagined blue skies untroubled by a single cloud, there are cumulonimbus boiling overhead and thick sheets of rain barrelling across the horizon. I\u2019d pictured a world that had no ambitions beyond \u2018beige\u2019 on the colour chart. This is every shade of green, from the near neon of a tennis ball to the silvery subtlety of a sage leaf.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s crazy special,\u201d says Bernadro Hillary Roman as I climb into an open-sided Land Cruiser behind him. \u201cFor 14 years, we\u2019ve had a massive drought. This place normally looks like a rock garden.\u201d<\/p>\n

I meet goateed guide Bernadro \u2014 better known as Bons \u2014 at a sandy airstrip in the Palmwag Concession, a protected conservancy of 2,100sq miles in northwest Damaraland. It\u2019s several steps beyond the middle of nowhere. Bouncing beneath the clouds in a tiny Cessna, I\u2019d seen signs of life fade the further north the plane travelled from the Namibian capital of Windhoek: first the settlements disappeared, then the trees, finally the roads. Below, enormous rock formations rippled out of the flat earth like petrified sea monsters.<\/p>\n

Like most people, I\u2019ve made the journey for one reason: to see a critically endangered species that has learnt to survive in this normally hostile and arid environment. \u201cWe\u00a0have the world\u2019s largest population of desert-adapted black rhino here,\u201d Bons says, driving towards our camp, sunglasses perched on his head. \u201cAnd we have a 99.99% success rate of finding them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The drought-resistant Euphorbia damarana, or Damara milk-bush, contain a latex sap that\u2019s poisonous to most animals, including humans, but not rhinos, sustaining them in the absence of other sources of food.<\/p>\n

Photograph by Jonathan Gregson<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Trackers pull out notebooks and cameras, recording the animals\u2019 condition and sketching distinctive features that help identify them.<\/p>\n

Photograph by Jonathan Gregson<\/p>\n

Bons has worked as a guide for Desert Rhino Camp since 2010 and knows the concession better than most. \u201cI\u00a0grew up 11 miles away, this is my backyard,\u201d he tells me as the rain starts, so faint at first I have to hold out my hand to be sure I feel it. \u201cEven if you put a bag over my head, I would know where we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

He doesn\u2019t get a chance to demonstrate. Soon after our arrival at Desert Rhino, the skies darken, the wind picks up and the throaty growl of thunder rumbles across the plains, seeming to rebound off the surrounding mountains and pinball around the camp. The rain is quickly torrential. Puddles turn to little streams. Little streams turn to small lakes. We\u2019re marooned, hiding in our canvas safari tents like desert Noahs as the waters rise.<\/p>\n

Life on Mars<\/p>\n

There\u2019s little sign of the storm the following morning. A few clouds skim the horizon in the inky pre-dawn light and the earth is dark and damp, but the water has entirely drained into the porous soil. What I take to be the cartoon-like croak of a frog is, according to Bons, the dual calls of two R\u00fcppell\u2019s korhaans \u2014 slender, beige birds found in regions with little rain. As\u00a0the sun rises, turning the grass golden, they form a tiny orchestra, joined by the looping whistle of a Benguela long-billed lark and the cheerful twitters of sparrow-larks.<\/p>\n

The plan for the day is to join Palmwag\u2019s rangers and \u2014 with luck \u2014 follow them to some of the 17 or so black rhinos within driving distance of the camp. The rangers had set off a couple of hours earlier to get the search underway. \u201cThe trackers track the rhino and we track the trackers,\u201d says Bons with a characteristically mischievous grin. \u201cIt\u2019s hard for them though \u2014\u00a0the rain will have washed away any footprints.\u201d<\/p>\n

We spend the morning trundling along tracks that weave across the concession, each turn revealing another epic landscape \u2014 an endless parade of grass-covered hills filing to the horizon, punctuated by sandstone cliffs and giant outcrops of red basalt. Yellow mouse whiskers and purple carpetweed flowers poke up between the rocks, splashing the desert with colour. The minty smell of wild tea carries on the breeze. \u201cUsually this looks like Mars,\u201d says Bons. \u201cIf a guest from the last 10\u00a0years saw pictures of it now, they would need to see a doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prominent in the landscape is the plant that allows black rhinos to survive in a more typical year. The drought-resistant Euphorbia damarana, or Damara milk-bush, contain a latex sap that\u2019s poisonous to most animals, including humans, but not rhinos, sustaining them in the absence of other sources of food. Deadly toxins are not the only horror concealed within the bush: hundreds of spider-like armoured crickets cling to its spiky fronds, likely feeding on the latex to make themselves unpalatable to birds.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Damaraland has the world’s largest population of desert-adapted black rhino.<\/p>\n

Photograph by Jonathan Gregson<\/p>\n

As we continue through Palmwag, Bons frequently stops to peer through binoculars, his naked eye having picked up evidence of other life in the desert, much of it drawn in by the abundant grass. Among them are the retreating backsides of springboks, zebras and oryx keen to get as far away from us as possible. A closer encounter comes after we slosh through the fast-flowing water and thick mud of the normally dry Uniab River. An\u00a0Angolan giraffe stands on the other side, his jaw working at the leaves of a mopane tree as\u00a0he gazes impassively at us.<\/p>\n

We have little time to gaze back. The Land Cruiser\u2019s radio crackles with a message from the rangers \u2014 they\u2019ve found rhinos. We\u00a0set off in their direction with some urgency and are soon driving past heaps of megafauna dung, the trackers\u2019 4WD in our sights ahead. Beyond them are the rhinos \u2014 a female in front, a\u00a0small calf sticking close by and a large male ambling in their wake.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe trackers will tell us where to go, and we follow on foot,\u201d says Bons, his voice hushed. \u201cWe want the rhinos to experience the least human disturbance. We don\u2019t want them used to jeeps \u2014 you can imagine how vulnerable they are to poachers then.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team motions us over and instructs us to walk behind them in single file and to stay silent. \u201cWe need you to blend in,\u201d ranger Denso Tjiraso whispers. \u201cWe are in their environment and we want them to be unaware of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Our attempts to blend in and stay silent fail almost immediately. Edging down a rocky slope, we dislodge layers of shale, which slide and clatter beneath our feet. The three animals turn and look \u2014 they\u2019re very much aware of us. At the bottom, we all stand and stare at one another, caught in a Mexican standoff with a hundred metres between us. The rhinos finally relax, conscious of our presence but apparently untroubled \u2014 the adults return to the grassy lunch at their feet, ears cocked in our direction, while the baby slumps in the shadow cast by her mother.<\/p>\n

Along with Denso, trackers Hofney Gaseb and Richard Ganuseb pull out notebooks and cameras, recording the animals\u2019 condition and sketching distinctive features that help identify them. In front of us, I learn, are Tuta, daughter Kasper and interloper Arthur, who\u2019s likely hanging around in the hope of mating. Survey over, we quietly retreat, leaving them to find some shade as the mercury rises.<\/p>\n

Good weather for rhinos<\/p>\n

Guests at Desert Rhino Camp are able to have such unique experiences thanks to a project it runs with Save The Rhino Trust Namibia (SRT). For over 21 years, they\u2019ve worked with the three communities within the conservancy, leasing land from them and\u00a0sharing profits from the camp, as well as encouraging them to help with conservation efforts and to report any signs of poaching. SRT also trains and equips Palmwag\u2019s rangers, recruiting many of them from those same local\u00a0villages.<\/p>\n

I meet the trust\u2019s director of field operations, Lesley Karutjaiva, as he\u2019s returning to his headquarters in the concession and Bons and I are out on a meandering drive. Leaning on his 4WD, neatly dressed in green shirt and trousers, he tells me that the SRT has trained 71 rangers, and anti-poaching efforts are improving. \u201cWe have around 200 rhinos here,\u201d he says as\u00a0thunder rattles around us. \u201cBut 500 would be a good number.\u201d<\/p>\n

The deficit is not down to poachers. \u201cOur\u00a0last good rain was in 2011,\u201d Lesley explains. \u201cDuring extreme drought we lose many calves \u2014 the mothers don\u2019t have enough food to produce milk.\u201d In better news, he tells me, Palmwag has received so much rainfall this year, it should see them through for another five.<\/p>\n

With theatrical good timing, the storm that has been threatening all afternoon finally breaks, raindrops hammering around us with sudden ferocity. Lightning spasms across a sky slashed red with the rays of the setting sun. \u201cOh, this is very good weather for rhinos,\u201d Lesley says with a broad smile as we retreat to our vehicles. \u201cWe are all very happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The rain is quickly torrential. Puddles turn to little streams. Little streams turn to small lakes.<\/p>\n

Photograph by Jonathan Gregson<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The concession\u2019s low-intervention approach towards the wildlife on its land means the animals remain unhabituated to both vehicles and humans, and their natural instinct is to run away from both very quickly indeed.<\/p>\n

Photograph by Jonathan Gregson<\/p>\n

The rest of my time in Palmwag produces further very good weather for rhinos, and further rhino sightings. We spot Tuta, Kasper and Arthur as they plod along a dry river bed in the soft evening light, and again as they enjoy a roaming buffet of wild grasses on an\u00a0early-morning stroll through the hills. Each time, they eventually catch our scent on the wind and take off for the horizon with a\u00a0surprisingly dainty little trot.<\/p>\n

The concession\u2019s low-intervention approach towards the wildlife on its land means the animals remain unhabituated to both vehicles and humans, and their natural instinct is to run away from both very quickly indeed. But\u00a0it\u2019s not a common strategy in the reserves of northern Namibia, as becomes clear almost immediately at my next stop.<\/p>\n

Coming into land after an hour-long, corkscrewing flight east from Palmwag, I\u00a0already feel transported to another world. Nature swaggers here, lavishing the land with\u00a0thick clumps of trees, the whitest sandy soil and vast turquoise pools of water. Humans\u00a0have added the decorative touches of\u00a0arrow-straight roads and fences.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a 10-minute drive from the airstrip to the gates of Onguma, a privately owned reserve of more than 130sq miles on the edge of Namibia\u2019s landmark Etosha National Park. Those 10 minutes provide a bumper pack of wildlife sightings. A family of banded mongooses tumble and play metres from the vehicle; a male wildebeest strides nonchalantly past, so close I might lean out and touch him; a small herd of oryx, horns rising like spears, graze at the edge of a clearing; and a lilac-breasted roller perches on a termite mound as kori bustards strut through the grass behind. Nothing is running away here.<\/p>\n

Walk on the wild side<\/p>\n

I soon learn that close encounters are something of a theme at Onguma. While the reserve prioritises the welfare of its animals above all, it allows its human guests plenty of opportunities to quietly observe them at near quarters. At the exclusive lodge of Camp Kala, each of the four suites sits on a raised walkway overlooking a water hole, with hyenas and elephants coming in to drink as guests watch from their plunge pools. A custom-built Land Cruiser with a \u2018star bed\u2019 built over the cabin allows couples to spend the night out in the open, listening to the grunts of nearby lions as the Milky Way dazzles overhead. And\u00a0a hide set partly beneath ground level allows its occupants to peer out at zebras and giraffes standing oblivious just metres away.<\/p>\n

The accommodation I\u2019m heading to, however, has been open for barely a month, and the wildlife in the area is not yet accustomed to the new residents. With the sun setting and the bullfrogs croaking, my perennially cheerful guide Liberty Eiseb and I bump along a track towards Trails Camp. Liberty stops the vehicle to point out boot prints left in the sand beneath us by Onguma\u2019s anti-poaching unit, who patrol in pairs at night. Beside them are the tracks of a leopard. \u201cThis is probably the leopard that comes into camp when we are sleeping,\u201d he says. \u201cI hear it every night at 4am.\u201d<\/p>\n

I can hardly blame it for calling in \u2014 Trails Camp is a mini Eden tucked within an acacia woodland, from where guests typically head out on walking safaris. Lantern-lit pathways lead to four safari tents, each with a wooden hot tub at the front and an outdoor shower at the back. When darkness enfolds the bush, the Southern Cross and Scorpio shine bright in the firmament of stars above. \u201cHere you get silence and you get adventure,\u201d says Liberty with some glee before we both turn in for the night.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A custom-built Land Cruiser with a \u2018star bed\u2019 built over the cabin allows couples to spend the night out in the open, listening to the grunts of nearby lions as the Milky Way dazzles overhead.<\/p>\n

Photograph by Jonathan Gregson<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

While the reserve prioritises the welfare of its animals above all, it allows its human guests plenty of opportunities to quietly observe them at near quarters.<\/p>\n

Photograph by Jonathan Gregson<\/p>\n

After an undisturbed sleep, I find him sitting by the fire in the muted pre-dawn light, a blackened tin kettle sat within the embers. \u201cYou see the bushman\u2019s TV is already on,\u201d he\u00a0says, gesturing to the flames. \u201cIt always tells a good story.\u201d He heard the saw-like calls of the leopard as it padded through at 4am and 5.30am. \u201cThe animals need to get used to the camp, but they will,\u201d he continues. \u201cThe\u00a0big leopard will soon be sitting in the trees around us.\u201d<\/p>\n

With breakfast soundtracked by turtle doves crooning from those same trees, I could get used to the camp myself, but the bush waits for no\u00a0one, and I set off with guide Tristan Lewis for a day\u2019s exploration. We\u2019re soon driving through a landscape pocked with water holes, with makalani palms towering above. Wildlife teems around us \u2014 the heads of giraffes appear above the umbrella thorns; elephants cross in front of us and instantly melt into the bush; African grey hornbills pick\u00a0at termites; leopard tortoises bumble along the track; spotted hyenas skulk through the grass. \u201cMorning drives are my favourite,\u201d says\u00a0Tristan, his traditional safari uniform of beige shirt and shorts accessorised by a neat little moustache. \u201cEverything\u2019s fresh, everything\u2019s waking up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Palmwag, Onguma has seen unprecedented rainfall, and it\u2019s changed the behaviour of the animals on the reserve. \u201cWe\u00a0usually have a little migration with the rain,\u201d Tristan tells me as we stop to watch a herd of impalas chewing on grass, their black eyes fixed on the vehicle. \u201cBreeding groups go east because that\u2019s where the first rains usually fall. But they\u2019re finding rainwater everywhere now, so all the patterns are messed up.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rain has messed up some of the tracks, too, and Tristan occasionally has to coax the Land Cruiser through deep, water-filled channels in the mud, or turn back and find another route. We\u2019re on the lookout for a pride\u00a0of lions seen near the reserve\u2019s border with Etosha when one particularly troublesome puddle finally defeats us.<\/p>\n

After radioing in for a replacement vehicle, Tristan points to a pair of male white rhinos grazing some way in the distance. \u201cIt\u2019s not so bad being stuck when you\u2019re stuck by rhino,\u201d he says. \u201cShall we go for a walk?\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u00a0collects his rifle and we quietly creep towards them over sandy soil scattered with lion paw prints. \u201cWe\u2019ve spent hours and hours with these rhinos,\u201d Tristan whispers as we draw closer. \u201cWe know their behaviour is relaxed. They\u2019re not like black rhinos \u2014\u00a0black\u00a0rhinos are a handful.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019re 60 feet away when the two males finally become aware of our presence. Tristan motions me to crouch down and be quiet. \u201cThey know we\u2019re here, now we give them time to decide what to do,\u201d he says softly as they stand facing us. \u201cYou can see they\u2019re curious.\u201d After a few minutes trying to figure us out, one cautiously pads in our direction, head down, ears rotating. He\u2019s so close I can hear him breathing when Tristan slowly rises \u2014\u00a0the\u00a0rhino instantly canters away.<\/p>\n

Over the next 30 minutes, the pair repeatedly amble towards us, only moving away when Tristan gently shifts his position. \u201cThey\u2019re comfortable with us but we don\u2019t want them too close,\u201d he murmurs, watching as they graze. \u201cThey\u2019re wild animals and we want them to stay wild.\u201d<\/p>\n

It soon feels completely natural to sit quietly in the sand, passing the day with animals each weighing up to 2.5 tonnes and sporting impressively long and pointy horns. \u201cIt\u2019s nice when they let you into their space and they\u2019re not threatened by you,\u201d Tristan says when the rhinos eventually decide to move on. \u201cYou can share this incredible time with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a parting gift from the rains of Namibia \u2014 a vehicle stuck in the mud, a moment of pure magic. As we wander, slightly giddy, towards the guide who\u2019s come to pick us up, I\u2019m reminded of something Bons had said to me as we sheltered from a storm in Palmwag: \u201cThe rain is very good for everything \u2014 for nature, for animals, for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

How to do itGetting there and around:
Flights from the UK to Namibian capital Windhoek entail a stopover. South African Airways<\/a>, British Airways<\/a> and Virgin Atlantic<\/a> fly via Johannesburg and Ethiopian Airlines<\/a> flies via Addis Ababa.
Average flight time: 15h-18h.<\/p>\n

Chartered prop planes fly to airstrips in Damaraland and Etosha, and are organised by your tour operator or accommodation. If driving, rent a 4WD from Windhoek\u2019s Hosea Kutako airport; it\u2019s seven hours to Desert Rhino Camp, and a similar time from there to Onguma and Etosha.<\/p>\n

When to Go:
Wet season in northern Namibia falls between November and April, though rain doesn\u2019t fall each year and can be intermittent when it does. Dry season (May to October) is a good time for wildlife-viewing, with animals gathering at the few water sources. There\u2019s little temperature difference across the year, with highs of 25-30C and lows of 10-17.<\/p>\n

Where to Stay:
Weinberg Hotel<\/a>, Windhoek. From\u00a0N$5,654 (\u00a3235).<\/p>\n

More info:
visitnamibia.com.na<\/a>
savetherhinotrust.org<\/a><\/p>\n

How to do it:
Africa specialist Yellow Zebra Safaris<\/a> offers one night at Windhoek\u2019s Weinberg Hotel, three nights at Desert Rhino Camp and three nights at Onguma Camp Kala from \u00a39,524 per person, including meals, drinks, safari activities, domestic flights and transfers, and international flights, plus the option to spend a night in the Dream Cruiser star bed. The same itinerary with the last three nights at Onguma Trails Camp (open April to September) costs \u00a38,289.<\/p>\n

This story was created with the support of Yellow Zebra Safaris<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Published in the September 2025 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK).<\/p>\n

To subscribe to\u00a0National Geographic Traveller\u00a0(UK) magazine click here<\/a>. (Available in select countries only).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK). Damaraland is certainly a large area (18,000sq miles) and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3091,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[2714,2715,2712,2716,2723,2708,2721,2722,2724,102,2713,2720,2719,2710,2711,2709,2717,2718],"class_list":{"0":"post-3090","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-namibia","8":"tag-african-safari","9":"tag-best-african-safari","10":"tag-best-places-to-see-african-wildlife","11":"tag-best-safaris-in-africa","12":"tag-best-safaris-in-the-world","13":"tag-desert-rhinos","14":"tag-luxury-safaris","15":"tag-luxury-safaris-in-africa","16":"tag-luxury-safaris-in-namibia","17":"tag-namibia","18":"tag-safari","19":"tag-sustainable-african-safaris","20":"tag-sustainable-safaris-in-africa","21":"tag-things-to-do-in-namibia","22":"tag-things-to-see-in-namibia","23":"tag-where-to-see-black-rhinos","24":"tag-where-to-see-giraffes-in-africa","25":"tag-where-to-see-zebras-in-africa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}