Safari to Erongo

a conservation area of local significance

Erongo is an area of undulating farmland centred on the pleasant town of Omaruru in Western Namibia.

Lodges out in these farmland areas tend to be of limited interest, either being rather tame stocked-and-fenced game reserves or guest farms with hunting.

Far more interesting is the Erongo Massif, a significant and relatively wild upland area.

The Erongo Massif is a large free-standing granite outcrop some 30 km in diameter. It is actually a granite intrusion, a plug of harder rock which was originally formed in the earth’s crust but became a prominent surface feature when the surrounding softer sandstones were eroded away.

The area contains some particularly attractive erosion features, boulders and caves.

The area contains some very interesting Bushman rock-art. The best known site is Paula’s Cave, which has been designated as a National Monument and contains some outstanding works.

Conservation

Up to around 1850 wildlife was prolific in this area, including larger animals like elephants, buffaloes and giraffes, but by 1900 those animals had been exterminated by big game hunters.

Black rhinos managed to hang on here all the way up to 1974, when the last survivors were translocated to the Etosha National Park for their own protection.

In 1998 a large part of the Erongo Massif came under the protection of the 200 square kilometre Erongo Mountain Nature Sanctuary, a private enterprise in which around 35 private landowners have come together to form a single conservation area with the intention of protecting the landscapes, along with their flora and fauna.

Unfortunately the reserve has been founded on the basis that ‘sustainable hunting’ is also permitted, alongside photographic safari. We fundamentally disagree with this point of view and feel that the two types of tourism make for a very uncomfortable mix. However we would rather see the area conserved through these means than not at all.

Following the successful reintroduction of black-faced impala, the owners decided to turn their attention to black rhinos, for which purpose it was legally necessary to found the Erongo Mountain Rhino Sanctuary Trust of Namibia, which covers a similar area to the pre-existing Erongo Mountain Nature Sanctuary.

In 2008 the first black rhinos were reintroduced into the Erongo Mountains, however the project is understandably secret and we are unsure how it is progressing.

Wildlife

Although these hills are home to a good range of wildlife, most of the animals are very elusive and even on a longer hike you are unlikely to see many species. Highlights include black rhinos, rock hyraxes, mongooses, steenboks, kudus, oryx, klipspringers, Damara dik-diks, warthogs, Hartmann’s mountain zebras, porcupines, brown hyenas, genets, leopards, African wild cats and caracals.

Erongo is the only place where the endemic dung beetle species, Versicorpus erongoensis, can be found.

Birds

The area is home to a good range of bird species. The staff at Erongo Wilderness Lodge report resident breeding pairs of black (Verreaux) eagles up on the cliffs, whilst their small waterbaths attract Hartlaub’s francolins, red-billed francolins, Ruppell’s parrots, rosy-faced lovebirds, Monteiro’s hornbills, Carp’s black tits, Damara rockrunners, pririt batis, white-tailed shrikes, violet-eared waxbills, red-headed finches, plum-coloured starlings, Melba finches, rock kestrels, masked weavers, rock buntings and white-bellied sunbirds.

Erongo provides an alternative inland route for self-drivers who want to connect between Sossusvlei and Twyfelfontein, whilst avoiding the busy section of the coast around Swakopmund.

It is therefore most often included in trips which access the Skeleton Coast in other areas such as the truly wild Skeleton Coast North, the dunefields south of Walvis Bay and the diamond areas south of Luderitz.

Erongo Wilderness Lodge is by far the nicest accommodation option, so pleasant that it might be worth spending more than the usual one night.

This Erongo area is most commonly combined in trips with other popular locations around the country such as Fish River Canyon, Luderitz, Sossusvlei, Twyfelfontein and Etosha.

not much visited since the main lodge closed