On the 12th morning, we were awoken by odd calls coming from the bushes just outside our roof tent. Peering through the flyscreen, we spotted a pair of Grey Go-Away-Birds (Crinifer concolor), truly living up to their name.
Feeling somewhat unwelcome, we quickly got ready for a long day of driving. We had reached the northernmost point of our journey with Etosha, but sadly, the next leg of our route would take us south, back toward Windhoek.
Today, we were heading to the Waterberg Plateau – a vast, flat-topped mountain covering roughly 720 km² and rising about 200 meters above the surrounding plains. This sandstone formation acts as a natural sponge, absorbing rainwater and nourishing the relatively lush forests at its base.
Knowing we had at least a 5-hour drive ahead to our next campsite, we hurried through breakfast and bid farewell to the Onguma Tamboti campsite as well as to our friendly neighbors who had kindly woken us so we wouldn’t oversleep…
After several long and tiring hours of driving through Namibia’s remote backcountry, we finally arrived safely at the NWR Waterberg campsite. When checking in at the gates, the staff informed us that multiple groups of Chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) were roaming the area. They advised us to keep our vehicle doors closed and, ideally, locked whenever we weren’t in the car. After all, some unwary tourists had their belongings stolen previously by some curious baboons.
We parked our car and set off to explore the expansive campsite. As the day was particularly hot, we decided to head toward the pool first. However, we quickly ruled out swimming for two reasons. First, the water appeared quite murky, and more importantly, a group of the aforementioned baboons had clearly claimed the pool area as their own.
And believe me, I wasn’t about to pick a fight over a sun lounger with one of these monkeys, especially considering adults are the size of a large dog and have at least equally impressive fangs. These baboons are known to be fierce fighters, even capable of taking down leopards and other large predators as a group.
So, we took it easy and observed them enjoying the pool for a while before heading deeper into the campsite and towards the base of the Waterberg plateau.
As we got closer to the mountain, the vegetation grew noticeably greener. The red to orange rocks were adorned with yellow and gray lichens, while trees sprouted from crevices between the rocks. The combination of the clouds, sun rays peeking through and the vibrant colors of the rocks created a truly breathtaking sight.
