Wild Namibia

Namibia is a fascinating country that has taught us many things about camaraderie, nature, our origins and hunting. All this from the hand of Tim Liedke, a Namibian we met at the great IWA fair in Nuremberg (Germany).

Tim is the one who introduced us to the African country to get closer to his family farm. Despite his bad experiences with cameras, he decided to trust us to record a hunting series in Okondura. This farm is in charge of organizing international safaris and hunting experiences and we decided to show the world the essence of open hunting through them.

We got ready to prepare the whole trip with a lot of emotion, clothes , backpacks , recording equipment... everything had to be prepared, since in a few days we would begin the adventure. We took a plane to Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, and Ralph greeted us very kindly at the airport. He took us to eat at a "wild meat" restaurant, that is, game meat, and that is where we had our first contact with the animals of the area, trying crocodile, kudu, zebra or springbok meat. The ones that we liked and surprised the most were the crocodile and springbok ones, they had a great flavor and were cooked with excellence.

After this we arrived at the camp, where Tim and his family were waiting for us to welcome us. We chatted with them for a while and got ready to rest for the next day.

hunting the zebra

We got up early in the morning to hunt a zebra, but no luck that day. Despite the bad luck, this tour of the land helped us to recognize the area well and begin to see the first animals. We saw oryx, some specimen of zebra that did not give the profile we were looking for and many baboons.

On the other hand, to end the day, Tim showed us the "garden", which was a large orchard within the Liedke property. All kinds of vegetables, fruit trees and spices that were needed to eat and cook on the farm were grown there. The peculiarity of this orchard is that it served as subsistence for the peasants and their families who worked it. The landowners left them the land to live in, in exchange for being able to take their products from time to time. This surprised us a lot, since it was a kind of barter that benefited both parties.

The zebra hunt continues and on this second day, we were able to get hold of the specimen we were looking for. This day was a very hard stalking, since it was a very mountainous range with small valleys. We had to spend the whole day following tracks, a way of tracking in which the locals and the trackers who accompanied us were experts. They knew perfectly well if a footprint was recent and also, they analyzed the droppings to find out when the animal has passed through there.

With these experienced people it was quite easy to find some animals and it was Leonard (a tracker who accompanied us) who found the adult zebra we were looking for. We made a very slow entrance, because they are very smart animals with very good hearing, and carrying all the recording equipment without making noise is not an easy task. We spent half an hour making sure that it was the animal we were looking for and after confirming it, we made a direct set to the heart. We extracted all the meat and skin from the animal and took it back to the farm house, where the cutting room was.

Everything was very well prepared and everything from the animal was used, what was not left in the house was donated to the people of "the garden" who received it very gratefully. We were very surprised by the natural relationship with the peasants, it is a great example of coexistence and cooperation between neighbors of a territory.

Warthog: the African wild boar

The next animal we had to deal with was the warthog, a very territorial animal that is commonly known in Spain as the warty boar. This time we were hunting on the plain, we left behind the great mountains and traveled long distances sighting impressive oryx. Finally we saw a pool, where there was a group of warthogs drinking and wallowing in the mud. It is common to see a large number of animals in these small lakes, since numerous species come to them to cool off and hydrate themselves at different times of the day. We saw the male we were looking for, it was not a great specimen, but we prioritized the use of tender meat in search of a good trophy. We decided to shoot, making a direct cast that only made us track the ungulate for about 20 meters at most. We take advantage of the meat with the same process as the zebra and we retire to our refuge to rest.

Tim and "the gray ghost"

Our friend Tim had a personal challenge he wanted to film and complete: kudu hunting without a scope. This mammal is perhaps the most iconic of the spiral horned antelopes. He was immortalized by Hemingway in his book The Green Hills of Africa with the nickname "gray ghost", due to his intelligence and elusive attitude towards the human being.

Our companion wanted to hunt him down with a Mauser rifle that was over 100 years old, with a wooden stock that he had restored himself, a jewel worth admiring. Without a viewfinder, shooting is difficult, since you have to get much closer. We spent a whole day trying to find it, we only saw young specimens and we were looking for an adult. Finally, we found it, the hunter approached very slowly and unseen at an incredible 45 meters, dropped it. This event meant a lot to Tim, it was a personal challenge and it brought him great joy and excitement. To end the day, we cut up the animal and they took us to see some cave paintings of Bushmen.

It was a precious experience that made us reflect on our origins and the importance that hunting has had throughout our history and around the five continents. There were animal figures such as giraffes and kudus, as well as people's hands and human figures. This moment reflected very well what we wanted to convey with the documentary, the beginnings of hunting activity. Tim told us a lot about how they hunted, their methods, who the bushmen were… a whole history class that helped us understand many traditions and cultures in the area.

The finishing touch, an oryx

To end our trip, we spent two days in search of an oryx. We went up and down huge mountains, adding to this the sweltering heat of the African continent. There were several failed attempts, but we finally found the specimen we were looking for. We had to wait 40 minutes on a natural balcony, on a ledge of a mountain. The oryx was behind a tree, which completely covered its vital parts, making it impossible to shoot. In the end, the animal moved from the shadow and we fired a very nice shot lying down that made the large mammal fall. We celebrated that it was a great trophy, with impressive pointed horns, we cut up the animal and went to say goodbye to the camp.

This experience has taught us a lot about hunting, the use of meat, living in a community and about our origins. Thanks to the Liedkes, a wonderful family that gave us the experience of filming in Okondura and taking spectacular photos . You can see the whole adventure in the great documentary "Wild Namibia" in Cazavisión .

Author: María Balletbó