When you go on safari, you may notice that most, if not all of your game drives and walks take place either very early in the morning or late afternoon.
This is not because the lodge you are staying at wants to get you out of bed, but it is because this is when you have the best chance of spotting the most game. Most animals conserve energy and rest during the heat of the day.
One part of the bush that you miss out on is what goes on at night. Most predators especially the cats hunt at night (that is why they have such good eyes).
There are some lodges that offer night drive's, but to be honest, unless they are very careful this can be very unethical. By shining a light on any animal, you will change their natural behaviour and so you are not seeing how they act naturally. then there is the danger of pointing out either prey or predators to animals that may not have noticed them otherwise. The third danger and in many ways is the worst, is by shining a very bright light into an animals eyes, they become blinded for a short time. Normally fine, but what happens if that happened to you when you had a lion stalking you? Not very fair is it? People also often shine lights into Owl's eyes - this is terrible as many will then fly off, partially blinded and ultimately end up hurting themselves and if they break a wing that injury is fatal.
So what is the answer?: Night vision
The cost of night vision devices that include night vision binoculars, scopes and goggles has dramatically come down in the last decade, as has their effectiveness. Night vision means that you can observe wildlife without disturbing their natural behaviour or running the risk of blinding them.
For more information on Night Vision:
Saturday 16 January 2010
Friday 1 January 2010
Vehicle Rental & Car Hire Namibia
Namibia makes an excellent choice for a self drive safari and holiday location in Africa. With excellent National Parks like the Etosha National Park to visit and generally a good road infrastructure to get to them. Hiring a car in Namibia and going on a self drive adventure is relativity easy and can work out much cheaper than staying in hotels and safari lodges as well as giving you far more freedom and flexibility.
The Roads in Namibia
Generally Namibian roads are pretty good, however many are dirt tracks, which are mostly drivable in normal sedan cars, unless it rains. If you plan on visiting Namibia in the rainy season, you are highly advised to rent a 4x4.
Specialist Vehicles
There are also many specialist vehicle rental companies in Namibia that not only offer 4x4's, but ones that are fully equipped for camping. Now I know that a camping holiday in the middle of the African bush is not for everyone, but for those that are, Namibia was everything you could ever hope for with many truly wild places to go camping.
If camping is not your idea of a holiday, you can still enjoy an excellent self drive holiday as Namibia has many excellent quality B&B's, guest houses as well as safari lodges that you can organise to get to under your own steam, saving you money.
More Information
For more information, including Namibian Car hire companies:
- Car Hire Namibia on the Safari Holiday Guide.
- Hiring a car in Namibia on The Zambezi Safari Resource.
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