Volunteer Reports

Jana Fode

The first thing I heard about Solitaire was that the landscape is so beautiful, and that is absolutely true as it looks just how you would picture Africa to be. I wanted to see and experience as much as I could during my stay in Namibia so I decided to volunteer at the NCCC. It was a good decision!

I would be joined by two other volunteers Jess and Paul. Shortly after we arrived we were taken by Matt and Kate to track the cheetahs in the 500ha soft release camp. Before entering I felt very relaxed because I had met several cheetahs before at N/a'an ku se's Wildlife Sanctuary. But the moment we met Spartacus he gave me a very different experience! For the first time I saw a cat that could live and act just like a wild one. However, Spartacus was not my favourite cheetah, Pepper is the cat I fell in love with. Her glance is very intense even though she was hand raised from a young age. 

But back to the research work which includes hiking to the camera traps which are spread over the area, I like this part a lot and I was happy I got the exercise because Matt and Kate are fast walkers and climbers, they will make you fit! :) 

After returning and having cooled of your feet in the pool you then get the chance to have a look through the pictures and if  you are lucky you may find leopards, cheetah or hyena, but you will definitely see a lot of springbok, oryx and zebra.

One of the most enjoyable parts of the trip were the sundowners, whether you see them with the tour guests in the cheetah camp or up on sunset hill close to the Guest Farm, they are amazing!

I also really enjoyed the trip to the dunes at Soussusvlei, you shouldn't miss the chance to go there!! All in all I enjoyed the trip and would recommend it to anyone who loves nature, animals and research work.

Paul Jennings

I came here to the NCCC as I wanted to experience cheetahs in their natural habitat and see for myself what is being done to protect them. I have done various activities including cheetah tracking, cheetah husbandry, game drives and camp maintenance. My favourite activity was feeding the cheetahs because they are at their most active and you can see their natural instincts and strength. Spartacus is the most active cheetah in the enclosure and the adrenaline starts running if he mock charges you!

The Guest Farm and surrounding landscape is amazing and its such a relaxing place to be. On a quiet day its nice to hike through the mountains and take in the beautiful views. I would recommend the experience to anyone interested in Wildlife Conservation.

Jess Labow

Before my arrival at the NCCC I had no idea what to expect. I asked around at N/a'an ku se and was told by other volunteers who had been there that the scenery was beautiful, the atmosphere relaxing and the co-ordinators lovely. My expectations were high after hearing all of this info, however I was not let down.

The first few days were exciting; learning about tracking cheetahs, having hungry cheetahs circling you waiting for food, and learning their history and where they came from. Just with any other conservation project there are always the non-exciting tasks to be done, but Matt and Kate always make sure there is some cheetah tracking/husbandry mixed with some relaxation.

My favourite cheetah would have to be Spartacus. Although he hisses and spits he is usually just protecting his girlfriend Pepper. Although the days can be extremely hot and the nights very cool, it has to be one of the most calming and beautiful landscapes I have and will ever see.

New Arrivals: Laura and Cubs

The NCCC have welcomed three more cheetahs into the soft release holding camp to begin their environmental adjustment period in view for possible release at a later stage.

The three cats in question are an eight-year-old female named ‘Laura’ and her two 24-month-old female cubs ‘Sandy’ and ‘Rusty’. Laura was trapped on a hunting farm in the Otjiwarongo area over two years ago along with her young cubs. N/a’an ku se were called and the cheetah family was taken to N/a’an ku se’s Wildlife Sanctuary.

The start of the NCCC last June has now presented us with the chance to possibly release this family back to the wild or at the very least provided them with extremely large new home. 

Upon their arrival Laura and her cubs were taken straight to the 500ha soft release camp where we document their daily movements via tracking collars. In this case it was important that each individual was fitted with a collar as it can be expected that the cubs will soon split from their mother.

 

For the first night, the cats were left in our small holding pen to adjust to their new environment. By the next morning the cats were ready for their first meal, a large tasty zebra leg. This ensured they had some energy to begin exploring their new home. 

Since that day the family has continued to stay together and they have been found in all sections of the pen. Also, Laura has already made her first kill, a jackal.

However, a year and a half in captivity have left their marks and they often approach the tracking vehicle in anticipation of food. We will continue to observe the family and see if his type of behaviour can be reduced, as a high level of habituation can be very problematic for their suitability for release. We will of course keep you updated on our new family’s progress.

Volunteer Report: Mirjam Frey

Everyday at the NCCC is a new great adventure. After the exciting start with finding Pepper, the newly arrived ‘lost’ five year old cat, in the 500 hectare pen, it continued with translating to German speaking guests on the cheetah drive, checking camera traps and a trip to the dunes in Sossusvlei.

We hoped that Spartacus, our only male cheetah, would bond with beautiful Pepper, because for both of them the pen will be their constant home. They are seen together from time to time. After the stressful first week she seems to like her new home. She behaves like the perfect ambassador cheetah for tourists. She is posing, hissing, spiting and at the same time just a relaxed beautiful self-confident cat, which can be approached easily with a group of guests. It is so amazing to see how different the cheetahs behave every day. 

Guests can see the cheetahs while attending either the one- or two-our drive in the morning or afternoon. Some of them don’t even realise what they will experience before they approach for their first time the cheetahs. But then, every hesitation is gone and they are just amazed by how close they can get to the cats. As there are quite a lot of German speaking guests I translate the information about the partnership between N/a'an ku se and the Solitaire Guest Farm, the pen and its purpose and about the cheetahs, and why they are here and what will happen to them. I like these tours. They are a great way to show people this beautiful slender carnivore. And while the guests learn a lot about the cats so do I while translating to them. To see the response of the guests after the drive is the best reward. They always chatting happily away about what they have just experienced with each other on the way back. Even people who seemed a bit unhappy before the drive have a bright smile all over their faces after getting that close to a cheetah.

Apart from making sure the cats are fine each day and feeding them once a week we check on the camera traps. They are all placed in different spots in riverbeds and little valleys. After a short drive always follows a hike. Some of them are shorter, some longer. But the length is not the actual challenge. Much more challenging is the sun. Even a short walk can feel like miles just because it can heat up that much during the day. But after you will be rewarded by skipping through the pictures, which is always quite exciting. Is there a hyena or even a leopard between all the pictures of zebras and kudus? Sometimes you also get funny pictures of the small animals like the cute little rock dassies, which are hanging out in front of the camera. 

Because the dunes of Sossusvlei are just ‘around’ the corner of Solitaire I also got the possibility to see them. One morning my fellow volunteer Mellissa and Matt got up at five o’clock in the morning to make our two hours drive down to the dunes. First we climbed barefoot Dune 45. It was just amazing. Such a great view all over from the top of it. But the best came on the way back: We didn’t take the ‘official’ way; instead we jumped down on one side of the dune. It was just great fun. After the ‘jump session’ we walked over to Deadvlei: A dry salt lake with a lot of dead trees and another stunning view. Our last stop was dune Big Mama – and she was big, but worse to climb it. After another ‘jumping session’ we had to run back to the car, because in the meantime the sand had heated up by the sun and we almost burnt off our feet! It was a great morning in a stunning countryside – many thanks to our great ‘tour guide’ Matt! 

Mirjam Frey.

Children in the Wilderness

The Children in the Wilderness is an environmental and life skills educational programme that focuses on the next generation of rural decision makers. Children in the Wilderness hosts rural children from all over Southern Africa that live alongside Parks and Reserves and teaches them the importance of conservation.

As part of this programme Namibian children are invited to the Kuala Wilderness Camp (which is just down the road from the NCCC) for an educational camping experience. Kate went to Kuala to give a presentation to one group of children and demonstrated how radio telemetry works by asking the children to find hidden radio collars. The children really enjoyed the experience but for the next time we thought it would be a much more exciting experience for them if when they find the collars there was a cheetah attached to it! So the next group made the short journey here to the NCCC.

It was quite a sight seeing 6 mini-buses arriving at the Guest Farm with around 50 children and supervisors piling out. But I have to say the Children in  the Wilderness supervisors did a fantastic job of sorting the children into their groups and they were extremely well behaved.  After a quick introduction we immediately loaded the children onto the cars and took them to track the cheetahs. Upon entering the camp Kate and I took a group each with Kate heading off in the direction of Annie and Betty and my group in search of Pepper.

 

The children were very keen and a couple knew a lot of the questions I asked them about cheetahs. Each had a turn using the radio-telemetry equipment, and when we found Pepper sitting beautifully in the grass you could see the excitement in their faces.

On the way to find Annie and Betty we stopped on a road and I showed the group good examples of cheetah spoor and demonstrated how you can tell the difference between a left and right, front and back and how we can use that information to ID individuals and estimate their numbers.

When we approached the area Annie and Betty were in we could see Kate’s group were still in the area, when we passed them we learned that Spartacus was also in the area. Kate didn’t tell us exactly where the cats were so it was up to the children to lead the way. First we found Annie and Betty who seemed a little confused by the appearance of yet more brightly colored little people.

Spartacus’ signal was very close and as we walked of in his direction the children had an experience they will probably never forget as Spartacus jumped out of his bush and gave his very impressively display of intimidation with hisses and spits. Despite explaining to the group at the start that this was to be expected and we had nothing to fear, the sight of a mean looking 60kg Spartacus still gave them a bit of a shock! Spartacus as he always does then just sat back down and fell a sleep. He’s just a big softie really :)

 

Upon returning to the Guest Farm the children had lunch and Kate then did a quick presentation about the NCCC and the research we are doing. At the end Kate and I were treated to a thank you ‘chant’ from the children and they were soon on their way back to Kuala.

It was a hugely enjoyable morning and the children really seemed to have enjoyed themselves, we hope they learned a little as well. We very much look forward to welcoming more Children in the Wilderness in the future :)

Photos by Mirjam Frey

A New Arrival: Pepper

A few months ago Kate and I had the pleasure of meeting Fred and Onie Jacobs, owners of Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch and we got talking about the NCCC and our cheetahs. During this conversation Fred and Onie told us about an orphaned female cheetah they had adopted 5 years ago called Pepper. Despite being raised by Fred and Onie since 5 months of age, Pepper has always retained a feisty, wild nature and always showed a desire to explore outside her enclosure. Because of this upon hearing of our 500ha camp here at the NCCC Fred and Onie started to consider the prospect of donating Pepper to us in order for her to experience a more wild life. The decision to part with a much loved animal must have been very difficult for Fred an Onie but as a testament to their desire to provide Pepper with the best possible life they agreed to move Pepper to the NCCC.

So on the 23rd of November I along with our student intern Laura and volunteer Isabella Seeman went to Bagatelle to assist getting Pepper into a cage for transport. It has to be said being able to stay overnight at places like Bagatelle on business is definitely a perk of the job! Bagatelle is a beautiful place, in a stunning location, with great food and wonderful staff, I highly recommend it if you are ever in the area :)

 

 
After enjoying some fantastic hospitality upon arrival including sweet ice tea and a selection of delicious cakes we were taken by Onie to meet Pepper. Upon hearing the sound of her gate being jangled the sound of thundering feet could be heard and suddenly a beautiful big female was in front of us performing a very impressive display of dominance with her shoulders hunched, head bowed with an impressive scowl. 

Pepper was fairly easy to coax into the transport cage with the lure of meat and the following morning we loaded Pepper onto a bakkie and along with Fred and Onie made the trip back to Solitaire. Our directors Rudie and Marlice also traveled down and as the sun was setting Pepper had been darted and fitted with a radio-collar. She woke up rather confused, staggered to her feet and slowly moved off into the pen.

The next morning however, we had a problem, Pepper’s radio-collar had inexplicably stopped working and we had no idea where she was. Myself, Kate and our intern Laura then spent the following week desperately trying to find Pepper and get food to her. We placed a trap cage in numerous different positions depending on where we saw Pepper’s tracks, meat was placed in strategic places and we drove all over the 500ha pen calling for her, but to no avail. Here I will hand over to our new volunteer Mirjam Frey who arrived at the NCCC the day we took extra measures to find Pepper......

My first day I came here to the Namib Carnivore Conservation Centre about a 3 ½ hours drive from Windhoek: everybody is out in the Cheetah Pen. Pepper, the 5 year old Cheetah female can’t be found. Where is Pepper? To find her, Flo (the head of research at Naan ku se with whom I came down), brought the San Bushman Kiewit with him to find the hiding Cheetah. Off we go: In the area, where Matt and Kate thought Pepper might be, Flo and Kiewit started to track the Cat. In the meantime, Matt, Laura and I went through all the bushes on the other side of the Pen, where Pepper could be hiding. Unfortunately I wore shorts – why not at this bright, sunny and hot day – but actually it wasn’t that good idea, because grass in Namibia is not as soft as back home in Switzerland. It scratched my legs and after a bit it started to hurt. But no matter, we had to find Pepper, because we didn’t know for certain if she had eaten and drunk at all. It felt like looking for a needle in a haystack, especially as cheetahs are very good at hiding. 

But after it felt like hours Flo called us to come to their side. Kiewit has found tracks of Pepper and was pretty sure, Pepper must be somewhere in the area. We are all excited. Are we going to find Pepper soon? Flo, Kiewit, Matt, Laura and I walk in a line through the bushes where Pepper might be. Is she hiding in the grass? Or does she lie under a bush?  She is nowhere to be seen. Where is she? She must be somewhere here. Kiewit is always right about is findings. And then, Flo sees her sitting under a big pretty nice tree with a lot of shade.  At first sight she looks not to good, but as Flo gets closer he can see that she is just exhausted. We are so happy that we finally found her and that she is in good condition.

 

Flo, Kiewit and I keep an eye on her while Matt and Laura get some wire, to fence her into the bush for a couple of days.  We do that so we can dart her and exchange the collar. But in the first place also to keep an eye on her for several days, feed her, get her enough water and make sure she is fine before we release her back into the 500ha Cheetah Pen. While we put up the fence she is quite relaxed but at the same time observing what we are doing. That shows she is still pretty fit. As soon we have finished her temporary home, we can all get closer for a better look. And oh, she is such a pretty girl: Angular face with big black eyes and a tall slender body. She is such a beauty. She must have been really thirsty, because she drank almost three litres of water in a quite a short time. Finally she also eats some meat. Flo, Matt and Kate decide to dart her that same evening, to make sure we don’t ‘lose’ her again.  Flo easily darts Pepper and as soon as she falls asleep, Flo exchanges the collar as quickly as possible. Mission completed. Wow, what a great and exciting first day at the NCCC!

After the safe ‘return’ of Pepper, we check the next few days regularly on her, fill up her water and feed her with her favourite food Springbok. She seems to be quite relaxed in her temporary enclosure and looks really good. After 3 days Matt and Kate think Pepper is ready to be released back into her new home.  Before we release her Matt checks the response of the new Radio-Collar one more time just to make absolutely sure it works! Kate cuts down the wire. First it seems that Pepper doesn’t want to come out of her temporary camp. She is walking up and down until eventually she walks out of the enclosure. She is literally just walking out of it. No running, no spitting, no hissing, nothing. She just walks along the fence line as if nothing had happened at all.  She is really an awesome big and beautiful cat. 

Next morning, Matt, Kate and I are checking on her. Thanks to the new Radio-Collar we find her after a bit not far from where we’ve released her the previous evening. But their was a surprise, she is not alone. In front of her, sitting under a bush is Spartacus, the 10-year-old male Cheetah. Suddenly he jumps out, spiting and hissing at us, as if to let us know that she is his girl and he’s going to protect her.  They are so cute.  Will they stay together? We don’t know yet. But it would be so great if they could be friends, especially because both of them can’t be released into the wild and will stay in the pen. Funnily, Kate and Matt hoped this bond would happen while they where looking for Pepper. Therefore they tracked Spartacus and hoped to find Pepper with him. But of course, while her old collar wasn’t working, they didn’t get together – maybe her old collar was not fashionable enough to Spartacus :)

Mirjam Frey

Thankfully, since her re-release into the camp things have gone extremely well, Pepper and Spartacus have continued to be found together and she is quickly becoming used to us approaching her and accepting food from us. Most importantly her collar not only looks much better than the old one but also works perfectly!