Twyfelfontein valley was inhabited by Stone Age hunter-gatherers approximately 6 000 years ago, who were responsible for the engravings or etchings. 2 000 to 2 500 years ago the Khoikhoi, an ethnic group related to the San (Bushmen), occupied the valley, then known under its Damara/Nama name ǀUi-ǁAis (‘jumping waterhole’). The Khoikhoi also produced rock art in the form of paintings, which can clearly be distinguished from the older engravings.  Stone Age hunters and animals were attracted to this small perennial spring, the only one of its kind in the area.

Topographer Reinhard Maack, who also discovered the White Lady rock painting at Brandberg, reported the presence of rock engravings in the area in 1921. Of course the local inhabitants had been aware of the site much earlier than this time, but it is thought they avoided the engravings as they respected the place as a sacred area which was inhabited by spirits of the deceased.  A more thorough investigation was only conducted after D Levin purchased the land for farming in 1947. He discovered the spring and gave it the name Twyfelfontein after it repeatedly dried up. While commonly being translated as ‘doubtful spring’, a more accurate translation for the word twyfel in this connection is “questionable” or “uncertain”. Shortly thereafter scientific investigation of the rock art began in 1950 by Ernst Rudolph Scherz, who described over 2 500 rock engravings on 212 sandstone slabs. Today it is estimated that the site contains more than 5 000 individual depictions.

Artwork
Sandstone rocks at Twyfelfontein are covered by the so-called desert varnish, a hard patina that appears brown or dark grey. Engravings were affected by chiselling through this patina, exposing the lighter rock underneath. The indentations were created over the course of thousands of years. The oldest engravings might be as old as 10 000 years, and the creation of new works probably ended with the arrival of pastoral tribes around the year 1000. Three different types of engravings can be distinguished at Twyfelfontein:

• Iconic imagery (images of animals, humans, and fantasy creatures)
• Pictograms (geometric rock art like pecked circles, rows of dots)
• Indentations for or from everyday use (grinding hollows, board games, gong stones)

Additionally, the site contains rock paintings at 13 different locations, with depictions of humans painted in red ochre in six rock shelters. The similar occurrence of rock paintings and rock engravings is very rare.

The hunter-gatherers made most of the iconic engravings and probably all the paintings. The carvings represent animals such as rhino, elephant, ostrich and giraffe as well as depictions of human and animal footprints. Some of the figures, most prominently the “Lion Man”—a lion with an extremely long rectangular kinked tail ending in a six-toed pugmark, depict the transformation of humans into animals, a practice known as anthropomorphism. This transformation and the depiction of animals together with their tracks make it likely that they were created as part of shamanist or spiritual healer rituals.

There are engravings of animals which do not occur in the area, such as sea lion, flamingo and penguins. This indicates that hunter-gatherers might have come from the coastal areas more than 100km away. Eland, sable, wildebeest and rhino are not currently found in the area, but they are clearly depicted in the etchings. This could mean that these species once occurred in the area and have now become locally extinct.

Twyfelfontein is definitely worth a visit which enhances one’s understanding of the area and highlights how the first inhabitants of the area not only survived the harsh environment but beautified it.

References
www.thenamibia.org
www.unesco.org
National Monuments in Namibia (1st ed.). Windhoek: Gamsberg Macmillan. pp. 35–37. ISBN 99916-0-593-2.
Hardy, Paula; Firestone, Matthew D (2007). Botswana & Namibia (Multi Country Guide). Lonely Planet. p. 295. ISBN 978-1741047608

The excitement was tangible on Kulala Wilderness Reserve when two male cheetah arrived at Kulala Desert Lodge on the afternoon of the 27th of June 2010.  The two were translocated from the commercial farmland area of Witvlei and had been kept at N/a’an ku sê Wildlife Sanctuary for three weeks. They are both estimated about four years old, in the prime of their lives, weighing around 50kg each.

A film crew from Carte Blanche (South African current affairs investigative series) also spent the night at Kulala Desert Lodge to film the release.  In the early hours of the following morning the Carte Blanche Team together with Rudie and Marlice van Vuuren, the owners of N/a’an ku sê, visited the famous red dunes of Sossusvlei, which served as a backdrop to part of the release documentary as well as putting the nearby location of Kulala Wildernes Reserve into context.  Each of the three camps on the reserve were allowed to have one vehicle present at the release site, so as not to overwhelm the cheetah, but allowing for heightened awareness and education to all camp staff ranging from housekeepers to waiters, guides and camp managers.

The release cage with its precious cargo was brought to the designated spot on the back of a Land Rover and set down about 30m from the side of the road. Marlice warned that everyone should be ready with their cameras because once the cage door is lifted the cats usually rush out one after the other as quickly as possible.  The two cheetah seemed comfortable in their cage however and had no plans of leaving it!  After much prompting and trying different ideas the males eventually left the cage and sauntered off towards the cover of the dry Tsauchab riverbed. Radio collars were also fitted to help monitor their movements.

This is not the first time that cheetah have been released on Kulala Wilderness Reserve – another two (male and female) were released in May 2009. Spotted hyaena unfortunately killed the female in June of the same year. It is hoped that this latest release attempt will add further to the carnivore diversity of the Reserve and the greater Namib Naukluft area. Once an area of subsistence goat farming, it is a privilege to be able to provide safe refuge in the rehabilitated arid ecosystem of Kulala for such rare and beautiful creatures.

Browse our RSS feed page and sign up for the most up to date news as it breaks.

More about Kulala Desert Lodge

This hyaena was thought to be a loan animal. Since the darting of Bruno under the guidance of Dr Flip Stander, we have been observing hyaena visitors to camp more closely. It turns out that there are, in fact, at least four individuals who visit the camp, always alone. The most recent discovery might be Bruno’s sibling.

Using Bruno’s identification pictures, taken on the night of his capture Dr. Stander has identified that the latest sighting’s “fingerprints” (markings on the legs) are very similar. He is pictured below and has been named XHB4. This suggests that they share the same heritage because the “fingerprints” are inherited.

Based on the current information, it seems that Bruno and his sibling might be of “Blue Blood” or the “Royal Family” of the local clan.

Palmwag Lodge is a veritable and literal oasis on the arid, rocky plains of north-west Namibia. The spring in front of camp has attracted wildlife for hundreds of years with elephant bulls the most well known and celebrated visitors. The grounds of the camp themselves – festooned with palms and the aromatic salvadora bushes – have a tranquil feel that contrasts with the surrounding harshness. Palm Swifts and the endemic Rüppell’s Parrot nest in the palms while the very vocal Bokmakierie skulks in the salvadora.

A walk around camp yields more than just birds and tracks of the spring visitors from the night before (spotted hyaena on our visit). Instead it gives guests a chance to look more closely at the unique reptile fauna of this part of Namibia, one that is particularly rich in endemic species.

Aside from the ubiquitous Striped Skink (Mabuya striata wahlbergii), the most obvious reptile resident in camp is the brightly coloured and confiding Namibian Rock Agama (Agama planiceps). The male (pictured top left) and female are markedly different with the bright orange heads and deep purple bodies of the males indicating breeding and dominance status. This is a near endemic species to north-west Namibia.

The paths between the rooms cover some more typical habitat for the area and the rocky slopes, rock faces and gravel covered ground with sparse cover all harbour their own distinctive species, three of which we saw and photographed and which are endemic to the region. Anchieta’s Agama (Agama anchietae) pictured top right with grey body and blunt head scurries between cover and freezes using its formidable camouflage to avoid detection. The Kaokoveld Sand Lizard (Pedioplanis gaerdesi) is a fast-moving and long-tailed inhabitant of more open ground (hence the blurred photo!), and Boulton’s Namib Day Gecko (Rhoptropus boultoni) is a charismatic and easily seen species (look around rooms 19 and 20) of rocky outcrops and rock faces with a beautifully patterned back.

There are eight lovebird species in Africa – all bright green gems of between 12 and 15cm in size with various vibrant distinguishing colours. They are often seen in quite large non-breeding flocks in some species but can be distrustful and difficult to approach, making close up observation and photography quite challenging.

Of the three species that occur in southern Africa, the Rosy-faced Lovebird (restricted almost entirely to Namibia) is perhaps the most unusual. Unlike all the other species which use the more tropical locales of forest, woodland and savannah, this species is arid-adapted and is more at home in rocky gorges than in equatorial forests.

On a recent visit to Damaraland Camp we decided to spend the last hour of sunset at a remote sandstone cliff just north of the Huab River. There is a small colony of lovebirds that have used the pockmarked holes in these wind-eroded cliffs as nesting and roosting sites for a number of years and we aimed to photograph them in the last of the golden light as the sun descended in the west.

When we arrived at the cliffs there was no sign of the birds and we wondered if they had moved on. We soon found some brightly coloured tail feathers however and shortly afterwards jerked our heads upwards as we heard their characteristic call. Ten or twelve birds had flown in to roost, their chosen site for the night being too far above us to make for decent photos. They were however using a particular bush below the cliff to socialise in before ferrying to and from the roost holes.

We spent the next hour and a half clambering up to this vantage point with Grant getting whatever photographs were possible of the birds as they clustered on the bushes below the cliffs and then moved into and out of the roost holes and other rock crevices. They are spectacularly colourful and charismatic creatures and well worth the time and effort in observation.

Location:  Ongava Lodge, Ongava Game Reserve, Namibia
Date:   20-22 March 2010
Observer:  Chris Roche
Photographers: Grant Atkinson, Martin Benadie

As a result of its arid isolation, Namibia is a haven for endemic species that have evolved away from their more widespread counterparts in savannah and woodland ecosystems. It is also ideal for small mammals that exploit specific niches and are able to withstand the extremes of the desert through their ability to use the abundant rock crevices for shelter and protection.

Ongava Lodge, situated as it is on the dolomite ridge of the Ondundozonandana Mountains, is an excellent location for camp-based game viewing. This is not just for the ‘big game’ that comes to drink at the waterhole below camp (black rhino, lion, greater kudu, black-faced impala, oryx and others) but also for the ability of guests to access the rugged, rocky surrounds of camp from the comfort of the walkways. This, and the fact that the camp has been in situ for some 15 years (giving the mammal inhabitants of the ridge time to habituate to human observation), means that guests can enjoy some spectacular viewing of three usually tricky-to-find species.

The most obvious is the rock hyrax or rock dassie, colonies of which swarm over the rocks behind the main area and all along the ridge from the vehicle parking point to Little Ongava higher up. The ability to observe them at close quarters is a fantastic boon for noting the adaptation to this rocky habitat in their paws and pelage.

Just below the main deck, en route to Rooms 13 and 14, is the best place to find and photograph the endemic dassie rat, a rather large rodent that is restricted to such rocky outcrops in Namibia and is usually quite difficult to watch. At this location a small family can sometimes be seen sunning themselves.

The last of Ongava ‘rock stars’ is the striped tree squirrel. This is not strictly speaking a species that is adapted to the rocky outcrops, but it does favour the syringa and euphorbia trees that grow in these locations as a result of these being refuges from large mammals like elephant and black rhino, as well as fire. They can be seen in the trees between the main area and the curio shop as well as along the ridge towards the chapel and Little Ongava and are incredibly difficult to photograph as they whizz through the branches. This is the southernmost extent of their range (which falls mostly in Angola to the north) and this is perhaps the best place to see this species in southern Africa.