In the last 100 years we’ve lost 90 percent of the world’s fastest land animal, the spotted, agile, big cat called the cheetah. And Dr. Laurie Marker is doing more than just about anyone to stop this loss. She founded the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia Africa to develop a permanent international research and education center on a 156,000-acre private wildlife reserve.
Wild Cheetah in Namibia.
This interview is condensed and edited.
Lea Lane: We’ll cover what makes Namibia a special travel destination, but first, how did you get interested in working with cheetahs?
Dr. Laurie Marker: There are about 42 species of cats, and the cheetah is the most unique. They are the fastest land animal and can go up to 70 miles an hour, but they’re also trying to outrun extinction. There’s only about 7,500 cheetahs left, and Namibia is considered the cheetah capital of the world, with about a thousand cheetahs. I’ve been working there since I moved to Namibia in 1990, where I set up the foundation to help save the wild cheetahs.
Breeding them became my passion. The Cheetah Conservation Fund is outside of a town called Ojiwarongo, which means a “beautiful place.” We have an open-to-the- public research and education facility. We have orphan cheetahs, a big museum with our model farm, livestock-guarding dogs, a genetics lab, a veterinary clinic. We also have the Babson House, an exclusive guest house, and our lodge, which is lovely.
Our land is at the base of Waterberg National Park, with a beautiful view. We call it the ‘little Serengeti,’ and we take people on game drives with the spectacular plateau as our background. This is where we do our cheetah work, and it’s amazing to see the cheetahs out in this landscape.
LL: What would happen to the entire ecosystem of our world if the cheetahs became extinct?
LM: Every species plays a key role. The cheetah helps manage the grassland ecosystems, and helps with overgrazing. When it makes a kill it eats rapidly and then leaves food for the rest of the other small mammals, insects and birds, so they actually help create greater biodiversity.
LL: Namibia is on the northwest border of South Africa, colonized as German Southwest Africa from 1884 until 1915. Since gaining independence from South Africa in 1990, it’s enjoyed decades of political stability. It’s now one of the most ecologically aware countries in the world.
The landscape includes scattered farms and towns – it’s one of the least occupied countries in the world. It’s known mostly for the Namib Desert coming down to the Atlantic Ocean coast, but also for mountains, canyons and savannas. How would you describe your country?
LM: Open landscapes, breathtaking views, amazing people and about 13 different cultures, all mixed together and living in harmony. Namibia is my favorite place in the world.
LL: The highest sand dunes in the world are in and around Sossusvlei, a salt and clay pan in the southern part of the Namib Desert, the oldest desert on earth, in the Namib-Naukluft National Park.
Dunes in the Namibian desert
The wind sculpts sharp ridges of sand into arcs that rise from valley floors. Each dune is constantly reshaped, and color shifts throughout the day. Sometimes you see half in dark shadow and half in rust red, and you’ve got the pans of sand and salt, white against the red.
Dune 7 is over 1,000 feet. Other famous ones are Dune 45 and Big Daddy and Big Mama. Have you climbed any of these?
LM: Many times. It’s climbing sand up, up, up. You get there so early in the morning in part because it’s hot. But we are also a high desert and it can get quite cold.
LL: We took a five-hour drive from Sossusvlei to the capital city of Windhoek in Namibia’s central highlands, and I remember a troop of baboons sitting in the road, maybe 75 of them, and herds of oryx, large, pale antelope with dark markings and straight horns. Empty roads. What do you recommend seeing and doing in Windhoek?
LM: When you get off of the sand dunes and into the city, of course you’re going to go to one of the nice hotels, but beyond that, lovely shops with local community craft objects.
We have great restaurants. The seafood comes from the ocean, fresh daily. We have the best oysters in the world, I think. Of course we are a meat-eating country and our beef is incredible. We’re the only country in Africa that actually sends our beef to America.
LL: You can drive along the coast where the high dunes meet the sea and see nobody for hours. Some call it the end of the earth. It’s a good feeling if you’ve got lots of gas in your tank. I’m a solo traveler, but this one’s pushing it.
High dunes meet the Atlantic and create magnificent compositions.
LM: You’re perfectly safe, and there’s not very many places in the world you can say that. If you go to the coast, you’ll see the dunes coming right down to the water. It’s called the Skeleton Coast because it’s rocky, and boats used to crash into it.
LL: The coastal city of Swakopmund has sandy beaches on the Atlantic. It was established by German colonists in 1892 and has colonial landmarks.
LM: Also wildlife areas. We’ve got Walvis Bay, which is a bit south, where we now have Big Wharf, and if you move north you can go up and see the sea lions. These are some of the first places the explorers landed. There’s a huge, lovely lighthouse there, at Pelican Point.
Lighthouse at Walvis Bay
LL: The fur seals are a species of sea lion, I remember the smell and the sound — you have to get used to it. There are over 100,000 birds counted in the lagoon, mostly flamingos and pelicans, pink against the gray coast, very delicate coloring.
Flamingos in a Namibia lagoon
Lots of marine life makes a wonderful contrast to the desert.
The most famous national park, Etosha, is in northwestern Namibia, one of the largest national parks in Africa. It was proclaimed a game reserve in 1907. What animals will you find at Etosha?
Elephant, kudus and impalas at Batia waterhole, Etosha National Park, Namibia
LM: It’s arid landscape and the animals cover vast areas. We have huge herds of desert elephants, which also go into areas near the coast.
Within the park you can see rhinos and giraffe, wildlife species including oryx, hardebeest, springbok; mountain zebra and plain zebras. Lions, of course, hyena, and very few cheetahs. You go to the water points where the wildlife congregates.
LL: Other must-see attractions include Fish River Canyon, the largest canyon in Africa and the world’s second largest. It’s about 60 million years old, formed when South America and Africa separated. It’s a challenging hike.
The Fish River Canyon in Namibia is the second largest canyon in the world and the largest in … [+]
Then there’s Kolmanskop Ghost Town, filled with sand. The desert has taken it over since about 1956, when it was abandoned as a former diamond mining town.
An abandoned building in the desert ghost town of Kolmanskop.
LM: Hyenas like to live in and out of there too, and jackals. It’s just an amazing place to take pictures.
There’s Damaraland, with the rock etchings at Twylfelfontein, one of my favorite places in the entire world. It’s a World Heritage Site, so it’s been developed with walkways to protect these amazing etchings that are at least 5,000 years old: ostriches and elephants and rhinos and giraffe, cheetah, kudu, antelope. It’s like going to a wildlife church. Incredible art.
Ancient Bushmen rock engravings in Damaraland at Twyfelfontein, Namibia. These petroglyphs, … [+]
LL: What a magnificent picture you’re painting. I suggest adding Namibia if you’re already flying to South Africa. And Botswana is also so close. Spend time in Namibia for one of the most exhilarating trips of your life.
You can hear the full interview on Episode 114 of my award-winning travel podcast, Places I Remember with Lea Lane here – or wherever you get your podcasts.
