The whole country is waiting for rain. And this has partly been the case for a very long time. Mind you, we are not talking about Switzerland but rather Namibia. The water levels in the dams around Windhoek are at a precarious low. In Omaruru the groundwater table is lower than ever before. If there is no rain here, things will look bleak – especially for the farms that grow vegetables and rely on water.

After a stop over at Omaruru, we continued east. The sky was cloudy, but it had been that way the day before. It didn’t look like it was going to rain, even though the swallows were flying low in front of our vehicle. Half an hour later, as we approached the ridge, the clouds were black. The first heavy raindrops fell on the windshield. But after ten minutes the spook was over. Nothing to do with rain.

It fell an hour later when we arrived at the TimBila Nature Reserve (33,500 ha), which belongs to the N/a’an ku se Foundation. Within two hours, the sandy bed of the river Omaruru, which we had recently crossed, filled up. Now brown water was rolling towards the west. The depressions in the ground filled with rainwater in no time; the narrow sandy slopes resembled streams. We waited at the camp until the heavy rain had died down. After two hours the spook was over. As quickly as the wide riverbed filled with rainwater; just as quickly it flowed away or seeped into the deep sand.

PS: Apollo, that’s the name of the elephant that was up to mischief on the Rössmund golf course a few years ago, is also at home at TimBila, one of the grounds of N/a’an ku se Foundation. After escaping from here twice, he has now settled down…