Eldorado would be our first stop 500km north east from Windhoek and just 7km south of the Etosha National Park.

The second part of my Namibia trip would be more about wildlife, landscapes and big skies but I was also keen to understand where are in the country wildlife lives and how this is managed by the Government.

I was to treat this as a anthropologist fact finding mission, ask lots of questions, and wrap up my thoughts at the end. If this sounds a bit dull to you, reader, please don’t worry there will be lots of animal and bird shots too.

If you had asked me before coming to Namibia how things were structured here for wildlife, particularly thinking of the country’s vast size and miniscule population, I would have said that, beyond the national parks, where animals are monitored and have comfort of anti poaching protection, the rest of the land would have, ‘free to roam’ areas for wildlife, but none of the support.

Infact, what I had already seen east of Windhoek on the road to Swakopmund was massive swathes of flat barren lands, but all fenced.

The road north, although greener, also had ginormous tracts of land but all fenced and seemingly little on them. The odd cow. One piece of land I tracked as being 15km long to the left side of the car. All trees had been chopped down, branches cut and clumped together for the making of charcoal. Israel was genuinely surprised when I asked if the trees would be replanted. I think he had never heard of this before, saying that the farmers need to strip the areas of trees so that they could graze their cattle. So much for the Government’s UN targets to reverse desertification and land degradation. This land was already bone dry.

Israel added, without any prompting from me, that farmers invite in people to shoot (for sport and meat) animals on the land before the trees are cleared. “It is illegal to kill wild animals in Namibia but everyone (including the Government) knows that this is happening”, adding his own political viewpoint, ” why is it okay for the rich to do this, but not the poor from his village who have always lived on game meat”. I didn’t want to hear this.

So, how many animals are there living outside the game parks?

As we neared the Eldorado Farmhouse, where I would have a two night stop,the number of fancy looking lodges beyond grand gateways and long drives going off in to the heat haze, increased. I suppose each would have its own story.

I arrive at the Eldorado Farmhouse just in time for a farm tour. Israel had booked this accommodation for me, as the only place near the park with available rooms. Reading quickly in their literature that they have : ” a predator sanctuary”, ” holding animals captured while endangering their livestock”, ” they live in camps ( interesting word) as close to nature as possible”. Lastly, I read on their Internet website, ” this is a private sanctuary for problem animals”. I was keen to learn more.

I was alone on the tour so able to ask lots of questions about the farm. At the time of capture application had been made to the Government to relocate the animals, but with this process taking too long and a propensity for animals to find their way home, the Government had sent inspectors to the farm, and approved they hold them.

On the farm they had : 4 cheetahs, 5 lions, 3 caracals and most surprisingly two leopards. All held in zoo sized enclosures, all looked in great condition and truly beautiful.

Was there any winners here? It is certainly a draw for guests, but I can’t say there was a hard sell. This was certainly not what I would classify as conservation, and yet all these cats were at least alive when otherwise they could have had a sticky end.

I wouldn’t comment on the accommodation, I will leave this with trip advisor, bar saying that it was clean, comfortable and had friendly staff. I do want to mention ,though, the dinner menu. The first night was Eland ( a very big antelope) and another night Springbok. Had I not had stomach cramps and zero appetite I would have tried them. There is moral maze here though, what proof they are farmed animals and should we even add wild animals in to the food chain, potentially encouraging the acceptance of killing game?