The “Rhino rangers” mission includes driving around the reserve to observe the animals, and track the rhinos to verify they have not been injured by poachers. It is therefore an anti-poaching mission through the monitoring of animals, especially rhinos, and the reserve. It is divided into three parts: the first is the monitoring and observation of the animals during the afternoon, the second is the night observation, and the third is the next morning observation.
To carry out this mission, we began with a presentation of the reserve and its history for all newcomers during the morning. We also had to watch a video to raise awareness about poaching rhinos which are killed for the false medicinal virtues of their horns. After, we prepared all our things and ate, then we joined everyone at 2:30 pm for the meeting to assign the missions to each group.
We got into a jeep, and went out of the "safe" area of Naankuse to go into the reserve with all the wild animals. When we arrived in the reserve, we could see a herd of four female lions in captivity eating. The rangers told us that they remained captive because they attacked dogs near villages, which could be dangerous for humans. We drove for three hours in the savannah, and we could see several giraffes, as well as squirrels and birds. We also observed gazelles, zebras galloping, koudous, ostriches, oryx, warthogs and foxes. You had to be very patient to see animals, but it had an immersive and exciting side.
Then we arrived in a camp with three tents, two of them with beds and one with food reserves. There was also a place a little further away from the camp with a shower and toilet, as well as a small place where it was possible to sit in a circle around a fire.
We made bread on our own with special flour, yeast and water. Then we cooked skewers of vegetables, sausages and cassoulet with the fire. I talked to the two guards who were doing the mission and asked them a lot of questions about Namibia. I learned that 16 languages were spoken, in addition to Afrikaans, German and English! These different languages correspond to the different tribes.
When the night started to fall, around 7pm, we took the car for a night excursion in search of rhinos. Before leaving, we connected a projector to the car, which emitted a very powerful and blinding light. We saw a hyena, which is very rare here, gazelles, but also baboons, antelopes, and footprints of elephants that were supposed to be nearby.
As we were about to return we finally saw the rhinos, so we followed them to see them longer. It was really impressive because they were very close, running in front of us in the middle of the night! We then went back to the tents to sleep, it was cold but less worse than the previous days, and thanks to the blankets and my sleeping bag I had a very good night. We heard hyenas falling asleep, it was incredible but quite distressing!
The next day, we woke up in the middle of the savannah. We had our breakfast around the fire, very good South African cereals, and we prepared our stuff. We then took the car back to track the animals again. The colors of the landscape were beautiful: the sunrise was orange and pink, and we could see giraffes all around us, illuminated by the sunrise.
This time we saw a lot more animals than the previous times. We went to a water point and we saw a lot of them. We went down on foot and we saw the footprints of elephants, giraffes and wild dogs. We also saw bird eggs on the ground!
We were very fortunate this day. We were only three volunteers, and there was as usual the ranger who was driving, and the one in the back of the car. Just 15 minutes after our departure, we met the wild lions of the reserve. They were right in the middle of the road and walking towards us. There was a male and two females. They then snuck into the bush, and reappeared to our right. It was impressive because we saw them very closely, and because these lions were totally wild, even though they had GPS collars.
We then continued on our way, and crossed a family of warthogs, with two young. We also encountered oryx, Koudou, impala, antelopes, giraffes, buffaloes, springboks, zebras and steenbocks. Then, right in the middle of the road, we spotted rhino droppings that were still hot. According to the two guards in the reserve they were about two hours old, and according to the footprints of the rhinos they were heading to the left of the road. So we went out of the car and walked after them, and the rangers took their guns.
We tracked the rhinos, using the grass they had crushed under their paws and which was still flat. We had to look at which side the grass had been flattened, and we could deduce the direction that the rhinos had taken. We also had to be careful how we positioned ourselves in relation to the wind, because they didn’t have to smell us so that they didn’t get scared.
After 30 minutes of walking, we finally saw two rhinos, a mother and her baby. We approached the rhinos, but they smelled us and fled. However, before she ran away, the mother approached us and was hesitant. I got very scared because I thought she was going to charge us, but the rangers explained that she was only disoriented because the rhinos have very bad eyesight, and this race, the white rhinos, do not attack men unless we’re really trying to annoy them. Black rhinos are the most aggressive, and also the most endangered.
So we bypassed the rhinos, and managed to get close to them a second time. The rangers pointed out to us that the mother was standing in front of her cub to protect it. We stayed for long minutes, face to face with the rhinoceros, then we went back to the car.
While we were going home, the volunteers and I talked to one of the ranger about our European countries. He asked me if there were lions or elephants in France! I said no, but there were bears and wolves. He was also intrigued by the snow, and asked us a lot of questions about what it was. He even asked us if we could take it in our hands without melting it, and if we could drink it! As it never snows in Namibia, he seemed super impressed by our explanations, it was incredible to realize how different France and Namibia were!
We then arrived at the car, then we drove back to the farm to get back, and then we saw a large herd of gazelles. They were walking away from us, when suddenly a cheetah came out of the bush! It was really rare to see a hunting scene in the reserve, and very few rangers had ever seen it. The cheetah pursued the flock, which was running at full speed, leaping in all directions, and they departed into the bush. We probably made the best rhino ranger of the whole month today! We then continued on our way back to the safe zone in the Naankuse farm.
This mission was one of the best for me. Sleeping in the middle of the savannah and tracking down the animals on night was really exciting and immersive. You had to be an observer to spot animals and be patient. When we came face to face with the rhinos, I became aware of their dangerousness and size. I was also very appreciative of the rangers who had tremendous knowledge of the wildlife around them. They could recognize almost all birds just by listening to them! I will never forget this experience, which was for me very striking and unique.