Okonjima Plains Camp

The accommodation at Okonjima Plains Camp honours the Hanssen’s family cattle-farming history with its three-tier accommodation facility. There are 10 spacious view rooms, 14 standard rooms and 6 garden rooms available across the property to choose from. All are family friendly and wheelchair accessible as well as providing guests with an entertainment area and gathering place. They offer amenities such as a dining area, bar, lounge area, swimming pool, curio shop, Wi-Fi, phone reception and undercover parking.

Aptly named due to their stunning views across the Okonjima grass plains, each of the ten spacious view rooms are set 20-70 metres apart, with some distance from the entertainment area at the Plains Camp Barn. Each room has its own large veranda with two day beds and loungers to bask in the property’s views. There are also two double beds, a working desk and a reading chair in the rooms as well as a tea and coffee station. Guests have access to their own mini fridge, two roof fans, a security safe and also a telephone with phone reception. All of these comforts are complimented with bathroom amenities such as twin basins and a large twin shower. For families visiting the camp, rooms three and four can be combined and this is close to the entertainment area at the barn.

Each of the fourteen standard rooms also look out onto the Okonjima grass plains but are slightly smaller than the view rooms. Each room is set 10-15 metres apart, with some distance from the entertainment area at the barn. Each room features a small veranda with two chairs to enjoy the views from, two double beds, a table, director chairs and a tea/coffee station. Other amenities include two roof fans, a mini fridge and the bathroom features twin basins and a large twin shower. Other features include a security safe, private undercover parking and a telephone with phone service.

The more affordable garden rooms offers guests 22 metres squared of space and with six available at the property. Each room has a veranda with chairs that offers stunning views to admire. The rooms are also wheelchair accessible. Other amenities include two roof fans, a mini fridge and the bathroom features twin basins and a large twin shower. Other features include a security safe, private undercover parking and a telephone with phone service.

Breakfast, brunch and dinner are all provided by the camp. Tea, coffee and fruit are on offer free throughout the day to snack on at no extra charge. Each room has a mini fridge for guests’ own use and a tea/coffee machine is also provided. The property has its own dining area as well as a bar on site for visitors to use when dining at Okonjima Plains Camp.

A professional guide will take guests on Game drives to get up close and personal to stunning wildlife creatures such as cheetahs, leopards and hyenas, all in their natural environment. Guests can also participate in nocturnal drives should they wish to see the bush come to life when the sun goes down. This is a whole new way to experience animals in their habitat, seeing how they interact when night has fallen. The silent bush comes to life as the sound of cheetahs and leopards guide the journey, as does each sighting of the bird life as it flies above and ahead.

The Okonjima Nature Reserve runs extensive research projects on rare and endangered species within the region. Home of the AfriCat Foundation, their work enables species such as hyenas and leopards to be monitored, allowing them to thrive. A visit to Plains Camp is the perfect opportunity to educate yourself on endangered animals and witness the wonderful work being done to combat their demise.

Guided bush walks are an even more intimate way for visitors to get up-close and personal to Namibia’s wildlife and its protected species. Guests will witness larger mammals but also an array of birds that thrive in the area. A guide will be present to ensure your complete safety, allowing you to truly indulge in the beauty around you, both in sight and in sound.

There are a limited amount of rooms at the property, which avoids overcrowding the area and avoids taking advantage of the natural surroundings. The rooms each have a rustic design, both the interior and exterior reflecting the nature that surrounds it.

Any direct contact with wild animals is unnatural, especially when done for the entertainment of guests. It results in poor living conditions for the animals in comparison to the wild and causes un-necessary stress to the animal. This is why Okonjima does not allow for human-wildlife contact and actively educated their guests on the importance of this. Rehabilitation takes place in a humane manner to allow the animal to return to the wild.

Okonjima makes it clear to guests that under no circumstances should wild animals be fed and birds can only be fed where seeds are provided in the camp. The activities teach guests the importance of the conservation that takes place at the property and teaches them just how vital the work that AfriCat does is.

The main research project at the reserve investigates the interspecific and intraspecific relationship between different carnivorous species within the enclosed conservation area. Animals being studied include cheetahs, leopards and brown hyenas. The interaction between the animals in the reserve is monitored and studied with the aid of GPS collars and camera traps, helping the researches to assess the extent of predation and size of territories for individual animals. The study also provides valuable information on the success of carnivore rehabilitation in the reserve.

The Leopard Density Project is an in-depth assessment of the leopard population in the Okonjima Nature Reserve via the use of remote camera traps that provide researchers a detailed insight into the demography as well as special distribution patterns of these stunning creatures. A long-term monitoring pattern has been introduced and has been running since 2015, with constant updates being recorded. The wildlife is also protected within the nature reserve using a number of methods. The reserve spans over 200km squared so that they can still roam freely and the area is fully surrounded by electrified predator-proof perimeter fencing.

Based in Okonjima Private Nature Reserve, this centre was founded in the early nineties and registered as a non-profit organisation in August 1993. The foundation has grown significantly over the years and has identified the need to include education and collaboration with researchers, conservationists and scientists through the research of species-specific ecology. Working closely with the farming community also allows for studies to be conducted that provide valuable information on large carnivores and their long-term conservation in Namibia.

The ‘Rescue and Release Programme’ focuses on feeding, caring and providing a home for a number of animals that currently cannot be released into the wild. They are provided with expert care by the outstanding team at AfriCat. Research is conducted throughout the rehabilitation process and the information gathered allows vets to gain valuable insight into the health of these creatures in the wild. Ethical animal welfare is at the heart of everything this foundation does, ensuring that they can stay wild or be rehabilitated and kept safe if unable to return to their natural habitat.

The population of brown hyenas within the Okonjima Nature Reserve is being managed appropriately to ensure that they sustain themselves healthily for their ultimate survival. Launched in 2018 as a comprehensive scheme to observe the brown hyenas, the study collects data, analyses the information and makes recommendations on how to take action to preserve the population.

Many of the Pangolin species are classified as vulnerable by the international Union for Conservation of Nature, and four out of eight of these species occur in the African continent. These creatures are predominately nocturnal, making them difficult to study and monitor, especially in areas with a high concentration of predators. These creatures area also incredibly vital to the natural ecosystem, consuming around 70 million ants and termites a year. Research has revealed that N$600 million per year can be saved in crop loss due to the service of pangolins consuming ants and termites. Their natural behaviour also causes them to turn the soil as they burrow and feed, aerating the soil and increasing plant germination.

However, these animals are being trafficked illegally and exploited due to being seen as a delicacy in some countries. In 2014 they were categorised as the most trafficked animal worldwide which is why their protection and observation in their natural habitat is so vital. They are also at risk of electrocution by electrified fencing, which is why ONR has raised the wiring throughout the reserve so that they are unharmed. AfriCat has launched the AfriCat Pangolin Project that studies all detail of life for the ground pangolin in Namibia. This will help to understand their natural patterns, population dynamics, prey selectivity and overall ecology of the creatures to create conservation guidelines to better protect them.

The Aardvark Research Project aims to establish the potential impact of climate change on free-ranging aardvarks at the Okonjima Nature Reserve. Previous research has highlighted that these creatures are vulnerable to climate change, their patterns changing due to summer droughts and their body temperatures lowering during metabolically challenging periods. Aardvarks have specialised anatomy which enables them to feed on underground prey such as ants and termites. The loss of aardvarks can be detrimental to their ecosystems due to the loss of benefits of its naturally helpful burrowing behaviours.

These intriguing animals are considered to be a keystone species due to how they impact their communities and ecosystems. With the use of VHF tags, aardvarks across the reserve can be tracked to establish their home range sized and burrow locations. The camera traps allow them to be monitored and give researchers far more insight into the potential impact of climate change on these creatures.