Mrs Conway took me to Damaraland after we went to the Namib desert and it was completely different to everywhere we had been before. In places it was a little creepy as it looked like we were on another planet with rocky, dusty moonscapes and we drove for hours and hours and never saw anybody, I was a little scared because we went through the Skeleton coast and I wasn't sure why it had that strange name.....
Damaraland was lovely and I spent time with a family who thought we all looked a little strange and when I shared my sweets, the little boy wasn't sure what to do with them as he had never had one before. I've never had to teach anyone to eat a sweet before and it made me realise how different we all are.
We drove for hours and hours and hours to the Kalihari desert. Mrs Conway had made me a special place on the front seat of the truck but as I started to see the road signs going past I decided to sit in the back with Shona (Mrs Conway's daughter) because I got a little nervous. I am only a little llama after all.
We don't get roadsigns like these in Bradford and when Mrs Conway explained to Shona, Sean and I that if we did come across elephants that she would have to drive slowly past and we would have to stay quiet and not make a noise to scare them or they might get nervous and stampede. Mrs Conway also pointed out that elephants are much bigger than the truck we were in so I was a little bit jittery. Thankfully, nothing happened .... on that day .... and we soon got to our camp.
Shona wondered why there were no fences at our "camp site". Mrs Conway explained that this was an open fenced camp so that we could "be at one with nature" so animals could roam freely and we would be able to see how animals really live in the wild. The game ranger told us we could only walk around at night outside of our tent with a ranger who had a torch and a gun! It was very strange sleeping in our canvas tent at night, listening to lions making load growling and roaring noises. One day the game ranger in the camp told us that whilst we had been out trekking some rhinos that elephants had come in and trampled over some of the camp too. (I kept all my best toys in the truck just in case it happened again).
We spent a few days here and I fell in love with the place so decided to stay a little longer with my new springbok friends. Not even the day when we were stampeded by a herd of elephants protecting their young was I put off. Even though, Shona and I saw our lives flashing by in front of our eyes at that time, as the massive mama elephants trumpeted and started to charge towards us. Mrs Conway did ask if we could take a photo of this whilst we accelerated off at top speed with the elephants running behind us but we weren't too keen on the idea so we can't show you the terrifying event.
I don't like it when the lions make all the noise at night, it's quite scary because you can tell that they are really close. However, running free around the desert with all my springbok (a kind of deer) friends makes it all worth while.
It was a sad day with we waved Mrs Conway off at the airport but I will be with you all at Miriam Lord soon. Thank you for all your kind comments.
Count Arthur
