Where To See Leopards In Namibia – Okonjima Nature Reserve

Okonjima Nature Reserve is the best place to see Leopards in Namibia. We originally booked two nights at Okonjima during our trip, however we enjoyed the reserve so much we ended up booking an additional three nights. Honestly, it was one of the highlights of our trip to Namibia.

The nature reserve is ideally positioned en-route to Etosha National Park from Windhoek, and makes for a perfect place to start your safari trip in Namibia.

Okonjima is a family run business and is home to the AfriCat Foundation, with conservation, research and education at its core. The property has been in the Hanssen family since the 1970’s and was originally used as a cattle farm. In 1993 the AfriCat Foundation was formed and the property has since been expanded into the 20,000 hectare, Okonjima Nature Reserve.

The reserve is best known for its leopard tracking game drives, and this is hands down the best way to see and experience the behaviour of these amazing cats up close.

Immediately upon checking in to the reserve we were greeted by numerous staff, all of whom made us feel welcome, and the lodge definitely had that home away from home feeling. We stayed in two different room types during our stay, the standard room and the bush suite.

The standard rooms were spacious and very comfortable, with views out across the plains. The bush suites were located on a different camp with a separate lodge area, which felt more personal and intimate. The restaurant food was high-end dining in a lodge setting, all with views of animals grazing by the various waterholes around the property.

During our stay we participated in a host of activities and a total of five game drives. The guides at Okonjima were very knowledgeable and always ready to answer any questions we had. We learned much about the reserve, as well as the interesting behaviour of the leopards and the animals that inhabit it.

Around 50% of the leopards on the reserve are collared. This is a valuable tool that helps researchers in monitoring and studying their behaviour. Data gathering helps us to better understand population size, home ranges, hunting patterns, daily movement, social dynamics, diet and more in order to better protect them.

By tracking the cats at Okonjima they can make sure they stay within the boundaries of the reserve, and that they don’t venture outside, in order to avoid negative human/wildlife conflict. Most importantly it helps to protect these endangered cats.

Some of my favourite ever safari pictures were taken at Okonjima, thanks to the patient guides, who always knew where to position the vehicle for the best views. One thing I can remember was how the animals welfare was always at the forefront of the experience. They got us fairly close to the leopards but in a manner as to not disturb them, or interfere with their hunts.

Even though some of the leopards are collared on the reserve that doesn’t mean you are always guaranteed to see them on a drive. Leopards like the thicket, and camouflage well into the long grasses, so sometimes it may be difficult to locate them. That’s just nature and it makes it all the more rewarding when you do find a leopard.

On one of our drives we were lucky enough to find one of the female leopards called Lila. She was hunting and managed to catch a common duiker, one of the smaller antelope. We watched intently as she suffocated her prey before hiding the carcass in the thick bushes.

We were even more surprised when she led us back to her two cubs, which she’d hidden in two different locations. Our guide John.L explained that this was the first time he’d observed this behaviour, as he made note of it on an tablet device. He said it was clear that the leopard did this to preserve the life of at least one of the cubs, had they both been discovered in the same location by predators, she could lose both.

We watched has she retrieved one of her cubs from up a tree, and called out to the other, further away in the long grass. It was a truly remarkable experience to observe this behaviour, and we managed to sit and watch her for a while as she cleaned and nurtured her young cubs.

On another one of our leopard tracking drives we managed to find Mawenzi, a large male leopard with a pretty awesome look.

Mawenzi had made a kill the previous day and was still protecting the carcass. We looked on and observed for around an hour as the sun began to set. He was circling and moving around the carcass while keeping watch for other animals who might steal the kill. He occasionally fed on the carcass, and we could hear the tearing of flesh and crunching bones, it was quite unnerving.

It is common for hyena, lion or even other leopards to try and take the carcass of another’s kill. This is why on many occasions a leopard will drag its kill up a tree. They even know to eat around the organs first, as once opened the organs give off a stronger smell, possibly attracting more predators to the carcass.

One of the things we really liked on the nature reserve was the central lodge areas. They were a perfect place to relax, dine and meet before a game drive for a coffee, and some freshly baked muffins. Both lodges overlooked plains and a waterhole, so you could sit and watch the wildlife while enjoying breakfast and dinner, or an evening drink by the warm, log fire. The staff were also exceptional at Okonjima, and were a big part of the reason why we chose to return here for an additional three nights.

Staff arrange for guests to meet in the lodge areas (pictured below) thirty minutes prior to game drives, so guests can enjoy a host of refreshments and snacks before setting off.

There are various types of accommodations at the Okonjima Lodge, there is a campsite area with four camps for those on a budget. There is the Plains Camp with standard and view rooms, as well as the Bush Camp & Suites for those seeking that extra bit of luxury.

The Bush Camp has its own separate lodge and restaurants, and guides guests towards a more bespoke experience. We were fortunate enough to stay in both camps and we can honestly say the level of accommodation and service in both camps was excellent.

The Bush Camp features suites with their own private waterholes, and separate, open seating area. You can literally watch the animals grazing and drinking from the comfort of your room. In the room guests will also find bird seed, and during our stay we were visited by various different bird species, including some very cheeky hornbills.

We also loved the bespoke finishing touches throughout the rooms, and the native hand-crafted furnishings.

Breakfast and dinner are included in the room rates. The breakfast consists of pastries, breads, cold meats and fruit, as well as cooked items freshly prepared and delivered to your table. The bush omelette was a firm favourite of ours, it’s packed full of ingredients for a filling and hearty start to the day. For dinner the menu was changed daily and we had to choose our mains in advance, we were treated to three courses of delicious food, consisting of local ingredients and fresh produce.

Okonjima spans an area of around 200 square kilometres, made up of plains, mountainous outcrops and river-line thicket. There is a whole host of wildlife on the reserve including giraffe, zebra, brown hyena, pangolin and rhino, as well as various antelope and other species of mammals.

We also did a rhino tracking tour at Okonjima. This tour was on foot with our guide and an anti-poaching team. Unfortunately rhinos are highly threatened by poachers who target them for their horns, which fetch a large price on the black market. Unlike elephants the horns aren’t made of ivory but are made of keratin, which is the same protein as our hair and nails. The anti-poaching team work around the clock to protect the rhino, and they understand their behaviour very well.

It was an amazing experience trekking through the African bush in search of rhino. No telemetry equipment here, just the expertise of bush-men who understand the terrain, and tracks of these animals. We literally came within meters of two huge, white rhino! They noticed us on approach but didn’t seem too concerned as they continued to graze. I couldn’t believe how close we were, there were no fences, just some small shrubs between us an these amazing animals.

At the heart of Okonjima is the AfriCat Foundation which was established in 1993, and started off as a sanctuary for cheetah and leopard, to protect them from human/wildlife conflict. The foundation is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to long-term conservation, environmental awareness, education and carnivore research. There is a kind of symbiotic relationship between the tourism at Okonjima and the work at the AfriCat foundation. Money made from tourism is then used to help fund the research and conservation programmes there.

Unfortunately leopard and cheetah numbers are declining across Africa, this is due to climate change, habitat destruction and human/wildlife conflict. Farmers will kill leopard and cheetah to protect their livestock. At the AfriCat Foundation, one of the programmes involves teaching the next generation of farmers about conservation awareness, in order to protect the carnivores. They also assist farmers in effective management and improved livestock protection, as well as various rescue, release, and rehabilitation programmes.

The cheetah at the AfriCat Foundation have been rescued, but unfortunately couldn’t be released back into the wild as they were unable to hunt effectively on their own. It was also noted that previously released cheetah into the Okonjima Reserve had poor survival rates. This was due to the high density of naturally occurring leopard and brown hyena, as well as the behaviour of rehabilitated cheetah trying to defend their kills, which resulted in more deaths. Wild cheetah would normally surrender their kill to bigger predators.

Okonjima Nature Reserve is a must-see place to include in your Namibia itinerary and is truly one of the best places to see leopards in Namibia.

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