The moon set the limit

Namibian journalists and thereafter a number of tourists and visitors, enjoyed the rare privilege of venturing onto the Etosha Pan after sunset on foot earlier this year, as part of a moonlight pilot project.

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism, as main host of the Etosha Centenary celebrations, extended the invitation to the media to participate in this exciting project under the silvery light of the full moon. Dates for the event had been carefully selected to coincide with maximum lunar illumination. Such was the excitement, that participants are saddened by the fact that the Minister of Environment and Tourism has until now limited these walks with no prospect of repetition.

On Monday, 30 July 2007, the full moon rose over the central southern embankment of the Etosha Pan, witnessing how 30 journalists from Windhoek left the shore of the dry pan to head north onto the brackish plane, their shoes crunching the shrivelled crust. A handful of armed game wardens accompanied the wanderers, not so much to ward off a confused stray animal, but to keep the small group together in an orderly fashion so that no soul would be lost in the dim light of the nocturnal expanse.

The surface of Etosha measures 4 731 square kilometers with a length of 110 km and a width of 60 km. The considerable distance across its dimensions prevents visitors from seeing the opposite embankment.
Participants of the moonlight walk had set off from the Namibian capital earlier on the same day. After offloading their luggage at the centrally located Etosha Lookout, jutting into the salt lake desert, wardens transported the group to a terrace a few kilometers away. There Halali's senior staff had set up a main table, silhouetted against the sunset, for the Minister of Environment and Tourism, Mr Willem Konjore, to set the wanderers off into the moonlit night.
Jan Tsumib, a truly local Etosha guide - he was born and bred in the area - accompanied the group on the night trail and pointed out many interesting things. Visitors on the edge of
the pan never see an animal on the barren brackish plane, since there is nothing to feed on anyway. It is a common (mis)conception that animals only venture a few meters away from the embankment or loiter around wells on the edge of the pan.

But what a surprise it was when the night wanderers, on a stretch of six kilometers of barren pan, devoid of all vegetation, came across at least two deeply trodden game paths criss-crossing the dusty surface from the east towards the north west. "What business do they have in a place where there is nothing to feed on, never mind to drink? And what kind of animal ventures into this brak and brine in such great numbers?" the media wanted to know from Jan Tsumib.

He smiled and with a stick pointed to footprints in the pulverised path: "Gemsbok! There may still be some water left in the pan which we haven't seen!"
Suddenly a surprised shout from one of the ladies alerted the group. She pointed to some distant shady features, resembling animals on the hazy plane. But what animal could it be? "Gemsbok," said the expert Tsumib. "But it could also be hyena."
With neither bush nor tree as reference point, the size of the animal on a plane with no visible line between earth and sky, is difficult to determine.

So the group marched on under the milky moon and finally reached the campsite at the Etosha Lookout two hours before midnight.
A friendly campfire provided warmth for the hikers who then enjoyed a braai and a few drinks. The talk and reflection after their trek continued well after midnight.

Now it was only the moon continuing the night journey towards the western horizon. >From there it greeted early risers with a lilac dawn - quick to disappear after welcoming the sun in its daily course.
We all agreed that Minister Willem Konjore can arrange another moonlight walk anytime.