Waterhole Watch 2025, The Year In Review
2025 proved to be a year full of wonders, delights and surprises at NamibiaCam! Let's look back over the past 12 months with and recall some of the many highlights...
January: A Very Special First Visitor! At NC there's an unofficial New Year's Day tradition that has chatters and mods wondering what animal will be our first visitor of the year. 2025 did not disappoint, as fan favorite "special jackal" OOrlew hopped into view at 00:07:50.
KC provided some memorable moments as well. On January 13th we were privileged to observe the birth of a Burchell's Zebra foal as it happened!
Later that month, celestial visitor Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) returned to our skies for the first time in 160,000 years and our zoomies at KC were there to capture it for us!
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February: 2025 was a year of wild weather, featuring an unexpectedly bountiful Rainy Season. Rain wasn't the only thing that fell from the sky, however. On February 4th, a formidable sandstorm swept over the Namib Desert waterhole and the landscape just north of the Gondwana Namib Desert Lodge.
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March: Speaking of wild weather, who can forget the powerful derecho that dumped bucketloads of rain on the area around NC, surrounded the waterhole with a moat, and knocked down a few trees - one of which is (er, was) the much-beloved landmark "Leaning Tree".
The silver lining to this literal dark cloud was that, after the camera was deemed to have been sand-blasted beyond repair, a New & Improved cam was installed that provides color viewing at night and a sharper view overall... spiders permitting.
March also saw the last visit (at press time) to NC by our beloved feral Horses, "Thelma & Louise", who paid us an early morning visit on March 27th before leaving, together as always, to look for greener pastures.
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April: April 12th, 2025 was (at press time) the last time a Cheetah visited NC. The entrance of this majestic cat was made even more ethereal by the time of day it happened: just after sunset, minutes before the switch to Night Mode.
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May: The last visit (at press time) to the NC waterhole by "special jackal" OOrlew occurred on May 10th. We all hope that "Oorly" has continued their amazing story of survival against the odds, at another location.
Some rare plant news! The so-called "Sesame Shrub" that sprung up just beyond the edge of the NC waterhole in the aftermath of the March 7th storm, reached peak growth in May. Unfortunately, it also became more noticeable to hungry herbivores. "Sam" hung on for a surprisingly long time... until July 19th when its shortened stalk was stomped by an ornery and oblivious Oryx.
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June: NC's "little" waterhole looks even smaller when Giraffes visit. It looked positively tiny when an official "tower" of 10 Giraffes came to drink on the morning of June 7th.
One of the majestic beasts gave the new camera a test when it nudged the cam pole and gave the lens a lick.
Meanwhile over at KC, an extremely rare visit from a Caracal provided a bit of extra excitement for chatters and viewers during an episode of Leopardy being played on June 25th.
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July: July surprised us early when a rare Black Heron appeared at OC on July 6th. The strikingly beautiful black bird was not a Maltese Falcon, by the way... it may have been a Black Fishing Heron (Egretta ardesiaca) that lures fish by providing a shady canopy with its feathers.
Weed love to visit NC! July 26th was the day and night for that thanks to strong winds that blew grass, weeds and other debris into the waterhole.
KC was not to be outdone, sending us a sunset MEH-sage on the afternoon of July 27th.
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August: The Giraffes got back to mischief-making in August when one got a bit too up-close and personal with the NC camera. The long-necked galoot was thwarted in its thievery, however, settling for tilting the cam and fogging the lens with its breath.
The very next day, an opportunistic Black-backed Jackal exemplified the old "you snooze, you lose" cliche, scoring a rare win and a fresh breakfast by snapping up a napping Speckled Pigeon.
Meanwhile over at our Okaukuejo waterhole cam (OC), a mischievous Elephant decided to stir things up by spraying a Rhino with water!
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September: It took until the 29th day (night, actually) of the month but viewers' patience was finally rewarded by the appearance of a Leopard at NC - the first such sighting since April 13th of 2022!
Namibia experienced a total lunar eclipse on Sunday, September 7th, and viewers at our Kalahari cam (KC) enjoyed an amazing view of it thanks to our awesome zoomies.
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October: Chatters were surprised and charmed when an African Wild Cat visited NC on October 10th; it was the first visit by an AWC since February 5th.
Just a few days later on October 15th, Cape Porcupine couple "Gertrude" and "Dish" introduced us to their cute new porcupette "Beans" (named after clgildner's beloved pet, and as a tribute to our Mod Emeritus).
Over at OC, a Cheetah visited the Okaukuejo waterhole on October 18th.
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November: The brilliant sightings began early in the month, as an unusually big and bright meteor blazed through the sky over NC on the early morning of November 8th.
Another long-time absentee - a Small-spotted Genet - finally re-visited the NC waterhole on November 27th. It was the first on-screen Genet visit May 7th of 2022.
Over at OC, a pair of Lions learned the hard way that "size doesn't matter"... and that Honey Badgers punch far above their weight. The thrilling chase on the evening of November 23rd wasn't long but it did have a happy ending, as the harried Honey Badger successfully eluded the pursuing pair of big cats.
One might imagine the conversation when it returned to its den, saying "I got away from two lions!"... and its mate replied, "Only two?"
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December: Seasonal customs often involve the giving and receiving of gifts. On the night of December 17th, Cape Porcupine "Gertrude" brought an unexpected present to the NC waterhole: a bone, or possibly part of one. Poor Gertrude dropped it in the water - accidentally or purposefully, no one knows - and promptly forgot about it. It was left to a Jackal to retrieve the waterlogged item on December 30th.
NC Waterhole watchers got a gift of their own on Xmas Day: a Leopard (or one of the two that have visited lately, according to observers who have noticed two different spot patterns on the cat's neck).
At press time, this was the most recent of the six Leopard visits to NC in 2025, with the others occurring on Sept 29, Oct 5, Oct 15, Oct 20, and Nov 11 - all at night.
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And that was the year that was 2025! What will we have to write about in 2026? Time will tell, literally. All we can say right now is that '26 got off to an auspicious start when a Cape Hare arrived 9 minutes into the New Year!
(Thank You to the many mods and chatters who contributed suggestions that helped make this review possible!)