I drew the original of this image for Elias Xoagub, our dear friend and Namibian father, as a Christmas present in 1996. He is the chair of the communal area conservancy encompassing the surrounding region. If ever you find yourself in Namibia, Elias is someone to seek out and get to know.
The lion superimposed on an antelope with a paw at the end of its tail is a detail of one of the thousands of petroglyphs at Twyfelfontein - Afrikaans for "doubtful fountain" - where Elias has long had a tourist camp and manages Aba-Huab Camp and Safaris. The A frame sleeping platforms are made from giant reeds and elephants like the one visible behind Elias's head walk silently past in the darkness. The bird is Rüppell's parrot, an endemic that I saw at Aba-Huab. It has a gray head and dark wings except for yellow underwing coverts and the belly is bright blue.
I came across this while going through a green metal trunk, suitably plastered with travel stickers, that came home with us from Namibia and holds all manner of memorabilia from our Africa years and far back into my childhood. There are other examples of my artwork in there that may find there way into future posts, but this one made me smile and think of our Damara family. It has been nearly 10 years since we spent Christmas together, singing under the stars and following rhino spoor across the desert. I hope one day to return.
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