North-western Namibia is a spectacular land of desert mountains, gorges, plains, and ephemeral rivers, and a land of stark beauty and seemingly inhospitable wilderness. It was here that the wildlife vet and capture expert Michael D. Kock came to help attach satellite collars to desert-dwelling elephants and giraffes so that their movements in their vast range could be tracked. Collaring the animals was the easy part. Getting permission to do so, and then finding them, were rather more challenging.