Judith Diane's Amazing Adventures: April 2013

The Living Desert – my camera broke as the tour began so there are no photos from me – sorry. When I realized that, I made up my mind not to “marinate” and ruin the day and the day was wonderful.

The Little „5“ – actually the little „4“. A convoy of Landrovers, led by Tommy Collert, Andrew and 2 other drivers

As a licensed guide Tommy is allowed to lead tours through the _____________ National Park. We drove in Landrovers about 20 minutes from the terminal to the park where the drivers first deflated the tires – necessary for driving over the sand, especially over the dunes. The wheels have special rims which bear the weight better than normal ones.

There are plants scattered around but generally it’s sand, sand and more sand. The most important plant is the dollar plant – dollar bush. It’s a succulent, generally low and broad and full of brackish water which has an unpleasant taste but will keep you alive.

The desert is dependent on the thick fog which rolls in almost every morning. There is a beetle which stands on its head, with its rear end up in the air to catch the moisture. The name in Afrikaans is most descriptive.

Then the safari began – over dunes ad gravel bits. The desert is many things; in this case, lots of sand as well as gravel tracts, full of mica. My shoes glistened after only a few minutes.

The first of the little creatures was a baby sidewinder – as dangerous as an adult, painful but not deadly venom. The rangers had seen a very pregnant sidewinder a couple of weeks before and this was one of the results.

Tommy had positioned large rubbish sacks at the back of the each of the vehicles. Whenever he saw anything which didn’t belong there, he stopped and put it in the sack.

Last year, I saw a sign on the highway:

THIS IS YOUR DESERT – KEEP IT CLEAN.

We did our part.

The chameleon Tommy found (and he knew exactly where to look for each of the creatures, often under the few bushes which provide a hiding place and refuge from the sun) was ¾’ grown and about 10 inches long. True to form, the eyes operated independently and very well – according to Tommy, if a plane passes over, thousands of feet high, the chameleon will look up with one eye to make sure it’s not a bird looking for lunch.

Every animal we examined was very carefully caught, examined, shown around and returned with the same care. After a couple of hours we began to recognize some of the tracks – a hare, a mouse, “Ferrari” beetle named because of its speed and a sidewinder.

We also examined a shovel-nosed lizard, which Tommy induced to clamp down on my ear lobe so I had (briefly) a living earring. To this point, I have not found anyone who took a photo of it so you will just have to believe me. There is a photo of a man with a lizard hanging from his ear at www.livingdeserttours.com.na.

The morning clouds disappeared and was replaced by very hot sunshine which made the animals more difficult to find. The air temperature was about 75° but the sand was 100° F – temperatures rising all day.

We saw a Palmato gecko – beautiful but no eyelids. It licks its eyes to keep them moist. Along the way we passed the remains of an ostrich – a few feathers and bones. This one had probably died of a disease or injury and was carrion.

Then, we encountered what looked like a cement floor. It was river sediment from a flood in 1934, sediment which has been baked for the last 70 years to a petrified state.

The desert is full of magnetite which Tommy collected using a strong magnet – just like the iron filings in high school chemistry.

Although all the drivers, armed with industrial-strength tweezers, looked for a scorpion, they didn’t find one – too hot. Ok by me! The best tour ever!!!!!

More photos to follow