Judith Diane's Amazing Adventures: Namibia, January 24, 2016

If this looks familiar to some of you, it's because I was here in 2012 and 2013 but Per had never been to Africa, so this is, in essence, his trip. I wanted to be sure he could experience the desert with the best guide in the world:

The coast of Namibia is called the “Skeleton Coast” because once a vessel was near the shore, it was almost impossible to sail out again, due to the prevailing winds and the reefs and shoals. After being shipwrecked, the sailors died of thirst as the desert begins at the ocean, extends for 1200 miles along the coast and goes inland for 80 to 100 miles.

The coastal area is almost totally rainless, yet its air is almost always at or near the saturation point.

There is, however, life, actually a lot of it, in the desert thanks to the Benguela Current. The cold Benguela Current flows northward along the coast, chilling the air above it and thus producing fog. This cool air moves inland as a southwest sea breeze, creating a temperature inversion about 1,000 feet (300 metres) thick, with fog below and hot, dry air above.

The plants which exist hold the water. The animals – insects, reptiles and mammals - either drink the moisture or lick it from the leaves and the predators eat the animals and insects which are full of water. Works like a charm!

This tour was about 40 minutes late thanks to the rather silly regulations of the Namibians – there were only 3 agents for the 4000 of us. We had to fill out a landing card, have that checked and then wait for the agent to give us a stamp in the passport. The agent I had checked every stamp on every page, twice before he found a page he liked. On the way back, we had to fill in another landing card, get another stamp only this time it was outside, on the wharf in about 105-degree heat.

Large areas of the Namib are completely soilless, with bedrock at the surface. Other areas are covered with shifting sand. Soils that do occur are often highly saline, impregnated with gypsum, or cemented firmly by calcium carbonate, the latter forming a calcrete layer just below the surface.

At noon, the sun was directly overhead – almost no shadow.

The plains and the dunes of the Inner Namib support large numbers of several varieties of antelope, especially gemsbok (oryx) and springbok, as well as ostriches and some zebras. Elephants, rhinoceroses, lions, hyenas, and jackals are found in the northern Namib, especially along the rivers that flow from the interior highlands to the Atlantic. The dunes of the Outer Namib provide habitats for various types of insects and reptiles, especially beetles, geckos, and snakes, but virtually no mammals. The shore area is densely populated by marine birds—notably flamingos, pelicans, and, in the southern part, penguins—as well as a few jackals, some rodents, and a few colonies of seals.

On the way:

The Colonel is everywhere!

Townships:

for the coloured

for the blacks - no running water.

Luxury homes and condos right across the highway

The desert is the beach.

Barefoot until the sand reached 67 degrees centigrade, then he put on sandals

Chameleons: any of a group of primarily arboreal (tree-dwelling) Old World lizards best known for their ability to change body colour, not necessarily due to their surroundings but more often as a result of stress, especially aggression and mating. Other characteristics of chameleons include zygodactylous feet (with toes fused into opposed bundles of two and three), acrodont dentition (with the teeth attached to the edge of the jaw), eyes that move independently, atrophied venom glands that produce harmless trace amounts of venom, and a long, slender projectile tongue.

A chameleon can point an eye up and see an airplane hundreds of feet in the air, thinking it might be a predator.

It, actually he, hissed most of the time.

Going, going, gone.

Can you spot the snake? We didn't either but all the guides did.

Sidewinders are noted for their unique method of locomotion, which leaves a characteristic j-shaped trail. Loops of the body are thrown obliquely across the sand so that only two points are in contact with the ground at any time. This prevents the snake from overheating due to excessive contact with the desert sand. Although they are venomous, their bite is usually not fatal to humans.

Our convoy. None of the guides will go into the desert alone- too dangerous, even for them.

Geckos: the pads of their long toes are covered with small plates that are in turn covered with numerous tiny, hairlike processes that are forked at the end. These microscopic hooks cling to small surface irregularities, enabling geckos to climb smooth and vertical surfaces and even to run across smooth ceilings. Some geckos also have retractable claws. Like snakes, most geckos have a clear protective covering over the eyes. The pupils of common nocturnal species are vertical and are often lobed in such a manner that they close to form four pinpoints. The tails of geckos may be long and tapering, short and blunt, or even globular. The tail serves in many species as an energy storehouse on which the animal can draw during unfavorable conditions. The tail may also be extremely fragile and if detached is quickly regenerated in its original shape. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

These birds know when the tourists arrive: we were asked not to give them peanuts because the excess salt would harm them. The guide brought worms so we could feed them.