Monday, February 18, 2019

Namibia - The Desert

We're travelling again, this time on our first trip to the African mainland. Madagascar in 2017 was a close as we had gotten until now. Our good friends Tim and Agnes invited us to see Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe, and how could we refuse? The majority of the trip will be in Namibia but we will get good exposure to the others as well. We're travelling with Charles Rhyn, one of the top guides in Namibia (more on Charly in a later post). 

Namibia is vast and arid, but has many birds including some near endemic species. The travel distances are large and the scenery magnificent so far. We started our trip in the capital city of Windhoek in the central plateau. It's high summer here and hot, but this is the prime birding season. Namibia has become a popular tourist destination and the hot weather keeps the crowds to a minimum. Good for us.

A couple of days birding Windhoek and the surrounding area added many great birds to our life lists. 

Windhoek eBird list (as always, the included bird lists are only a representative sample of our sightings)

A morning outing to the nearby Daan Vilojen Game Reserve was a lot of fun and a great introduction to African birds and a few mammals.

Daan Vilojen Game Reserve
Fork-tailed Drongo

Scarlet-chested Sunbird

Southern Masked Weaver

Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill

Violet-eared Waxbill

From Windhoek our travel took us west across the highland plateau to the edge of the desert. Here the plateau escarpment drops away to the Namib Desert. We birded the escarpment for and afternoon and morning. 


Namibgrens list
Spreetshootge Pass list

Sociable Weaver nests

Driving toward the escarpment

Common Fiscal

Rufous-eared Warbler

Spreetshootge Pass looking down to the Namib Desert

Namib Desert from the pass

Birding the pass
Leopard Tortoise
Klipspringer

Klipspringer

Greater Kestrel

Grey Go-Away-Bird

Shaft-tailed Whydah

Southern Grey-headed Sparrow

Herero Chat

Karhoo Scrub Robin

At over 1000 miles long, the coastal Namib Desert is the oldest in the world (80 million years), and has some of the driest areas on earth with vast sand areas and gravel plains. The geology and scenery were magnificent and the birding and mammals surprisingly excellent. Our lodge was quite lovely and made for a comfortable stay.


Namib Desert Lodge vicinity bird list

View from the lodge
 
Southern Oryx

Springbok

Springbok

Warthog
Dusky Sunbird

Southern Oryx
Ludwig's Bustard

Namaqua Sandgrouse

Namaqua Sandgrouse

Spike-heeled Lark

Our morning playing in the red sand dunes is not one we will forget. These sand dunes can reach a thousand feet, the tallest in the world. Absolutely spectacular. The Namibia endemic Dune Lark was a special treat.


Sossusvlei bird list

Sunrise at the dunes
Dune Lark

Dune Lark habitat







Oryx on a dune

The Shovel-snouted Lizard is a dune specialist


Southern Oryx hanging out in the shade



After the dunes we explored Sesreim Canyon. This slot canyon of conglomerate rock is 100 feet deep and over a mile long.





From Sossusvlei we turned north and then west to cross to the coastal desert town of Walvis Bay. The scenery and birding along the way were quite amazing. 

Bird list


A Mica Schist canyon




Quiver Tree (an aloe)

Quiver Tree

Cape Bunting


Double-banded Courser

Gray's Lark

Pale Chanting Goshawk

Ruppell's Korhaan

Ruppell's Korhaan

Ruppell's Korhaan

Stark's Lark

Moringa Ovalifolia (Ghost Tree)
Lots more to come...





2 comments:

  1. Wow. Thanks for taking the time to post these photos!! Some of them look like you could be on Mars. Truly mind boggling how those animals survive out there isn't it? Go Nature!
    So many questions arise - like why does that lark have spikes, whose foot prints are those in the sand, what is the geology, Oryx on the dune?
    I am so glad that you are encountering so many wonderful places and wildlife.
    Thank YOU.

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  2. Spectacular scenery plus a great photographer equals amazing photos. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete