Swakopmund - The Little Five

Most people who have travelled to Africa on safari have heard of the 'big five' - that of the elephant, rhino, lion, leopard and buffalo.  On Monday I found out there was a 'little five' - namely a dancing white lady spider, web-footed gecko, sandfish skink (legless lizard), Namaqua chameleon and the sidewinder snake.  I joined a Living Deserts tour to find out.


Tommy is an enthusiastic, to put it mildly, desert naturalist who loves nothing more than leaping out of his Land Rover to run headlong into the sand pursuing a teeny tiny animal.


Tommy was often seen  running up a dune and digging madly to find his quarry, a gecko, lizard or similar.  Hilarious.  But uber knowledgeable and professional.

I had joined a group consisting 2 French, 2 Americans, 2 South Africans and 5 Romanians.  After a while we answered to Tommy's calls of 'French man', 'English lady', 'American man' etc.

Tommy first unearthed a skink, a tiny silver worm like creature which he proceeded to put in his mouth.  It's OK, he popped it out quite quickly and let it slither away, but he knew his stuff and what was safe to touch, or not.

I have no idea how Tommy or his colleague did it.  OK, they check tracks, such as for the side winder snake, but they'd spot these wee creatures from metres away and chase them down.

This was the first lizard we found.

Tommy showed us the difference between that an a gecko. For example, lizards have toes whereas geckos have webbed feet. Lizards also have eyelids.

We learned to sex a lizard too. This one is male.

This one had a good grip once it bit.

We took turns to be bitten.

Tommy and the Romanian children then let it go.

We found another one although I've named the photo as a gecko?  I think it's actually a lizard.

A Namibian sand gecko. Far more bobbly skin than the dry skin of a lizard.


A side winder snake. A recall seeing one of these at Sossusvlei.  Tommy has chipped a lot of these snakes as part of conservation work.

We look like we're having a seance! But it's the side winder snake party.

Tommy then found a horned adder which was treated with a lot of respect.



A tractrac.

Tommy enticed them onto our hands using maggots.

Across the desert is the disused Swakopmund to Walvis Bay railway from the 19th Century. It was initially built in the 1890s but kept getting buried by the sand. It think it was finally abandoned only in the 1980s.


And it was on a piece of this disused railway that we found our Namaqua chameleon. They have found this one in the same spot for the last 4 days.

It was amazingly quick to change colour. As soon as it stepped off the concrete onto the sand it lightened to green.

Tommy fed it a beetle which it expertly reeled in with its long tongue. Its tongue is longer than its body length.

Tommy's final party trick was to show us how much iron made up the sand. It was a mere 52 deg C (how he didn't wear shoes was beyond us). It was amazing to see how much ferrous material there was.

It was a great morning out - a lot of fun.

Swakopmund - Shark Surprise

I visited the small, but perfectly formed, aquarium on Sunday.  It consists of a central tank crossing two floors, with a tunnel through it on the ground floor and open at the top, on the first floor.

Around the tank there are cosy cushioned seating areas where you can curl up and watch the fish swim by.

Also on the ground floor are numerous small tanks containing fish and other marine animals, such as these lobster.

And a stuffed penguin display.

Namibian marine wildlife benefits from the Benguela current.  And there were various boards explaining that and other marine information.

Here's Ray.

I went upstairs to find the top of the tank. I sat down to watch the fish swim by and, lo and behold, this swam past. Made me sit up!

It's a Gully Shark. There were two of them swimming round and round - suppose there isn't much else to do in a tank.

Afterwards I wandered towards the lighthouse.

I dined here once but I noted, with sadness, that the restaurant has now closed.

Lovely flowers.

And guinea fowl.

Swakopmund - Round One

I arrived in Swakopmund last Tuesday and since then have been indulging in what feels like a real holiday.  I stayed two nights in a hostel and am now staying at an Airbnb belonging to the hostel owner, Betsy.

The hostel was fun on the first night as a family of Bostwanans arrived and left their teenage girls in charge of cooking.  They taught me to make pap.

And then some Italians rocked up and cooked pasta (each nationality confirming to expected norms re: diet).

It's been a quiet few days.  I haven't been up to much - I take myself out for brunch occasionally, potter around tourist shops, have a wine out and read.

So far I have read 6 books since I've been in Africa, more than I read in the whole of the Autumn and very unlike me.


Swakopmund is small and relatively safe (for a me).  I've wandered down to see the sea most days, strolled along the beach and paddled.





Geo truck!

I've discovered a wool shop owned by a lovely lady, Amanda, who has offered me coffee and a chat if I want to pop in and crochet there one day.

I'm still not really meeting people.  However on my return from the coast today I walked into Betsy's kitchen to make a cup of tea and was invited to join her, her son Wilhelm (14) and Nichol (new to me) for lunch/supper - it was 1530, we couldn't decide what meal to call it.  Anyway, it was lovely.  Nice to eat with people. Most of the time I cook/dine alone. I'm not out in the evenings here as there seems no point eating out alone, and I'd have to get a cab there/back for my security which is a phaff.

I may explore the aquarium tomorrow.  It looks small but sweet and even as a foreigner it's ~£2 entry.    And on Monday I have a 'living desert' tour planned which is a holiday treat.  And it'll be good to meet some new faces. This is the desert view from just outside Betsy's house ;-)

Windhoek

I landed in Windhoek on Friday 29 Dec and leave tomorrow.  I'm staying at the delightful Rivendell Hostel  which is secure and small.  It is easy to self cater and I have a single ensuite room which suits me fine.

I have a friend here, Sari, who I met in July and I've visited her and her family twice since then.  We kept in touch and it was her idea that I holiday in Namibia.  I couldn't stay with her but that suited me fine as I'm near enough the city to be able to come and go during daylight hours.  However Sari not only scooped me up Friday night for supper with their family, but Saturday and Sunday too which is beyond the call of duty!

Windhoek

On Saturday I took a short walking tour around the city centre. On it too were a German couple, two Finnish women and myself. I learnt more about the history of Namibia and new facts such as its close links to North Korea due to its uranium deposits.

We started in Zoo Park which used to hold animals but is now only a landscaped water park, without the water. There is also a German war memorial but, as you can imagine, the Germans don't fare too well in the telling of the recent (last 100 years or so) of Namibia history. [I noted the Germans didn't give our guide a tip].  We then strolled up to the Lutherian Church, the oldest in Namibia.


We headed up to the Parliament and learnt that over 40% of Namibian parlimentarians are female. Our guide (male) kept telling us that was because women are more intelligent but I think he was only sucking up to the women to get a greater tip.

Parliament Gardens.

We walked to the Namibian Independence Museum which I left to visit on Sunday.

Memorial highlighting the struggle for independence from the South Africans.



I am getting used to Namibia again.  Used to when people knock foodstuffs onto the floor in a supermarket they don't think about picking it up but move off.  People who leave some of their food by the till as they realise they don't want it/can't afford it. People who just put the shopping basket down on the floor and walk off, rather than finding the stack of others.

I'm also getting used to oddities such as the Tourist Information being closed at the weekends (if anything the opposite to the UK) and quite a few cafes here are closed for the summer.  The museum, which was due to close at 1300 on Sunday, closed at 1030 (lack of customers?) just as I turned up.  What can you do?

As a solo female traveller I know I stick out.  As Watze, Sari's husband pointed out, I stand out like a tourist a mile off.  It's not necessarily because I'm white, but because of the way I walk: I stop and look, ponder, linger past tourist shops - not what locals do - and that makes me a target.  I had my first taste on Friday.  I was walking past a group of guys when I felt my rucksack being tugged at.  I span around and he put both his hands in the air showing me they were empty.  "What are you doing?" I shouted. Someone stopped their car to see if I was OK.  Yes I was fine as I never leave my important stuff easily accessible, esp when I'm abroad.  He had unzipped a pocket that had my business cards and railcard in (that would have been a tad annoying if it had gone) but my keys, camera and wallet are always buried right down inside my main rucksack compartment.  I also never take all my cash or cards or, indeed passport, out with me, only what I need for that day.  It could happen to anyone.

Sari's Family

On Friday I went to Sari's house just as my niggling cough started to turn into something grown up and throaty. It didn't stop me from hopping in the pool with the rest of the family which was refreshing in the whacking heat of the afternoon.


Tess had an ex-ball that she would nudge into the pool and you would throw it back for her to fetch. Repeat. Endlessly.

It was also the evening that their youngest had a tick on her back. You suffocate it with vaseline and it eventually drops off. I can imagine many 7 year olds would freak having one of those on their back for a couple of hours.

Saturday saw us make pizzas.

We also had to chase Sari's escapee chicken back into the pen and other random fun moments.

Sunday, New Year's Eve, was another pleasant evening there. I was still coughing my chesty cough, which had been keeping me from sleeping, and my 10+ mossies bites were irritating me. These are two specimens on my ankle.  Sari stuffed me with vitamin C and antihistamine.

I hopped back in the pool briefly then played games with the kids. Sari thought it amusing how, from being a bit poorly and sick when I arrived, I totally perked up when presented with a pack of cards. Who wouldn't?


2018

And so, today, in New Year's Day, we start 365 days of 2018 and I'm sitting on the stoep keeping out of the sun and reading. I cannot easily leave the hostel today as nothing is open and I have no transport. The other couples here have hire cars/ are on tours but hey ho: no harm in reading (for me).  Tomorrow will be busier with travel (I hope my bites have subsided) and I'll be moving to cooler climes.