November, 2023

Last year we decided to go to Namibia on a birding trip with our guide/friend, Errol. Errol runs Cheepers, Birding on a Budget Africa and we have traveled with him many times. He is THE guide to use when visiting Africa.

Errol picked us up at the Johannesburg airport on the 30th of October and we drove across Botswana into Namibia.

While the journey into Namibia took a couple road days, it was filled with many unscheduled stops to check out a birds along the road, waterholes with lots of activity and just any opportunities to take a quick walk through the woods. In this part of the world, the land is free to roam.

Daan Viljoen Game Reserve

Located just 20k outside the capital city of Windhoek, Namibia, this game reserve is located on the Augeigas Dam which should provide us with a number of water birds – always a great way to start a trip.

The park has many game species including zebras, giraffe, kudus, klipspringers, blue wildebeest, springbok and more than 200 species of birds. Because there are no major predators, we will be able to walk the trails of this park.

Semi-precious Gems and Spitzkoppe

If you are into rocks and semi-precious gemstones, then this is the area of Namibia for you!

Namibia is rich in mineral resources and the country produces various semi-precious gems. Some of these include tourmaline, amethyst, and aquamarine.

We stopped at Ûiba-Ôas Crystal Market just east of Swakopmund. It is a small gemstone market that consists of about 30 stalls owned by the local small scale miners. They will tell you what stones they have but there is absolutely no pressure to buy.

Sunbow

We stopped for lunch and I asked the clerk for the WiFi password. She said – “have you looked at the sun”? Wow, that’s a big password! Then she pointed up and told me to go outside. Shazam! I have never seen a sunbow and the entire village was out in the street looking at this amazing phenomenon.

I guess it must take a couple hours for those ice crystals to melt because that’s how long we were able to see the sunbow.

Checking Out Big Rocks

Spitzkoppe, also known as the Matterhorn of Namibia, is a group of granite peaks located in Namibia. These 120 million year old peaks jut out of the Namibia Desert over 2,200 ft from the desert floor.

This is one of the most popular destinations in Namibia and you can self-drive or camp in one of the many campsites. As you can tell, there is very little shade and it was 44°C (double and add 30 to get °f) the day we visited. Yes, there were some target birds we found at the back of these hills. There is very little shade so you find your target and get back into the air con.

Dorob National Park at Walvis Bay

The Dorob National Park is approximately 41,000 square miles of parklands along the Namibian coastline. This consists of spectacular coastal dunes, vast gravel plains and salt marshes. It is Namibia’s richest coastal area for birds.

Some 75 species of birds flock to this coastal region with a population count of around 1.6 million birds. The damara tern is an endemic species that we will be on the look out for in this area. Plus, we hope to have an opportunity to climb a few sand dunes.

While standing under a tree for shade, I spotted this reptile that made me jump. A puff adder had climbed into the tree to shed. Of course, Errol and Jeff were quite intrigued and I was not!

Interesting fact: Because of this sandy region, the puff adders act more like side winders. My thoughts: It’s a snake no matter what it acts like and it’s venomous. Enough said!

Large flocks of water birds inhabit the salt marshes along the coast. We saw flocks of greater and lesser flamingoes, stilts, avocets, whimbrels, curlews and white pelicans.

Next stop on our Namibia exploration will be Etosha National Park where the wild animal and bird population will increase.

Links: Cheepers Africa http://www.cheepersafrica.org