Kneel in the Namib
You don’t need a Unimog to see the Namib; this half-day tour will get you up close and personal with the sand and its inhabitants.
The dollar bush seed clamps closed when it becomes wet, to germinate later when conditions are ideal.
To go to Namibia and not explore the Namib desert would be like ordering chips at the Spur and not dousing them in that pink sauce.
"The old Germans used to say that once this sun has shone on you, you'll always come back," says Tommy Collard, our tour guide on the Living Desert Tour.
It's shortly after 7 am, and he's just picked us up at our guesthouse in his '70s model Land Rover.
Tommy is full of stories. When he was a child, he tells us, his mother was loath to bath him. "She never knew what would be hiding in my pockets!"
We pick up more aspiring desert explorers before we turn off the tar and into the dunes. Tyres are deflated and the tour begins.
Creatures of Namibia
“Water is the currency of life,” Tommy says. “That fog you see on the horizon – that’s our water.”
To see the Namib’s wildlife, it helps to get down on your knees. Tommy hopes to track down and show us beetles, snakes, scorpions, chameleons, geckoes and lizards. We’ve crested only one dune when Tommy stops the Land Rover, jumps out barefoot and burrows in a tiny ridge in the sand. He returns with a legless skink. This is just the beginning.
Next he digs out a palmato gecko, a reptile that licks its eyes clean with its tongue because it cannot blink. This gecko is translucent and its spinal column and arteries are clearly visible. Then Tommy skilfully uses an old golf club to hook a horned adder out of a bush. While the snake hisses angrily, Tommy puts her down gently and says (as he does each time he shows us something): “Now let’s go find something really interesting”. Next up is a Namaqua chameleon. Although it’s black as coal, he spots it hiding in a shrub. Tommy offers a few beetles that he has brought along. The chameleon slurps them up with its tongue, which is just as long as its body.
Outside office
We stop on one of the highest dunes in the area. “Welcome to my office,” Tommy says. The desert stretches to the horizon and the wind sighs softly. The only disturbance is the distant grinding of a quad bike. The last leg of our journey takes us to the roaring sands. We descend a dune of nearly 45º. Beneath our wheels, the sand growls so loudly that you can scarcely hear the person talking next to you.
Pack your sunscreen...it's hot out there
We’re back by 1pm, in time for lunch. It seems much too soon, though. Come prepared: Tommy and his team provide just about everything, including enough cooldrink and water. Take your own sunscreen and a hat, and a dust-proof bag for your camera.
Quick tips:
Contact: Swakop Info * 0026 64 405 448; *0026 81 205 9306.
Cost: R500 per person (prices will be adjusted in the course of the year). All prices accurate in March 2009.
Read more about the DESERT SURPRISES that await you
Go! says: You need not take a week-long Skeleton Coast tour to experience the desert. This trip is a bit like those trainer wheels on your first two-wheeler: a short cut to make a thrilling experience possible. And if you enjoy this… there’s also an evening tour.
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