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Namibia, July / August 2014 - Rostock Ritz, Namib-Naukluft Park, Northern Section and the Living Desert Tour.

1. Rostock Ritz.

If you like a campsite with a view and are happy with rustic ablutions then Rostock Ritz should be on your list of places to visit. The campsite is several kilometres from the lodge and on the 2 occasions that we've stayed there we've been the only campers so have had sole use of the boma which is situated above the campsite and offers great views.

At the lodge there's a compound with several meerkats. These youngsters were playing around.

We saw several of these armoured ground crickets at the campsite, they're about 5cm long.

Mountain zebra on the grassy plains at Rostock Ritz.

2. Namib-Naukluft, Northern Section.

This was Diana and David's first taste of real bush camping, no water, no showers, just a long drop toilet . Our first stop was at Ganab Camp which we liked as there was a shady tree to camp under and a view of the surrounding countryside.

Sunset.

There's a waterhole a few km from the camp but although the pump was working there was no water coming out. We saw plenty of animals in the vicinity - oryx, springbok,giraffe, zebra and warthog but they were all quite skittish.

Relaxing in the shade at Garub Campsite.

A large group of ostriches near the waterhole.

A beautiful sunrise at Garub.

Our second night was at Groot Tinkas campsite. There were plenty of birds in the vlei which had some water in it but the nearby Tinkas Dam was completely dry and looked as if it had been for some time.

On our way out of the Park heading towards Swakopmund the scenery changed as it became drier. There were several interesting rock formations which we stopped to investigate.

We saw several quiver trees in this area.

Some had flowers which attracted lots of bees.

A well camouflaged lizard.

Despite the dry conditions we did see some flowers.

3. The Living Desert Tour.

I'd booked a half day tour with Living Desert Adventures which is based in Swakopmund. We were picked up at the campsite and taken to the Dorob National Park on the outskirts of the town where we transferred to a 4x4. It was a fascinating tour with our guide, Chris, who managed to locate and show us several of the animals found in the dunes - a chameleon, a dancing white lady spider, a dune gecko and shovel-snouted lizard. We also did some great dune driving and ended up at the top of a dune as the sun set over the sea.

Having found a chameleon in some bushes, Chris carefully picked it up to show it to us and then released it. He put some food on the ground which it picked up with its long tongue (too quick for my camera!). By this time it had changed to a much lighter colour to blend in with the sand.

This little spider lives in a long silk-spun burrow to escape the heat of the day.

Part of the silken burrow.

A snout-nosed lizard....

.... as soon as it was released it dived straight into the sand.

1.Luderitz . We stopped at Aus for a couple of nights and visited Kolmanskop, Ludertiz, Diaz Point and the Garub Wild Horses.

2. Namib-Naukluft South. We had a night at Little Hunters Camp in the Tirasberg, did a wild cat walk at Hamerstein Lodge, explored Sesriem Canyon and went to see the sunrise at Sossusvlei.

3. Namib-Naukluft North. We stopped at Rostock Ritz, stayed 2 nights in the Namib-Naukluft Park Northern Section and did a Living Desert Tour.

4. Skeleton Coast. We visited the Cape Cross Seal Colony and drove up The Skeleton Coast.

5. Twefelfontein. We spent a morning at Twefelfontein Rock Art Site and then visited the Organ Pipes.

6. Etosha National Park. We stayed at Okaukuejo Camp for 2 nights then had a night at Halali Camp.

This bird knew that Chris had some food for it!

 

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