Wilkinson's World

I’m always excited to come across Agamas  and lizards on our travels.  They are usually such colourful subjects to photograph, but even those that lack colour are still fascinating because of their beautiful scales, spines and armoury, which the camera captures so well!  We are lucky in Southern Africa to have such a huge variety of these little reptiles so my delight is bound to be ongoing as we come across more and more on our journeys  around the country.

Agamas are quite common in Namibia, especially in the rocky areas, although there are arboreal and terrestrial Agamas as well.  In Southern Africa there are eleven species, all quite similar in appearance but with different colours and marking.  They tend to camouflage themselves by picking up the colour of the substrate they inhabit, however when they are breeding they are brightly coloured and it is easy to distinguish between the males and females. Did you know that Agamas can change their colours much like a chameleon does, with males being able to change themselves to resemble females when they are in danger?

The diet of the Namibian Rock Agama (Agama planiceps) consists mainly of insects – predominantly ants and termites.

Females lay between 5 and 18 eggs in the middle of summer and these take about two months to hatch.   Don’t you love the ferocious mock teeth markings on her lips?  Very scary!!

Tree Agamas (Acanthocercus atricollis) usually have large blue heads and their diet consists of flying insects like grasshoppers, beetles and other goggas that inhabit the bark of trees.

Although I photographed this albino-like Agama in a tree, it’s colouring is a mystery to me and I’m not sure whether it is a rock or tree Agama.  It could be a juvenile still getting its colours, or an adult doing its chameleon camouflage trick!

In central Namibia we came across this attractive Jordans Girdled Lizard.  Girdled lizards need the warmth of the sun to raise their body temperature, so they are known as heliotherms and as a result they are diurnal.   They tend to eat anything that they can catch which means that their diet is wide and varied, even including vegetation if no insects or small invertebrates can be found.  Note how well he blends into his environment.

This Black Girdled lizard (Cordylus niger) was basking in the sun at Langebaan in the Western Cape.  Its dark colour serves the purpose of allowing it to absorb heat more effectively because it lives in an environment that has a lot of rain and mist.

Finally, I’ll end off with a magnificent specimen of an Augrabies Flat Lizard (Platysaurus broadleyi), which, as its name suggests, was found in the Augrabies Falls area in the Northern Cape.

Unlike their girdled cousins, flat lizards have smooth skin that has an almost velvet finish.  They also need the sun to initiate activity and then they spend their day searching for food, basking or interacting with other lizards.  Flat lizards tend to live on rocks as these quickly heat up bringing the lizards to their preferred temperature.

One of the things that strikes us about living in Windhoek is the fact that once you leave the city you are immediately out in nature and you really don’t have to drive very far to see game  in the countryside.  We chose Dusternbrook Guest Farm for a weekend away because it is so close to Windhoek (only 50 kms) and also because, unlike a lot of other game farms, it also offered camping.

In the 1960’s Dusternbrook was the first farm in Namibia to open its doors to paying guests with a view to offering them hunting and game viewing opportunities.  This concept was so successful it spawned the thriving guest farm business that operates throughout the country today.

The beautiful old farmhouse sits on the top of a mountain with stunning views over a dry river bed and the plains below.  There is an abundance of birdlife and one is able to wander around the farm (heat permitting) on various hiking trails, which we took full advantage of.

On our first morning we walked for about six hours, spending time at their dam where we were shouted at and followed by inquisitive baboons.  The dam is home to many birds, especially cormorants and ducks.

I was fascinated by the numbers of brightly coloured dragonflies that were flitting about and spent a long time trying to capture them on camera.

That afternoon we booked a game drive and were driven into their leopard enclosure where we were able to photograph this magnificent animal up close.

The guide fed it chicken pieces which it obviously enjoyed. Even though we were only meters away from it in an open vehicle, we never felt threatened by the leopard at all.

From there it was on to the cheetah area.  Cheetahs are always fun to watch as they are so agile and interact with each other a lot.

As their enclosure is very big , they would be difficult to spot if one wasn’t there at feeding time when they rush to the vehicle expecting a meal!  Later we came across a small enclosure with a little cheetah with one leg missing.  It seemed quite happy in spite of its disability.

We were somewhat disappointed with the campsite at Dusternbrook.  The camping area was fenced off and very small, especially for the number of campers that they had.  In a land where space is no problem, it feels like an invasion of privacy to be so close to one’s fellow campers.  We thought that they could have made so much more of their camping facilities.  One thing that we did enjoy about the campsite was the huge tree we were parked under.  It was home to a Pearl Spotted Owl that we picked up in our spotlight.  Owls are always welcome visitors in our campsites!

The birdlife alone is enough to encourage us to return to the farm for another visit.  It’s a photographers paradise, although a little expensive as their rates for accommodation and game viewing are not cheap compared with other places in Namibia.

No holiday in Namibia is complete without a visit to Swakopmund on the west coast.  This quaint little town with its German architectural influence is much-loved by Namibians and tourists alike.  With its temperate climate, and the cooler weather it offers over the scorching months of December and January, it is a haven for those wishing for some respite from the hot summer weather inland.  Many locals own second homes in Swakopmund which they use for weekends or summer holidays, so for most of the year a lot of the accommodation lies vacant.

The weather is influenced largely by the cold Benguela current in the Atlantic Ocean.  Mist rolls in often and shrouds the town making visibility very poor and causing metal to rust badly, but the fog also has an upside as it supplies precious moisture to the flora and fauna in the area.  Rainfall cannot be relied upon as the average figures are less than 15mm per annum.

Flanked on the south by enormous dunes, Swakopmund is prey to unpleasant sand storms, which we, as campers, have had the misfortune to experience.

For the tourist Swakop has an amazing variety of action and adventure activities, from quad-biking and sand boarding, to sky-diving or camel riding.  We’ve tried most of these and I must say that sand boarding had to be the most exciting of the lot.  There’s no other thrill like speeding down the dunes at 80 kph with one’s nose a few centimeters from the sand.  Never mind the fact that we had sand in every bodily orifice for the next two weeks!  Our camel ride was also fun – especially as they dressed us up like Lawrence of Arabia (or Louwrens of Namibia as they say here).

The icy waters of the Atlantic are superb for fishing,  so there are excellent seafood restaurants everywhere.   And a visit to Cafe Anton is a must if you’re into delicious cakes and pastries.  Of interest too, is the Crystal Gallery which features examples of the many gemstones and enormous crystals found in Namibia.

Although it’s a tad cold for swimming, the beachfront is a wonderful focal point for tourism and one can enjoy the many delights on offer on the waters edge.

There is an excellent African market with colourful and original displays of crafts and goods for sale or one can visit the Swakopmund Museum to pick up on the history and culture of  Namibia.

For those wanting a very civilized and more sheltered camping option, the Alte Brucke campsite has private ablutions and good security.  However, I much prefer taking the fifteen kilometer drive out to Langstrand, which is halfway between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay.  Here one has fabulous seaviews, and on clear evenings the sunsets are quite spectacular.

Swakopmund will draw you back time and again – there is just so much to see and do in and around this friendly little town.