Archive for January, 2011
The camels of Vendetta Farm
January 12th, 2011 | 
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Posted in We’ve been privileged to meet some very special people whilst living in Namibia and it has lead to us having some unique experiences. Take for example weekends that we spent on the farm, Vendetta, owned by friends, Adri and Marie-Anne. The farm is situated in the general direction of Gobabis and is one of the most abundant places we have ever visited outside a game reserve. Adri farms cattle, but has a diverse variety of wild game, which are obviously thriving in their habitat, and Marie-Anne breeds camels.
We were fascinated by the camels, as they are not animals that one comes across in everyday life. One always associates camels with the Sahara Desert (at least I do) and we very seldom see them in Namibia except on organized tours. It gave us an opportunity to see them up close, feed them even, and learn a little bit more about these extraordinary creatures.
Dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius) are herbivores, living mainly on grass, leaves and other desert plants. If they’re not in a harsh desert environment, they can absorb sufficient moisture from eating plants to enable them to go for very long periods without drinking water.
In Namibia, where camelthorn trees are abundant, the camels love to snack on the seed pods, which Marie-Anne collects for them (she calls them “biscuits.”) They are curious animals and make a bee-line for her when they suspect that she has snacks for them.
Their feet are fascinating. They are broad and flat, with two toes on each foot and have a leathery pad underneath. The shape of the foot and their gait helps them to walk in sand without sinking in and their long legs elevate them from the hot ground.
They have beautiful eyes – with a double row of eyelashes to keep the sand out.
Camels give birth to a single calf, after a gestation period of thirteen months.
They are well-adapted to live in the dry desert environments. Their enormous leathery nostrils trap water vapour when they exhale and return it to their body fluids. The nostrils are also able to seal during sandstorms.
Their thick coats reflect the sunlight and insulate them from heat, whilst their blood remains hydrated even though they are sweating. The humps are not used for storing water, but are areas where fatty tissue is concentrated. They then draw on this energy source when required and it yields about a gram of water for each gram of fat, which is converted through reaction with air and oxygen.
Namibia never fails to fascinate us with all the wonders of nature that are to be found here.
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Bird of the week – Week 53: White-throated canary
The White-throated canary is locally common within the shrubland and gardens in the drier eastern parts of the southern African region, to which it is a “near-endemic” (its range includes only a small part of south-western Angola) and its melodic canary-like song, usually given from a prominent perch on the top of a convenient bush, is a familiar sound to those wandering into its domain. The song is similar to some of the other canaries in the area, though, and a sighting of the bird is usually required for positive identification.
It is a small bird, around 15 cm in length, and is predominantly grey in colour. The diagnostic characteristics are the thick horn-coloured bill, the white throat and the bright yellow rump. The sexes are similar in size and in plumage, with the females a little duller than the males. They are usually found in pairs or small family groups, although bigger flocks are common at good water sources, which the birds visit frequently.
They feed on the ground or in the foliage of trees and shrubs, eating grass seeds, leaves, flowers, fruit and insects.
The White-throated canary is monogamous and the female constructs a loose cup nest of twigs and grass, usually about a metre above the ground. The female lays a clutch of three to five white or pale greenish-blue eggs that hatch after an incubation period of about 14 days.
The scientific binomial of the White-throated canary is Crithagra albogularis; Crithagra probably from the Greek words for a barley-eater and albogularis from the Latin for a white throat. Thus the name describes a white-throated eater of barley, which is pretty accurate, really.
The Millipede or Shongololo
Windhoek has been blessed with wonderful rain showers since Christmas, which have brought relief to both the human and animal inhabitants of the area after a sweltering heat wave. There’s something about living in the desert that makes you doubly appreciative of nature’s offerings, and water is received with so much more gratitude than it would be in an area that receives regular rainfall.
I go out walking most mornings and after a heavy downpour the air is moist and cool and there’s an ‘aliveness’ in the air. Not only are all the birds singing and chatting, but the mongooses, baboons and guinea fowl are out and about, drinking at the pools and puddles and eating the flying ants and insects that are buzzing around. It makes one feel so good and happy to be alive. It’s also a time when millipedes come out in their droves.
In Africa, millipedes are affectionately known as “shongololos” – a name given to them by the indigenous people – from the word “ukushonga” meaning ‘to roll up’, as these little creatures do when they are threatened. In central/east Africa the locals called the first trains that they saw ‘shongololos’ because they resembled these funny little creatures. They fall under the class Diplopoda and family Spirostreptrornorpha.
Millipedes are arthropods, which means that they are invertebrates that have an exoskeleton. Their bodies are divided into segments, mostly two fused together, and each segment sports a couple of pairs of legs. Those segments with two pairs are called diplosomites. On the segments immediately behind the head, there are only single pairs of legs and these are known as somites. The last few segments, near the anus, have no legs at all.
I love watching millipedes walk as their legs move in a wavelike motion – perfectly synchronized as they go. When my legs are weary from a long walk, I often wish I had a few extra pairs in reserve to help me continue on my journey. Millipedes don’t actually have 1000 legs as their name suggests, but sport between 36 to 400 – thank goodness they aren’t human and need shoes!
I avoid picking them up, because they have a tendency to give off an awful smell that is difficult to remove from your hands. When in danger, they sometimes secrete hydro cyanic acid, which repels predators. They also curl themselves up into a coil to protect their vulnerable underside, known as the sternite or sternum.
They mostly eat decaying plant matter, but the ones around here are seen happily devouring ants – and they have a never-ending supply.
Shongololo’s moult as they grow, and one often sees dull grey empty shells lying on the ground. With each new exoskeleton they acquire more segments and more legs. They lay between 10 and 300 eggs and the hatchlings are perfect little replica’s of the adults except that they only have three pairs of legs initially. I believe that they moult for the first time within 24 hours of hatching and continue to do this throughout their lives.
They’re interesting little creatures that I’m always happy to see, especially if we meet after a good rainfall!
Bird of the week – Week 52: White-browed sparrow-weaver
A common sight in trees throughout the arid and semi-arid regions of southern Africa are untidy balls of dry straw, often several clustered in close proximity to each other and seeming to favour the western edge of the tree. Pause for a few moments next to these scruffy-looking nests and you will hear the characteristic chattering and squealing of the nest-builders, who are also bound to show themselves if you give them a minute, as they as bold by nature. Quite small, with a length of about 17 cm, these boldly marked weavers are White-browed sparrow-weavers.
Locally common residents, the White-browed sparrow-weavers are brown and white, with brown heads and upper parts, and with a broad white eyebrow and white under parts. The white rump is clearly visible when the bird is in flight. Legs and feet are light brown; the bill black or horn-coloured and the eyes brown. The males and females are similar in plumage and the males are slightly larger than the females.
White-browed sparrow-weavers are usually found in pairs or small groups in woodlands, open veld, and farmlands, preferring areas where there are clumps of trees. They forage on the ground for the insects and seeds on which they feed, but do not stray too far from their nesting trees, to which they retreat quickly if disturbed.
As mentioned, the White-browed sparrow-weavers build an untidy oval nest of dry grass, lined with soft grass and usually with two entrances. These nests are quite conspicuously placed on the outer branches of the chosen trees, usually quite high above the ground and the birds may build several nests, one for breeding and the others for roosting. They are monogamous and the females lay a clutch of one to three white eggs, speckled with pink or brown, that hatch after an incubation period of about 14 days.
The scientific binomial for the White-browed sparrow-weaver is Plocepasser mahali; Plocepasser from the Greek word for a web combined with the Latin word for a sparrow, and mahali from the Setswana word for the White-browed sparrow-weaver.
