Hello Gexers, A couple weeks ago I mentioned on the list that I went to Namibia this summer, and Lyle Puente asked me to tell a bit more about it! I was just listening to a German Volkslied "Auf de' Schwaeb'sche Eisebahne" and it reminded me about Namibia, and reminded me to write a bit about my experience. I think what was interesting about my trip is that I am just a regular guy from the States, a 19 yo college student, who saved up money for a few months and went, uninformed, into Africa. Namibia might seem very far off and remote, so going herping in the Namib desert might seem more like a far-away goal or even a dream for some of you. But it is actually very reasonable! One can buy cheap tix to fly between certain cities of Germany and Windhoek, Nam, sometimes as low as $400 RT, and also between London and Johannesburg. For my tix, I paid GBP332 or USD484, not including taxes, roundtrip London-Joburg, on South African Airways, through usitcampus student travel agency. Similar prices are available on the net for non-students if you look around! I think with enough determination it is possible for anyone to go to herping anywhere! It is fittingly convoluted that listening to a German folk song could remind me of gecko hunting in the Namibian desert! Namibia, "Suedwest Afrika" is such a mixed and amazing place - European and African and yet very unique for Africa. The country was a German colony for a few years, before being occupied by South Africa, and it still has strong German connections. Many people grow up speaking German in Namibia, which I think is remarkable, because it is probably the only place outside of Europe where one can find large populations of native-German speakers, especially in the cities Swakopmund and Luederitz, and the farms. Of course, one can't speak German with everyone - English is the official language - but English, German, and Afrikaans are all used in the same conversations in bars, and I had a hard time keeping up weil mein Deutsch en my Afrikaans baie sleg is! Not only are 3 Germanic tongues commonly heard, but so are Ovambo, various bushman languages, and other local languages. My attempts at clicking are definately amusing to locals, but it is very amusing to me to hear two gas-station workers talking to each other with all those click sounds! (The traditional lives of most bushmen have been destroyed, and nowdays many of them work low-paying jobs.) So, enough background, onto my gecko hunting trip! I didn't go to Namibia prepared at all. I didn't prepare by searching for specific info on where to find herps in Namibia, because I was travelling over a large area in Southern Africa and I came to see many things, including geckos! I was travelling around Africa with my South African boyfriend, Charl, driving a small "bakkie", on my way to an eclipse in Zambia, and stopping in various places along the way! I went to Africa with barely a thousand dollars that I had saved in the bank, and I was on a budget of $10/day including travel food and accomodation. (I actually ended up following the budget by camping a lot, but I ate enough food by eating lots of fruits, veggies, n!ush, and cooking. And I had an amazing, if rudimentary, experience anyway!) On the way between Namakwaland, South Africa and Etosha Pan, Namibia, my boyfriend decided to drop in on a friend who stays in Swakopmund, a small Germanic town on the Namibian Coast, about 30 k's north of Walvisbaai. I knew Palmatogeckoes (Webfooted geckos) were in the Namib, but I didn't have access to a university library to find the exact range and recommendations on how to search for them! Internet access was very hard to find - I suppose I should have asked the Geckolist for advice before heading out there! I had been fascinated with Palmatogeckoes since I had first seen them at the 2000 International Reptile Breeders Expo in Orlando. There, they were $75 each, which was above my budget, and to be honest is still quite a lot to me as a student! And they seemed to me quite delicate little animals, so I decided to stick to Leopards and Coleonyx for a while, and keeping Palmatogeckoes is still a dream for me. I hoped that after I went to the Namib and experienced the Palmatogecko's native habitat, I would be able to replicate the complex desert environment that is the Palmatogecko's home, and I would better be able to take care of them if I ever got them in the future. The only (tarred) road that goes to Swakop runs from the country's north-south artery, the B1. To get to Swakop, I drove from Windhoek northwards a bit along the B1 to the city of Okahandja (pronounced "Oh-kuh-HAHN-juh"), and then I headed west towards Swakopmund. Windhoek is high in elevation and is cooler in the winter than coastal Swakop. In the summer, however, the cold current from Antarctica (I think called the Benguerra current) cools the coast and makes Swakop a popular getaway for people working in the capital during the sweltering summertime. Everyday that I was in Swakop, it was sunny and around 75F (and that's wintertime)! Check the weather on weather.com for "Walvis Bay, Namibia"! It is always sunny and perfect temperature! Swakopmund doesn't really have weather - it's always beautiful! The cold Atlantic current does cause a strange phenomenon though - where the ocean of cold water meets the ocean of hot red sand, a fog arises and covers Swakopmund and the desert, bring precious water to the desert-dwellers including the Palmatogecko. I was very excited as I was headed towards Swakop because although most of Namibia is very dry, I hadn't seen the red, unending dunes that is the Namib. As I got further and further west, I saw red desert dunes start appear between the increasingly sparser vegetation. All along the one-lane highway were tons of giant grasshoppers, which supposedly can spray a foul-smelling red liquid in defence. We stopped in the town of Usakos to pick up some canned food at the gas station (no grocery store open on Sunday evening!). Carried on westwards. Once, we had to slow down because a flock of guinea-fowl decided to cross the road at an inconvenient time, right as our car was metres from them. Then the radio went dead because we were so remote. As we drove through the desert, evening arrived with a fantastic sunset across the mountains and desert. At about 9:00PM we could see the twinkling of lights in the distance. After travelling more than 100 kilometres, we were approaching the next town - 10 kilometres off was Swakopmund. Sorry y'all - I have a Russian exam tomorrow and I have to get some sleep - I will tell you more about the gecko hunting later! -Andy __________________________________________________ Terrorist Attacks on U.S. - How can you help? Donate cash, emergency relief information http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/US/Emergency_Information/ ########################################################################### THE GLOBAL GECKO ASSOCIATION LISTSERV WebSite: www.gekkota.com Archive: [EMAIL PROTECTED]/ The GGA takes no responsibility for the contents of these postings. ###########################################################################
