A lot of people visit the dunes between Swakopmund and Walvisbay each year.  Most park their cars along the main road and climb the dunes that are closest and marvel at the amount of sand around them.  Others use the dunes as a playground for their off road vehicles, some responsibly and some without a thought given to the damage they cause.  “There's nothing but sand” --- they say.  What they don’t seem to realise (or might not want to realise) is that the dunes and its plains teem with life….a very delicate existence in a harsh environment.

With time running out regarding my Namibia trip, I hurriedly engaged the services of local guide Tommy Collard, to get me close to some of the shy residents of the dunes.  I was about to get very close to animals I had only caught glimpses of in the past or that had eluded me completely

Having seen Tommy advertising day and night trips, I promptly put my name down for both.  The night trip really caught my attention as a lot of desert dwellers are nocturnal.  I was not going to miss this unique opportunity to venture out with a local expert to see this secretive part of dune life.

The day trip kicked off at half past two in the afternoon, clients were picked up and we headed off down into the Swakop river.  In the riverbed, Tommy deflated the tyres of his Land Rover 101 down to 0.7 bar.  The vehicle was ready for dune driving.

We followed a set route and a policy of ‘dune hugging’ so minimising the vehicles impact on the surrounding area

Barely 5 minutes into the actual trip we had our first sighting, squiggles on the dune surface indicating a Burrowing Skink (a legless skink) was making its way beneath the sand.  Tommy jumped out and brought it in for a closer look. 

Within metres of where the skink was found, a Shovel- snouted lizard and Side- winding Adder (Peringueys's Adder/ Bitis peringueyi) made an appearance.  Three species, within a 50m radius, on the same dune face---what a treat.  I got my shots of the snake in the dunes, skimming across the hot surface. 

We continued the tour, venturing further into the dune sea looking for scorpions and chameleons.  No scorpions were found (maybe next time round) and sadly the only chameleon we found had been dead for a while.  Cause unknown.

Thanks to Tommy I had gotten a look into the life of the dunes by day.  In the next bulletin I will post images of the night trip.