Purros to Marble Camp
If you’re a regular traveler in Africa, and in particular in Namibia and Botswana, you could often find yourself in the most remote places with nary another soul to be seen for days. We...
Bird of the Week – Week 133 – Red-billed oxpecker
Red-billed oxpeckers are not common within the southern African region, being limited in range to the north-east and being more common within game reserves than within farmlands. Outside the region they are found as...
Nature Painted Me Beautiful
Sometimes words aren’t necessary – Nature can do the talking for itself. These beautifully coloured birds were spotted in the Caprivi region of Namibia and in northern and central Botswana during the months of...
Crested Barbet or Silly Goose
On our travels we always keep our eyes open for unusual things, and we recently came across a rather sad or amusing (whichever way you looked at it) show. We were camping at Kalizo...
A short drive from Purros
Looking at a map of Namibia can be deceptive for the inexperienced. Even downright misleading. If you look in the north west of the country, in Kaokoland, for example, you will see a little...
Hey you – get off my mound!
One of the things that we love about game reserves is the interaction between the various animals and birds. There is always an animal or bird that is intent on eating another one, or...
Bird of the Week – Week 131 – African skimmer
One of the more unusual looking avian inhabitants of the Caprivi region of northern Namibia, and rare enough to be considered “endangered” in the southern African region, is the African skimmer. The most striking...
The African Wild Cat
There’s something special about being in a game reserve and seeing the big cats like lions, leopards and cheetahs and then coming across a little African wild cat. Wild cats look so much like...
Bird of the Week – Week 132 – Black-chested prinia
Although it is a near-endemic within the southern African region, the delightful Black-chested prinia is quite common within the region. A small bird, with a length of approximately 14 cm, they have pale brown...
The Meerkats of the Kalahari
Who hasn’t seen the delightful TV documentary series “Meerkat Manor” put on by Animal Planet about seven years ago and wanted to see these funny smiley little mammals in the flesh? We camped recently...
Bird of the Week – Week 130 – Olive woodpecker
The Olive woodpecker is the only woodpecker in the Southern African region that is not speckled, having plain olive green plumage with a bright red rump and a grey head and throat. Legs and...
Fairy Circles – footprints of the Gods!
High on our bucket list of things to see in Namibia has always been the mystical fairy circles that are found in Kaokoland. Our dream was realized on our latest trip when we were...
Bird of the Week – Week 129 – Malachite sunbird
The male Malachite sunbird, during the breeding season, is one of the most magnificent of all the sunbirds within the region, with bright, metallic green plumage, bright yellow pectoral tufts and a long tail...
The day of the mouse!
You don’t have to spend very long in a game reserve or park to realize that it a very treacherous environment for the four-legged, two-legged and even the legless inhabitants. With very few exceptions,...
Bird of the Week – Week 128 – Egyptian goose
The Egyptian goose is quite common throughout sub-Saharan Africa, except for the very arid regions and the dense forests, and is found on many rivers, dams and other stretches of open water. Considered to...
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